Did you know? - Armenian Genocide

Written by John Do, Grade 11 & Scott Miles, Grade 11

Did you know that on April 24th, 2019 people of all different background came together to commemorate the 104th memorial of the Armenian Genocide?

For about 500 years, Armenians were a part of the Ottoman Empire (now known as Turkey). They were a minority Christian group in a Muslims Ottoman Empire, which meant that they had to pay more taxes and were discriminated against. however, their culture prospered nonetheless. In 1914, when the Ottoman Empire entered World War I, allied to the German-Austrian Empire, the Ottoman military leaders convicted Armenian of being traitors for fighting alongside with Russia. As the war continued, the Armenians resisted and fought for their independence, making the Turks go against Armenian people, starting a catastrophic slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians.

The mass killing of the Turkish Armenians by the Turkey is commonly known that the Armenian Genocide, which started on April 24, 1915. That day, the Turkish government arrested and executed several hundred Armenian intellectuals, mostly Armenian men with power. After that, ordinary Armenians were forced out of their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. Frequently, the marchers were stripped naked and forced to walk under the scorching sun until they dropped dead. People who stopped to rest were shot to death.

104 years later, in 2019, April 24th, the world commemorated the 104th remembrance day of the Armenian Genocide.

Bibliography

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