Armenian Genocide
Most know about the horrific and shameful acts of violence against the Jewish during World War II. It is taught and studied in world history classes within every country. However, many have not heard of the Armenian Genocide. It is still a debated and controversial topic. Against what all documents and witnesses who have survived show and tell, the Turkish government still denies the existence of this terrible event. This act of ignorance is highly irresponsible and insulting towards the survivors of this horrible event. By accepting the existence of such shameful act, the new Republic of Turkey can move forward and fix their foreign affairs with opposite parties.
Although the Turkish government claims that the Armenian
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Even though there are several documents found including plans for the act, military journals, and documents of payments that were made by the government to the local mobs, which all clearly state the government involvement with attacks on Armenians that were either fleeing their own houses in fear of their lives or in the safety of their own homes, Turkish government representatives deny any government involvement. They state that it was done by radical subject Turkish people which were executed once they were found guilty. While there are records of executions of Turkish radicals during the time period, the Turkish government denies any access to those records which in turn damages their credibility. Another counter argument made by the Turkish government is that the Armenians that were slain by military officers or mobs hired by the government were Armenians that sympathized with Russia, and carried on espionage and plans to hinder the Ottoman Empire. While that argument stays true through the beginning of this genocide act, the records show the displacement of nearly a hundred thousand Armenians and the death of eighty thousand more (UTEG). Clearly the numbers just do not add up and even if they did, both of the statements made by Turkish government officials, can not be true at the same time. One statement accepts the involvement of the government, while another strictly states there was no government involvement. This denial of violence and ignorance from Turkish representatives goes on to help prove the existence of the terrible act since the lack of credibility and consistency of official statements is clear as
Till this day, Turkey refuses to call this occurrence a genocide, speaking of the Armenian genocide is an offense punishable by imprisonment. In 2010, Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to deport 170,000 Armenians when a bill was proposed to recognize the Armenian genocide in Turkey.
The Armenian Massacre happened in 1894-1896 and the Armenian Genocide happened in 1915-1920 which was caused by the Turkish Government. The Turkish Government’s aim was to remove all the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire because they were more educated and wealthier then the Turkish population . The Turkish Government was also worried that the Armenians would become allies with Russia, who were a threat to Turkey . They killed and deported the Armenians to prevent this happening. It has been estimated
During World War I, the government of Turkey sought to rid their country of the Armenians. The Turks and other ethnic groups hated the Armenians for their ability to prosper, even as a minority group with limited rights. This hatred led to the desire to cleanse the Ottoman Empire of Armenian influence. The Turkish people say that the Ottoman empire went through a civil war during this time, which explains the deaths of so many Armenians. Although the Turks claim otherwise, the treatment of the Armenian people during World War I qualifies as a genocide through scale, government involvement, and the usage of the genocide process.
On the 24 April 1915, as the Ottoman Empire was being dismantled, a fiercely nationalistic Muslim political party known as the Young Turks began the process of exterminating approximately 1 500 000 Armenian Christians. The Young Turks aimed to create a state that was free from any Armenians and from Christians in particular. The genocide lasted 8 years, until 1923, during which time the Armenian Christian population in the Ottoman Empire was reduced from approximately 2 million to approximately 500 000. Still today, Turkey refuses to call what took place ‘genocide’. The modern Turkish government argues that the intent was to relocate the Armenians or, in some cases, that the genocide was completely fabricated by the Armenians, as a bid to gain support from the outside Christian world.
Since a hundred years ago, the discussion over the barbarous actions of the Ottoman Empire murdering and deporting of its Armenian community has come down to one question. Was the viscous acts of the Ottoman Empire considered Genocide or not? This is the real global issue that has been debated for so long throughout the world. While the vast American-Armenian community truly believes the word Genocide should be openly used to describe the massacre that took place a hundred years ago, the United States has not let the word out of their mouth. Many Armenians wonder why the United States choose not to express the G-Word when they know more than a million Armenians were massacred during the final days of the Ottoman Empire.
Our own government chooses to ignore the facts in order to keep Turkey as one of its alliances. How can an alliance be worth more than a nearly two million lives gone and wasted? The Turkish have intentionally “demolished any remnants of Armenian cultural heritage.”(United Human Rights Council). The Turks have destroyed Armenian art, archives, and books in attempt to cut all ties with Armenian history. In fact, they even went as far as leveling cities to remove any possible trace of the three thousand year old society. Fortunately, the three twisted men who fled the country were later captured, as a result of the Armenians who sought justice. They were later trialed and found guilty. Although it is not celebrated in America, April 24th is the national Armenian Genocide Remembrance
In 1914 through 1918, the Turks, while they were still labeled as the Ottoman Empire, were in a war with Russia and were afraid that one of their occupied lands, Armenia, would help Russia since they both were Christians. This forced the Turkish government to decide that it was time to eliminate the Armenians by blaming and killing them for their alleged betrayals. Even today, Turkey still denies they committed genocide. The massacre that took place in the Ottoman Empire between 1914-1918 should be considered genocide because it went through all eight stages of genocide, especially highlighted preparation and extermination.
The denial of the Armenian genocide and the use of the term “alleged” are insults to those who have agitated over the years in highlighting the genocide and the Armenian people themselves. The pictorial anger and anguish of this painful traumatic experience had left the survivors of this horrific event with deep scars beyond repairs. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a dark world for the Armenians who were held helpless and bound at the treacherous hand of the Muslim Turks of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. The Armenian Genocide includes: the context of power of the Ottoman Empire, the phases of destruction and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the genocide and provide support to the Armenians.
One of the reasons why the Armenian genocide was forgotten was that Turkey wanted it to be forgotten. Regardless of the vast amount of evidence that points to the fact the there was an Armenian genocide such as, eyewitness accounts, official archives, photographic evidence, the reports of diplomats, and the testimony of survivors, denial of the Armenian Genocide has gone on from 1915 to the
Sam: Today, most history experts and others worldwide label this event as a genocide. A genocide is the deliberately executing of a large group of people, most of which are of the same ethnic group or nation. Unfortunately, the Turkish government does not acknowledge the damage that these events had upon the people. Despite pressure from Armenians and social justice advocates throughout the world, it is still illegal in Turkey to converse about the events that included the Armenians during this era. Armenians were publicly humiliated and
In the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish government put into motion a plan to murder and massacre several Armenians that lived in the Ottoman Empire. One of the main reason the genocide began was because the Armenians were asking for more equal rights. The Armenian Genocide was not necessary.At the time of the massacre.there were about 2 million Armenian’s in the Ottoman empire. By the time the massacre ended, there were about 1.5 million Armenians dead, many were also removed from the country. The Armenians were discriminated by the Ottoman, many Armenians began to ask for equal rights because of the tend toward constitutional governments in Europe. There was a decline of power in the ottoman empire and major military losses during WWI, which
Turkish leaders in 1915, had planned to kill and massacres Armenians that were currently living in the Ottoman empire. Bloxham states, “However discriminatory were traditional Ottoman attitudes towards Armenians in a Muslim-dominated theocracy, and however miserable the life of the average Ottoman Armenians peasant, it was only after the Armenian question was promoted to the internal diplomatic table during the ‘eastern crisis’ of 1875-8 that it became such a toxic matter for successive Ottoman regimes as to be answered with periodic bouts of murder” (Bloxham 4). Currently, some historians call this even a genocide-a premeditated and systematic campaign to kill a good amount of population. Aside from the pressure from Armenians and social justice advocates throughout the globe, it is still illegal in Turkey to speak or make any comment on what had happened to the Armenians during this
With the help of the Turkish government, history's forgotten atrocity is a genocide. In 1915, during
The Armenian genocide is a huge part of history that is often looked over. The genocide still occurred even if the Turkish wont admit to the facts. They claim they had no intent on the killings; which by definition makes it not a genocide. The Armenians faced human right deprival and death by the Ottomans and their suffering should be recognized. The denial of the human rights impacted the international community because it leads to many Armenians migrating to live elsewhere. Some Armenians today can now be found in Turkey, but many are found in the Republic and other
star ratings (IMBD). This is in spite of the fact the movie has only been shown publicly on three separate occasions. This shows that there is still continued, albeit a one sided one, controversy regarding the Armenian Genocide. These are just two examples of the dozens of films made about the Armenian Genocide, but there are also many other pieces of music and art that commemorate it.