Keralanext, India
April 24 2005
Armenians Mark 90th Anniversary of Mass Killings in Turkey
[World News] YEREVAN, Armenia – Armenians on Sunday marked the 90th
anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire,
vowing to press their case to have the killings recognized by Turkey
and the world as a genocide. Tens of thousands of people, waving
flags and carrying flowers, streamed through the Armenian capital and
marched up to a massive hilltop granite memorial to hear speeches and
prayers.
Weeping mourners filed into the circular block memorial, laying
carnations on a flat surface surrounding a flame. A choir in black
sang hymns as the crowd filed past, some carrying umbrellas against
the sun.
The country will observe a minute of silence at 7 p.m. and Yerevan
residents will place candles on window sills in memory of the
victims.
Ottoman authorities began rounding up intellectuals, diplomats and
other influential Armenians in Istanbul on April 24, 1915, as
violence and unrest grew, particularly in the eastern parts of the
country.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million Armenians ultimately died or were
killed over several years as part of a genocidal campaign to force
them out of eastern Turkey. Turkey acknowledges that large numbers of
Armenians died, but says the overall figure is inflated and that the
deaths occurred in the civil unrest during the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire.
France, Russia and many other countries have already declared the
killings were genocide; the United States, which has a large Armenian
diaspora, has not.
Turkey, which has no diplomatic ties with Armenia, is facing
increasing pressure to fully acknowledge the event, particularly as
it seeks membership in the European Union. The issue is extremely
sensitive in Turkey and Turks have faced prosecution for saying the
killings were genocide.
Ankara earlier this month called for the two countries to jointly
research the killings.