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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Armenians to mark 100 years since Ottoman massacre Friday April 24,2015

 
Armenians worldwide will mark the centenary of an Ottomon Massacre of up to 1.5 million of their people on Friday April 24,2015

In a procession to a hilltop memorial in the capital Yerevan, Armenians will carry candles and flowers to lay at an eternal flame, as members of the diaspora that fled as a result of the slaughter commemorate the sombre anniversary in cities thousands of miles away

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Francois Hollande are expected to be among a handful of leaders to travel to Armenia for the commemorations

In an unusual ceremony on Thursday April 23,2015, the Armenian Church conferred sainthood on those massacred by Ottoman forces a century ago, in what was believed to be the biggest canonisation service in history

Ex-Soviet Armenia and the huge Armenian diaspora worldwide have battled for decades to have the World War I massacres at the hands of the Ottoman forces between 1915 and 1917 recognised as a targeted genocide.

More than 20 nations -- including France and Russia -- have so far recognised the Armenian genocide, a definition supported by numerous historians


US President Barack Obama on Thursday would only go so far as to describe the World War I massacre as "terrible carnage"

German President Joachim Gauck was expected to draw an angry reaction from Turkey after he condemned the massacres as genocide for the first time, speaking at a religious service commemorating the bloodletting. 

Turkey on Wednesday April 22,2015 recalled its ambassador to Vienna in response to Austrian lawmakers` decision to condemn the massacre as "genocide"
Turkey has said up to 500,000 were killed, but mostly due to war and starvation, and rejects the use of that term.

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