‘The Struggle Continues’: The Traditional Torchlight March to Dzidzernagapert

Under the slogan “The Struggle Continues, thousands turned out on Thursday for the torchlight procession to Didzerbagapert on the eve of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide—an event, which has become a tradition in Yerevan.

The event was organized by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia, the ARF Youth Organization and the ARF Nikol Aghabalian Student Association and kicked off from Yerevan’s Republic Square.

Before the start of the torchlight march, ARF Supreme Council of Armenia Ishkhan Saghatelyan and ARF Youth Organization’s Central Executive Zhora Avdalyan delivered remarks.

“Today, 111 years after the Armenian Genocide, we stand in the capital of the Armenian state to protect the inalienable rights of the Armenian people, to uphold our memory, to honor the memory of the victims of the Genocide, and to never allow another Genocide and deprivation of homeland. 111 years ago, they wanted to annihilate us, trying to destroy our identity. They wanted us to forget our symbols, not speak Armenian, not sing our songs, and deny our history,” Saghatelyan said in his remarks.

“The Armenian people were able to find strength within themselves, recover, and build a statehood. From Hayk Nahapet to Avarayr, from Sardarabat to the Artsakh Liberation War… the main objective of our struggle has been to preserve our identity and remain Armenian. And today, more than a century later, we are being attacked not with axes, but with the compulsion to deny and renounce our cause,” Saghatelyan continued.

“The goal is the same: to annihilate Armenians. They force us not to be inspired by Ararat, they force us to forget Artsakh and the crime committed there, they force us to renounce the birth certificate of our state, the Declaration of Independence. And this is happening at a time when our churches are being destroyed in Artsakh, and our brothers are in Baku prisons and, in fact, the policy of Genocide continues. All this is being done with the participation and complicity of the criminal sitting in this building, Pashinyan,” Saghatelyan said pointing to the government building.

The participants chanted slogans from Republic Square began the procession toward Dzidzernagapert, carrying with them the flags of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, as well as the flags of the countries that recognized the Armenian Genocide.

At the Dzidzernagapert Memorial Complex, marchers observed a minute of silence in memory of the more than 1.5 million victims of the Genocide and laid flowers around the eternal flame, where a prayers and a memorial service were held.