1965 Yerevan demonstrations

Protests marking the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide 1965 Yerevan demonstrations Medal created in Soviet Armenia (Armenian Genocide Memorial in Tsitsernakaberd).jpg Medal created in Soviet Armenia. Obverse: "Eternal Memory to the Martyrs of the Holocaust" in Armenian. Dually dated 1915 and 1965. View of the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Tsitsernakaberd. Reverse: Flame in urn, 1915/1965 to upper left 24 April 1965 Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union Commemoration and recognition of the Armenian genocideLehmann 2015 9Calls for unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan with Soviet ArmeniaLehmann 2015 24 Construction of TsitsernakaberdSaparov 2018 874-875Lehmann 2015 29-30 Protesters No leadership Paruyr SevakPanossian 2006 320-323 20,000 to 200,000Lehmann 2015 9Saparov 2018 867 The 1965 Yerevan demonstrations were illegal political demonstrations that took place in Yerevan, Soviet Armenia on 24 April 1965, on the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Historians of Armenia regard the event as the first step in the struggle for the recognition of the Armenian genocide of 1915,Panossian 2006 320-323 and a significant precursor to the Karabakh movement of 1988.Shakarian 2025 36 The events were the first such demonstration in the entire Soviet Union,Mithander Sundholm Holmgren Troy 2007 33 and marked "the first time that [the genocide] was publicly commemorated in Soviet Armenia."Atabaki Mehendale 2004 137n54 Background On 11 March 1954, Anastas Mikoyan gave a speech in Yerevan, where he called for the rehabilitation of the poet Yeghishe Charents and urged Armenians to reaffirm their national identity.Shakarian 2025 34-35 The speech marked the beginning of the Khrushchev Thaw in Soviet Armenia.Shakarian 2025 34-35 In this more open environment, the Armenian government of Yakov Zarobyan, with the approval of Moscow, decided to organize an official commemoration of the Armenian genocide on its 50th anniversary in 1965.Saparov 2018 864-865 The event would be held at the Yerevan Opera Theatre and involve "public officials, representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and diaspora representatives."Atabaki Mehendale 2004 137n54 In addition, on 15 February 1965, the Armenian authorities adopted a resolution to complete a memorial honoring the 1.5 million Armenians who perished in the genocide.Saparov 2018 864-865 Demonstrations The official event took place at the Opera Theatre on 24 April 1965.Panossian 2006 320-323 At the same time, a large group of protestors numbering approximately 20,000 held an illegal commemoration at the city's Lenin Square before splitting into separate groups and then moving toward the Opera.Lehmann 2015 9 Among the participants in the demonstrations were Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Vazgen Manukyan, both future leaders of the Karabakh movement.Malkasian 1996 75–76 The aim of the demonstrators "was not to challenge the authority of the Soviet government."Atabaki Mehendale 2004 137n54 Instead, they demanded that the USSR officially recognize the genocide of 1915,Shakarian 2025 36 on "a square that fused territorial claims, national culture, and history with revolution, class struggle, and internationalism."Lehmann 2015 16 To the shouts of "our lands, our lands" (referring to Western Armenia),Panossian 2006 320-323 many also called for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan with Soviet Armenia.Lehmann 2015 24 The crowds "demanded access" to the official ceremony held at the Opera Theatre,Lehmann 2015 9 and some "three hundred hooligans" even broke into the building.Lehmann 2015 17 The Soviet Armenian authorities "hastily evacuated the theater and broke up the demonstration."Lehmann 2015 9 Water cannons were used to disperse some protestors,Lehmann 2015 17 while Armenian Catholicos Vazgen I, who was present at the official event, "managed to calm" others.Panossian 2006 320-323Malkasian 1996 75–76 Aftermath Tsitsernakaberd thumb|Tsitsernakaberd Memorial In 1966, following another unauthorized demonstration in Moscow involving Silva Kaputikyan, Soviet authorities decided to encourage the construction of the genocide memorial.Saparov 2018 874-875 Originally planned for completion in 1965, the genocide memorial was officially finished in November 1967 at Tsitsernakaberd hill, just in time for the 53rd anniversary of the genocide.Saparov 2018 874-875 The completion of the Tsitsernakaberd memorial was the first step in honoring important events and figures in Armenia's long history.Suny 1993 186 Since that time, Armenians (and many people from the post-Soviet space and all over the world) visit Tsitsernakaberd to honor the victims of the 1915 genocide.Suny 1993 186 In the aftermath of the demonstrations, Zarobyan was made Soviet Deputy Minister for Electrification, effectively a demotion.Lehmann 2015 29n106 Although Zarobyan's dismissal is often associated with the 1965 protests, Yeghishe Astsatryan attributed his departure more to "backstage Soviet political intrigues."Shakarian 2025 269n6 In September 1966, Zarobyan's successor, Anton Kochinyan, together with Badal Muradyan, appealed to Moscow for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Soviet Armenia.Shakarian 2025 105-106 Their request followed an appeal on the issue signed by 1,906 Soviet Armenian intellectual and cultural figures, including Martiros Saryan, Yervand Kochar, Hamo Sahyan, and Paruyr Sevak.Shakarian 2025 105-106 However, the proposal was vetoed by the government of Soviet Azerbaijan, "reportedly with backstage support from Mikhail Suslov."Shakarian 2025 105-106 References Bibliography Atabaki Touraj Touraj Atabaki Mehendale Sanjyot Central Asia and the Caucasus: Transnationalism and Diaspora 2004 Routledge London 9781134319947 Lehmann Maike Apricot Socialism: The National Past, the Soviet Project, and the Imagining of Community in Late Soviet Armenia Slavic Review 74 1 2015 9–31 Malkasian Mark Gha-ra-bagh!: The Emergence of the National Democratic Movement in Armenia Wayne State University Press Detroit 1996 0-8143-2605-6 Mithander Conny Sundholm John Holmgren Troy Maria Collective Traumas: Memories of War and Conflict in 20th-Century Europe 2007 P.I.E.P. Lang Bruxelles 9789052010687 Panossian Razmik Razmik Panossian The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars Columbia University Press New York 2006 978-0231139267 https://archive.org/details/armeniansfromkin00razm/ registration Saparov Arsène Re-negotiating the Boundaries of the Permissible: The National(ist) Revival in Soviet Armenia and Moscow's Response Europe-Asia Studies 70 6 2018 862-883 Shakarian Pietro A. Anastas Mikoyan: An Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev's Kremlin Indiana University Press Bloomington 2025 rTNgEQAAQBAJ yes 978-0253073556 Suny Ronald Grigor Looking toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History Ronald Grigor Suny 1993 Indiana University Press Bloomington 978-0-253-20773-9 https://archive.org/details/lookingtowardara00rona External links Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Category:1965 in Armenia Yerevan demonstrations Category:Armenian genocide commemoration Category:Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic Category:Protests in Armenia Category:Yerevan Category:Protests in the Soviet Union Category:1965 protests Category:20th century in Yerevan Category:April 1965 in Europe