REPORT: Armenians in Lebanon commemorate the 1915 genocide

The Armenian Tashnag, Hunchag and Ramgavar parties held a popular march on Wednesday from the municipality of Bourj Hammoud towards the Martyrs' square to commemorate the Armenian Genocide.             

In this regard, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Hunchag party Alex Keuchkerian said that Armenians were the victims of a conspiracy highlighting the importance of recognizing the genocide by the Turkish authorities and compensating the losses.                 

Keuchkerian added that the crime which was organized 98 years ago by the Association of Young Turks was not fruitful although hundreds of thousands died adding that "the Armenian people are on the right track".                               

The Armenian Genocide took place from 1915-1918, with renewed instances of brutality occurring between 1920 and 1923. By 1923, the Armenian population had been completely eliminated from Asia Minor and historic West Armenia.                                      

April 24 is commemorated as the date of the unfolding of the Armenian Genocide where 300 Armenian leaders, writers, thinkers and professionals in Constantinople (present day Istanbul) were collected, deported and killed. Tragically, 5,000 of the poorest Armenians were also slaughtered in their homes and the streets. The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at 1 and 1.5 million.                           

Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, denies the word "genocide" as an accurate description of the events.       

In recent years, it has faced repeated calls to accept the events as genocide. To date, twenty countries have officially recognized the events of the period as genocide, and most genocide scholars and historians accept this view.


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