WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid coronavirus and rainy weather the staff of the Armenian Embassy and Artsakh’s permanent representation, together with a number of community members, laid a wreath at the khachkar in the yard of the Embassy on April 24. Earlier that day, the Armenian Youth Federation arranged a small gathering at Sheridan Circle of Washington, DC, in front of the Turkish ambassador’s residence. The coronavirus forced a rearrangement but not cancellation of the commemorations. Both in Armenia and the Diaspora the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was marked by virtual means and symbolic physical gatherings.
Ambassador Varuzhan Nersesyan in his statement cited the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by both chambers of the US Congress in 2019, declaring: “The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is not merely a moral issue but one which has direct security implications for Armenian people, especially in the context of global geopolitical challenges.”
The pastors of both Armenian churches of the greater Washington area performed the liturgy at the khachkar remembering the victims of the Genocide.
“I applaud Ambassador Varuzhan Nersesyan for initiating and conducting this ceremony on the Armenian soil and his approval of the Greater Washington Armenian group’s fundraising efforts to donate 10,500 meals to the Capitol Area Food Bank, in memory of the 105th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide martyrs,” Kevork Marashlian, chairman of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Eastern District Committee stated, referring to the ongoing community effort to donate meals to American citizens who lack food in the days of the pandemic virus. The embassy announced its endorsement of the solicitation of food by the American-Armenian community. The donation of over 3 million meals across the country is a symbolic payback for the assistance that the American government and people rendered to the Armenians during the days of Genocide.
Bryan Ardouny of the Armenian Assembly of America and Aram Hamparian of the Armenian National Committee, the directors of key Armenian organizations based in Washington, D.C., published virtual messages commemorating the anniversary. So did many members of Congress, with some publishing video messages and others using twitter or other platforms.
“The facts are undeniable. Yet, generations of Armenians have had to fight tirelessly against those who attempted to rewrite history and deny the truth of the Armenian Genocide,” Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said in her commemorative statement.
