1965 Yerevan demonstrations

The 1965 Yerevan Demonstrations were a 24-hour mass protest in Yerevan, Armenian SSR on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. It is said that this event constitutes the first step in the struggle for the recognition of the 1915 genocide.^[1]

On April 24, 1965, for the first time for any such demonstration in the entire Soviet Union, one million protesters held a 24-hour demonstration in front of the Opera House, and demanded that the Soviet Union government officially recognize the Armenian Genocide committed by the Young Turks in the Ottoman Empire, and build a memorial in Armenia's capital city of Yerevan to perpetuate the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Many committed intellectuals, such as Silva Kaputikyan, had made impassioned pleas to the authorities in Moscow. The memorial, on Tsitsernakaberd hill, was completed in 1967.

Following the example of this high-profile demonstration, similar protests were made throughout the world, in whichever country the Armenian Diaspora exists. Since the day of the protests, Armenians to this day visit the memorial and make protests around the world to gain acceptance of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey.