Armenia holds torch marches in commemoration of genocide

At night on April 24, funeral torch marches to commemorate the victims of the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Turkey and the 97^th anniversary of the tragedy took place in Yerevan and other cities on the country.

In the capital of Armenian, thousands of marchers made their way from the National Opera and Ballet Theatre to the Tsitsernakaberd Mound, to the Memorial to Victims of Genocide, where they plan to stay up all night, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The march was organized by the youth wing of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun". The protesters burned down the Turkish flag, and lit their torches from the flame. They called on Turkey to recognize the genocide and to repent of the deeds.

"When you take part in the action, you realize that your memory is alive and demands revenge. You are surprised at the behaviour of the international communities, who know but keep silent. They were silent then; and they keep silent now," said Zara Dilanyan, a participant of the march.

Zara believes that normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations is possible only if Turkey recognizes the Armenian Genocide and compensates the damage, as it happened in the case of the Holocaust.

"Any country would like to maintain good neighbourly relations with its adjacent countries; and in our case we even have no diplomatic relations," said Eteri Aivazyan, a student at Valery Bryusov Yerevan Linguistic University.

In her opinion, the Armenian leadership has done all the necessary steps to establish a dialogue; and the Armenian-Turkish Protocols, which remain un-ratified, are a bright example.