YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The day of remembrance of the victims of Soviet-era repression was marked in Armenia on June 14. On that occasion–the Student Cultural Center arranged meetings with the author of the "Secret of the Closed Doors" series of programs Alina Khachatrian–the author of a book bearing the same title David Gasparian–doctor of history Professor Sasun Grigorian and Chairman of the "Memorial" Organization Rudolf Grigorian.
"Today it is very important that the young people learn about what happened during those terrible days. It will help them appreciate human rights and freedom and champion them," Alina Khachatrian said.
David Gasparian described the Stalin period as one of the most terrible pages in the history of humanity. He said that what happened in 1922-1949 could be called "repression" with some reservations. "All that happened during that period can be termed ‘genocide’–to which the best representatives of the Armenian nation fell victim," he said.
The chairman of the Memorial Organization cited some figures suggesting that 14,000 people were exiled from Armenia only in 1949. At the same time–he said that only 4,550 of them have survived till today.