Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day ( hy, Մեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր ''Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or'') or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a

public holiday A public holiday, national holiday, or legal holiday is a holiday generally established by law and is usually a non-working day during the year. Sovereign nations and territories observe holidays based on events of significance to their history, ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and the

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...

and is

observed Observation is the active acquisition of information from a primary source. In living beings, observation employs the senses. In science, observation can also involve the perception and recording of data (information), data via the use of scienti ...

by the

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

24 April Events Pre-1600 * 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty). *1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy ma ...

. It is held annually to commemorate the victims of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

of 1915. It was a series of massacres and starvation of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans. In

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

, the capital of

, hundreds of thousands of people walk to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial to lay flowers at the

eternal flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which can ...

History

Armenian Genocide memorial in Saint Sarkis Cathedral, Tehran

The date 24 April commemorates the

deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 The deportation of Armenian intellectuals is conventionally held to mark the beginning of the Armenian genocide. Leaders of the Armenian community in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul), and later other locations, were arreste ...

from Constantinople (present-day

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

). The first

commemoration Commemoration may refer to: *Commemoration (Anglicanism), a religious observance in Churches of the Anglican Communion *Commemoration (liturgy), insertion in one liturgy of portions of another *Memorialization *"Commemoration", a song by the 3rd a ...

, organised by a group of Armenian Genocide survivors, was held in Istanbul in 1919 at the local St. Trinity Armenian church. Many prominent figures in the Armenian community participated in the commemoration. Following its initial commemoration in 1919, the date became the annual day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide. On 9 April 1975, the

US House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

passed Joint Resolution 148 designating 24 April as a ''National Day of Remembrance of Man's Inhumanity to Man''. The Resolution commemorated the victims of genocide, ''especially those of Armenian ancestry who succumbed to the genocide perpetrated in 1915,'' The resolution however failed to pass in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee due to President

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...

’s strong opposition to what he saw as a threat to the country's strategic alliance with Turkey. In 1988,

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

formally adopted 24 April as a public day of commemoration. In 1997 in the US, the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

declared 24 April as a ''Day of Remembrance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915–1923, and for the victims of the Sumgait Pogroms of 1988 and Baku Riots of 1990''. In 2007,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

passed National Law 26199, designating 24 April as "Day of Action for Tolerance and Respect among Peoples", in which

Armenian Argentine Armenian Argentines are ethnic Armenians who live in Argentina. Estimates vary, but between 70,000 and 120,000 people of Armenian ancestry live in the country, forming one of the largest groups in the Armenian diaspora worldwide. The core of the ...

s are excused from work. In 2015, the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

unanimously passed Motion M-587, proposed by

Brad Butt Brad Butt (born May 10, 1967) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2011 election. He represented the electoral district of Mississauga—Streetsville as a member of the Conservative Party until his d ...

, marking April to be Genocide Remembrance, Condemnation and Prevention Month, and designating 24 April as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. In 2019,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

marked its first national commemoration of the genocide, with French president

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

declaring 24 April "a national day of remembrance of the Armenian genocide", fulfilling a campaign pledge. In 2021, US President Joe Biden recognized the genocide on 24 April, fulfilling a campaign pledge.

References

External links

The Official Armenian Genocide Centennial Website
{{Armenian Genocide Genocide remembrance days Armenian genocide commemoration April observances Public holidays in Armenia Public holidays in the Republic of Artsakh

History

See also

References

External links