On 105th anniversary, Armenians of Qamishli call for international recognition of massacres committed by the Ottomans
Qamishli – North-Press Agency
Reem Chamoun – Charbel Hanou
On Thursday night, the Armenians of Qamishli city, northeastern Syria, commemorated the 105th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in the absence of civilians due to the precautionary measures taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and demanded the international community recognize these massacres.
Armenians commemorate April 24th of each year in memory of the massacres committed against them by the Turkish Ottomans in 1915. According to Armenian documents, about one and a half million of the Armenian population were killed, and more than a half million Syriacs and Assyrians were victimized, according to historical Syriac sources.
Levon Yaghyayan, the Armenian Orthodox bishop in the al-Jazira region, said that the Syrian people and the Syrian government at that time were the first to recognize the Armenian massacre when they welcomed the Armenians on their lands after violence and persecution committed against them by the Ottomans.
Dr. Antranik Sarkisyan, from the Armenian Orthodox community in Qamishli, told North-Press: "The Ottoman state became known for its oppression and extermination of generations of Armenians after it committed a massacre against Armenian, men, women, and children."
Dr. Mary Milkon, a member of the Women's Committee of the Armenian Church in Qamishli, told North-Press that this genocide was historically proven and has been recognized by more than 30 countries and parliaments around the world.
She added that the Armenian people in Syria are grateful to the Syrian People’s Assembly after their recognition of the genocide. “Syrian Armenians are part of the Syrian people and complement the mosaic that characterizes this people. The Armenians, as they defended their presence in Syria, defend their cause to be recognized by the international community and Turkey.”
On the 13th of February, the Syrian People’s Assembly recognized that the Ottoman Empire committed massacres against Armenian Christians.
On this day each year, The Armenian Church holds a candlelit march in the city of Qamishli commemorating the Armenian genocide, and the Syriac and Assyrian parties in the region, represented by the Syriac Union Party and the Democratic Assyrian Organization, recall the massacres conducted against the Assyrians and Syriacs, but this year it was cancelled due to the outbreak of coronavirus around the world and the precautionary measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus.