32 years ago, 21-year-old Simon, as usual, took his bag and said goodbye as usual to his family. In the evening, the family was shocked by the news of Simon’s death, the whole world in a moment paid attention to the Armenian Cause.
32 years ago, on July 27, the Lebanese-born five young Armenians occupied the Turkish Embassy in the capital of Portugal, exploded it were killed too. One of these 5 Lebanese youth was Simon, who together with his friends: Sedrak, Vache, Aray, and Sargis, focused the world’s attention on the Armenian Genocide with their lives, the explosion of the Turkish Embassy was a part of the campaign against the denial of the Armenian Genocide.
In the park near the Conservatory, in front of the monument to Komitas, the ARF Youth Union of Armenia organized a traditional event to commemorate and glorify the victims of Lisbon.
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In the interview with Aravot.am, Simon’s sister, Maral Yahniyan, told that Armenia and Armenians were on one side for her brother and the world – on the other side. Simon was living with Armenians. This, as told by her sister, was a result of education. Prior to leaving for the action, none of the family members doubted that Simon will do such a thing. The young man had waited for the whole family to gather around the dinner table, everyone be together and he would see all of them together for the last time. That day, Simon had asked his grandmother to once again tell about the genocide of 1915, which caused a suffering to his family too. “We were shocked with Simon’s this kind of brave deed. It is not easy to perceive his loss, but when I see the Artsakh soldiers, I see Simon in each of them and the guys who were killed with him, I even find resemblance in them,” said Ms. Maral, who arrived in Armenia from Lebanon to attend the event to commemorate the 5 Armenian young people.
In the interview with Aravot.am, Director of Lebanon’s “Hayk Aslanyan” Seminary, Tigran Jrbashyan said that various events commemorating the Armenian Genocide were held in different parts of the world, but the world was indifferent, 32 years ago, 5 Armenian young people went to the extreme to invite attention on the Armenian Cause. To our question that such extreme steps are perceived by the world as a terrorism, Mr. Jrbashyan said, “Terrorism is not always a negative thing, the terrorism for goo and true purpose, especially since it is a self-sacrifice, it is one of the means of the national liberation struggle.” The representative of the Yerevan regional branch of the ARF Youth Union of Armenia, Shogher Baghdasaryan, in the conversation with us, said that the 5 young people exploding the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon are the freedom fighters, and this event is aimed at raising an awareness about them.
Nelly BABAYAN
