April 24th - Unceasing mourning that has lasted 109 Years -  Great-grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors

ArmInfo. The possibility of collective mourning and an open demand for justice for the Armenians who survived the 1915 Genocide, remains taboo, making April 24th  a day of  unceasing mourning that has lasted 109 years. This is how an Armenian from Istanbul named Aren answered the question of  what April 24th means to him in an interview with Turkish journalist and editor of the Bianet newspaper, Tugce Yilmaz, in 2024.

ArmInfo previously reported that a criminal case has been initiated against  Y?lmaz for a publication titled "The Turkish Army Tells Armenian  Youth:  109 Years of Continued Mourning." The Istanbul Public  Prosecutor's Office  has charged her with "insulting the Turkish  nation, the Turkish Republic, and state bodies and institutions." Her  court hearing took place on December 2, but was postponed until April  21, 2026.

In an interview with a journalist, Aren described the difficulties he  faced while living in Turkey. He said that from an early age, it  became clear to him that in this country, he would have to defend  himself and even hide his identity. Childhood memories, such as the  ban on using Armenian words, began to surface in his mind. "Sometimes  you have to hide, sometimes you have to open up. It's like walking on  water, leaving no trace. Sometimes someone might find a name  interesting or beautiful, but if I feel it's a risk, I say it's not  Armenian, but, say, Persian or Jewish," Aren said.  According to  Aren, he could only communicate freely with the Kurds-they would  always stand up for him if someone tried to offend him. Armenian was  only spoken at home, and only because it was still spoken by the  older generation. Aren recalls that his grandmother spoke exclusively  Armenian with them, and if someone addressed her in Turkish, she  wouldn't respond. "She even once said, 'I don't want to speak the  language of pain,'" Aren recalls.

He believes it's nearly impossible to describe April 24th in a single  word, though he says that for him, the day primarily connotes  anxiety. "For me, this is one of the most important days in the  struggle for the survival of Armenians in Turkey. Perhaps January  19th (the anniversary of Hrant Dink's assassination) can also be  added to it. Even in the most difficult times, we come out and say:  we are here-with our bodies, our language, our culture. We can at  least light a candle and remember our ancestors," Aren notes.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Zepyur from Istanbul faced a slightly  different reality. According to her, no one forbade her from speaking  Armenian, and her name only aroused interest. And therefore, she did  not want to leave, believing that Armenians should "maintain their  presence in Turkey." "April 24th is one of the most important events  in our lives. Just as truth is one and universal, so what happened on  April 24th is a truth that cannot be changed: These are events from  the not-so-distant past. Our stories and pains are still fresh. They  cannot be forgotten; they are worthy of remembrance," Zepyur said..  She says the trauma of their ancestors who survived the Genocide is  passed on to them today. And so she hopes there will be no further  losses, and that Armenian families will not be torn apart by another  tragedy.