Torchlit march held in Yerevan to mark mass deaths of Armenians

(23 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yerevan, Armenia - 23 April 2024
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Various of people with unlit torches
2. Azerbaijani and Turkish flags being burnt
3. Man banging burning pole against asphalt, near fire
4. Burnt remains of flag
5. SOUNDBITE (Armenian) Satenik Suleymanyan, local resident:
"I think this march has become more personal. While in the past, it was something handed down from generation to generation through history - stories, and films - now we feel it in our own skin, especially considering everything that happened in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and the ongoing events at our borders today in the Tavush [region]."
6. People standing with lit torches
7. People marching
8. SOUNDBITE (Armenian) Aram Poladyan, local resident:
"It is now the second decade that we hold torchlight processions, and we are committed to continuing this tradition in the future. This symbolizes Armenia’s unwavering fight against perpetrators and serves as the primary indicator of our fair struggle."
9. Various of people marching

STORYLINE:
Thousands gathered for a torchlit procession in Yerevan on Tuesday to commemorate those Armenians killed in Ottoman Turkey more than a century ago.

An estimated 1.5 million people were killed in the events that are widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Yerevan residents gathered at the central square, burned Turkish and Azerbaijani flags, lit torches, and marched through the streets with a procession accompanied by an orchestra.

Armenia formally observes Genocide Remembrance Day on 24 April, marking the start of the killings in 1915.

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