Under the patronage of President Bashar al-Assad, the cornerstone of a memorial of the victims of the Armenian Genocide was laid Sunday in the Old City of Damascus.

The memorial, which commemorates the Centennial of the genocide of April 24, 1915, will be built in the square next to the Armenian Orthodox Archbishopric near Bab Sharqi Arch in Old Damascus.

Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All East Mar Ignatius Aphram II Karim, Primate of the Armenian Church of Damascus Bishop Armash Nalbandian and a number of heads of Christian denominations in Damascus took part in the cornerstone laying ceremony that witnessed a wide popular participation.

Islamic scholars, a number of MPs, Minister of State for Environment Affairs Nazira Sarkis and Governor of Damascus Bishr al-Sabban were also present.

Before the ceremony, a mass was held at St. Sarkis Armenian Orthodox Church in Damascus on the occasion led by Primate Nalbandian.

An array of activities has been held around Syria to mark the genocide, in which the Ottoman Turks killed a million and a half Armenians and left million others displaced.