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Business Insider Australia
April 25 2014
Here's What Really Happened In The Armenian Genocide That Obama
Refuses To Acknowledge
Christina Sterbenz Yesterday at 5:43 AM Bookmark 7
An Armenian woman kneels beside a dead child in a field near Aleppo, a
city in the Ottoman Empire.
For the sixth year in a row, President Obama has failed to acknowledge
the Armenian genocide -- something he promised to do as both a senator
and a presidential candidate.While his statement Thursday invoked the
Armenian term for the atrocity, Meds Yeghern, it avoided the word
"genocide" entirely.
Obama might have avoided this term so that he doesn't offend Turkey,
which sits on much of the same land as the former Ottoman Empire,
where the genocide against the Armenians occurred.
"[Obama] has made unambiguous statements as a senator and in his
presidential campaign to fully recognise the genocide ... But he has
avoided using the actual word for obvious reasons: pressure from
Turkey, whom the U.S. considers an important ally," Rouben Adalian,
director of the Armenian National Institute, told Business Insider.
Considered one of the first mass killings in the 20th century, the
Armenian genocide took the lives of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
living in present-day Turkey. It occurred in two phases: enslaving and
massacring able-bodied males and deporting women, children, and the
elderly to the Syrian Desert to die of thirst and starvation.
The Young Turks, a Turkish nationalist party in the Ottoman Empire,
perpetrated the killings. These radical leaders wanted a separate
Turkish state, free of Armenians and other ethnic or religious
minorities. While Turkey didn't technically exist during the genocide,
many refer to the Ottoman Empire as the Turkish Empire because Turkish
groups founded the territory, of which a large part became their
present-day country.
The genocide officially began on April 24, 1915, now a day of
worldwide commemoration. Then, the Turkish government arrested more
than 200 Armenian community leaders and sent them to prison, where the
majority were summarily executed. Even earlier, though, reports of the
Young Turks torturing and enslaving Armenians began circulating.
That first wave of killings lasted until 1918. At the end of World War
I, peace took hold for little more than a year. In 1920, the Turkish
Nationalists -- who opposed the Young Turks but shared a common
ideology -- began persecuting the Armenians once more. The second
period of the Armenian genocide lasted until 1923.
Turkish soldiers march Armenian civilians to the desert.
Despite the escalating war, the international community responded
almost immediately. In May 1915, Great Britain, France, and Russia all
warned the Young Turks of the repercussions for their crimes against
humanity. A strong public outcry took place in the U.S., and the
victorious Allies eventually demanded that the Ottoman government
prosecute the Young Turks. Relief efforts to save Armenian refugees
from starvation sprouted all over the globe.
The Turkish government not only refuses to label the event as a
genocide but it also ignores many of the historical facts. In a
statement Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used
words like "inhumane" and "establishing compassion," The Globe and
Mail reported. But Erdogan, like Obama, didn't use the word
"genocide."
"I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and
my view has not changed," Obama said today. As a senator and a
presidential candidate, he labelled the event a "genocide" multiple
times. But as soon as Obama took office, that word disappeared from
his statements.
Currently, 21 countries have passed legislation officially
acknowledging the killings of the Armenian people during World War I
as a genocide, according to the Institute. Even House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi "embraced the truth," as her statement today urged others
to do. Most important, virtually all the Armenian communities
worldwide stem from survivors of this genocide. But it's important to
continue spreading international awareness that the atrocity was
indeed a genocide.
"The worldwide occurrences of these mass atrocities is incredibly
worrisome ... [Obama's acknowledgment] is an important step because it
would hold government leaders responsible for their actions,
especially when there have been gross violations of human rights,"
Adalian said.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/history-of-armenian-genocide-2014-4
From: A. Papazian
April 25 2014
Here's What Really Happened In The Armenian Genocide That Obama
Refuses To Acknowledge
Christina Sterbenz Yesterday at 5:43 AM Bookmark 7
An Armenian woman kneels beside a dead child in a field near Aleppo, a
city in the Ottoman Empire.
For the sixth year in a row, President Obama has failed to acknowledge
the Armenian genocide -- something he promised to do as both a senator
and a presidential candidate.While his statement Thursday invoked the
Armenian term for the atrocity, Meds Yeghern, it avoided the word
"genocide" entirely.
Obama might have avoided this term so that he doesn't offend Turkey,
which sits on much of the same land as the former Ottoman Empire,
where the genocide against the Armenians occurred.
"[Obama] has made unambiguous statements as a senator and in his
presidential campaign to fully recognise the genocide ... But he has
avoided using the actual word for obvious reasons: pressure from
Turkey, whom the U.S. considers an important ally," Rouben Adalian,
director of the Armenian National Institute, told Business Insider.
Considered one of the first mass killings in the 20th century, the
Armenian genocide took the lives of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians
living in present-day Turkey. It occurred in two phases: enslaving and
massacring able-bodied males and deporting women, children, and the
elderly to the Syrian Desert to die of thirst and starvation.
The Young Turks, a Turkish nationalist party in the Ottoman Empire,
perpetrated the killings. These radical leaders wanted a separate
Turkish state, free of Armenians and other ethnic or religious
minorities. While Turkey didn't technically exist during the genocide,
many refer to the Ottoman Empire as the Turkish Empire because Turkish
groups founded the territory, of which a large part became their
present-day country.
The genocide officially began on April 24, 1915, now a day of
worldwide commemoration. Then, the Turkish government arrested more
than 200 Armenian community leaders and sent them to prison, where the
majority were summarily executed. Even earlier, though, reports of the
Young Turks torturing and enslaving Armenians began circulating.
That first wave of killings lasted until 1918. At the end of World War
I, peace took hold for little more than a year. In 1920, the Turkish
Nationalists -- who opposed the Young Turks but shared a common
ideology -- began persecuting the Armenians once more. The second
period of the Armenian genocide lasted until 1923.
Turkish soldiers march Armenian civilians to the desert.
Despite the escalating war, the international community responded
almost immediately. In May 1915, Great Britain, France, and Russia all
warned the Young Turks of the repercussions for their crimes against
humanity. A strong public outcry took place in the U.S., and the
victorious Allies eventually demanded that the Ottoman government
prosecute the Young Turks. Relief efforts to save Armenian refugees
from starvation sprouted all over the globe.
The Turkish government not only refuses to label the event as a
genocide but it also ignores many of the historical facts. In a
statement Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used
words like "inhumane" and "establishing compassion," The Globe and
Mail reported. But Erdogan, like Obama, didn't use the word
"genocide."
"I have consistently stated my own view of what occurred in 1915, and
my view has not changed," Obama said today. As a senator and a
presidential candidate, he labelled the event a "genocide" multiple
times. But as soon as Obama took office, that word disappeared from
his statements.
Currently, 21 countries have passed legislation officially
acknowledging the killings of the Armenian people during World War I
as a genocide, according to the Institute. Even House Minority Leader
Nancy Pelosi "embraced the truth," as her statement today urged others
to do. Most important, virtually all the Armenian communities
worldwide stem from survivors of this genocide. But it's important to
continue spreading international awareness that the atrocity was
indeed a genocide.
"The worldwide occurrences of these mass atrocities is incredibly
worrisome ... [Obama's acknowledgment] is an important step because it
would hold government leaders responsible for their actions,
especially when there have been gross violations of human rights,"
Adalian said.
http://www.businessinsider.com.au/history-of-armenian-genocide-2014-4
From: A. Papazian