ARMENIANS MARK GENOCIDE ANNIVERSARY AS FRESH TURKISH-BACKED MASSACRES REVIVE DARK MEMORIES – PHOTOS
Apr 24, 2014
Damascus, (SANA) A holy Mass was held on Thursday at the Armenian
Orthodox Church of St Sarkis of Damascus to mark the 99th anniversary
of the Armenian genocide at the hands of Ottomans in 1915.
“The Syrian Arab people is partner of the Armenian people in life,
martyrdom and struggle against the same Ottoman executioner,” Bishop
Armash Nalbandian, Primate of the Church, said, likening the massacres
of April 24 of 1915 against the Armenians to the hangings of May 6
which were perpetrated by the Ottomans in Damascus and Beirut.
He stressed that Syria’s land and people have been the haven for
the Armenian people who fled the clutches of death and the horrible
massacre which the Ottomans committed in 1915.
Bishop Nalbaldian said that the Armenians have lost two thirds of their
population, along with their homeland from which they were uprooted,
making it a dual, irreparable loss.
He said that the inhumane crime against the Armenians, which should not
be referred to as carnage but as a full-blown genocide, was intended
to eliminate the Armenian population.
The bishop urged the world countries to acknowledge the Armenian
Genocide and hold the Turkish state to account as it is “the heir of
the crime passed down to it by the Ottomans.”
“Were the culprit to escape unpunished, he will most likely repeat
his crime over and over again, and what is happening in Syria in
general and in Kassab in particular proves just that,” he added.
Meanwhile, Patriarchate of Catholic Armenians in Damascus held a mass
at Sultana of the world Church in Baba Touma to commemorate genocide
anniversary against Armenians at the hands of Ottomans.
Armenian Ambassador in Damascus, Arachak Puladian, attended the mass
in addition to a number of bishops.
M. Ismael / Mazen
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
