The Armenian Genocide: An Argument About The Meaning Of The Past

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

One of the most gruesome genocides to happen during the 20th century is the Greek Genocide, often referred to as the Pontian or Ottoman Greek Genocide. This genocide consisted of mass killings and exterminations of the Ottoman Greeks by the Turkish rule from 1914-1923. The main dispute was difference in religion and beliefs, Christians versus Islam. What most people do not know is that the Ottoman Greek Genocide is responsible for the almost complete destruction of the Christian Orthodox culture, including monuments and history. Many Greeks suffered from forced deportations, death marches, forced conversion of religion, executions, labor battalions, hunger, and the overall cruelty of the Turkish government during this time period. The ones responsible for these acts was the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and the Young Turk reformists who seized control of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Greeks of all ages and genders were persecuted because of their culture and minority in Turkey, so that the CUP and the Young Turks could achieved perfect “Turkification” of the empire.

Between the years of 1915 and 1918 the Ottoman Empire, under the Young Turks began a deliberate program of removing and exterminating the Armenian population; a population already dismantled through previous massacres. The Armenians were a minority in both population and religion. Because most Armenians were Christians, they were made an easy scapegoat in an empire that was mostly Islamic. With the world’s eyes on the First World War, the Armenian Genocide went mostly unnoticed and there were no punishments such as ones received by Germany after the Holocaust. The United States has deliberately avoided the recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 in order to maintain an ally in the Middle East and to avoid American genocidal policies,

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.

Mass extermination and deportation of Western population of Armenia, Cilicia and other provinces of the Ottoman Empire carried out by the ruling circles of Turkey in 1915-1923. The policy of genocide against Armenians was due to several factors. The leading role among them was the ideology

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.

As mentioned in the summary, the Ottoman Empire, which consisted of the Young Turks, allied with Germany during World War I and decided that they wanted a Muslim-only country. In the minds of the Young Turks, this would lead to territorial expansion and the solidification of their crumbling country. This brutal genocide, like any genocide, was incredibly horrendous, filled with rape, abuse, and, of course, death. A staggering 1.5 million Armenians shed blood in their hands! Not to mention the other minorities in Turkey.

The Turkish government refuses to allow other allied countries and those within NATO to address this event as a genocide. This act is to purely save face. It does not allow the families who have already lost so much due to the slaughtering of their families to heal. One hundred years has gone by and the evidence to support the fact that the Armenian genocide did indeed happen and past the extent that the Turkish government allows to be known. The government has done everything from silencing the media to forging records from the times of the Genocide to paint the government in a better light and not cause any unwanted backlash from the people or from allied governments. The continuation of the denial of the magnitude of the situation is only serving to reflect poorly on the Turkish government as a whole. Flat-out denial to acknowledge these actions caused by the government in the past is only making the families affected by the genocide against their ancestors want to make right to this injustice. The Armenian Genocide ended with the Ottoman surrender in 1922 to conclude their role in WW1. This caused the Turks to flee to Germany where it was promised that they would not be prosecuted for their actions. The genocide started with well over two million Armenians living within the Ottoman empire's borders but ended

The Armenian Genocide Ronald Reagan, once said, like the genocide of the Armenians before it, and the genocide of the Cambodians which followed it, the lessons of the Holocaust must never be forgotten. Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. The ethic group the Ottoman Empire was deporting and killing were Christians. They were forced from their homes and into deportation and massacres from 1915 to 1918, one of the most brutal and traumatizing genocide that we have knowledge of. The Armenian Genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century, after World War 1. It occurred when two million Armenians were living in the Ottoman Empire. For three thousand years, an

In the period after World War I and before the tragic Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide is often forgotten. During this time period the Turkish countryside was a garbage disposal for decomposing bodies that drenched the air with its vulgar stench. Within the eight year period of 1915 to 1923, an estimated three quarters of the original Armenian population was victim to blood ridden Turkish hands.

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.

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.

This source is a magazine article from History Today that I found on the database MasterFILE Premier. One hundred years ago the Armenian genocide occurred in Turkey. In his account of the complex historical background to these events Donald Bloxham focuses on the issue of great power involvement. Approximately one million Armenian Christians were murdered in 1915-16 under the auspices of the Ottoman state, directed by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP). Evidence for this state-sponsored mass destruction is too strong to waste any space demonstrating why the controversial 'G' word, genocide, is entirely applicable to the case. Yet, contrary to an 'Armenian' historiography that is keen -- partly as a response to ongoing Turkish

Approximately one and a half million Armenians were killed from 1915-1923. The remaining part was either Islamized or exiled.” The Armenian Genocide was a horrific event that caused the Armenians to have a major loss in population. From this, the Armenians should have been given reparations, but were not and that still affects them to this day.