1965 Yerevan demonstrations
Protests marking the 50th anniversary of the Armenian genocide
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Through Soviet Union, Russian Revolution and Class struggle
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. The speech marked the beginning of the Khrushchev Thaw in Soviet Armenia. 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. The event would be held at the Yerevan Opera Theatre and involve "public officials, representatives of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and diaspora representatives." 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.
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Demonstrations
The official event took place at the Opera Theatre on 24 April 1965. 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. Among the participants in the demonstrations were Levon Ter-Petrosyan and Vazgen Manukyan, both future leaders of the Karabakh movement.
The aim of the demonstrators "was not to challenge the authority of the Soviet government." Instead, they demanded that the USSR officially recognize the genocide of 1915, on "a square that fused territorial claims, national culture, and history with revolution, class struggle, and internationalism." To the shouts of "our lands, our lands" (referring to Western Armenia), many also called for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhichevan with Soviet Armenia.
The crowds "demanded access" to the official ceremony held at the Opera Theatre, and some "three hundred hooligans" even broke into the building. The Soviet Armenian authorities "hastily evacuated the theater and broke up the demonstration." Water cannons were used to disperse some protestors, while Armenian Catholicos Vazgen I, who was present at the official event, "managed to calm" others.
Aftermath
In 1966, following another unauthorized demonstration in Moscow involving Silva Kaputikyan, Soviet authorities decided to encourage the construction of the genocide memorial. 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. The completion of the Tsitsernakaberd memorial was the first step in honoring important events and figures in Armenia's long history. 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.
In the aftermath of the demonstrations, Zarobyan was made Soviet Deputy Minister for Electrification, effectively a demotion. Although Zarobyan's dismissal is often associated with the 1965 protests, Yeghishe Astsatryan attributed his departure more to "backstage Soviet political intrigues." In September 1966, Zarobyan's successor, Anton Kochinyan, together with Badal Muradyan, appealed to Moscow for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Soviet Armenia. 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. However, the proposal was vetoed by the government of Soviet Azerbaijan, "reportedly with backstage support from Mikhail Suslov."