Genocide Commemorations Held in Turkey

     On April 24 in Istanbul, four events commemorating the 95th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide were held—including three held outside, in public, all while obstacles, counter protests, and fascist rhetoric tried to disrupt the commemorations, and reminded the few hundred participants of the long way ahead.  

      At 7 p.m., a candlelight vigil was held in Taksim Square in the presence of hundreds of policemen and a large crowd of reporters and onlookers. Organized by Turkish intellectuals, the vigil was the most advertised of the commemoration events that day, and attracted the largest number of participants and counter-demonstrators. The organizers read a statement about April 24, 1915, saying that this was their pain as well. Then, for almost half an hour, the participants in the vigil sat in silence while counter protestors nearby, pushed back by the police yelled, “Death to the Armenian Diaspora.”