From April 21 to 28, the Armenian community across Germany commemorated the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The main event was held on April 24, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, at Frankfurt's historic St. Paul's Church. This is a symbolic site in German history; it was the meeting place of the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848, representing one of the first attempts to create a unified and democratic Germany.

Among those present were the Armenian Ambassador to Germany, members of the Hessian Parliament, and representatives of the Armenian Church and community.

Bishop Serovbe Isakhanyan, the Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Germany, told Caucasus Watch that every year the Armenian Church in Germany organizes commemorative events throughout Germany to honor the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. "St. Paul's Church is famous because in 1848 it was the site of the first German democratic parliament. This place is also symbolic for us. And for decades we have organized the commemoration here," he explained, noting that this year's speaker is Dr. Luis Moreno Ocampo, the former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. "We continue to commemorate the Armenian Genocide, and every event here is a call to the German and Turkish authorities to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide."

He also emphasized the importance of recognizing current events - "painful developments and unspeakable suffering of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh". "Armenians have once again faced injustice and violence. More than 120,000 people have been deprived of their ancestral homeland. I could never have imagined that in the 20th century the world would allow such inhuman crimes," noted Bishop Serovbe Ishkhanyan. Comparing the events of 1915 and 2023, the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh, he said that the Armenian nation has realized that even in the present day, justice and morality are often sacrificed to business and power interests.

"We say yes to peace, but only to peace - to normalization between Armenia and Turkey and Armenia and Azerbaijan, but not with unilateral concessions," the bishop emphasized.

In his address, the Armenian Ambassador to Germany, Viktor Yengibaryan, emphasized that in times of uncertainty, the Armenian nation and country need people who stand for international law and defend democracy in order to avoid wars and ethnic cleansing. "But the danger is here. And as it has been said so many times in recent months - never again is now. Never again is also now for Armenians and the Republic of Armenia," said the Ambassador, stressing that Armenia is committed to preventing genocides, raising awareness of the dangers of hate crimes, and building legal and institutional capacity to respond to them in time.

The commemoration concluded with a prayer in both Armenian and German.

Contributed by Ami Chichakyan.