"We Have to End the Policy of Denial"

Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Initiative today (Sunday) organized events in Istanbul, Ankara, Bodrum and Diyarbakır to commemorate the Armenians massacred in 1915.

Around 500 people gathered in front of a banner that read "the pain is ours", at Istanbul's Taksim Square. They lit candles and brought carnations

"April 24, 1915 marks the start of a disaster that tore the Armenian people from this land where they lived side by side with others since centuries, that left hundreds of thousands dead and subject to all kinds of atrocities for nothing but being Armenians," said Zeynep Tanbay, prominent modern dancer and human rights activist.

"Since then, governments and state authorities tried to play down, if not to cover up and legitimize this history. Yet, this lethal exile is clearly a crime against humanity. We have to end denying, now. This is why we invite all our people who think that this land should be the land of fair people, to an late humanitarian duty. We have to declare that the heavy crime that's symbolized by April 24 is our common pain."

Arat Dink,  Fethiye Çetin, Masis Kürkçügil, Zeynep Tanbay, Yıldız Önen, Osman Kavala, Ahmet İnsel, Doğan Tarkan, Ufuk Uras, Yiğit Ekmekçi, Ayşegül Altınay,  Atilla Aytemür, Ayça Damgacı, Gencay Gürsoy, Tayfun Mater, Cengiz Aktar, Yavuz Önen,  Yalçın Ergündoğan, Ferhat Kentel and Garo Paylan were among the participants. (ÇT/EÖ/EÜ)