Armenia turned off its street lights on Thursday to commemorate the victims of the 1915 genocide, a ceremony different from previous years due to the coronavirus pandemic and the confinement in force in this Caucasus country. The usual torch parade in the capital, Yerevan, which takes place every April 23, was canceled this year and access to the genocide memorial overlooking the city has been closed.
Read also: In Armenia, rapacious officials fade in favor of new entrepreneurs
The 105th anniversary of the tragedy "is commemorated in accordance with the protocol imposed on us by the pandemic" of coronavirus, said President Armen Sarkisian in a statement. "We remember the victims all the time and everywhere, no matter where we are in the world," he added.
Candles at the windows
Instead of the usual ceremonies, the street lights were turned off and church bells rang across the country. Under a spring rain, Yerevan plunged into darkness while the inhabitants turned off the lights of their homes. Many have lit candles or lights on their windowsills.
In March, Armenia, which officially registered 1,523 cases to date, including 24 deaths from coronavirus, declared a state of emergency on its territory and imposed general confinement to stop the spread of the disease.
Armenians estimate that 1.5 million of their own were systematically killed by troops of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. Turkey rejects the term genocide, referring to reciprocal massacres against the backdrop of civil war and famine that left hundreds of thousands of people dead on both sides. The Armenian genocide is recognized by around thirty countries and a number of historians.
President Sarkisian said on Thursday that "the recognition of the genocide by Turkey and the removal of its consequences is a security issue for Armenia, the Armenian nation and the region". Prime Minister Nikol Pachinian and the Patriarch of the Armenian Church, Garéguine II, will lay flowers on Friday in front of the Yerevan Genocide Memorial.