The Armenian Genocide In The Ottoman Empire

While the rest of the world was distracted by World War I, the Ottoman Empire saw their chance to brutally and wrongfully slaughter those of the Armenian race, a Christian minority. A study showed that there were approximately 2,133,190 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1914, but by 1922 only around 387,800 left in the empire due to either death or immigration (Kifner). The Armenians are an older type of people, hailing from Armenia, which is now occupied by a part of Northeastern Turkey and the Republic of Armenia. In 1915, they occupied a minority of the Ottoman Empire. Armenians tended to be more educated than the other ethnic groups, and through this were seen as a wealthy people. This angered the government, who wanted a more pure country,
Others, they forced out of their homes, took their possessions, and forced them on death marches through the Mesopotamian Desert with little to no supplies. Some were even stripped naked before being sent out to their deaths. These marches were headed by cruel members of a “Special Organization” who shot any who stopped to rest. This Special organization was made up of recruited murderers, ex-convicts, and other similar people with the nerve to be able to pull off the heinous crimes requested by the government. These crimes included crucifying Armenians, burning them alive, throwing them off of cliffs, and drowning them in rivers, Basically anything that could be done to cause someone a slow or painful death was performed by these people. Children were kidnapped, given to other Turkish families, and forced to convert to Islam. Women were raped, sent to serve at whorehouses, and even forced into slavery for other Turkish families (Armenian
However, a new movement from those who opposed their killings formed an organization called Operation Nemesis that tracked the leaders down and killed them (Kifner). Today, Turkey is a valuable ally of the United States and many other western nations. In the first years after the Armenian Genocide, Turkey refused to acknowledge that the genocide had even happened, and instead stated that the killings were a necessary part of their war, but in recent years, have acknowledged that the event did in fact happen. While Turkey may not be as apologetic or even guilty about the occurrences between the years of 1914 and 1922, I feel like it was one of the most terrible events that has happened in recent history. While it may have only had a fraction of the mortality as the Holocaust or similar events, the manners in which the Armenian race was killed, in my opinion, were some of the most barbaric and inhumane ways to end a fellow human beings’ life. These people were killed simply because of a belief and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if a person was willing to do anything to survive, they were not given an adequate amount of time to evacuate or fight