ERYWAN: April 24, 2025 Armenians around the planet celebrate the 110th anniversary of genocide, which consumed the lives of more than 1.5 million of their compatriots. In Yerevan, the highest state authorities paid tribute to the victims, and the evidence of the survivors reminds of the unrepentant wounds of history.
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- Armenian authorities pay tribute to victims
- What was Armenian genocide?
- Genocide stages:
- Araksi Demirchjan certificate: a conflict to regain the heritage
- International designation and controversy
- Poland remembers: The Sejm condemns Armenian genocide
- Memory as a commitment
Armenian authorities pay tribute to victims
The president of Armenia Vahagn Chaczaturian, Prime Minister Nikol Paszynian, and talker of Parliament Alen Simonian visited the Museum-Institut of Armenian Genocide in Yerevan on 23 April 2025. They took part in the beginning of a temporary exhibition entitled "Documenting the Crime: witnesses to the Armenian genocide", commemorating the 110th anniversary of these tragic events. They had previously laid wreaths at the victim's monument in the Tsitsernakaberd complex.
The exhibition presents about 70 eyewitness accounts – diaries, journals, diplomatic reports, photographic and movie materials – documenting genocide from the position of people from different corners of the world.
What was Armenian genocide?
The Armenian genocide is simply a systematic extermination of more than 1.5 million Armenians by the Government of Young People in the Ottoman Empire, launched in 1915 during planet War I.
Genocide stages:
- Intellectual arrests: On 24 April 1915 hundreds of Armenian intellectuals and social leaders were arrested in Constantinople, who were later murdered.
- Forced mobilisation and execution: About 60,000 Armenian men were incorporated into the Turkish army, disarmed and murdered.
- Deportations and massacres: Women, children and aged were deported to the Syrian desert, where many died at the hands of soldiers, police, and Kurdish and Chercian bands.
- Forced Islamism: Thousands of women and children were forced to control to Islam.
- Crime negation: To this day, the Turkish government has denied that genocide has occurred, despite many evidence and global recognition.
In 1948, the UN adopted the Convention on the Prevention and punishment of Genocide Crime, recognising specified action as an global crime.
Araksi Demirchjan certificate: a conflict to regain the heritage
The 90-year-old Araksi Demirchjan of Giumri, a descendant of survivors of genocide, expresses hope of recovering the property of her mother, Maria Chachikian-Demirchjan, who was taken from her during the deportation. "I want the planet to know what we have lost and how long we have been fighting for justice," she said in an interview with Armenpress.
The Araksi household comes from Kharberdu, a city in the Ottoman Empire. Her grandmother, Marta Chachikian, after losing her husband during the genocide, fled with her daughters to Aleppo. In 1929, Marta formally asked the Aleppo authorities to reconstruct the rights to left over properties in Turkey, but the case was not resolved.
In 1946, the Demirchian household repatriated to Armenia. "I was 9 erstwhile we came to Armenia. We were happy to go home," Araksi recalls. Her mother's first will, translated into Armenian, is presently stored at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. The paper indicates that the family's property in Kharberda was worth 18,000 Turkish lira in 1929.
Over the years, Araksi addressed many organisations in Armenia and abroad, and even visited Turkey to meet lawyers, but no applicable steps were taken. “I made a deal with God that I would not die until I had these goods back. As shortly as I get them back, I'll hand them over to the orphanages and nursing homes for the elderly. It is my duty," she added.
International designation and controversy
The Armenian genocide has been recognised by many states and global organizations. authoritative designation was expressed among others by France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Greece, Lithuania, as well as the Vatican, the European Parliament and the United Nations.
In North America, designation was expressed both by the United States (officially in 2021 by president Joe Biden) and Canada. In Latin America – including Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
Despite these recognitions, Turkey has consistently refused to accept responsibility, maintaining the communicative that the death of the Armenians was the consequence of wartime actions and chaos, alternatively than planned extermination. The Turkish Government is undertaking intensive diplomatic, legal and media activities to counter designation of genocide internationally, including through lobbying, propaganda and force on another countries.
This gap in the global approach not only complicates Turkey's relations with Armenia, but besides constitutes an obstacle to the process of reconciliation and stabilisation in the South Caucasus.
Poland remembers: The Sejm condemns Armenian genocide
Poland was 1 of the first countries in Central and east Europe to consider the tragic events of 1915–1923 as genocide. In 2005, the Sejm of the Republic of Poland unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the mass murders committed in the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire.
The resolution reads, among others:
"The Sejm of the Republic of Poland pays tribute to the victims of the first 20th century genocide – the Armenian genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923. We callback this crime to honor the murdered and prevent akin tragedies in the future.”
This crucial position of Poland was accepted with designation by Armenian diaspora and Armenian authorities. Poland, as a country experienced by its own historical tragedies, expressed solidarity with the Armenian people and its commitment to defending historical fact and human rights.
Memory as a commitment
The celebrations of the 110th anniversary of the Armenian genocide are not only an chance to worship victims and hear testimonies specified as the Araksi Demirczjan account. It is besides a time to reflect on the work of the modern planet for fighting for fact and justice.
Despite decades of passing, past inactive lives in the hearts of Armenians. Their voice demands not only memory but besides recognition, which is the foundation of reconciliation and lasting peace.
AI World, Armenia Source: Wikipedia, Armenpress Armenia, Armenian genocide. Hanging 20 Armenians on the boulevard of Sultan Bajazid in Istanbul. Turkey, 1913., author not, source: Wikipedia ♪ Oh, yeah ♪ 24.04.2025
