EDUCATE – learn more about the issues surrounding genocide
PARTICIPATE – there are loads of ways to get involved
DONATE – give some money to help those that are suffering

Today's focus is on Armenia.

ARMENIA

From 1915 to 1919, the Ottoman Empire, which extended from what is modern day Turkey across the Middle East, launched a campaign to remove ethnic minorities from Ottoman controlled territory to create a ‘pure’, Turkish state. In so doing, they deliberately caused the deaths of over 1.5 million Armenian civilians and the displacement of the remaining population across the Middle East and the rest of the world.

This was the world’s first modern genocide, involving as it did, the wholesale destruction and removal of an ethnic, religious and cultural group from the Ottoman Empire. The methodical nature of the genocide - the systematic clearance of towns, the consistent use of techniques like death marches and concentration camps to kill Armenian civilians - marks this apart from what had come before, as does the motivation for such killings - an exclusivist nationalist ideology, that later mirrored the attitudes of the leadership of Nazi Germany.

The success of the Armenian genocide in both destroying Armenian communities, as well as their memory can be measured by a quote from Adolf Hitler, who was to perpetrate the Holocaust. Here he talks to Wehrmacht (the German Army) Commanders in 1939 following the invasion of Poland, outlining his plans to subjugate and destroy the Polish people:

“Thus, for the time being only in the east, I put ready my Death's Head units, with the order to kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of the Polish race or language. Only thus will we gain the living space that we need. Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?”

The genocide to this day is denied by Turkey; Turkish historians have variably argued that while deportations took place, they were necessary to prevent the Armenians becoming a military threat as the First World War raged. This view has been consistently demonstrated as false, with the International Association of Genocide Scholars having unanimously declared the events of the period to constitute genocide against the Armenians.

To this day, widespread denial of what took place exists; the US, UK and Israeli governments do not acknowledge that what took place constituted genocide, and any attempt to change this invokes prolonged campaigns by the Turkish government to prevent passage of such a bill.

ACTION POINTS

EDUCATE

Get informed - read up on the Armenian genocide, or watch survivor testimony - a brief documentary is available here.

PARTICIPATE

Host a remembrance event for the victims of the Armenian genocide - it doesn’t have to be anything more than a group of people coming together to honour their memory.

DONATE

Aegis is a leading genocide prevention NGO, that works through advocacy, education and campaigning to stop future atrocities. Much of our work is carried out in countries where even small amounts of money makes a big difference, so please donate whatever you can - every donation makes a difference.



All information published on the issues featured in the Genocide Awareness Campaign is supplied by Aegis.

Find out more about the Jeneration and Aegis Trust Genocide Awareness Campaign.

Monday's focus: Darfur 

Tuesday's focus: The Democratic Republic of Congo

Wednesday's focus: Rwanda  

Friday's focus: UK