Armenian Massacre or Genocide? When will we know?

As we all know the Armenian Massacre that took place during 1915-1922 was a heartbreaking tragedy. The Ottoman Turks systematically forced the Armenian people to starvation; they were tortured, murdered, and exiled. These actions resulted in the deaths of over 1,500,000 Armenians.

The United Nations Convention defined Genocide as the following:

...any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

– Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article II

The following events prove that the execution should be considered as Genocide:

(a) On April 24,1915 nine hundred Armenian leaders and intellectuals were murdered.
(b) The Armenian people were subjected to starvation and did not have clothing.
(c) On September 26, 1915 property was legally taken from the Armenians.
(d) Women and Children were targeted in order to keep the Armenian population from growing. They were tortured and abused, also deprived of food and water.
(e) The children were taken away form their parents and forcibly driven into the desert.

This act of violence should clearly be classified as Genocide based upon the United Nations criteria. Why isn’t it? It is time to acknowledge and take responsibility for the actions of the past to prevent it from happening again in the future. The Turkish Government consistently refuses to recognize the repulsive incident as Genocide.

There has been many presidential candidates who have promised in their campaigns that they would recognize the Armenian Genocide, however once they are elected into office they avoid the issue and it is left unresolved. President Obama declared that he too would recognize the Armenian Genocide in his campaign, “America deserves a leader who speaks truthfully about the Armenian Genocide. I intend to be that president.” In the video in the top right corner Obama is delivering a speech as President, his views on the issue have changed, and he now sees the Turks as in important ally. Obama is ignoring the tragedy and once again leaving it up to the Turks and Armenians to decide what really happened. That solution hasn’t worked in the past and is very unlikely to work now, or in the future. It is like putting a thief on trial and letting him decide if he is committed the crime, he will obviously deny his actions because he does not want to be put in jail. It is our obligation to stand by the Armenians and help them receive justice.

Sitting around and waiting, hoping the Turkish Government will finally take responsibility for their actions is the wrong approach. If no one stands up and recognizes this as Genocide, then we are allowing it to happen again, maybe to millions of innocent people. Don’t let there be a next time! Help the Armenians reach their goal in acknowledging their pain and misery by deeming this Genocide.