Since the 1920s on April 24, every year Armenians commemorate the victims of Armenian Genocide of 1915.
During the Armenian Genocide about 1, 5 million Armenians were massacred by the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. Their main aim was to convert Armenians to Islam. Hence, on April 24 more than 230 Armenian intellectuals were arrested and deported from Constantinople. After that, ordinary Armenians were turned out of their homes and made to march the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. They were tortured, beaten and left on the way until they died. People who stopped to rest were shot. This slaughter was followed by the tortures of women, children and the elderly.
Although 1,5 million Armenians were killed, those who survived, made communities all over the world thus forming the Armenian Diaspora.
Despite the undeniable proves, the Turkish government doesn’t recognize the Armenian Genocide, but governments and parliaments of 30 countries, including Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia, as well as 49 states out of 50 of the United States, have recognized the events as a genocide.
In 1967 Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex was built eternalizing the memory of the victims. The complex occupies 4500 square meters of territory and consists of three main buildings: the Memorial Wall, the Sanctuary of Eternity (Memorial Hall & Eternal Flame) and the Memorial Column “The Reborn Armenia.” As part of the monument, an arrow-shaped stele of granite, 44 meters high, reaches to the sky, symbolizing the survival and spiritual rebirth of the Armenian people.
A mourning procession of thousands of Armenians, which includes local Armenians as well as Diasporans, begins in a silent march that moves to the Armenian Genocide Memorial every year on April 24. People lay flowers at the eternal flame.
