On April 24, 1915, exactly 100 years ago today, the Armenian Genocide began. The mass liquidation of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire was brought to fruition by the Young Turk government. At least 80% of the Armenian Ottoman population was marched to the Syrian desert and perished. Turkey has denied the genocide’s existence ever since. Today, it is still an unrecognized event. Obama has officially stated he will not recognize it as a genocide to secure ties with Turkey, and many other countries follow suit. On the eve of World War II, Hitler justified his own similar actions by stating, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?” The denial of the Armenians inspired Hitler’s own genocidal Holocaust, and every genocide after. For the sake of all genocide prevention, it is vitally important these injustices are recognized. The Armenians are not invisible.
No comments:
Post a Comment