THE last memorial ceremony of the year for the 103rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide took place in Ealing last weekend.

Members of the Armenian community, Homenetmen Scouts and Sunday school groups gathered in Ealing Green on Saturday April 28 at the commemorative apricot tree, planted in memory of the Armenian Genocide of 1915.

The memorial service was the last event of the year organised by the Campaign for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide, a committee of the Armenian Community and Church Council of Great Britain that aims to promote the language, history and culture of the Armenian people.

“Today’s genocide memorial event in Ealing was I think a great success. We had a good turnout in terms of members of the public and Armenians,” said Tekeyan Cultural Association chairman Dr Garen Arevian.

 “The apricot tree is a symbol of longevity, hope, perseverance and the scientist name of Apricots is Prunus Armeniaca, so the actual scientific name is very apt in terms of memorialising the genocide.”

The genocide, which occurred during World War I, saw the Ottoman government kill between 600,000 and 1.5m Armenians from Turkey.

Turkey continues their official stance of not recognising the genocide took place, and article 301 of its Penal Code introduced in 2005 makes it illegal to publish material insulting the Turkish nation.

Ealing has the largest Armenian community in all London boroughs, and has shown support for its history, by voting to officially recognise the genocide in a full council meeting on December 14 2010.

Stephen Pound, MP for Ealing North, said: “Turkey – whether it is Ottoman Turkey or modern Turkey – must never ever be allowed to deny responsibility for the genocide that took place then. They must never ever be allowed to deny that.”

The ceremony ended with Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of the United Kingdom, saying a prayer, and then the community sang the Armenian national anthem together.

Vahan Krikorian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of the United Kingdom, said: “I think that the message that this event in Ealing, the march that took place in London, and the events organised by Armenian communities across the globe, sends to Turkey is that 103 years might have passed, but we will never forget and we will never lessen our demands for recognition.”

The Turkish embassy in London did not comment by the time this article went to print.