19302 - 2015: The union of the poppy with the carnation

N. Lygeros
Translated from the Greek by Panayiotis Diamadis

It has become a tradition to use carnations on 24 April, owing to the Genocide of the Armenians. In this way, the survivors, their families, their friends, as well as Righteous honour the victims, those who fell in genocide. An analogous tradition exists for the anniversary of Anzac Day (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on 25 April. The poppy has come to symbolise the honour received by the victims of the landings on Gallipoli due to the counterattack by Kemal. The two dates are both in 1915. In other words, the victims of the Genocide and the victims of War fell in the same year from the same perpetrator. As far as Armenia may be from Australia and New Zealand, we see they have a common tragic past. This year for the centenary of these events which belong to history, it is good to unite our forces, to highlight the fact of this dark page. The Ottoman Empire attempted to eliminate the peoples who lived under its yoke, the Armenian, the Assyrians and the Hellenes, but also to disarm the Australians and New Zealanders. It is therefore, proper to unite, especially in 2015, the symbol of the poppy with the symbol of the carnation, to show the crime but also to resist against institutional and systematic barbarity.