Armenian military battalion in Tal Tamr commemorates Seyfo massacres

Armenian military unit commemorates the Seyfo massacre in the Church of Mar Zaya in Tal Tamr – North Press

Tal Tamr – North-Press Agency

 

With the participation of dozens of Armenians in the Church of Mar Zaya in the village of Tal-Goran in the countryside of Tal Tamr, northeastern Syria, the Armenian Military Battalion, which is under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), commemorated the 105th anniversary of the massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian people, according to historical and Armenian documents.  

 

The memorial ceremony took place with a military parade of the Armenian Martyr Nubar Ozaniyan Battalion, while a signboard was hung on the wall of a house in front of the village church saying “We are still Armenians”. 

 

Nubar Makunyan, an Armenian language teacher said that, “The genocide against the Armenians still continues, and during the past years, the Turkish state has practiced massacres against the Kurds, the Syriacs, and other components in the region.”  

 

“They have planted fear in our souls to this day, to the extent that the new generation have forgotten their nationality and language, where some of us have become Arabs, Kurds, and Turks. So, denouncing this massacre historically is not enough, because these crimes are still continuing by the Turkish state.” He added.

 

Inside the Church of Mar Zaya, pictures of Armenian victims who lost their lives during the Seyfo massacres were hung.  

 

The Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire, during and after the First World War, led to forced displacement of Armenians from their lands in Turkey. According to historical documents, the number of the Armenian victims is estimated between one and one and a half million people.  

 

In the recent years, Armenians in northeastern Syria have managed to organize themselves and open their own educational and cultural institutions, as well as to establish a military force.   

 

During the memorial ceremony, a cinematic film on Armenian history was displayed, in addition to lighting 105 candles inside the church, in reference to the years of the anniversary of the Armenian massacre.

 

In turn, Hevin Issa, resident of the city of Hasakah, condemned the massacre committed against her people in the past, saying that, “the Turkish state continues committing massacres against the peoples of the region.”

 

“We hope that the recognition of the Seyfo massacre does not remain as dead letters to serve international agendas.” She added.

 

Although Turkey considers that the Armenian massacre took place as a result of the state of chaos during the World War I, the governments and parliaments of 31 countries and 49 states of the United States of America, along with the United Nations, recognize the perpetration of genocide against the Armenian people by the Ottoman and Turkish states.