YEREVAN, April 24. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed Russia’s stance on genocide saying mass killings of people cannot be justified.
"Russia’s position was and remained consistent: we have always believed that there are no and can be no justifications for the mass killing of people," Putin said at the ceremony in memory for the victims of the Armenian Genocide.
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Putin reminded that Russia had initiated a whole range of international legal acts, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1948.
"The world community must make every effort so that the tragic events of the past will never happen again so that all nations could live in peace and consent without knowing the horror which results from stirring up religious animosity, aggressive nationalism and xenophobia," he said.
The Russian president stressed that Russia "sincerely sympathizes with the Armenian people that has experienced one of the most horrible tragedies in the history of the mankind."
"The events of 1915 have shocked the whole world. And Russia perceived them as its own sorrow. Hundreds of thousands of helpless and homeless Armenians, millions have received shelter on the territory of Russia and were saved," he said.
The international condemnation of violence against the Armenian people was the result of the Russian diplomatic effort, he added.
"The relations of the brotherly nations of Russia and Armenia have been always characterized by special spiritual affinity and mutual support. This was also the case during the dramatic events 100 years ago and during the years of the Great Patriotic War and during the destructive Spitak earthquake [of 1988]," Putin said.
"And today we mourn together with the Armenian people," the Russian leader stressed.
Hundreds of Russian cities will hold more than 2,000 memorial events on occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Putin said. The events will involve not only Armenians in Russia but also dozens of thousands of representatives of other nations.
The president on Friday arrived at the memorial in Yerevan in honor of victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916.
The memorial is dedicated to the memory of 1.5 million Armenians killed during one of the most terrible events in the history of Armenia, the Kremlin press service said on Friday.
The complex, built in 1967, consists of the hall of remembrance, an obelisk of rebirth and a museum-institute of the Armenian genocide.
The hall of remembrance is in the center, where there is an eternal flame and pylons symbolizing figures in mourning. The nearby 44-meter high arrow-shaped stele of granite is a symbol of survival and a spiritual rebirth of the Armenian people.
The 100-meter long wall contains the names of Armenian towns and villages where massacres took place. The genocide museum was founded in 1995 and includes photographs, population data about the number of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and the documents of various organizations and states that have condemned the genocide.