THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RETURNS
The Armenians made their home in the Caucasus region of Eurasia for some 3,000 years. For some of that time, the kingdom of Armenia was independent. In the 4th century, it became the first nation to make Christianity its official religion. During the 15th century, Armenia was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans were Muslims. They permitted religious minorities like the Armenians to maintain some automomy, but subjected them to unequal and unjust treatment such as super high taxes and the loss of political and legal rights. They became "dhimmis". That's the Muslim word for what we would consider serfs.
In spite of the obstacles, they survived well and that angered the Muslims. The Ottoman caliphate suspected that the Armenians would be more loyal to Turkey's Christian neighbors. These suspicions grew more acute as the Ottoman Empire crumbled. At the end of the 19th century, the Turkish Sultan Abdul Hamid II was infuriated by the Armenian campaign to win basic civil rights. He promised to teach them a lesson. Turkish troops and the Muslim population massacred hundreds of thousands of Armenians in the mid 1890's.
In 1908, a new government came to power in Turkey. The "Young Turks" seized power and established a more modern government. The Armenians soon learned the Young Turks saw Christian non-Turks as a threat. In 1914, the Young Turks entered World War I on the side of Germany. The Ottoman religious leaders declared a holy Jihad against all Christians except their allies. The leaders spread rumors that the Armenians were eager to fight for the other side and pushed for the "removal" of the Armenians.
The genocide began April 24, 1915 when several hundred Armenian intellectuals were executed. The Young Turks created the "Special Organization" which consisted of "killing squads" and "butcher battalions" to liquidate Christians. They used various methods, including death marches, to carry out the extermination of Armenians. Muslim families moved into the homes of the dead and seized their property. There were about 2 million Armenians in Turkey in the 1890's. By 1922, after the genocide, there were about 388,000 Armenians left. Over 1.5 million had been killed.
Today, the Turkish government does not acknowledge the enormity of these events. They deny it happened. In Turkey, it is illegal to talk about the Armenian genocide. The U.S. federal government still refuses to acknowledge the genocide of the Armenians to placate the Turks. April 24, 2015 is the 100th Anniversary of the start of the genocide and our leaders still refuse to admit it for political reasons. The real horror is that, during the genocide, nobody tried to stop it! The media did little to report it. The world stood by and let it happen. How important is that? Here is how important it is: When Hitler was presenting his plan to exterminate the Jews to his group of advisors, and he was challenged by them due to the possible backlash, he responded that he had no fear of a backlash. Why? Because, he said, nobody did a thing to stop what happened to the Armenians earlier in the century. And he was convinced nobody would stop the genocide of the Jews.
It's happening again. We see Christians being exterminated throughout the Muslim world...crucified, burned to death, beheaded, shot in the head, enslaved. etc....and nothing is being done. Our own President thinks Christians deserve it because he has heard Christians say "unloving remarks" about Muslims.
I want to thank HISTORY.com for many of the details of this blog. A few in the media are exposing what happened to the Armenians. We must not let it happen again!
