Over the past 98 years, the Government of Turkey has denied the atrocities committed by their ancestors against the Armenian people. April 24th, 1915 was the day the leader of the Ottoman Empire, Talaat Pasha, ordered the arrest of 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders. These people were taken to the center of town, and either hung or beheaded. Their bodies left in the middle of town as a warning to any Armenian thinking of going against the Ottoman Empire. This was the first step in Talaat’s plan of annihilating the Armenians.

The next step in Talaat’s plan was to utilize the military, local authorities, and prisoners (freed from jail in return for agreeing to participate in the 1915 Armenian Genocide). Local authorities travelled from village to village rounding up the Armenians, forcing the men away from their families, and sending them off to dig their own graves. In some instances the Ottoman soldiers had gathered all the Armenians, and locked them in their local church by chaining the doors, then burned them alive.

Depending on the location of the Armenian village being raided, some Armenians were boarded onto ships, others forced to march through Deir Zor, the desert of present day Syria. Those boarded onto ships, were often tied together, and thrown overboard into the Black Sea.

The hundreds of thousands of Armenians forced to walk through the desert of Syria, had only the clothing on their back. There are stories of what it took to survive these death marches. One Armenian had managed to sneak a pomegranate away from her garden. Everyday she fed each child a single pomegranate seed.

The present day Turkish government claims these Armenians were relocated, from their homes, for “their safety” under the umbrella of World War 1. Yet the Armenians were not allowed to bring anything with them, they weren’t allowed to bring cloths, food, or even water. The soldiers forced these people to walk for hundreds of miles in death marches. Those that made it through the walks, were marched into caves where soldiers lit fires at the entrance, suffocating the people trapped inside. HItler later adopted this method of murder in his quest for Genocide.

Before invading Poland Hitler gave his famous Obersaizberg Speech. He justifies his future actions by saying, “Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of the Armenians?” The Turkish Government has denied the existence of a genocide in 1915, however over 20 major countries have stood up to Turkey, and nationally recognized the Armenian Genocide. These countries include:

France, German, Canada, Lebanon, Armenia, Belgium, Argentina, Cyprus, Sweden, Greece, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Poland, Iran, Chile, Lithuania, Vatican City, Slovakia, The European Union, and Slovakia.

Every election American politicians flood Armenian communities with postcards stating, if elected president the candidate will nationally recognizes the Armenian Genocide, every year on April 24 the politicians that made these promises make a bullshit statement hinting towards a genocide having taken place. Unlike the Federal Government, 43 out of 50 states have recognized the Armenian Genocide.

For every worthless politician out there, one will find hundreds of Armenians willing to get the message out about the Genocide that took place. Groups such as the Armenian National Committee of America, Armenian Youth Federation, and System of a Down. I would like to end this with one of the most powerful quotes I have ever read.

Written by Legit Board Shop owner: Raffi Garboushian