Author: Babajanian Karo

NO SIGN OF END TO ARMENIAN ENCLAVE DISPUTE ON THE HORIZON

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Armene, who sells traditional pancakes in Stepanakert market.

Photographs: Daniel McLoughlinManya Jafarguliyeva, who fled Nagorno-
Karabakh during the 1988-1994 conflict, in her apartment in the Azeri
capital Baku. Photographs: Daniel McLoughlinFormer tank commander
Robert Bagiryan. Photographs: Daniel McLoughlinIn

‘The Azeri-Armenian conflict is still unresolved 24 years on, writes
DANIEL McLAUGHLIN in Stepanakert

ROBERT BAGIRYAN’S slight frame stiffens and his shoulders straighten
when he talks about what went before and what he is willing do again.

“It was very hard during the war. The whole city was being bombarded
and people lived in their basements, but we live freely now and will
defend that to the last. Whatever it takes.”

Bagiryan was a tank commander in the 1988-1994 war that saw his ethnic
Armenian people in the region of Nagorno- Karabakh break away from
Azerbaijan and declare independence.

The fighting pitted neighbour against neighbour, as amid the chaos of
the Soviet Union’s collapse, Nagorno-Karabakh’s majority Armenians
demanded an end to alleged Azeri discrimination and the creation of
their own state, high in the Caucasus mountains close to Iran.

At different times, regional powers Russia and Turkey were drawn into
the battle between Azeri forces and Nagorno- Karabakh’s rebels backed
by the Armenian military, in a war that killed about 30,000 people
and forced more than one million from their homes.

Twenty-four years after it began, the conflict is still unresolved,
no peace deal has been signed, the world still officially sees
Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan and Armenian and Azeri
soldiers regularly exchange deadly fire across a tense and heavily
mined ceasefire line.

As sabre-rattling around Iran stokes fears of unrest in the region,
Nagorno-Karabakh will be discussed on Friday in Dublin, when Ireland
hosts a high-level conflict resolution conference as chair of the
56-nation Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE mediates in talks to end the conflict, but in the sleepy,
tree-lined streets of Stepanakert, the mountain-ringed main town of
Nagorno-Karabakh, many people see renewed war as more likely than
lasting peace.

“The Azeris bombarded us relentlessly, it was a time of terrible stress
and the kids were traumatised,” says office worker Gayane Danilyan
(50).

“We couldn’t live with the Azeris again. It’s impossible. All trust
has been lost.”

Nagorno-Karabakh and its sponsors in Armenia say the regional
assembly’s 1988 vote to break away from Azerbaijan was in line with
Mikhail Gorbachev’s liberalised Soviet laws; Azerbaijan insists it
was an illegal attempt to change borders and destroy Azeri territorial
integrity.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the row over Nagorno- Karabakh,
which is deeply rooted in the history of both Christian Armenia and
Muslim Azerbaijan, fuelled virulent nationalism in both republics,
vicious pogroms and allegations of ethnic cleansing.

After initially gaining the upper hand and besieging Stepanakert,
the Azeris were forced back until Armenian troops took Nagorno-
Karabakh and seven adjoining regions of Azerbaijan.

THE RESULT is that much of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognised
territory is controlled by Nagorno-Karabakh’s rebels and their Armenian
allies, and about one million of Azerbaijan’s nine million people were
displaced by war – one of the highest such proportions in the world.

“We all dream of going back,” says Abbas Aliyev (66), in the 25sq m
room he shares with seven relatives in a dilapidated district of the
Azeri capital, Baku.

“Our children went to school here and are settled here, but we always
tell them – and our grandchildren – about Nagorno- Karabakh and our
village. They know it is their homeland.”

Energy-rich Azerbaijan has spent billions of euros on its displaced
people, paying benefits, subsidising utilities and gradually moving
them into new apartment blocks like the one that is home to Manya
Jafarguliyeva (59).

“We fled across the Aras river into Iran and then crossed back into
Azerbaijan and came to Baku,” she says, adjusting the black headscarf
that she wears in mourning for her husband.

“We lived for 10 years in some bad places, unfinished buildings. Then
we moved here. This flat is nice, but we are still not used to life
in the city. We miss working on the land and in our gardens. We miss
the mountain air and water.”

Dashqin Shamiyev (38), a community leader in Jafarguliyeva’s district,
has no doubt he will go home.

“With my passport I can travel anywhere but my own homeland. It is
our land and we will return, our president has assured us of that. We
hope for peace, but if it takes a war to solve the problem then so
be it. I fought before and would do so again. Everyone of fighting
age would sign up.”

ARMENIA ACCUSES Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, of using
bellicose rhetoric to boost support for his autocratic regime. He
became president in 2003 following the death of his father, who had
stabilised Azerbaijan after events in Nagorno-Karabakh fuelled a
period of political chaos.

The dispute poisons every aspect of relations between the neighbours:
Armenia has withdrawn from next month’s Eurovision Song Contest in
Baku because Aliyev recently called Armenians the greatest enemy of
his country.

Cash-strapped Armenia feels threatened by Azerbaijan’s rapid
modernisation of its military and by pressure from Turkey, Baku’s
main ally, on its closed western border.

Azerbaijan is offering its rebel region the maximum degree of autonomy
and wants Armenian troops to leave areas adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh
as a first step towards peace. Armenia claims that is impossible
until its safety and status are assured by a final agreement.

Both states claim the moral high ground over this remote and beautiful
region. Baku says its territorial integrity is inviolable and Yerevan
defends the Karabakhis’ right to self-determination.

The name of this place bespeaks its tangled history – “nagorno” means
“mountainous” in Russian, “kara” is Turkish for “black” and “bakh”
is Persian for “garden” – but its 100,000 people are clear on the
future: only independence or unification with Armenia will do.

“Life isn’t easy here, but at least we live in our own state and feel
free,” says Armene, who with her friend Donara sells traditional herb
pancakes in Stepanakert market.

The former tank commander Bagiryan is more blunt.

“We spilt our blood to escape Azeri control,” he says. “If they try
anything again they’ll get what they deserve. They will regret it.”

“MODERN TURKISH STATE DOES NOT WANT TO FACE THE GENOCIDE, BECAUSE…”

24 April 2012, Tuesday

The director of Armenian Genocide Museum Institute Hayk Demoyan spoke
to bianet about the museum studies, the new partition of the museum
“Anatolians that helped Armenians” and the genocide process.

THE DIRECTOR OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM INSTITUTE HAYK DEMOYAN:

At the 97th anniversary of April 24th, 1915 Armenian Genocide, we
interviewed with the director of Armenian Genocide Museum Institute
Hayk Demoyan about the genocide process and the “Anatolians that
helped Armenians” partition of the museum.

Demoyan states that more than a million Armenians were killed within
1915-1918 and they were killed on their own territories, however he
mentions that “Genocides are not measured by the number of victims”
and “Genocide is a process and preplanned policy”.

Demoyan says they’ve been working on the “Anatolian people rescued
the Armenians against genocide and dislocation” issue for 4 years
and he adds:

“Any documents, photos related to those ‘righteous’ people will be
much welcomed.”

First of all, could you please tell us about the history of the
museum? How is the interest of people to the museum? What kind of
activities you carry out? What are exhibited in the museum regarding
1915?

Our museum was established in 1995 as a part of the Armenian genocide
memorial constructed on the Tsitsernakaberd hill in Yerevan in 1967.

Since then we had millions of visitors, among them are Presidents,
Ministers, political figures, military and religious leaders from
all over the world. Visiting to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial and
the museum is a part of official protocol visits in Armenia. The
museum is also a research institute operating as a separate unit in
the system of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of
Armenia. The museum focuses on collecting anything related to the
Armenian Genocide, including oral histories, handwritten memoirs,
personal belongings of victims and survivors, books, magazines,
newspapers, memorabilia, photographs, films and many other items. We
study, preserve and exhibit those items both in permanent and temporary
exhibitions of the museum. We also work on identifing victims. This
is very important, since everyone out of one and half million victims
must be remembered and honored.

The Museum is getting prepared for the Centennial in 2015. We plan
to extend the existing building with new blocks and facilities. We
have more to show and to tell.

In the permanent exhibition we show only five percent of what we have
in our collection. Every year AGMI organizes temporary exhibition,
publishes dozens of volumes on the subject of the Armenian Genocide.

We have our website: which is the richest web
resourse on the topic of the Armenian Genocide materials available
in Armenian, English, Russian and Turkish.

In the museum you have a project about the Turks that saved Armenians
from the genocide in Anatolia. How do you think this project will
affect the genocide debates that exist for many years?

The Museum collects data on such cases as part of the overall study
of the Armenian Genocide. Yes, many Muslims saved Armenian lives, and
this is an inseparable part of the history of the Armenian Genocide.

While finding such cases, it gives us confirmation of the situation
during the Armenian Genocide. As for affecting “Genocide debates”,
I do not think it will have any influence on the meaning of Genocide,
rather it will reveal important part of the story, which is very
common by the way in other Genocidal related occurrences. We call them
“Righteous”, person who while risking his own and family member’s lives
try to rescue representatives of the targeted group from inescapable
death. The names of such individuals must be remembered.

There are special categories for these individuals who saved Armenian
lives, depending on their personal motivations: economical, personal
interest in terms of forced marriage, labor force. But we consider
real rescue those cases those when a person or family hosted, hid,
fed and supported the escape from death.

“The rescue stories come to prove the very planned character of the
Armenian Genocide”

According to your surveys, how many Armenians are estimated to be
saved from the genocide/deportation by both local administrators and
the public in Anatolia? Would the size of the genocide change much
if there were no such protection/support?

It is very hard to bring any statistical data on this. It could be
hundreds or thousands. We know that some of the administrators either
were removed from their position or were punished for opposing the
Ottoman State policy of Genocide. As for the “Size of Genocide,” let’s
not forget that Genocides are not measured by the number of victims.

Genocide is a process and preplanned policy with the clear intention
to eliminate targeted group in whole or in part. Armenians were
targeted and the Armenian Genocide was a state planned and implemented
policy. The intention of the Young Turkish leaders also is proven by
numerous testimonies and documents. In case of the number of Armenians,
more than a million were killed within 1915-1918 and they were killed
on their own territories of their historical homeland known since
the ancient periods as Armenia. These events are major reasons the
modern Turkish State does not want to face with.

How is the reaction of the Armenians towards your project? Are there
any risks of opening such a partition at the Armenian Genocide Museum?

We do our job openly and everyone can check what we do on our website.

Many Armenian families had stories of rescue. Actually who were
the rescuers? Those who opposed the Government orders not to help
Armenians, being under the danger to be punished severely. The Ottoman
government ordered to execute those Muslims, in front of their houses,
who hid Armenians. Those who opposed to this order, they opposed
against the genocide policy of the government. The rescue stories
come to prove the very planned character of the Armenian Genocide so
we have no fear or reservation concerning those facts.

How was your work about the Anatolian people protected the Armenians
against genocide? For how many years does it last?

Four years ago we started to collect more data on the cases of
rescue on the territory of Western Armenia and other territories
of the Ottoman Empire. I would like to call all those who have such
stories to send us their own family stories and to help us enrich the
Collection of the Museum, and to preserve the facts of the Armenian
Genocide and hopefully, to prevent future Genocides. The photos of
the rescuers will be much welcomed.

At one of your interviews you mentioned that Ataturk was also against
deportation. He stopped the train when he saw hundreds of people
walking on the road and told them to go back home, so saved their
lives. Could you please tell us in short Ataturk’s approach towards
Armenian genocide / relocation?

Actually there is misinterpretation of my words concerning my interview
and some comments about the Ataturk case which was published in 2008 in
“Economist”. After that misrepresentation many Armenian pseudo-patriots
began to accuse me in “treachery.” They were not aware that I was
speaking about the case when in 1932 Ataturk sent some Armenian
deportees from the surrounding villages of Istanbul back to their
home after witnessing their miserable situation… Ataturk did so in
1932, but not in 1915 as it was reported in that article .We have
that Norwegian source in our collection and it was translated and
disseminated couple of years ago Let’s say… So what if Ataturk did
save a few Armenians during his own administration?

Every professional historian knows that Ataturk was a member of the
“Union and Progress” party, the leaders of which were responsible
for organizing and committing the Armenian Genocide. Moreover he was
a member of “TeÅ~_kilat i- Mahsusa”, a special organization set for
implementation of diabolic plan of the genocide. Even if, there are
no evidence that he was directly involved in the decision making and
implementation of the genocidal plan, by being one of the protectors of
the persons directly involved in mass killings and looting of Armenian
property Ataturk continued the policy of mass murder of Armenians
on the territory of Russian Armenia, tens of thousands returnees who
survived horrors of Young Turkish deportation were massacred in Cilicia
in 1920-1922. This year we will also remember the Armenian and Greek
victims of “Smyrna fire” in September 1922. It was the final stage
of the Armenian Genocide in overall genocidal policy that started
from Sultan Abdul Hamid’s period in 1894-1896, continued in Adana
in 1909, and went to its apex in 1915-1918 by the Young Turks and
was finalized by Kemalists within 1920-1922. During the last period
nearly 200,000 Armenians lost their lives. So having all this data
and facts we could claim that Armenian Genocide was on the agenda of
three regimes in Turkey: Sultan’s, Young Turkish and Kemalist.(EKN)

CYPRUS HOUSE PRESIDENT URGES ARMENIANS FOR COMMON EFFORTS AGAINST TURKISH VIOLATIONS

ARMENPRESS
24 April, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, APRIL 24, ARMENPRESS: The Cyprus House of Representatives was
among the first to recognize the Armenian Genocide, has pointed out
House President Yiannakis Omirou, speaking at an event commemorating
the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, organized by the
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Committee in Cyprus, reports Armenpress
citing CNA.

“I want to emphasize that the House of Representatives of Cyprus, in
response to a fair request for recognizing of the Armenian Genocide,
along with the Greek Parliament, was among the first parliaments to
condemn the Turkish crime and to support the demand for international
recognition”, said Omirou.

Deploring human rights violations by the Turkish state against ethnic
groups in and outside Turkey, and even against Turkish citizens,
Omirou emphasized the need for a collective effort and cooperation
to put Turkish state in the dock.

“Our duty is to keep the Turkish state under the glare of intense
international publicity until they are required to comply with
international law and respect human rights”, he added.

He also noted that solidarity of Cyprus and the wider Hellenism
to other ethnic groups affected by the Turkish chauvinism is a
prerequisite to successfully address Turkish expansionism in Cyprus,
the Aegean and Thrace.

GREEK MINISTER OF CULTURE URGES HUMANITY FOR GENOCIDE CONDEMNATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 – 14:53 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism called on
the humanity to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide in the
name of a struggle for human rights.

As Pavlos Yeroulanos stressed at Athens War Museum-hosted event
commemorating 97th anniversary of Genocide, both Armenian and Greek
people have had similar fates.

Political stance of Greece, which recognized the Armenian Genocide,
is symbolic of friendship and shared fate of the two people, Azad Or
daily reported.

BAKO SAHAKYAN: THE TURKISH PEOPLE MUST TURN THIS DARK CHAPTER IN ITS HISTORY

armradio.am
24.04.2012 15:08

NKR President Bako Sahakyan issued an address on the occasion of the
97tha nniversary of the Armenian Genocide:

Dear compatriots,

In the history of our people April 24 has become the day of pain and
slaughter, the day of hardship and grief that unites all world-spread
Armenians for the remembrance of 1.5 million innocent victims of the
1915 Armenian Genocide.

It unites against evil and crime, violence and terrorism that must be
recognized and condemned by humankind. We are grateful to all those who
are with us today and who raise their voice for the triumph of justice.

We come together today to say that the Armenians are now strong and
protected, and will do everything to ensure that such terrible crimes
never repeat. The Turkish people must turn this dark chapter in its
history and free the generations from this heavy and humiliating
legacy. It is an imperative that cannot be avoided.”

GENOCIDE SYMPOSIUM AT UNITED NATIONS IS GREETED BY TURKISH DIPLOMATIC CORPS’ IRE
By Florence Avakian

Mirror-Spectator
April 23, 2012

UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. – Possibly speaking for all Genocide victims,
a survivor of the Armenian Genocide once said, “I am somebody, but
I am nobody.”

On Thursday, April 12, a symposium, titled “Toward Preventing Genocide:
Nations Acknowledging their Dark History: Psychosocial, Economic and
Cultural Perspectives,” took place at the UN, attended by close to
50 diplomatic, educational and Armenian community members.

The event began with a moment of silence for the victims of all
genocides and was opened by Armenia’s Ambassador to the United Nations
Garen Nazarian, who reminded the audience that this marked the 62nd
anniversary of the UN Human Rights Declaration outlawing genocide. He
stated that many countries, as well as scholars, including Turkish
intellectuals, have already recognized the Genocide of the Armenians by
Ottoman Turkey. He paid tribute to the memory and the 160th birthday
of the Norwegian humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, who “gave support to
the fragile fragments of the Genocide,” and issued the Nansen Passport
for the stateless Armenian survivors.

Before the program even began, two members of the Turkish Mission
to the United Nations unsuccessfully tried to disrupt the event with
loud protests, an action they again attempted at the conclusion.

Chairperson of the event, Dr. Ani Kalayjian, president of the
Association for Trauma Outreach and Prevention (ATOP) and the
Armenian-American Society for Studies on Stress and Genocide (AASSSG),
did not permit the Turkish outburst to continue.

Harrowing Testimonies The highlight of the event was the screening of
the film, “The River Ran Red,” by the late Dr. Michael Hagopian, whose
wife and daughter were present. An account of the Armenian Genocide,
the documentary is a compilation of harrowing testimonies and archival
photos. “We were lying in blood in a forest. By day, we saw the dead,”
said one survivor. “The Turks forced children in a Turkish orphanage to
dig up the dead Armenian clerics and urinate on them,” said another,
adding, “I saw a hundred children thrown into the Euphrates River
so the Turks could spare their bullets.” Babies were buried in the
desert with only their heads above ground, which were then crushed
under the hooves of running horses, recalled another survivor.

In the film, the missionary, Mary Louise Graffam, reported from Malatya
that “the valley was full of corpses.” And US Consul Jesse B. Jackson
related seeing 500 emaciated women and children from Sivas after they
reached Aleppo, Syria, following a 1,000-mile march. In one of the
scenes, a Turk who brought fruit to Fr. Krikor Guerguerian (a.k.a
Krieger), asked the Armenian priest for forgiveness for killing the
priest’s father and three brothers and confiscating the house’s garden.

His nephew, Dr. Edmund Gergerian, has established the annual Krieger
monetary Award for high school and college students who write the best
essays on “What the Legacy of Genocide Means to Me.” At the symposium,
four high school students who read their writing were honored with
the award.

Carla Garabedian, director of the Armenian Film Foundation who
received the AASSSG’s 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award, spoke about
“future legal proceedings concerning monetary compensation” for the
Genocide, a subject of fear for Turkey. “But how do you calculate such
a figure. The International Criminal Court should decide the amount,”
she said and reported that Turkish historian Taner Akcam and other
Turkish scholars have already revealed that “Armenian assets were
transferred into private and public hands.” Under international law,
there is no statute of limitations on suing for stolen goods, she
said, adding that Germany, since 1952 has paid Holocaust victims $60
billion. She concluded by noting that Turkey would benefit by freeing
itself of Genocide denial, and save millions, which it currently
spends on its denial propaganda. “Turks should know and be able to
discuss their own history.”

Evolution of Genocide Prof. Ervin Staub of the University of
Massachusetts focused on the evolution of genocide – “a gradual
process, which begins with discrimination and some violence, then
results in institutional and people changes, which can be reversed
but rarely happens. The passivity by the bystanders encourages
violence. It is crucial that bystanders actively resist but it
must start early,” he said, adding that genocide takes place in
economically and psychologically difficult times. “Turks who were
called the ‘sick man of Europe’ were already down, plus Armenians
were in the way of Pan Turkism.

“Denial becomes part of the identity of both perpetrators and victims.

They see the world as dangerous. What is needed is acknowledgment of
the pain and reconciliation,” he said, then advised that Armenians
should concentrate on the US denial, because constantly pointing out
the Turkish denial does not allow Turkey to acknowledge the crime.

Dr. Dennis Papazian, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan,
in a report, concentrated on the “Causes and Cures of Genocide,”
which involves the “concept of sovereignty” (complete power over life
and death). “Thus, until the signing of the Genocide Convention, the
killing of one individual was considered murder and thus punishable
by the state, while the killing of thousands and even millions by
the state had no name and went unpunished.

“State sovereignty must be limited if we are to end genocide. In
modern times, nationalism, pre-nationalism and religious exclusiveness
have been some of the drivers of genocide, as well as language, and
racism,” he said, adding that “by the time of the Armenian Genocide,
the concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’ was developing.”

Calling the 19th century the century of imperialism which “was not
so much an economic system inspired by the capitalist, as much as an
extension of the medieval concept held by the ruling aristocracies
that the more territory owned, the greater the prestige and glory. It
was in this lethal environment that the Armenian Genocide occurred.”

The Ottoman government “looking for an internal scapegoat to deflect
attention from their own military ineptness, turned on the unarmed
Armenians,” he added.

In conclusion, Papazian stated that it is “humanism, the understanding
that we all – black, white, yellow, rich, poor, educated, uneducated,
Armenians, Turks and all others – are actually one people with one
destiny on this frail earth which holds the key to ending genocide.

Thus, intellectual freedom is an absolute necessity for settling issues
like the Armenian Genocide and preventing other such atrocities.”

The co-sponsors of the event included the Permanent Mission of Armenia
to the United Nations, ATOP, AASSSG, the Armenian General Benevolent
Union, Knights and Daughters of Vartan, Meaningfulworld.com, the
Tekeyan Cultural Association, the Armenian Constitutional Rights
Protective Centre of Armenia and Voices for Freedom.

ARAB TAWHID PARTY VOICES SOLIDARITY WITH LEBANESE ARMENIANS

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 – 14:03 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Arab Tawhid Party voiced its solidarity with
the Armenians of Lebanon on the 97th anniversary of the genocide
perpetrated Ottoman Turks during World War I.

“[We call] for creation of a worldwide public opinion that serves the
Armenian cause and confronts Turkey’s policy of denial of this crime,”
the party said in a statement, according to Now Lebanon.

ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUST BE RECOGNIZED BY ENTIRE WORLD – RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR

news.am
April 24, 2012 | 12:56

YEREVAN. – The Armenian Genocide must be recognized by the entire
world, Russian Ambassador to Armenia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, said
Tuesday, when visiting capital Yerevan’s Armenian Genocide Memorial.

Also, he expressed a conviction that the Genocide’s recognition
process is inevitable, Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter informs.

As per the Russian diplomat, the Genocide’s denial must be subjected
to ostracism.

Humanity must do everything to preserve itself, so that such genocides
do not repeat, the Russian ambassador noted.

APRIL 24 IMPORTANT DAY FOR ARMENIANS – US AMBASSADOR

NEWS.AM
April 24, 2012 | 12:51

YEREVAN.- April 24 is a very important day for all Armenians, U.S.
Ambassador John Heffern said in Tsitsernakaberd.

Ambassador Heffern talked to journalists after visiting the Memorial
to the Armenian Genocide victims.

All Armenians should come here and the imemory of the events would
not vanish, he added.

On April 24 world marks the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
in the Ottoman Empire.

NOTRE DAME DE PARIS HOLDS SYMBOL AGAINST GENOCIDE DENIAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
April 24, 2012 – 12:22 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Hundreds of French cities and villages organize
events dedicated to the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

On April 22, a mourning liturgy in memory of Genocide victims was
served in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Following the service, Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort held a sermon.

The event was attended by Armenian Ambassador to France Vicken
Tchitetchian, French MP Patrick Devedjian, representatives of city
and national authorities.

VAN, organization combating the genocide denial installed a symbolic
barrier of vigilance against the denial in front of the Notre Dame
Cathedral.

Dozens of boards placed there inform the visitors about the first
genocide of 20th century, as well as the genocide of Armenians in
Sumgait, Kirovabad, Baku and Maragha.

French cities of Marseilles, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nice, Grenoble,
Montpellier, Cannes, Toulouse, Valence, Aix-en-Provence, Toulon,
Avignon, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Alfortville, Clamart, Meudon and others
also held memorial ceremonies.

Tens of lectures were conducted on the Armenian Genocide and the
denial policy. Mourning liturgies are served in over 40 Armenian
churches in France.