Nagorno-Karabakh holds torchlight marches and rallies in memory of genocide victims

Stepanakert and the district centres of Nagorno-Karabakh held torchlight processions, mourning services and rallies in memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire. More than 5000 people took part in the march in Nagorno-Karabakh capital.

In the evening on April 23, the youth organization ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" and the student union "Aram Manukyan" organized torchlight marches in Stepanakert and in all seven regional centres of Nagorno-Karabakh, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Prior to the marches, priests held mourning services in churches in memory of the genocide victims.

After the mourning service in Stepanakert, a column with lighted torches and candles went along the central avenue to the monument-bell tower in memory of the innocent victims of the Genocide, located in the territory of the memorial complex. According to the organizers, more than 5000 people took part in the march. In their hands, they were carrying posters with an appeal to the world community to condemn the Armenian Genocide and give a proper assessment of that crime.

When speaking at a rally before participants of the torchlight march, Lernik Ovannisyan, a member of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" faction of the National Assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh, noted that "torchlight marches had also been organized in 30 countries of the world." According to him, the struggle for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide reached a new level.

On April 24, people laid wreaths and flowers to memorial complexes in Stepanakert and in the district centres of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.