04/25/2022 Armenia (International Christian Concern) – On April 24, Armenians around the world commemorated Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. Observers recalled the horrific battle of their historically Christian ancestors in 1915 that resulted in the death of more than a million.
Armenians in Uruguay held a march in remembrance of the genocide. Turkish FM Cavusoglu was in the country at the time and flashed the racist and anti-Armenian Grey Wolves gesture to the crowds. ICC’s Turkey’s Overflowing Influence report details the Grey Wolf symbolism, “an extremist movement connected with the MHP party and youth cultural centers, the Grey Wolves are well-known for violently targeting ethnic-religious minorities and have been involved through many of most egregious violations of religious freedom.” The Grey Wolves symbol also repeatedly appeared during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh) war as Turkey supported Azerbaijani efforts to persecute Armenians.
Ahead of this year’s observance, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament, Garo Paylan, submitted a motion to acknowledge the genocide and remove the perpetrators’ names from public venues. Turkey continually rejected the killings of Armenians that occurred under the Ottoman Empire. Despite the fact that Paylan has submitted the motion for seven years, this year, he faced severe backlash.
Other government officials accused Paylan of slander, and now he faces a “legal process” for violating the Rules of Procedure. A spokesman for the ruling Turkish AK Party, Omer Celik, said Paylan was “politically immoral” and intends to “launch the required legal process over this matter.”
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