1965 Yerevan demonstrations

Calls for unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan with Soviet Armenia

• Silva Kaputikyan
• Paruyr Sevak

The 1965 Yerevan demonstrations took place in Yerevan, Soviet Armenia on 24 April 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Historians of Armenia regard the event as the first step in the struggle for the recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915.

On 24 April 1965, 100,000 protesters held a 24-hour demonstration in front of the Yerevan Opera Theatre on the 50th anniversary of the start of the Armenian genocide. They demanded that the Soviet government officially recognize the genocide of 1915. To the shouts of "our lands, our lands," many also called for a "just solution" to the Armenian question and for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan with Soviet Armenia.

The demonstrators' demands encouraged Soviet Armenian authorities to complete a memorial honoring the 1.5 million Armenians who perished in the genocide. The memorial was originally planned for completion in 1965 but finished in 1967 at Tsitsernakaberd hill, just in time for the 53rd anniversary of the beginning of the genocide. The building of the memorial at Tsitsernakaberd was the first step in honoring important events and figures in Armenia's long history.

The 1965 events were the first such demonstration in the entire USSR, and marked a major awakening of Armenian national consciousness. Since the day of the protests, Armenians (and many people from the post-Soviet space and all over the world) visit Tsitsernakaberd to honor the millions of Armenians who died in the genocide. 1965թ. ապրիլի 24-ին Երևանում կազմակերպվեց զանգվածային հզոր ցույց, որի մասնակիցները, դատապարտելով 1915թ. Ցեղասպանությունը, առաջ էին քաշում հայկական հողերի վերադարձի հարցը: Այս համաժողովրդական աննախադեպ ցույցը դժվար թե կազմակերպվեր, եթե չլիներ Խորհրդային Հայաստանի առաջնորդ Յակով Զարոբյանը, որը Մեծ եղեռնի 50-րդ տարելիցը պաշտոնապես հիշատակելու նպատակով լուրջ աշխատանք էր կատարել Կրեմլում:

Խորհրդային իշխանությունները թույլատրեցին, որ Մայր Աթոռը Ապրիլի 24-ին Սուրբ պատարագ մատուցի և հոգեհանգստյան պաշտոն կատարի ի հիշատակ Մեծ եղեռնի 50-րդ տարելիցի:

Ապրիլ 24-ին մայրաքաղաք Երևանի գլխավոր՝ Լենինի հրապարակում հավաքված բազմությունը նախ շարժվեց Կոմիտասի անվան զբոսայգու պանթեոն՝ ծաղկեպսակ դնելու Կոմիտաս վարդապետի շիրմին: Կեսօրին շուրջ հարյուր հազարի հասնող բազմությունը դուրս եկավ հրապարակից, շարժվեց Երևանի գլխավոր պողոտաներով, ապա կրկին վերադարձավ Լենինի հրապարակ, որը ողողված էր «Մեր հողերը, մեր հողերը» գրությունը կրող մեծատառ պաստառներով:

http://civilnet.am/2013/04/24/1915%D5%A9-%D5%A1%D5%BA%D6%80%D5%AB%D5%AC%D5%AB-24-2/

The only Soviet era non-state/non-Party-sponsored grassroots social movement occurred in April 1965. On 24 April the day of remembrance and mourning for the victims of the 1915 genocide, public officials, representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and diaspora representatives were to meet in the Spendarian Opera House in Yerevan to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the genocide. Down the street from the Opera House, in Lenin Square, thousands of people gathered to also commemorate the event. This was the first time that this event was publicly commemorated in Soviet Armenia. By mid-afternoon the crowd of demonstrators, mostly university students, including Vahram Melconian who had planned the demonstration in secret, began to march from Lenin Square toward the Opera House via Stalin Boulevard, chanting and singing. The demonstrators' aim was not to challenge the authority of the Soviet government; instead it was to draw the government's attention to the 1915 genocide of the Armenians and to ask the Soviet government to assist them in reclaiming their lost lands. While the demonstration had begun and proceeded in a peaceful manner, it turned disorderly when the police and KGB intervened and began to harass the peaceful demonstrators. At this point rocks and punches were thrown, and the demonstration ended as many of the young demonstrators were arrested and jailed for several days. The Soviet government subsequently officially recognized the Armenian genocide and built a memorial on Tsitsernakaberd Hill with a pylon and the eternal flame dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were killed by the Ottoman Turks from 1915-18, but never pursued any of the other demands of the demonstrators.

In the early twentieth century, the Armenian Cause was the political goal of creating an independent homeland for Armenians. By the 1970s, the recognition of the genocide became a very important objective of the Armenian cause and diaspora political parties linked the recognition of the genocide and the dream of a greater Armenia because Turkey's recognition of the genocide would constitute the legal basis for the Armenian claims on Western Armenia. (Libaridian, Challenge of Statehood, p. 128)

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