Iğdır Genocide Memorial and Museum

Iğdır Genocide Memorial and Museum (Turkish: Iğdır Soykırım Anıt-Müzesi) or Memorial and Museum of Martyred Turks Massacred by Armenians (Turkish: Ermeniler Tarafından Katledilen Şehit Türkler Anıt ve Müzesi) is a memorial-museum complex to commemorate massacres of Turks by Armenians during World War I and the Turkish–Armenian War. The construction for the memorial started on 1 August 1997 and it was dedicated on 5 October 1999 in Iğdır, Turkey. Its height is 43.5 metres, making it the tallest monument in Turkey.[1]

Iğdır Genocide Memorial and Museum

Minister of State Ramazan Mirzaoğlu claimed that between 1915 and 1920 Armenians killed almost 80,000 people in Iğdır in his address during the opening ceremony, where the Turkish president Süleyman Demirel was also present.[2][3] In fact, the entire population of the Surmali district (which included Igdir) by the beginning of the 20th century was 89,055 people, of which Turks ("Tatars") were only 46 percent[4], while in the city of Igdir itself, Armenians accounted for 84% of the population[5][6].

Criticism

Bilgin Ayata on Armenian Weekly criticized the memorial "aggressive, nationalistic, and outright hostile."[7] European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy announced that the memorial is designed to deny the Armenian Genocide and demanded its closure.[8]

  • Building
  • The memorial from afar.
  • The memorial at close range.
  • Entrance to the memorial-museum.
  • Noah's Ark next to the memorial-museum.
  • Exhibition
  • A part of the museum dedicated to Turkish diplomats killed by Armenian militant organizations.
  • Exhibits of some books.
  • A mass grave excavation in the town of Yeşilyayla, Erzurum.
  • Some books exhibited in the museum.

See also

References
  1. Iğdır "Soykırım" Anıt-Müzesi Archived 2015-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, Governorate of Iğdır
  2. Hofmann, Tessa. "Armenians in Turkey: A Critical Assessment of the situation of the Armenian Minority in the Turkish Republic." Forum of Armenian Associations in Europe. October 2002, p. 32.
  3. "Türk-Ermeni İlişkileri Uluslararası Sempozyumu ve "Iğdır Soykırım Anıtı ve Müzesinin" Açılış" (in Turkish). Retrieved 3 May 2015. "1915-1920 yılları arasında Iğdır'da yaklaşık 80 bin kişinin Ermeniler tarafından hunharca katledildiği..."
  4. (in Russian) 1897 Census, Surmalinsky Uyezd Demoscope Weekly
  5. (in Russian) 1897 Census, Igdyr City Demoscope Weekly
  6. (in Russian) Первая Всеобщая перепись населения Российской империи 1897 г. Том 24, Эриванская губерния, г. Санкт-Петербург, 1905
  7. Bilgin Ayata, "Critical Interventions: Kurdish Intellectuals Confronting the Armenian Genocide", Armenian Weekly, 29 April 2009.
  8. 4 Quesions regarding Turkey and the Armenian Genocide

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