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ATHENS: Events Marking Armenian Genoicde Held In Greece

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  • ATHENS: Events Marking Armenian Genoicde Held In Greece

    EVENTS MARKING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE HELD IN GREECE

    Athens News Agency
    April 26, 2009 Sunday
    Greece

    Events marking the 94th anniversary since the Armenian genocide were
    held in Athens and the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Sunday.

    At the event in Athens, speakers commemmorated the slaughter of 1.5
    million Armenians at the hands of Turks, while some criticised the
    stance of Greek police during Friday's march by the Armenian community
    in Athens to the Turkish Embassy.

    The event was then addressed by Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos,
    who represented the government and Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. He
    apologised on behalf of the police for Friday's incidents and stressed
    that Greece, under all governments, was and would remain at the side
    of the Armenian people's struggle.

    quot;There were no 'orders from above'. It was just a bad moment for
    which I publicly apologise,quot; he said.

    He stressed that even today, nothing could be taken for granted and
    that the struggle for peace and freedom had to be constant.

    Other speakers at the Athens event included Parliament vice-president
    Anastasios Nerantzis and representatives of all the Greek political
    parties, armed forces, police, Church, local government and diplomats.

    It ended with a video and traditional Armenian songs, followed by a
    march to Syntagma Square and the laying of a wreath at the Tomb of
    the Unknown Soldier.

    The Thessaloniki event at the Vellidi Conference Centre was attended
    by Deputy Interior Minister Constantine Gioulekas, who stressed the
    bonds of friendship between Greeks and Armenians and said that the
    Armenian struggle for the recognition of their genocide struck a
    chord with Greeks, who had experienced the genocide of Pontians and
    the Greeks of Asia Minor.

    The event, followed by the laying of a wreath at the 3rd Army
    Corps monument, was also attended by local authority officials in
    Thessaloniki, representatives of Armenian associations and Greek MPs.
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