Under the patronage of President Bashar al-Assad, the cornerstone of a memorial of the victims of the Armenian genocide was laid in the Old City of Damascus on Sunday.
The memorial, which commemorates the centennial of the genocide of April 24, 1915, will be built in the square beside the Armenian Orthodox Archbishopric, near the Bab Sharqi Arch in Old Damascus.
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Aphram II Karim, Primate of the Armenian Church of Damascus Bishop Armash Nalbandian and a number of heads of Christian denominations in Damascus took part in the widely popular laying ceremony.
Islamic scholars, parliamentarians, the Minister for Environment Affairs Nazira Sarkis and Governor of Damascus Bishr al-Sabban were also present.
Before the ceremony, a mass to mark the occasion was held at St. Sarkis Armenian Orthodox Church in Damascus led by Primate Nalbandian.
An array of activities have been held around Syria to mark the genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians, leaving millions of others displaced.
