On Apr. 24, on the occasion of the 99^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, RA Ambassador to Bulgaria Arsen Shoyan, Vicar of the Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archimandrite Abgar Hovakimyan, ex-Prime Minister of Bulgaria Reneta Injova, AGBU Chairperson Sonya Avagyan and members of the Bulgarian-Armenian community laid wreaths at the monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide located near the Armenian cemetery in Sofia.

Archimandrite Abgar Hovakimyan performed a Requiem Mass, which was followed by a speech by Ambassador Shoyan, who particularly condemned Turkey’s policy of denial, distortion of the real facts and stressed the need for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide in order to rule out crimes against humanity in the future. The RA Ambassador stressed the importance of the recent adoption of declarations on Armenian Genocide recognition by the councils of the communities in four Bulgarian cities.

Commemoration events have also been held in all the Armenian-populated cities of Bulgaria, including Varna, Plovdiv, Ruse, Burgas, Dobrich and Sliven, reports the RA MFA press office.