Around 1,000 people gather in Jette to pay their respects to the victims of the Aramean genocide

Nearly 1,000 people gathered at Jette on Sunday afternoon, for the unveiling of a stele in memory of the 500,000 victims of the 1915 Aramean genocide. “This monument is recognition of the many victims”, said Johny Messo, president of the World Aramean Council. “It is not a call for hate towards Turkey, but a call for recognition”. “It is an historic day for Arameans”, he added. “100 years ago, 500,000 members of our families were killed and thrown off land they had been living on for millennia. With this stele, we remember them and the more than 2 million victims of the Turkish and Kurd genocide. It is a stele for all those who lost loved ones, and also for those who don’t want to forget… Turks and Kurds are not the only ones with blood on their hands. Turkey must draw inspiration from Germany and recognise the victim’s suffering and ask forgiveness”.

“History is a fact, not an opinion”, says Hervé Doyen, the Jette mayor. “In 1915, but also before and after, hundreds of thousands of Arameans and Middle Eastern Christians were killed. There is only one word for that: genocide. This tragedy is still an open wound today, as “State reason” still overrules reason and humanity”.

“History is still repeating itself”, says Johny Messo. “Today, genocides are still happening. In Syria and Iraq, thousands of Christians are still being killed, under the passive and guilty eye of the West”.

(Source: Belga)


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