ArmInfo.On April 24, the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, committed in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, is marked in Armenia. On this day the citizens of Armenia lay flowers to the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex in order to pay tribute to the memory of the innocent victims of the first mass murder in the history of mankind on the basis of nationality.
The ceremony of laying flowers this year is taking place in a difficult, but encouraging for the Armenian people, domestic political situation caused by the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan amid massive protests.
As expected, the ceremony will be attended by the acting Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, members of the Government, lawmakers, representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia. At 3 pm, the representatives of the "Make a step, reject Serzh no" movement, led by movement leader Nikol Pashinyan, will join the ceremony.
As a result of the genocide, 1.5 million artmenians were massacred, as many people were scattered around the world. Thousands of Armenian manuscripts, hundreds of historical and architectural monuments were destroyed, more than 60 Armenian cities and 2.5 thousand villages were burnt. In 2015, the Armenian Apostolic Church canonized the victims of the Genocide.
The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by many countries. The first to recognize him in 1965 in Uruguay. Next Russia, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, as well as 45 US states followed suit. The Armenian Genocide was also recognized by the Vatican and the World Council of Churches.