An Essay by Christine Wallenburg (12)
The world has faced countless slaughters and brutal killings that many people do not know about. One of these is the mass killing of the Armenian people in 1915. During World War I, the Young Turks political movement tried to eliminate Armenians from the Ottoman Empire. Turkey and many other countries around the world refuse to accept that any killings took place, even with the countless first-hand stories and evidence pointing towards genocide. The 1915 massacre of 1.5 million Armenian people was brutal, and should be accepted universally as Genocide, especially by Turkey.
The Armenians were Christian and successful merchants, making them appear as a threat to the Young Turks who feared that they would gain power. To eliminate the threat, the Turks decided to eliminate the Armenians. The genocide began on April 24, 1915 when 300 Armenian leaders, writers, professionals and anyone of high social rank were called to Constantinople, present day Istanbul. All these Armenian people were collected, deported and killed. The Turks then continued on to slaughter 5,000 of the poorest Armenians in their own homes and on the street. The Armenian people were tortured, massacred and starved; many of the women and children were sent out into the dessert to die of thirst and hunger. Throughout the massacre, the Young Turks’ government restricted the use of photography and reporting to prevent the news of what they had done from spreading to other countries. Many Armenian missionaries and diplomatic representatives witnessed the deportations and were able to break the news outside of the country. By 1923, the Armenian population had been completely eliminated from Asia Minor and historic West Armenia. Of the 2 million total Armenians, 1.5 million were killed, leaving the remaining 500,000 people to find refuge in neighbouring countries or the small piece of what was left of Armenia. The Turkish people caused a lot of pain and suffering to the Armenians and should publicly accept what they did.
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Turkey has refused to accept the events of 1915 and will not recognize that the massacre took place. Turkey is afraid that they will have to compensate Armenia with not only land but also monetarily. The Turkish government has continuously expressed their intolerance for any mentions of Armenian Genocide. Under Turkish law, any public mentions or publications about the Armenian genocide is punishable with 2 years in prison. There are quite a few instances where the Turkish government has exercised and even taken advantage of this law. Hrant Dink was an outspoken Turkish-Armenian journalist who was well known for his efforts in reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. After publishing many articles about the Armenian Genocide and receiving numerous death threats, Dink was assassinated in 2007 by a Turkish spy. This shows just how hostile Turkey is towards any mentions about what happened. Many countries around the world, including the United States of America have yet to recognize the Armenian Genocide because they want to maintain political and economic ties with Turkey. If Turkey would just admit to carrying out the Armenian Genocide, then it could become universally recognized, since countries would not have to worry about ruining their ties with the Turkish government.
The Armenian Genocide must be recognized to bring the victims closure and prevent any future genocide. Many times the Armenian Genocide has been called “the forgotten genocide”. Even Hitler referred to the Armenians as “forgotten” when he was addressing his army before their attack on the Polish border. He said “After all, who will now remember the annihilation of the Armenians?” The Armenians continue to suffer to this day due to the events of 1915. Armenia is a small country with a lot of poverty among the people. When speaking of the Armenian Genocide, past American president Theodore Roosevelt said, “the Armenian massacre was the greatest crime of the war, and the failure to act against Turkey is to condone it… the failure to deal radically with the Turkish horror means that all talk of guaranteeing future peace of the world is mischievous nonsense”. Roosevelt recognizes that countries like Turkey who commit such horrible crimes must be punished or must compensate for what they have done in order to promise a future of peace and harmony. Genocides and massacres cannot be tolerated.
Ultimately, the Young Turks failed as millions of Armenians around the world today commemorate the Armenian Genocide 100 years later. The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was adopted in 1948, 30 years after the events of the Armenian Genocide. The world is finally recognizing that killings like this cannot take place. 25 countries have recognized the Armenian Genocide, however many more must step up so that Genocide be deemed unacceptable in the world and countries be held accountable for their crimes. People need to recognize and make it clear that killing will not go unnoticed or many more genocides will continue to happen, for as Winston Churchill once said “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
