Marking the 105th anniversary of the Armenian genocide in which the the Ottomans killed more than 1.5 million Armenians, prayers and masses were held in several governorates without worshippers except the attendants, in implementation of the precautionary measures to confront the Corona virus pandemic.
In the Bishopric of the Armenian Orthodox in Damascus, a mass was held headed by Bishop Armash Nalbandian who said that marking the anniversary in Damascus carries an additional meaning, because Syria has always been the shelter to which our ancestors took refuge, noting that the future generations will never forget the gratitude offered to the Armenians by Syrian people.
He added that the Monument of Gratitude was constructed in the Armenian capital Yerevan in 2011 in appreciation of Syrian people’s human stand and as a symbol of eternal friendship between the two peoples.
He expressed thanks and appreciation of the Armenians for the decision taken by the Syrian people’s Assembly which recognized the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman state.
The bells of the Armenian churches in Syria and the whole world rang at 11 am in commemoration of the anniversary.
Similar masses were also held in Aleppo and Lattakia in which speakers underlined the importance of marking the anniversary to pray for the victims of the Armenian genocide and for the martyrs of the Syrian Arab army who fell in the battlefield defending their people and homeland against terrorism.
The Armenian genocide took place between 1915-1923 and it included acts of killing and genocide that reached peak on April 24, 1915 through issuing a decision that called for displacing the Armenians living in the Ottoman empire and killing them.
K.Q.