ATHENS. – Police hampered the ARF Dashnaktsutyun youth to hold a rally near the Turkish Embassy on April 22. After the memorial service at the monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, the participants launched a march in the New Smyrna, Azat Or reports.

The Armenian Youth with the national tricolor began to chant ’Nagorno-Karabakh is Ours’ and ’Karabakh Belongs to Armenians’ in front of the Azerbaijani Embassy.

Police took preventive measures near the Turkish Embassy, blocking the roads to the Embassy and used tear gas. The rally participants returned to the Syntagma Square in front of the Parliament and held protest action demanding the Government not to succumb to threats by the Turkish authorities and respect the freedom of speech of the Armenians in Greece.

The world commemorates on April 24 the 97th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the first genocide of the 20th century.

Commemoration actions are held in all states, people remember this monstrous crime against humanity as over one and a half million innocent Armenians were massacred in the Ottoman Empire, while hundreds of thousands were tortured and deported.

The fact of the Armenian Genocide is recognized by many states. It was first recognized in 1965 by Uruguay. In general, the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey has already been recognized by Russia, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Sweden, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Canada, Venezuela, Argentina, and 42 U.S. states.