By Manal Abdel Fattah
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia said in a statement on the occasion of the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide that the threat of genocide still exists in the world and that the twenty-first century has witnessed new manifestations and consequences of the policy of ethnic cleansing.
She added: “On April 24, we salute and bow to the memory of the martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, which was committed in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century.”
Starting in 1915, as a result of crimes against humanity committed by the Young Turk government, about 1.5 million Armenians, including children, women and the elderly, were killed on the basis of their nationality alone, being Armenians, and millions of Armenians were deprived of their property and their historical, cultural and spiritual heritage.
This crime committed against the Armenians later became the basis for the definition of the International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Unfortunately, despite subsequent efforts, the threat of genocide remains in the world.
In the twenty-first century, in 2020-2023, we face new manifestations and consequences of the policy of ethnic cleansing. More than 150,000 Armenians have been forcibly displaced and forced to leave their historic homeland due to war, xenophobia, identity-based crimes, blockades and ongoing acts of intimidation against the population.
Taking into account the dangers of genocide, the cases witnessed in the modern world and many other examples of gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, Armenia continues its active participation in international platforms in order to coordinate efforts in combating the crime of mass murder and genocide, to prevent the occurrence of crimes of genocide and against humanity and to protect the rights of victims.”
