The Initiative

THE INITIATIVE

European Commemorations of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey 

Leading Organisations 

    • DurDe ! : Founded in 2007 right after the      murder of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, is a Turkish network combating against racism, nationalism and hate crimes in Turkey. It has been organising Commemorations of the Armenian Genocide on Taksim Square in Istanbul since 2010.
    • AGBU Europe : The Armenian General  Benevolent Union (AGBU) is the world’s largest non-profit organisation devoted to preserving and promoting the Armenian identity and heritage through educational, cultural and humanitarian programs.
    • EGAM : The European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM) gathers the main antiracist NGOs from 30 countries in Europe in order to structure the fight against racism, antisemitism, racial discrimination and genocide denial at a truly European level.

Context 

It has now been nearly hundred years that the Ottoman Empire ordered and organized the killing of the empire’s Armenian population. The Armenian people were the victims of a genocide which would soon serve as a gruesome reference for those that would follow.

Since then, the Turkish Republic is still refusing to recognize the genocide and is actively fighting those who try to do so. This prevents citizens from Armenian and Turkish origins from fully addressing the past as well as issues of identity. It is also an obstacle to the fight again racism in Turkish society and for the improvements in Human Rights and Freedom of speech.

Since 2010, DurDe! has been organising the commemorations of the Armenian Genocide on Taksim Square in Istanbul, thus daring to open a risky path towards recognition and democratisation in Turkey. In 2013, it called for European support and participation in order to place the issue in the context of European values and enhance the impact of the initiative.