On April 24, 1965, after a long silence during the Soviet years, the memory of the Armenian victims was commemorated at the state level. At the same time, an organized mass demonstration in Yerevan took place. Participants demanded that the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union recognize the Armenian Genocide and that a memorial be built in the capital city to honor the memory of the victims.
The demonstrations were accompanied by shouts of “Ho-ger, ho-ger” (Translated to “Land, Land”) in anticipation of a return of the historical lands of Armenia and large posters demanding a fair solution to the Armenian case.
A Proposal to Remember
Months earlier, in December 1964, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Armenia (CPA), Yakov Zarobyan, sent a proposal to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in Moscow, which outlined the critical need for survivors and their descendants to commemorate their loved ones who had died during the Armenian Genocide. Among the key points was “Erecting an obelisk in Yerevan dedicated to the Armenian victims, who were killed during World War I. The obelisk should symbolize the rebirth of the Armenian people.”