The Facts

The Genocide of the Armenian people took place between1915-1917 and was the first genocide of the 20th century (Armenian). This genocide is also considered to be one of the largest in world history (Armenian). The Armenian Genocide happened in what used to be the Ottoman Empire, now it is called Turkey. This genocide came about because of twenty years of discrimination towards the Armenians. This discrimination included the Armenian massacres which occurred in 1846-1896 and also 1909. One source says, "Finally, Armenians increasingly became the scapegoats of the radical nationalism promulgated by the Young Turk who, after coming to power with the1908 revolution, sought a solution in the eastern part of the empire to all the disasters that had befallen them in the west" (Armenia). This shows how bad the Government wanted to get rid of the Armenians to solve the Ottoman Empire's social status and economical/political problems. Also, another source says, "Armenians were victims of the first modern genocide, which destroyed half to two-thirds of the entire community and, in addition, the survivors were cleansed from their historic lands" (Armenia). This explains the importance of the Armenian Genocide and what it stands for.