On the initiative of the Armenian Embassy in Russian and the “Russian-Armenian cooperation” NGO, a commemoration evening entitled “I Remember and Demand” was held in Svetlanovski Hall of Moscow International House of Music on Monday. The evening was part of the program organized by All-Russian Commission on Coordination of the Events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide of 1915.
The organizers of the evening told Armenian News – NEWS.am that the event was attended by the representatives of the Russian state authorities, Russian politicians, representatives of science and culture, members of the Russian Federation Council and MPs of Russian State Duma, as well as foreign ambassadors accredited in Russian, famous members of the Armenian community in Russia and representatives of Russian and international mass-medias.
In his introductory speech, Armenia’s Ambassador in Russia Oleg Yesayan said that the Armenian Genocide Centenary will mark the new beginning of a more purposeful struggle for its international recognition and condemnation, including that by Turkey itself. “Proceeding from its historical duty before the victims of the Armenian Genocide and responsibility in front of the generations to come, Armenia will further continue its tireless struggle for the triumph of justice, since only the universal recognition, condemnation and penitence can remove the immortality of any big crime, and we all need this, including the Turkish nation,” Oleg Yesayan said.
In her speech, Armenian Parliament’s Deputy Speaker Hermine Naghdalyan presented compulsive historical facts regarding the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. “Prevention of genocides is the objective which the whole civilized community should seek to achieve. We, as successors of a nation, which has survived the Armenian Genocide, feel special responsibility for the process of the international struggle aimed at the acknowledgement and prevention of genocides, as well as for the question of restoring the rights of nations subjected to genocides and confirming historic justice,” Naghdalyan said.
Speaking about the Armenian Genocide, Russia’s State Duma Federal Assembly Deputy Chairman Nikolai Levichev noted that the fact of the Genocide has no statute of limitations and cannot be deleted from the human history. “Genocide is not only a crime against a nation, its traditions and faith. It is a crime against the future and the overall development of the civilization. Today we don’t have a right to forget about this crime, since the silencing of the Genocide facts paves the way for another violence,” Levichev said.
The commemoration event proceeded with the musical-dramatic performance “Armeniada” of the Moscow Theatre after Sergey Parajanov, being dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
