On April 18, 1,500 young Armenians, as well as members of dance ensembles from all Armenian provinces, Artsakh and Armenian communities of the Diaspora participated in a flashmob called “Ani of the Armenians is at Risk” at Republic Square, armradio.am reports. The flashmob was organized by the crew for the TV show “Armenian Knight” (Hai Aspet), which has been broadcasting for nearly seven years.

The flashmob was launched to the sounds of the bells of the local church, after which 1,500 young people sat in the square and started a 5-minute sitting strike. During the strike, the monitor showed a video about the current state of the city of Ani of medieval Armenia and the following message in five languages: fight against the Turks’ options for restoration of the churches of the city of Ani, the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The showing of the video was followed by a performance of the song “Become My Ani” (Dardzir Im Ani), after which the participants performed a dance depicting a tremendous white cross, waving white and purple handkerchiefs, with purple in the background.  After the dance, the little “angels” dressed in white clothes distributed lit candles to the sounds of the song “Let Me See Ani” (Tesnem Anin), after which all the participants slowly left the square and left the lit candles to the sounds of “Eyes of Saints” (Surberu Achker). Afterwards, “angels” passed through the burning candles and scattered red poppies across the square as a symbol of the blood that innocent people had shed.