President Katerina Sakellaropoulou laid a wreath at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, thus marking Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day on April 24.
“This year we mark 106 years since the beginning of the systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians during the final years of the Ottoman Empire,” she stressed, “a genocide that crushed a prosperous Christian nucleus in the southern Caucasus, and almost wiped out ancient peoples.”
She also stated that “today, we unite with the Armenian communities in Greece and across the world, to honor the memory of the victims, but also honor the courage, dignity and self-confidence by which Armenians resisted the perils of alienation and subjugation.”
Finally, she pointed out that “we reaffirm our commitment to a world without discrimination and persecution, where everyone can feel safe, regardless of their identity, origin and beliefs.”
In his letter to the Armenian National Committee of Greece, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, emphasized that Greece did not forget that at the beginning of the 20th century both Greeks and Armenians experienced horrific situations with the tragedy of the Pontians and Asia Minor. The prime minister described the Armenian genocide as a massive and systematic crime, “which, in fact, was organized when the eyes of all humankind were on the muddy trenches of World War I.” In the same letter, the prime minister pointed out “the importance of preserving the historical memory,” and that oblivion let the back doors open so that events that have tarnished human history can re-occur. Our vigilance, therefore, must be constant, he said.
“Keeping the memory alive and expanding the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a duty to humankind,” Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on social media for the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
“Never again,” said Nikos Dendias and posted a photo from his visit to the Armenian Genocide memorial complex in Yerevan on 16 October 2020.
Η διατήρηση ζωντανής της Μνήμης και η διεύρυνση της διεθνούς αναγνώρισης της Γενοκτονίας των Αρμενίων είναι το ελάχιστο χρέος ολόκληρης της ανθρωπότητας. Ποτέ ξανά! (φωτογραφία από την επίσκεψή μου στο Ερεβάν στις 16/10/20) #ArmenianGenocide #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/D1FwWyAhzU
— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) April 24, 2021
Thessaloniki honors Armenian Genocide Day with events
Events for 106th Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day by Turkey are taking place today in Thessaloniki. In the morning, a memorial service was held at the Orthodox Armenian Church of the Virgin Mary and wreaths were laid at the Hero of the 3rd Army Corps.
In his message for the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, the Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia – Thrace), Stavros Kalafatis, said: “On April 24, 1915, the Ottomans launched the massacre battalions against the Armenians. Torture, death marches, massacres of innocents followed. In a word, Genocide. One country after another recognizes the historical truth. Instead of reacting, let our neighboring country do the same. In order to get rid of its past and to correct its course in the future.”