
ArmInfo. The memory of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire obliges us to be strong and united, to never forget, and to never give up. Gagik Tsarukyan, leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP), wrote this on his Facebook page on the occasion of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
He recalled that on April 24, the entire Armenian nation honors the memory of the 1.5 million innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide. "Time is powerless to dull the pain that the descendants of the Genocide victims still experience until historical justice is restored. This is not just Remembrance Day. This is a day of our conscience, our historical memory, our national identity," Tsarukyan stated.
However, the PAP leader believes that the Armenian people should not simply grieve - they must live, fight for justice, and strengthen their homeland so that the entire civilized world will see that the will of Armenians is unwavering. "Let us never forget or renounce our past, and together defend our national dignity. Let us build together the Armenia our ancestors dreamed of. I bow to the memory of our holy martyrs," Tsarukyan concluded. Let us recall that on April 24, 1915, in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the extermination of Armenian subjects began. It began with the arrests of representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia-writers and poets, architects and parliamentarians-and then escalated into the complete extermination of Armenians. As a result of these actions by the Turkish authorities, more than 1.5 million Armenians were deported, starved, and tortured to death.
The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by the Council of Europe (1998, 2001), the European Parliament (1987, 2000, 2002, 2005), the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities[7], the World Council of Churches, the Parliamentary Coalition of South American Countries (Mercosur), and the Parliament of Latin America (2015).
The Armenian Genocide has been recognized and condemned by many countries and influential international organizations. The first to officially recognize and condemn the mass killings of Armenians was the Parliament of Uruguay (1965). The extermination of Armenians has been officially recognized as genocide (under international law) and condemned by: Austria (joint statement of the chairmen of parliamentary factions, 2015), Argentina (2 laws, 5 resolutions; 2004, 2007), Armenia (1964 as part of the USSR, 1988, 1990), Belgium (1998, 2015), Bulgaria (2007, 2015), Bolivia (2014), Brazil (2015), Vatican City (2015), Venezuela (2005), Germany (2016), Greece (1996), Italy (2000, 2019), Canada (1996, 2002, 2004), Cyprus (1975, 1982), Latvia (2021), Lebanon (1997), Libya (2019); On April 18, 2019, the Interim Government of Libya adopted a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Lithuania (2005), Luxembourg (2015), Netherlands (2004, 2018), Paraguay (2015), Poland (2005), Portugal (2019), Russia (1995), Syria (2020), Slovakia (2004), USA (2019, 2021); On April 24, 2021, US President Joe Biden officially recognized the Armenian Genocide. Uruguay (1965), France (1998, 2000, 2001, 2006), Czech Republic (2015, 2017, 2020), Chile (2007), Switzerland (2003), Sweden (2010). Turkey continues its policy of denial of this crime against humanity.