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YEREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS:A Syrian Armenian, Gabriel Chemberjian, presented last Saturday 200 more laboratory instruments to Armenian schools. A year ago he had brought here 180 instruments. These instruments will help school students during physics, chemistry and anatomy classes. The Syrian Armenian was commended by education and science minister Levon Mkrtchian. On September 21 Gabriel Chemberjian was in Syrian Der Zor for a ceremony of starting the construction of a hospital that will offer free services to local Arabs. Chemberjian said in Yerevan that the hospital is a sign of Armenians’ gratitude to Arabs who gave shelter to thousands of Armenians who fled Turkey in 1915. Chemberjian said he hopes that prime minister Serzh Sarkisian will agree to participate in its inauguration. Der Zor is a city in northeastern Syria on the Euphrates River and capital of the Der Zor Governorate, 450 km from the capital, Damascus. Now it has a population of 145,000. It is a prosperous farming area, with cattle- breeding, cereals and cotton crops. In 1915 during the Armenian Genocide, it witnessed grim scenes as hundreds of thousands of Armenians arrived at the end of forced death marches from Anatolia. Thousands died in Der Zor and surrounding areas. The Armenian Apostolic Church in the town contains a memorial to the victims of the genocide of 1915, and is an important center of commemoration, especially on 24 April. A memorial to the Armenian victims was completed in 1990.