Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan together with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the RA Ivan Volinkin and the deputy mayors were present at the solemn ceremony of opening the open-air exhibition called «Cultural Genocide: symbol of Khachkars» in the park situated at the junction of Nalbandyan and Hanrapetutyan streets of Main avenue. By the initiative of the commission of the Municipality for organization of the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the public was presented the copies of destroyed 13 Khachkars (cross stones- carved memorial steles bearing a cross and other national ornaments) which were reproduced by contemporary Khachkar master Artak Hambardzumyan on the basis of centuries-old traditions of Armenian masters.

Mayor Taron Margaryan accompanied by the monuments expert, historian Samvel Karapetyan walked about the area and familiarized himself with the displayed Khachkars. Photos representing the past and present look of Armenian temples and fortresses were also exhibited. These photos were provided by Samvel Karapetyan. And the photos of the original Khachkars were provided by the Armenologist, specialized on Nakhijevan Argam Ayvazyan. The organizers of the event particularly stressed that in 1915, in parallel with mass slaughter and expulsion of the Armenian population from Western Armenia the Turkish government intentionally destroys the material evidences of the Armenian civilization: churches, temples, medieval manuscripts, exclusive samples of the art of decoration and so on.
In his speech addressed to those present the Deputy Mayor of Yerevan Aram Sukiasyan expressing gratitude to all those who jointly with the Municipality implemented this exhibition stressed that this open-air exhibition is a special message aimed at cultural genocide condemnation.
«Luckily our Khachkar masters following the traditions and mastery keep on reproducing, creating, refreshing, reconstructing and creating in a new way at the same time. Certainly, the recovered Kahchkars can't replace the originals which had been destroyed once and for all, however this way it is possible to present the values which existed in reality. There are numerous conventions highlighting the notion of cultural genocide which tries to prevent such phenomena, unfortunately, it still exists. This exhibition is another signal aimed at not only at the preservation of the Armenian cultural heritage but also at outlining that the problem is unfortunately there. It should shown that Turkey remains a pioneer in this issue and Azerbaijan has joined it. I am sure that the numerous guests visiting Yerevan particularly these days will also see it as a special proof that we had had a rich culture, that we are proud of our national identity», stressed Deputy Mayor Aram Sukiasyan.
It should be mentioned that the policy of Young Turks targeted at annihilating the Armenian trace was continued by the Republican Turkey,as the cultural monuments were seen as undesirable proofs of Armenian presence. Before 1915 there were about 170 000 monuments in Western Armenia and only 2 % of them survived. More than 4500 Khachkars of Old Julfa shared the same fate with the monuments of Western Armenia.The were completely destroyed in 2005 by the Azerbaijan army. The exhibition «Cultural genocide: symbol of Khachkars» is open till October of this year.

Information and Public Relations Department
of the City Hall of Yerevan