Personal Narrative: Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide also referred as the Armenian Holocaust was a horrific act done by the Turkish Ottoman government to exterminate and kill many Armenians. Millions of Armenians lost their lives due to this event and Turkey refutes that any event ever happened or occurred. The start of the genocide took place in April 24 1915 where the ottoman empire took many Armenian leaders to eventually murder them. The event was carried out during and after World War 1. The genocide was implemented in two phases which where the wholesale killing of the male population, then the death marches of the children and women leading to starvation because their food and water were deprived as well as their dignity since they raped and robbed them. There were

The Holocaust is one of the most well known events in history. It had a great affect on the Jewish population and the Zionist movement. The Holocaust is very similar to the Turkish massacre of the Armenians during World War I. Alike the Holocaust, it also had a large effect on the Armenian population. Both of these are horrific events in history because of the mass numbers that were killed. The Holocaust, which had a great effect on the Jewish population, is comparable on a much larger scale to the Massacre of the Armenians in Turkey during World War 1 because of the incredibly large numbers of lives lost during the specific massacres.

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.

The Armenian Genocide is the name given to the events of 1915-1923 in the Ottoman Empire, which was renamed Turkey after its founding father, Mustafa Ataturk. The Muslim majority destroyed the Armenians' homes, churches, and livelihoods in a continuous murderous event that took its course over 8 years. An estimated 1 million to 1.5 million Armenians died in this Genocide, and other ethnicities died as well including Greeks and Azerbaijanis who happened to be living in Armenian neighborhoods. (University of Michigan) The victims were sometimes forced to walk on endless marches that were intended to move the entire population out of the country and east to the mountains. Any Armenians who died on the march were left on the road to rot. The Armenian Genocide was first recognized by the Russian Empire in 1915, who saw what was happening before Europe did. The leaders of the Ottoman Empire, including Ataturk, were creating a modern Turkey for Turks, at the expense of all the minorities of the Ottoman Empire, and without mercy for any who would resist.

The war between the Young Turks and the Armenians did not solve any problems, but rather just further deepened tensions between countries. It started off as a war for power because the Armenians demanded equal rights with the Turks in the government of the Ottoman Empire. However, due to the differing religions between the two groups, the Armenians were denied of their request as they were the minority. This lead the Turks to form a committee, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), to reach a compromise with the Armenians so they could all live together in peace. However, out of fear that they would take over, the Young Turks completely disregarded this plan and decided to slaughter them by the thousands because they posed a slight threat. This increased tensions between opposing races and opposing countries since their Allies, such as Germany, would also be expected to take the side of the Turks and deny the brutality of the events that took place.

The Armenian genocide has its place in history as one of the first large-scale genocides of the 20th century. Technological advancements of the period allowed for the efficient killing of large amounts of people, making genocide possible. Automatic weapons made it easy to commit mass killings, and advances in communication allowed for much easier coordination of these killings. The era was characterized by an obsession with race and nationalism, and these topics dominated world politics (Kaplan, 2016, p. 41). This was an environment plagued by racism and xenophobia, which helped to facilitate the Armenian genocide.

Elie Wiesel is quoted saying “Denial is the final phase of genocide, a second killing.” This can be seen when on April 24th, 1915, a group of Armenians were forcibly removed from their homes, and unknown to them, marched to their death. This would begin the period known to many as the Armenian Genocide. However, many still refuse to acknowledge the killings that took place. The mass genocide of Armenians is still a taboo subject in Turkey, almost 100 years after two million citizens lost their lives.

One day i was simply raking leaves in my yard and tired as i was i leaned on a tree. Then i felt something moving i turned around and it was nothing. I continued to lean and felt it again and again, the moving went faster and and always stopped when i turned. I ignored it and then continued until suddenly…i fell into a pit. There was a statue with a pamphlet in the pedestal that opened up saying that every 613 years a child of prophecy will be born and carry on the will of Hades. I was horrified. It said that you have 2 hours to steal souls and drain the life out of every human with a transformation formula on them. I thought what a transformation formula but i had no idea. I looked at the statue and kicked it several times, but then another pamphlet appeared showing

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These famous words written by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence have been used as famous reference points and evidence to support women's suffrage, segregation, and many other movements trying to equalize all human beings. What if I said that millions and millions of people are not only being denied the opportunity to liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but are being denied the opportunity to the greatest right of all, Life? These people are the hundreds of thousands of babies being killed in the world each and every day without the chance to ever grow up to have liberty, happiness, or even life. I believe abortion is wrong.

The phrase ‘history repeats itself’ is applicable only to learning from experiences. Mass genocide, world revolt, corruption on a governmental scale. Such things are put away from us now aren’t they? Surely no one does those things anymore, right? Such was the argument of my sheltered mind. After all, to awaken those haunts from the past, would be a regression of the now established world would it not? It would be horrendous, it would be uncivil. Funnily enough, none of these rationales meant anything as I witnessed these monsters of mass genocide, revolt and the like, who I had long thought had been laid to rest, ravage and in a bloodthirsty massacre steal the lives of 34 minors.

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

By the Spring of 1915, The Ottoman Empire’s very existence was in danger. They faced a war on three fronts during World War One : Anglo-Indian troops to the South in the Levant, The Russians to east in the Caucasus, who were ahead after their victory in Sarıkamış, And the British and French to the West, who mounted naval attacks against the Dardanelles. It was clear that the Empire was in bad shape. With the situation so grave, the Ottomans began mobilizing their population for war, as well as doing away with those not loyal.They mobilized Kurds, Arabs, Turks, Bedouin Tribesman, and even used prisoners as irregulars. However, they didn’t mobilize Armenians as they declared them a dangerous group. To show insight into the reasons for the systematic killings and deportations of Armenians

The Armenian genocide has several main causes: European meddling in Ottoman internal affairs, nationalism, economic jealousy, and Armenian involvement in the Russian war effort. Though, a lot of the causes are interrelated. For example, nationalism and European meddling go hand in hand. What exactly was the Armenian genocide? Well, the Armenian genocide was a state orchestrated machine of mass-murder and rape of the Armenian people, and several other ethnic groups, of the Ottoman Empire 1915-1923. The Armenians were one of many ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire, and they had lived in eastern Asia Minor for around three thousand years prior to the atrocity .

to elaborate the same. The above case serves as the first type of case study mentioned before and for the Armenian genocide and the horrific Holocaust will serve as the second type. For a more accurate comparison an ICC case dealing with genocide should have been taken but, the only genocide case is that of Darfur, Sudan i.e. The Prosecutor v. Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir which because of the suspect being at large has led the case to be stuck at the Pre-Trail procedure.

Known as the first genocide of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire’s campaign against the Armenians between 1915 and 1918 continues to be a issue that follows Turkey as it positions itself on the international stage and attempts to gain a foothold in European politics. Having been content to forego addressing the claims of genocide and leave “history to the historians,” the modern Turkish state has learned in recent decades that simply forgetting the past is no longer an option. Movements both inside and outside Turkey in recent decades, specifically with the 50th and subsequent anniversaries of the beginning of the Armenian genocide, the creation of the Republic of Armenia following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Turkey’s attempts