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On April 19 on the initiative of the IPA CIS an exhibition-musical matinee was held dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial in Tavrichesky Palace of Saint Petersburg, where the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov, the General Secretary – Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Alexey Sergeev, the RA General Consul in Saint Petersburg Hrayr Karapetyan and the Deputy General Secretary of the IPA CIS, the RA NA Representative to the IPA CIS attended it. Music by Komitas and Armenian duduk was performed.

At the event the RA NA Deputy Speaker delivered a speech, where he noted in particular: “In 1944 the Polish lawyer Rafael Lemkin used the term ‘genocide,’ taking into consideration the atrocities perpetrated against Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915. 100 years ago the leadership of Turkey perpetrated genocide of a whole people and deprivation of the motherland only because they were Armenians by their origin and Christians by their faith.

One month after the April events, on May 24, the Entente countries qualified the gravest crime committed towards the Armenian people as “a crime committed against mankind and civilization.” This speaks about a fact that already 100 years ago the progressive humanity realized the entire seriousness of what happened. Meanwhile, until now Turkey stubbornly continues to deny the Armenian Genocide.

I think that we should not only condemn the Armenian Genocide, but also together with the progressive mankind fight to reach the criminalization of the genocide denial. Only the criminalization can close the doors before new genocides.”