ArmInfo.An event dedicated to the opening of a square in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire began in Haifa
As political scientist Alexander Tsinker reported on his Facebook page, those present honored the memory of the victims of the Genocide with a minute of silence, after which Haifa Mayor Einat Kalisch-Rotem and Armenian Ambassador Arman Hakobyan spoke. It should be noted that earlier it became known that the authorities of the Israeli city of Haifa decided to erect a monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide on one of the central squares of the city.
In this regard, Turkish Ambassador to Israel Sakir Ozkan Torunlar wrote an official letter to the Minister of Culture and Sports of Israel, Miki Zohar, asking for help in preventing the initiative to erect a monument. Zohar forwarded the letter to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, where consultations were held on this subject. The leadership of Haifa, however, did not heed the demands for the cancellation of the installation of the monument by the Turkish side. The author of the initiative to erect a monument to the Armenian Genocide is one of the former MPs from the "Meretz" party, who several times came forward with unsuccessful initiatives on the issue of the Armenian Genocide in the Israeli Parliament. We also add that Israel has not officially recognized the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.