YEREVAN. – On Monday morning, President Serzh Sargsyan and First Lady Rita Sargsyan visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan, on the 102nd anniversary of this tragedy, and paid tribute to its victims (PHOTOS). 

Also, the President laid a wreath at the monument.

He was accompanied by Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, National Assembly President Galust Sahakyan, Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Constitutional Court President Gagik Harutyunyan, Armenian government members, and newly appointed Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov.

Thousands of people, including members of the diplomatic corps, Diaspora Armenians, guests and residents of Armenia, are heading towards the Armenian Genocide Memorial since early morning.

During the First World War, the Turkish authorities accused Armenians of sympathizing with Russia and used this as a pretext to declare the entire Armenian population their enemy. Under the order of the Ottoman rulers, the mass deportation and massacre of Armenians commenced on this day in 1915.

The death toll of this tragedy exceeds 1.5 million people; the half of all Armenians at the turn of the last century.

Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire is formally recognized by numerous countries including Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and most US states. But it was first acknowledged in 1965 by Uruguay. This calamity is also recognized by the Vatican, the European Parliament, and the World Council of Churches.