The event has been described by historians as a decapitation strike, which was intended to deprive the Armenian population of leadership and a chance for resistance. To commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide, 24 April is observed as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. First observed in 1919 on the four-year anniversary of the events in Constantinople, the date is generally considered the date on which the genocide began. The Armenian Genocide has since been commemorated annually on the same day, which has become a national holiday in Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and is observed by the Armenian diaspora around the world.