National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan sent a message during the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day.
"Dear compatriots,
Dear people,
On April 24, we commemorate the 1.5 million innocent victims of the Armenian Genocide.
109 years ago, the first genocide of the 20th century was carried out by the Ottoman Empire. Our nation was subjected to mass slaughter, inhuman suffering, and irreparable loss.
Unfortunately, this continues to be one of the daily challenges for many people, including Armenians.
This crime has no excuse, and humanity must remember, condemn, and prevent any manifestation of ethnic cleansing.
Genocide-dictating ideology must be condemned and eliminated thanks to democracy, the rule of law, recognition of the stated sovereignty of states, and solid national thinking.
The commemoration of the martyrs of the Great Genocide should not become a sentence for us, it should become an incentive to strengthen as a sovereign state, which is able to protect its own national interests with its thinking, education and creative work.
The pain and sorrow that exist in the heart of every Armenian must be transformed into protection of the vital interests of our national statehood and responsibility for one's own destiny.
Peace to the souls of our innocent martyrs."
