In
April of 1915 the Ottomans killed thousands of Armenian men living in
Constantinople and other parts of Turkey starting a genocide that lasted
more than 10 years against Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians. Women,
children and old men were deported to Cilicia and Syria.
The persecution of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire started in 1914.
Initially, it was just boycotting Armenian businesses and shops. But
within months it culminated into acts of violence and the murder of key
Armenian politicians and persons of importance. By April 15, 1915,
almost 25,000 Armenians are slain in the Van province.
On April 24, 1915, the Ottomans arrested 250 Armenian intellectuals
and community leaders in Constantinople and sent to Chankri and Ayash,
where they were later slain.
On the same day, the editors and staff of Azadamart, the leading
Armenian newspaper of Constantinople, were arrested to be executed on
June 15 in Diyarbekir, where they had taken and imprisoned.
The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople and Zohrab and Armenian
deputy in the Ottoman Parliament petitioned to the Turkish authorities
on behalf of the arrested Armenians of Constantinople. The answer was
that the government was dissolving the Armenian political organizations.
Within nine months, more than 600,000 Armenians were massacred. Of
those who were deported during that time, more than 400,000 died of the
brutalities and privations of the southward march into Mesopotamia,
raising the victims to one million. This became known as the Armenian Genocide.
In addition, 200,000 Armenians were forcibly converted to Islam to
give Armenia a new Turkish sense of identity and strip the Armenian
people of their past as the first Christian state in the world.
On August 30, 1922, Armenians who were living in Smyrna
were victims of more Turkish atrocities. The “Smyrna Disaster” of 1922
that aimed at Christian Greeks who were living in the seaside city
involved thousands of Armenians. Turkish soldiers and civilians set all
Greek and Armenian neighborhoods on fire, forcing the fleeing of Greeks
and Armenians to the harbor, where thousands were killed or drowned.
On April 24, 1919, prominent figures of the Armenian community that
had survived held a commemoration ceremony at the St. Trinity Armenian
church in Istanbul. Following its initial commemoration in 1919, the
date became the annual day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide.
Yet, ever since the horrific events of 1915, Turkey is methodically
denying the Armenian genocide. But despite Turkish denials, it is
unanimously verified by the International Association of Genocide
Scholars and accepted by nations that uphold moral responsibility above
political purposes.
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