On April 24^th, the day of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian community of Tehran will hold a march of protest. This is what PR director of the diocesan council of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran Gaspar Amirkhanian mentioned in an interview with “Armenpress”.

“The march will start from the area near the Armenian Genocide memorial adjacent to the Armenian Prelacy. We will lay flowers and pay our respects. Afterwards, the church will serve a Holy Mass, and we will move towards the Turkish embassy in Iran where we will submit our letter,” Gaspar Amirkhanian said.

According to him, this year the Armenian community plans on holding different kinds of events in an attempt to engage Iran’s intellectuals and state officials of different levels. “The issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide has always been a priority issue for the Armenians of Iran. We regularly make efforts in that direction throughout the year. The “Husk” organization conducts studies, and a wide circle of Iranian intellectuals publish articles. The topic of the Armenian Genocide is reflected in an Iranian magazine on a regular basis. We also work actively in the field of information, but I believe the efforts are still not enough. During the events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the deputy speaker of the Iranian parliament condemned the Armenian Genocide. That was a great achievement for the Armenian community. We hope to achieve more success on the 101^st anniversary of the Armenian Genocide,” Gaspar Amirkhanian said.

He noted that being consistent with the solution to the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide is one of the provisions stated in the pre-electoral platforms of the two Armenian deputies who made it to parliament recently, including Karen Khanlarian and George Abrahamian. According to Amirkhanian, the Armenian community is working together in that direction. Touching upon the Artsakh issue, Gaspar Amirkhanian noted that the Iranian-Armenian community has stood by Artsakh’s side since the very first days and still has strong ties. According to Amirkhanian, Iranian-Armenians visit Artsakh from time to time and actively collaborate in different spheres, including the sphere of education.

As far as the Iranian authorities are concerned, Gaspar Amirkhanian mentioned that the Iranian government has always played a positive role in the solution to the Artsakh issue.