Armenian communities of Ukraine mark 90th anniversary of genocide

Religious Information Service of Ukraine

LVIV - The Armenian communities of Kyiv and Lviv on April 24 commemorated the 90th anniversary of the beginning of mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916. Some data indicate that two-thirds of Armenians living in western Armenia and the Ottoman Empire perished.

Ukraine remains one of the countries that still have not recognized the event as genocide. The Armenian community has expressed hope that the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada will soon do so.

A memorial service for the Armenian victims was held at the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Kyiv. An Armenian church once stood there in the 14th century, but burned later, never to be rebuilt.

The Armenian community of Lviv also joined the Armenians of the world in prayer for the souls of innocent victims. It is in Lviv, among other cities, that many Armenians found refuge. According to the Postup (Progress) newspaper, about 500 people came together for a meeting at the Taras Shevchenko monument in Lviv.

The Armenian consul in western Ukraine, the Polish vice-consul in Lviv, the Russian consul general in Lviv, as well as representatives of the Orthodox and the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Churches gathered at the ceremonial meeting.

"The non-recognition of the Armenian genocide cannot be justified by any national interest" and "Turkey's silence on the Armenian genocide is a falsification of history and a misinformation of the international community" were among the slogans on posters carried by Armenians in downtown Lviv.

"Turkey wants to join Europe. Therefore, it should first do as the Germans once did, who asked forgiveness of the Jews, and are even paying them material compensation now," said Armenian Mykola Kocharian. "We are not talking about material compensation, but we do want moral satisfaction."

The Armenian tragedy has been recognized as genocide by most countries of the world. Meanwhile, Turkey refuses to accept responsibility for the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman times. Ukraine, too, thus far has failed to recognize the events beginning in 1915 as genocide.

Representatives of the Armenian community in Ukraine say that, even though most of the world speaks of 1.5 million victims, the actual number of Armenians who died in the Ottoman Empire is 2 million, since the annihilation of Armenians lasted much longer than is declared today.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 5, 2005, No. 23, Vol. LXXIII

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