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Monday, 25 April 2005

ARMENIA COMMEMORATES 1915 MASS KILLINGS

Published in News Digest

By empty (4/25/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Hundreds of thousands of people, including Armenia\'s top leaders, marked on 24 April the 90th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, converging on the monument to genocide victims near Yerevan, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service and international media reported. In a written address to the Armenian people, President Robert Kocharian termed the genocide a watershed in Armenian history and said international recognition that the killings constituted a genocide should become an issue in regional and international politics. At the same time, he reaffirmed Armenia\'s readiness to establish \"normal relations\" with Turkey.
Hundreds of thousands of people, including Armenia\'s top leaders, marked on 24 April the 90th anniversary of the mass killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, converging on the monument to genocide victims near Yerevan, RFE/RL\'s Armenian Service and international media reported. In a written address to the Armenian people, President Robert Kocharian termed the genocide a watershed in Armenian history and said international recognition that the killings constituted a genocide should become an issue in regional and international politics. At the same time, he reaffirmed Armenia\'s readiness to establish \"normal relations\" with Turkey. Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian said on 24 April that he believes Turkey will eventually acknowledge it as a genocide, but he added that \"the Turks must admit their ancestors\' mistake.\" Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that Armenia wants Turkey\'s accession to the EU to be made contingent on recognition of the genocide and the opening of its borders with Armenia. (RFE/RL)
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