ASSYRIA: GENOCIDE MONUMENT UNVEILED IN ARMENIA
UNPO
May 3 2012
An official unveiling of a monument dedicated to victims of the
Assyrian genocide has taken place on 25 April 2012 in Armenia, with
representatives from the Armenian government and Assyrian organizations
from abroad both in attendance.
Below is a press release from the Assyrian Universal Alliance:
Once again the Assyrian nation has proved that it will mass stronger
against all attempts to deny the Assyrian genocide committed by the
Ottoman Turkey during WWI, which claimed about 750,000 innocent lives,
and show to the world the heinous crimes committed against its people.
“Turkey is still living in denial of this fact” Mr. Arsan Mikhaylov
said.
On Wednesday 25th April 2012, the Assyrian people of Armenia gathered
en masse to celebrate the official unveiling of the Assyrian genocide
monument in a public land located at Crossroads of Moskovyan and
Nalbandyan in central Yerevan. A special prayer service was organised
by the Rev. Father Isaac Tamras from the Assyrian church of the East
at the beginning of the ceremony.
The formal proceedings began with the Armenian and the Assyrian
national Anthems, followed by a minute silence observed in memory of
victims of the Assyrian genocide. After welcoming the attendees by
the Master of ceremonies Mr. Razmik Khosroev, RA Meritorious Artist,
lecturer at Yerevan Theatre and Film, State Pedagogical University, he
then invited Mr. Arsan Mikhaylov, president of the Atour Association in
Armenia and the Secretary of Eastern Europe of the Assyrian Universal
Alliance to welcome the attendees.
“What prompted us to build this Assyrian genocide monument in
Armenia is our respect for our martyrs who gave their lives for the
preservation of our Assyrian cultural and ethnic identity, and also
to add our voice to those of our fellow Armenians in this country” Mr.
Arsan Mikhaylov said.
Mr. Mikhaylov continued that many Assyrian organisations from different
countries have contributed to the cost of the entire project. The site
is expected to become a pilgrimage site not only for the Assyrians
but for Armenians and Pontic Greeks who are also victims of the
same genocide.
Representatives from the Armenian government and Assyrian organizations
from abroad attended the unveiling together with a large number of
news agencies. Participating in the opening ceremony was Mr.
Galust Sahakyan, the leader of the Republican faction, who condemned
genocides by saying that “Even today the genocide continues against
cultural values.” He stressed that Armenia is home to the Assyrians
and “here the Assyrians are not guests.”
Attending this historic event from Australia Mr. Hermiz Shahen, the
Deputy Secretary General of the Assyrian Universal Alliance (AUA)
in his speech thanked members of the Statue Project Committee who
worked hard to bring this project to reality, particularly the artist
for designing this magnificent monument, and the many volunteers who
worked tirelessly to build it.
In his address Mr. Shahen said “this is a significant event in the life
of our nation and our people in Armenia and abroad; communities that
have been established as a direct result of the continuous assaults
on the Assyrian nation. This genocide monument speaks of what is
occurring today to indigenous Assyrians in Iraq and Syria, who are
facing systematic campaigns of murder, kidnapping, intimidation and
destruction, and calls for a just and moral intervention by all people
and nations who value humanity.”
In his final notes Mr. Shahen appealed to the Armenian government,
as well as to other countries, to condemn these heinous acts committed
against the Christian citizens of Anatolia, and urged all international
humanitarian institutions to pressure Turkey to acknowledge and
apologise for the atrocities its Ottoman leaders committed against
their Assyrian, Armenian and Pontic Greek citizens during World War I.
The next speaker Mr. Sabri Atman, Director – Assyrian Genocide
Research Center (Seyfo Center) expressed his deepest appreciation
to the Armenian community and authorities in the Republic of Armenia
and the City of Yerevan for making this day a reality.
Mr. Atman continued “the genocide committed against the Assyrian
people by the Ottoman Empire and other genocides, including the
1933 Semele Massacre in Northern Iraq are historical realities that
have affected the lives of every Assyrian family. Close to 100 years
after the Assyrian genocide and 80 years after the Semele Massacre,
Assyrians continue to fight for justice and recognition. The genocide
which exterminated hundreds of thousands of our people destroyed our
lands and forever changed the demographic of the area we called home
for thousands of years. As a representative of the Assyrian community
I simply ask for justice for my people also, no more and no less!”
The next speaker Mr. Armen Marukian, head of the department of Armenian
Genocide Questions in the Institute of History – National Academy
of Sciences, congratulated the Assyrians for honouring their martyrs
and talked about the importance of the Assyrian genocide monument.
Among the speakers was Mr. Albert Yakubov, the late Lina Yakubova’s
father and the Secretary of the Governor of Ararat Region, who spoke
about the well-being of the Assyrians in Armenia, and the support
provided by the Armenian government to them.
Dr. Anahit Khosroeva, Ph.D., a senior researcher in the Institute of
History – National Academy of Science from the Republic of Armenia,
spoke about the atrocities committed against the Assyrians and the
Armenians, and highlighted the importance of the Assyrian genocide
monument in Armenia.
The speeches were interrupted because of the sudden rain. Participants
commented that the heaven was sharing in their grief and sorrow.
http://www.unpo.org/article/14230