The first monument to the Genocide victims, 1919

The first monument to the victims of the Genocide was erected in Constantinople in 1919, on the site of today's Gezi Park. The Kemalists destroyed it almost immediately after taking the city, and it survives only in a photograph, as a testimony to Armenian grief.

The picture shows a tall stone stele with figures carved in relief, and a draped, grieving figure lying on the pedestal. At the top, in Armenian capital letters, is the word “Monument” and a reference to 11 April (24 April in the new calendar).

During construction work in the park, gravestones were found that had probably been taken from the Armenian cemetery of Surb Hakob near Taksim Square and used for the park's steps.