"Don't Lend Us Our Own Church:" Symbolic liturgy served in Yerevan

Local Armenian movement Miasin (Together), in coordination with the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, held today a symbolic liturgy at the hilltop genocide memorial Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan.

Held simultaneously with the mass served in Sourb Khach Church (Saint Cross) in Van, Eastern Turkey, this event organized by the Miasin movement is meant to be an alternative to the Sourb Khach mass.

The participants went to the eternal fire in Tsitsernakaberd where a service for the dead was delivered. Then they placed flowers on the memorial. Many were holding posters that read “Turkey, Be Committed To Your International Obligations,” “Don’t Lend Us Our Own Church.”

“Today we have not gathered here to complain; we are strong. Today we have come here to show the Turkish and the international community that we stand up to our [cultural heritage], and that no power can any longer alienate us from our memory, our cultural heritage and our history,” Director of the Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan said in his speech.

Mr Demoyan at the same time mentioned that all the borders currently demarked around Armenia are conventional.

“Being here today is a symbolic message: we will never tolerate that our cultural heritage, memory be subject to political speculation,” he added, representing the symbolism of the day: “Never Forget: Remember Forever.”