DAMASCUS (ArmRadio)—A mass was held on Wednesday at Mar Gregory Cathedral for Syriac Orthodox in Damascus, on the centennial anniversary of the Syriac Genocide. The mass was led by Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II Karim, the Syrian Arab News Agency reports.

Patriarch Aphrem said the memory of martyrs, Assyrians and Armenians, who were killed at the hands of Ottomans, gives us a momentum to remain in Syria and defend it in the face of terrorism that targets the one Syrian family.

“The memory of massacres that killed a half million of Syriac people and more than million and a half of Armenians will remain alive in our hearts as we will remember them in our prayers,” the Patriarch said.

He called on the world governments and parliaments to recognize the genocides, hailing the stance of the German parliament that lately recognized the genocide, demanding states that ignite the crisis in Syria to stop doing so.

Following the mass, a march of candles set off from the patriarchate into the Martyrs Park of Syriac.