Message by President Armen Sarkissian on the day of commemoration of the victims of the Armenian Genocide

Today, the entire Armenian nation, together with the progressive mankind, on all continents is commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

April 24 is the day to remember the innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide masterminded and perpetrated in the Ottoman Turkey on the state level.

It is the day to recall once again the tragedy of our compatriots who had suffered ferocities and had been expelled from the land of their ancestors, to remind of our lost spiritual, material, and cultural assets, to tell the world once again about the Genocide - the most hideous crime against humanity, and to call for soberness and the fight against denial.

For us, April 24 is the day of lamentation but also the day of revival.

Impunity that followed the Armenian Genocide, had opened doors for other grave crimes against humanity and genocides: Remember Holocaust, tragedies in Cambodia and Rwanda.

It must become a lesson of vigilance for us all. International recognition and condemnation of this horrendous crime against humanity should become an important step in preventing its reoccurrence anywhere in the world.

We express our gratitude to all countries, international structures, and organizations, spiritual and political leaders, representatives of cultural, academic, and scientific circles who state their solidarity with the Armenian people, recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide.

We bow today to the memory of the innocent victims, but at the same time we manifest our unbreakable resolve to survive and to rebuild our Fatherland.

We, the generations of the survivors, have a duty to unite around our national aspirations, to remain true to our national identity and values, to boost the creative abilities of the nation, to build a modern, dynamically developing Armenia, which will be a source of pride for Armenians all over the world, able to defend the eternal rights of the Armenian people.