Dozens of people commemorated the Armenian genocide in Assen this afternoon. It is 110 years since more than a million Armenians were murdered and the memory of it still lives strongly with the Armenian community in the Netherlands.
The Armenian genocide is the name for a mass murder between 1915 and 1917 on Armenian inhabitants by the Turkish regime of the Ottoman Empire. Every year Drenthe Armenians commemorate the genocide at the Armenian monument at De Boskamp cemetery.
The memory of the genocide is, according to Nicolai Romashuk Jr. From the Armenia Foundation still alive and kicking. “You grow up with the stories of your family, who are told from generation to generation. The genocide always comes up for a moment on birthdays.”
In silence, those present walked to the monument with a large banner and Armenian flags. There, among others, the Armenian ambassador and mayor Marco Out van Assen wreaths laid for the victims of the genocide. There was joint praying and speech.
In the vicinity of Assen live according to Romashuk Jr. Relatively many people of Armenian descent. The monument at the cemetery came at their request. “It was the first Armenian genocilion monument in the Netherlands. That is why many people still come to the commemoration every year,” says Romashuk Jr.
Keep commemorating the genocide is important for Armenians. Especially because the genocide as such is not yet recognized by all countries. Turkey firmly denies that there was genocide.
That country admits that crimes have been committed on a large scale against Armenians, but not that there was a preconceived plan for genocide. In Turkey it is forbidden by law to speak of the Armenian genocide.
The United Nations and dozens of countries, such as the US, Germany, France and Russia, acknowledge that genocide has been committed. The Netherlands does not yet do that, despite repeated insistence from the House of Representatives, and speaks instead about the issue of the Armenian genocide.
“For geopolitical reasons, the Netherlands is not doing that yet,” says Romashuk Jr. “But Joe Biden did that in the United States. We continue to insist on the Dutch government and requests to finally recognize the genocide. It is part of us, we carry it in our hearts.”