Can you imagine yourself living during the time that WWI was going on? I'm
pretty sure you'd be terrified to even walk out of your house. Like it wasn't bad
enough that the whole world was at each other's throat, but to know that your
country may be at the hands of another leader. A leader who may have different
perspectives on every day life, with the benefit of doubt that it may be extremely
foreign to you, is pretty scary. I'm pretty sure that it would make you or anyone
else feel extremely unsafe and uncomfortable. But imagine being unaware of the
underlying plan to "cleanse" your ethnic group. The Armenian people faced this
situation during the time of WWI. Life between the Turks (Armenia's rival) and
the Armenians was very complex. Not all Armenians hated the Turks, and not all
Turks hated the Armenians. Consequently, the Armenian people were not aware
of any forms of annihilation that were being plotted at the time.
What exactly is the definition of a Genocide?? According to the World
Book Dictionary, genocide means: The systematic extermination or destruction of
a political, racial, or cultural group1. When the word genocide is brought up,
many people usually think of the Holocaust. Although the Holocaust was a
massive tragedy, many don't recall the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian
Genocide was just as terrifying as the Holocaust, and we should commemorate
this tragedy. The people who are held responsible for this tragedy are a young
group of Turks. Their plan was to exterminate all of the Armenian population.
The Turks desired a Turkish State that extended to Central Asia, and thus to carry
through the unity of the Turkish speaking people. This creation of such a state
would create what they call "Pan-Turkism"2.
The Armenians had their first taste of aggression by the Turks on April 24,
19153. Three ...