The monument was made by a local artist in Armenia, it consists of three parts and will be mounted on the outside walls of the Armenian-Apostolic Church in Amserdam. The opening ceremony will be held on April 21 and a committee with representatives from the Armenian government will be present in the ceremony.

The monument is 3 meters high, and will be located in a central and highly visible place in the city, on the corner of Krom Boomsloot and Keizerstraat.

This isn’t the first time a monument is put up in the netherlands commemorating the Armenian Genocide: There have been monuments put up in the courtyard of the Armenian Church in Almelo and the cemetery in Assen, but those were not this visible.

The monument was approved by the Amsterdam City Council in January, and the necessary funds of 13.000 Euros were raised by the Armenian congregation.

1.5 million Armenians were killed in the 1915 genocide. Sint Grigor Narekats Cultural Foundation Chairperson Vahan Avakyan spoke to the newspaper Parool and said, “There are almost no Armenian families who weren’t a victim of the genocide.” Avakyan stated that the victims have been lost in mass graves, and that the monument will give a chance to the survivors to commemorate the victims.

The Dutch Parliament had also passed a law in February officially identifying the events of 1915 as a “genocide”, which led to further increased tensions between Turkey and the Netherlands. After Ankara’s protests, the Dutch government decided not to comply with the parliament’s decision and didn’t recognize the genocide.

Despite this outcome, the Dutch government will be sending a committee at the level of Ministry to Armenia for the April 24 genocide commemoration ceremonies.