Vigil and Commemoration in Berlin

Protestors

by Muriel Mirak-Weissbach
BERLIN, May 16, 2019 — A central feature of the events organized every year by the Armenian community on April 24 is the demand that Turkey acknowledge the genocide. The AGA, a Working Group for Recognition, held a vigil on April 27 in front of the Turkish Embassy in Berlin, precisely to raise this demand. Participants in the vigil held up a banner with the text, “Armenians, Aramaeans, Assyrians, Greeks Speak with One Voice against the Turkish Genocide.” On the following day, the FÖGG, a Society for the Promotion of an Ecumenical Monument for Genocide Victims in the Ottoman Empire, joined with the Armenian Church and Cultural Society held its commemoration at the site of the ecumenical alters of remembrance in the Berlin-Charlottenburg cemetery. Prof. Tessa Hofmann, sociologist and Armenian studies scholar, plays a leading role in both organizations.

At the chapel of the Evangelical Cemetery, Sona Eypper of the FÖGG leadership, welcomed participants, who received greetings from Armenian Ambassador Ashot Smbatyan. Archimandrite Yegishe Avetisyan spoke on “April 24th, 1915 and its Significance for Armenians Today,” in Armenian, with consecutive translation. Amil Gorgis reported on the completion of the ecumenical monuments. “Loss and Legacy” was the title of a series of readings from memoirs of survivors, delivered by Tessa Hofmann, Gohar Baghdasaryan and Anais Gövez.

Interspersed throughout the program were musical interludes by violinist Lilit Rostomyan, including Dele Yaman by Komitas. Following a moment of silent reflection, the participants walked in a procession to the ecumenical monuments and laid wreaths, after which Avetisyan offered prayers.

(For more on the FÖGG and AGA see https://mirrorspectator.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/March-3-2018-1.pdf, http://www.genozid-gedenkstaette.de/fogg-aktiv/index.php) and http://www.aga-online.org/aboutus/index.php?locale=de)