Who remembered the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide?

As is done every year, the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire was commemorated on April 24 in 2023. On that day, not only the senior leadership of Armenia issues statements, but Armenia also receives messages of support and condolences from many countries of the world.

Moreover, as a rule, the leadership of Turkey also issues statements on April 24th, failing to call what happened a genocide and, instead, calling it a tragic event and using the expression “Ottoman Armenians who died during the First World War” or other similar expressions.

However, the 108th anniversary is remarkable in that not only the leadership of Turkey but also that of Russia did not make any statements in 2023.

Which countries issued statements?

On the occasion of the 108th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the United States of America, France, Greece, Canada and Cyprus made statements at the highest level. In addition, representatives of a number of other countries also commemorated the victims of the Genocide through statements by ambassadors, parliamentarians and other officials (among them, the Russian Ambassador to Armenia visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex).

The case of Hungary is noteworthy. After 2012, when Armenia severed diplomatic relations with Hungary, this year, for the first time, an event dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide was held in the country, which was attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Hungary, the Hungarian Parliament and academic circles.

Turkey and Russia

The leadership of Turkey, represented by the president of the country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, usually addresses the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople with a message on April 24, describing what happened in vague terms.

This year, however, such a message was not sent to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not issued any messages or statements regarding the Armenian Genocide. The last message was published in 2015, when the 100th anniversary of the Genocide was commemorated in Yerevan. Back then, Putin visited Yerevan and participated in a special ceremony held in Tsitsernakaberd, and even gave a speech. It is noteworthy that at that time Putin’s move was strongly criticized by official Ankara. In 2020, when the 105th anniversary of the Genocide was commemorated in Armenia, Putin did not make any statement.

It is noteworthy that on April 24, 2021, a Putin-Pashinyan telephone call took place, with no mention of the Genocide in the official press releases of either the Armenian or the Russian side.

This situation is peculiar in that in addition to being the strategic ally of Armenia, Russia recognized the Armenian Genocide in 1995.

Vahe Ghukasyan

Union of Informed Citizens