Armenian Genocide Memorial Church Destroyed

Marine Vardanyan
Editor

The news arrived at a time when Armenians around the world were in celebration. It was September 21, the 23rd anniversary of Armenia’s independence. A day to celebrate the enduring nature of the Armenian people, a people who have persisted through great periods of subjugation, war, and massacres.

On September 21 reports were received that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) had bombed the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Der Zor, Syria, leaving it in dismal ruins. Other recent insensitive and inhumane crimes by the well-funded terrorist group have been publicized throughout the media. Yet, the destruction of this important site, which served as a cultural heritage not only for Armenians but also the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), is a great loss that many are unaware of.

The Armenian Genocide Memorial Church served many purposes. It functioned as a church, museum, monument, and pilgrimage site where every April 24, Armenians gathered to commemorate the martyrs of the Genocide. Most importantly, it eternalized the memory of the countless Armenians who perished in the desert of Deir ez- Zor, where even today, human remains can be found. The desert of Deir ez-Zor was designated as a concentration camp for Armenians.

The Memorial complex served as a church, museum, and archive center. The late Catholicos Karekin II of the Great House of Cilicia consecrated the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in 1991.

His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Great House of Cilicia stated, “Let the hands behind this terrorist act know that Deir ez-Zor, this sacred place of the victims of the Armenian Genocide, commemorating the memory of our martyrs and symbolizing the fight of our people for justice, cannot be demolished from the memory of our people.”

World leaders, members of the United States Congress, and many others have spoken out to condemn the barbaric action. The United State Embassy in Armenia issued a statement that read in part, “The U.S. Embassy Yerevan joins the government and people of Armenia in strongly condemning the destruction of the Armenian Church in Deir Ez-zor, Syria. This senseless act of destruction demonstrates yet again the utter disregard the terrorist organization ISIL has for the rich religious and cultural heritage of the Middle East.”

For Armenians, the desecration and destruction of this site, especially as we approach the centennial of the Armenian Genocide, though devastating, will not hinder us from commemorating and educating about the Genocide.