Category: News

Turkish press: Armenian Patriarch: Neither denial nor obsessive hostility heal

Alex Jidarian
April 24 2026
Turkey
The patriarch called for peace, dialogue and coexistence.

Patriarch Sahak Maşalyan of Turkey’s Armenians, as every year, delivered a speech at the service held at the Surp Hagop Church in Altımermer on this Apr 24 Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

In his speech, Maşalyan said, “Beneath these lands lie not only our pains, but also the still-bleeding wounds of others. We cannot find a solution by telling only our own story. We must also listen to others, understand their suffering and seek common ground for a shared future. With this understanding, we repeat our call for the establishment of peace, reconciliation and friendship between the Turkish and Armenian peoples.”

Full text of Maşalyan’s message as reported by Agos:

Our beloved faithful people, today is again Apr 24. It is a day that invites us to bow with respect before one of the most painful pages of our history. Today recalls the tragedy experienced a century ago, which left deep marks on our national and spiritual life. We commemorate the losses, deportation, exile and indescribable pain passed down from generation to generation that our people experienced during the years of World War I. But this commemoration is not only meant to remain in the dark pages of the past. It is also a call for us to turn toward the future by making sense of what we have lived through. In these lands, where different peoples lived together for centuries, the tradition of peaceful coexistence suffered a deep wound. Yet the same geography also reminds us of this truth: peoples are called not to eternal hostility, but to living together, dialogue and mutual understanding.

Beneath these lands lie not only our pains, but also the still-bleeding wounds of others. We cannot find a solution by telling only our own story. We must also listen to others, understand their suffering and seek common ground for a shared future. With this understanding, we repeat our call for the establishment of peace, reconciliation and friendship between the Turkish and Armenian peoples. The tragedy of the past should not be a permanent wall, but a bridge built with cautionary lessons for constructing a more just and peaceful future. Neither denial nor obsessive hostility heals wounds. Likewise, political instrumentalization does not serve the rapprochement of peoples. Real progress is born of dialogue based on sincerity, mutual respect and human values. For this reason, we invite all sides to build bridges of friendship, develop cultural and economic cooperation, and create an environment in which history can be discussed not with fear and hatred, but with the search for truth and justice.

We welcome with appreciation all steps taken in the past and present toward mutual sensitivity and rapprochement. In this context, we would also like to mention the condolence messages issued every year on the occasion of Apr 24 by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which are also addressed to our Patriarchate. The respect and sensitivity expressed in these messages are considered important steps that can contribute to the development of mutual understanding between peoples.

We see these messages as an _expression_ of human conscience and as meaningful gestures that can contribute to rebuilding trust. They remind us that even in the face of the heaviest historical burdens, the path of respect and communication can be chosen. Today, as the commemoration day of our canonized martyrs, we turn to their intercession. They are living witnesses not only of our memory, but also of our faith. They invite us not to remain in the darkness of the past, but to build the future with hope.

As Almighty God said through the Prophet: “Behold, I am doing a new thing” (Isaiah 43:19). We must seek this renewal in our own hearts. Dear brothers and sisters, may today’s commemoration be not only mourning, but also an opportunity for renewal. May God, in His mercy, touch our hearts and the hearts of our neighbors, so that we may overcome the shadows of the past and build a future based on justice, peace and brotherhood. May Almighty God, through the intercession of the Holy Virgin Mary and all our saintly martyrs, bless the Turkish and Armenian peoples, guide them toward the path of living together in reconciliation and peace, and remove wars and hatred from the world. May God’s love, mercy and grace be upon all humanity now and forever.

Amen

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How Armenian teenagers built a platform for developing soft skills and acing i

Khondkarian Raffi
The Tech, Kazakhstan
April 24 2026

Narek Sargsyan, Erik Tonoyan, and their team developed Arminterview — a service that helps users build communication skills, prepare for job interviews, and advance their careers. In an interview with The Tech, Narek shared how the startup is evolving, what mistakes were made early on, and offered advice for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Narek Sargsyan, city — Martuni, entrepreneur, Co-Founder & CEO, Instagram

How it all began

I was born in Armenia in 2007. From age 10, I was into programming — first building simple websites, then developing games. I was always drawn to creating things of my own, though I was not thinking about business yet.

At 15, my friend and I took our first steps in entrepreneurship — we started selling guitar lessons. Erik played really well, so we figured he could teach others. We had one customer, but the project closed quickly. Those were our first hands-on steps.

At 16, in 2024, I was still programming and gaming. In one game, I met our future project manager Kristina Margaryan, who told me about LinkedIn. I signed up and started applying for jobs, but could not land anything — either I was not accepted or I failed the interviews. That is when I realized it was a widespread problem: many people face rejections, and HR teams rarely provide feedback.

On July 19, 2024, I decided to build a platform to help people find jobs. In four days I developed the concept, and in eight hours — the first prototype. That is how Grind Soft was born.

Launching the Startup

My co-founder Erik Tonoyan and I knew almost nothing about business at the start. I understood the service needed to be monetized, but that meant registering as a sole proprietor and dealing with legal matters. In the first week I was writing to banks, pitching partnerships — and they replied «sure, let’s do it.» I did not realize it meant nothing, but just getting a response from a bank was inspiring.

Our team has seven people. The youngest are me and my co-founder — we are both 17. I am in 12th grade, and he is in his third year of college.

Target audience

We help people enter professional fields and develop their soft skills. The problem many face is not a lack of technical skills — it is an inability to demonstrate their value in the job market. People lose jobs or get rejected at interviews simply because they can not talk about themselves, explain what they bring to a company, or make the case for why they should be hired.

Our goal is to help people improve communication, negotiation, and teamwork skills. We provide tools for confidently presenting yourself, effectively collaborating with colleagues, and building productive communication.

There are products out there that prepare people for technical interviews, but only a small portion of solutions focus on soft skills — and those that do tend to be too generic, offering vague feedback like “A2 level” or “T3” with no clarity on what the assessment is based on.

What sets us apart is detailed, personalized feedback. We analyze not just the content of answers, but also voice, confidence, and speaking pace — then provide a full communication analysis.

Our main audience right now is individual users. Once we reach 4000 users, we plan to move into B2B, so companies can hire candidates with real skills rather than just mass-applying résumé senders.

Challenges

When we started, we knew almost nothing about startups, incubators, or accelerators. Everything was built from scratch.

Advice for aspiring founders: live your project, do not just treat it like a job. Even as a student, I am mentally focused on growing the startup and hitting milestones all the time.

The main thing is to start with the product and talk to people. Write your idea down on paper, tell others about it, and try to “sell” the concept. If you can not get people interested from the very beginning, it only gets harder from there.

We went through this ourselves: for the first few months we gave nobody access, calling it a beta. If we had started sharing it right away, things could have moved much faster. Now we actively engage users.

Achievements

Getting into the DigiTec exhibition was our first real success. It was the first time we presented the product to real people — three days, around 700 visitors per day. We told them about the project, and people were genuinely interested — they wanted to try the service, practice interviews, and develop their skills.

But that is also where our first major failure happened: we did not give users access. We thought the product had to be perfect, so we just handed out business cards hoping people would come back later — they did not. For several months we tried to raise investment without fully understanding how to do it. Those five months became a validation period: collecting feedback, adding features, developing the product. We pitched at various events but got no investment — there was no traction, no users. We faced rejection after rejection, but did not give up.

In May we had our first official offline pitching session. Investors advised us to build an audience first: without users, all pitches are pointless.

In September we launched the Arminterview service. We started actively posting on LinkedIn, inviting people to try the service and build their skills. We now have over 250 users, and one customer has already purchased the premium version. During this time we participated in international events: C Startup Summit, DigiTec, and FinnoWay Armenia.

Plans

We now have a clear fundraising plan and continue developing the product to help people improve their skills and succeed in interviews. Our main priority right now is growing the user base as fast as possible. By the end of year we aim to reach 500 users, and by summer 2026 — 4000 users and 50 companies on the platform.

We are not in any accelerators yet and are fully focused on product development. After establishing ourselves in the Armenian market, we plan to attract international companies and expand into Europe — specifically Belgium. The US is a long-term goal, around five to seven years from now.

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Springfield remembers Armenian Genocide with flag-raising ceremony

Chmshkian Vicken
WWLP
April 24 2026

Springfield remembers Armenian Genocide with flag-raising ceremony

by: Corina Wallenta

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – An Armenian flag-raising ceremony took place at Springfield City Hall, honoring the lives lost in the Armenian Genocide.
Springfield plants Liberty Elm to mark U.S. 250th birthday

Mayor Domenic Sarno presided over the event. Mayor Sarno also declared the day as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in the city of Springfield. Members of Saint Mark Armenian Church and the local Armenian community attended the ceremony.

Mayor Sarno detailed the history of the Armenian Genocide during the event. He drew comparisons between the genocide and subsequent atrocities that have occurred in recent human history.

“Today and for the rest of the days we honor the memory of all the victims and the courage of the survivors reaffirming our commitment to recognize the truth of history in a vital step in preventing future atrocities in genocide wherever they occur,” Sarno said.


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Arciero joins Armenian community in Westford in genocide commemoration

Boshkezenian Garik
Westford
April 24 2026
  • April 24, 2026
  • – By Alex Svenson

WESTFORD CENTER — Members of the Armenian community gathered on the Westford Town Common on Friday to commemorate Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day with the town’s annual flag-raising ceremony.

The event, held at 4 p.m., marked the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, honoring the estimated 1.5 million Armenians who were systematically killed by the Ottoman Empire beginning in 1915. Community members, local officials and representatives from regional Armenian organizations attended the ceremony.

The program featured remarks from local leaders, including a speaker who reflected on the historical significance of the genocide and its lasting impact on Armenian communities worldwide. Attendees stood in observance as the Armenian flag was raised alongside the American flag, symbolizing remembrance, resilience and unity.

Organized with support from the Armenian National Committee of Merrimack Valley, the ceremony aimed to educate the public and preserve the memory of those who perished. Participants emphasized the importance of acknowledging historical injustices and ensuring that future generations understand the consequences of hatred and violence.

Many attendees described the gathering as both solemn and meaningful, noting the importance of coming together as a community to honor victims and survivors. The ceremony concluded with a call to “Remember, honor, never forget,” reinforcing the enduring message of remembrance tied to Armenian Genocide Day.

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City of Binghamton raises flag in recognition of Armenian Remembrance Day

Greg Madatian
WBNG, NY
April 25 2026

By Luke Meade

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WBNG) — Binghamton mayor Jared Kraham met with members of the local Armenian community to hold a flag raising of their flag in recognition of Armenian Remembrance Day.

Mayor Kraham says today marks the 111th anniversary of the onset of the Armenian genocide, an 8-year conflict that resulted in the mistreatment of over 1 million people.

He remarked on the strength and spirit the local Armenian community has in our area.

“Today in Binghamton, the many contributions of Armenian Americans in our community are a testimony to that spirit and that courage. Binghamton is what it is today because of our Armenian community.“ said Mayor Kraham.

Before the flag was raised the mayor declared that today will be recognized in the City of Binghamton as ‘Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day”

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The Armenian community in Varna (Bulgaria) honored the victims of the genocide

Chakhmakhchian Vatche
FAKTI, Bulgaria
April 25 2026

A silent procession was held

The Armenian community in Varna marked the 111th anniversary of the genocide of the Armenian people with a procession.

On April 24, 1915, hundreds of Armenians were arrested and then executed in Istanbul, BNT recalls. Thus began the massacre of more than a million and a half people, including many women and children. The procession silently started from the courtyard of the Armenian Church in Varna and reached the monument to the Armenian refugees, to remind us of what we must not forget on this day.

Arusina Papazyan: “On this day, we must not forget history, we must not forget the personal stories of many Armenians who 111 years ago experienced the horror within the borders of the Ottoman Empire.”

Hovhannes Dyulgeryan: “Let us pay tribute to all countries, including Bulgaria, that have welcomed us with open arms in the most difficult moments of our existence.”

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Activists in Yerevan burned a Turkish flag on the anniversary of the Armenian

Boshkezenian Garik
Caucasian knot
April 23 2026
Activists in Yerevan burned a Turkish flag on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Participants in a torchlight procession in Yerevan, dedicated to the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, burned the Turkish flag.

As reported by the “Caucasian Knot,” every year on April 23 and 24, residents of Armenia hold events in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. Thus, on April 23, 2025, activists in Yerevan organized a torchlight procession in memory of the victims of the genocide.

The events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire have been recognized as the Armenian Genocide by more than 30 countries, including Russia. Turkish authorities do not consider those events to be genocide, according to the “Caucasian Knot” report “The Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.”

Thousands of participants in a torchlight procession organized by the ARF Dashnaktsutyun “Nikol Agbalyan” student union gathered today in Republic Square. The procession route led to the Tsitsernakaberd memorial complex, Novosti-Armenia reports.

Those gathered in Republic Square in Yerevan burned the Turkish flag. “We will not abandon our history,” said Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the Supreme Body of the Dashnaktsutyun, during the rally.

Afterward, the rally participants moved along the route: Amiryan Street – Mashtots Avenue – Baghramyan Avenue – Kievyan Street – Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex. Many held flaming torches and the flags of Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh’s self-designation), as well as countries that have recognized the Armenian Genocide.

“Those who choose humility ultimately receive both humiliation and a new war. Those who cede part of their homeland in the hope of saving the rest give the enemy the opportunity to destroy us completely. Those who remain silent about the destruction of their own sacred sites silently become instruments in the struggle against our identity. Those who believe that identity can buy security are on the path to new exile,” News.am quoted Saghatelyan as saying.

The burning of the Turkish flag has been part of commemorative events in Yerevan on previous anniversaries of the Armenian Genocide. Thus, a year earlier, in April 2025, activists burned the flags of Turkey and Azerbaijan in Republic Square.

In 2023, participants in the commemorative events told the “Caucasian Knot” stories of their ancestors who survived the genocide, whose stories are passed down in Armenian families from generation to generation.

In particular, Arakel Hovsepyan reported that his grandfather was a deacon in a church. “When the pogroms began, the priest ordered him to ring the bells. From the bell tower, he saw the Turks throw his mother and sister into a ravine. Another group of Turks locked the priest in the church and set it on fire. My grandfather jumped from the bell tower and ran home, where he saw his father and two brothers hanged,” he said.

Materials on the attitudes of various countries toward the Armenian Genocide have been collected by the “Caucasian Knot” on the thematic page “Armenian Genocide: 100 Years of Admissions and Denials”.

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Turkey’s Erdogan Speaks Of ‘WWI Hardships’ For Armenians

Yeghisabet Arthur
Eurasia Review
April 24 2026

Turkey’s Erdogan Speaks Of ‘WWI Hardships’ For Armenians

 April 25, 2026  
By PanARMENIAN

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a message marking April 24, again stated that “Armenians of the Ottoman Empire lost their lives under the difficult conditions of World War I.”

In a condolence letter addressed to Armenian Patriarch of Turkey Sahak Mashalian, Erdogan wrote that the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was accompanied by clashes, movements of armed groups, terrorism, and epidemics, during which Armenians, along with other peoples, suffered deeply, RFE/RL reports.

Erdogan’s message was read during a church service held at an Armenian church in Istanbul.

“We prefer agreement over conflict,” the Turkish president wrote.

He did not address the process of normalization of Armenia-Turkey relations.

“We continue to act and strive together with all our citizens and friends, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation, with the aim of reaching more desirable days based on peace, prosperity, and brotherhood,” he noted.

Official Ankara continues to deny and does not recognize the fact of the Armenian Genocide.

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Armenians marking WWI massacres disapprove of thaw with Turkey

Emil Lazarian
MSN
April 25 2026
Story by AFP

As Armenians marked 111 years since the mass killing of their people under the Ottoman Empire during World War I, some in Yerevan expressed anger at normalising ties with Turkey without concessions.

Armenia and Turkey have moved towards a reset in recent years, after decades of hostility over the World War I-era massacres and Ankara’s support for Azerbaijan in its long-running conflict with Yerevan.

Both sides have taken steps towards opening their land border after more than three decades, while Turkey’s flag-carrying airline launched direct flights to Yerevan last month.

“The borders must be opened, but everything has its time. Even without taking the genocide into account, we only just emerged from a war. There’s no need to rush,” said Azat Aleksanyan, a 29-year-old programmer in Yerevan.

At a rally in the capital on Thursday, hundreds of young people carried torches in commemoration of the 1915 massacres, which Armenia and more than two dozen countries have recognised as a genocide — a charge Turkey firmly rejects.

“I think every country should recognise this, because it’s very important,” said Vrej Kiledjian, a 21-year-old IT technician taking part in the rally.

He was against opening the border.

“It is not very efficient for Armenia. Not for the economy, but for the people,” said Kiledjian.

Armenia has fought two major wars with Turkey’s ally Azerbaijan since the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

A 2023 Azerbaijani offensive led to an exodus of ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region.

Armenia and Turkey have no diplomatic ties, and their land border has remained closed since 1993.

But the two sides have signalled interest in warming ties in recent years.

In 2021, the two countries appointed special envoys to explore a path toward reconciliation.

Relations have further thawed since Azerbaijan and Armenia inked a US-brokered peace agreement last year, although many points of contention remain, including Azerbaijan’s imprisonment of ethnic Armenian separatists.

– ‘We want peace’ –

Artur Avanesyan, a 55-year-old Armenian veteran and a key figure in billionaire opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan’s election campaign, spoke to AFP from the Armenian Genocide Memorial complex, known as Tsitsernakaberd.

“Three million Armenians live in Armenia today, another 10 million abroad, in various countries. And today, they are united by one grief: the grief of genocide,” he said on Thursday.

“This has not been forgotten and will never be forgotten. Today, we want peace, we want a stable, just, and strong peace,” he added.

He also called for the return of Armenian separatists jailed in Azerbaijan.

“Without the return of these patriotic people, it is impossible to establish a just peace,” he said.

After he spoke, dozens of schoolchildren came to lay flowers at the monument, built into a hillside overlooking the capital.

Armenia has long sought international recognition that the mass killings under the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1917 amounted to a genocide, saying 1.5 million people died.

Turkey strongly denies the accusation of genocide and says that both Armenians and Turks died as a result of World War I. It puts the death toll in the hundreds of thousands.

Araksya Zakaryan, a 40-year-old dentist walking in Yerevan with her two daughters said “the pain remains”.

“Of course, we remember and will remember. I hope that one day this issue will also be resolved and people will regret their actions or the actions of their ancestors.”

cad/pdw



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Batumi 2026: Bulgaria and Armenia power to gold

Arsine Chaltikian
Inside the Games
April 25 2026

Batumi 2026: Bulgaria and Armenia power to gold

Karlos Nasar stepped on the platform on Friday at the European Weightlifting Championships in Georgia once again to assert his dominance, while youngster Emma Poghosyan claimed her first senior title.

In the men’s 94 kg category, Nasar reinforced his status as one of the sport’s most explosive talents. The Bulgarian secured the snatch gold with a successful lift of 176 kg, finishing just ahead of Armenia’s Ara Aghanyan, who took silver with 175 kg. Turkiye’s Hakan Şükrü Kurnaz was third with 166 kg.

Nasar demonstrated his ambition by calling for a world-record weight of 183 kg on his third attempt, though the lift went unsuccessful.

He was equally clinical in the clean & jerk, opening with 210 kg to immediately secure the discipline gold and the overall crown. With the absolute title secured, he loaded a massive 223 kg for a world-record attempt. While he fell short of completing the lift, his total of 386 kg earned him the European title.

Aghanyan claimed Armenia’s fourth silver in total with a result of 381 kg, while France’s Romain Imadouchene took the bronze with 370 kg. The French also won silver in the clean & jerk.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/batumi-2026-bulgaria-and-armenia-power-to-gold

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