On April 12, 2017, as a part of a series of commemorative events for the Armenian Genocide in the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, an event titled “The Armenian Woman during the Genocide” was held. The Association of Armenian Women of Georgia “Shushanik”, in cooperation with the Hayartun Center of the Armenian Diocese in Gerogia, initiated the event. The main purpose was to expand the scope of the audience, to bring the issue of the Armenian Genocide atrocities to the attention of the foreign listeners, in understandable language, and to present the heroic image of the Armenian woman in the preservation of the Armenian identity.

Those in attendance included people from different nationalities: the staff of the Embassy of Armenia in Georgia; the staff of the Administration of the President of Georgia; representatives of the Public Defender's Office of Georgia; representatives of Open House (refugee integration Center created by the United Nations Association in Georgia); members of Georgian Women’s Council; members of the Yazidi religious and secular communities; representatives of the Ossetian community and the Armenian community in Tbilisi.

The hall was appropriately adorned: the Armenian woman’s headscarf identified with the Euphrates turned blood red, the cross disappearing into the grains of sand, pomegranate seeds as the symbol of Armenians dispersed around the world, and candles, lit by the speakers in memory of the canonized martyrs of the Armenian Genocide.

Opening the evening, the president of the Association of Armenian Women of Georgia “Shushanik”, Susanna Khachatryan stated that throughout the history of Armenia the Armenian woman has been the pillar of the temple of the Armenian identity, preserving the family, the native tongue, the faith and the culture. Despite the suffering of Armenian women from the rape and force-tattooing of the Turkish-Muslim flag to their faces and hands during the Armenian Genocide, the Armenian woman covert or overt managed to preserve the national, sing lullaby to her children and pray in mother tongue.

The speakers, including Founder of The Peace Foundation in Georgia, Giorgi Tumasyan; Angela Saroyan, a student of the Faculty of Psychology of the Tbilisi’s State University; public figure Slava Mezhdoyan; with interesting and informative speeches, documentations and slideshow photographs covered the torture and terror, the force-tattooing and martyrdom the Armenian women had suffered during the Genocide. Reference was made to the interest of many filmmakers around the world to the first Genocide of the 20th century, and the documentaries and feature films about the Armenian Genocide that have been shot.

In her remarks, Inna Sukiasyan expressed gratitude to those countries and individuals that cared for Armenian orphans, gave refuge to Armenians who had escaped from Genocide and the chance to begin new lives. The speaker presented the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, which is the vision of Vardan Gregorian, Noubar Afeyan and Ruben Vardanyan. She highlighted the fact that the inaugural Aurora Prize was awarded to the woman, and the prize would be awarded annually on April 24 to courageous individuals advancing humanitarian causes.

At the conclusion of the event, Suzanne Khardalian’s film “Grandma’s Tattoos” and a documentary on the Aurora Prize was shown.

Events commemorating the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide will continue in the Armenian Diocese in Georgia.