The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide refers to a period of about seven years during the Young Turks' government of the Ottoman Empire. Between two and three million ethnic Armenians were forcibly deported from the empire and an estimated 1.5 million were systematically killed by the government.New York Times: House Panel Raises Furor on Armenian Genocide (October 11, 2007) Categorizing the incident as a genocide has been the topic of international debate and controversy.

1. 1914: World War I breaks out, and the Ottoman Empire fights against Russia
2. April 24, 1915: Ottoman government rounds up and kills numerous Armenian community leaders under the pretext of rebellious alliances with Russia
3. May, 1915:
   • -Two to three million Armenians forcefully deported from the Ottoman Empire and are marched towards Syria
   • -Eyewitness reports indicate Ottoman troops massacred civilians along the way

The Armenian Genocide was the first documented case of a government-organized plan to exterminate a specific ethnic group. The situation has been characterized by historians as the first genocide of the 20th Century and a precursor to the Holocaust.

More than 20 countries,BBC: Q&A - Armenian 'genocide' (October 11, 2007) and 41 of the 50 United States,Armenian National Committee of America: Genocide Recognition by U.S. States officially recognize the incident as genocide, and not simply mass murder. But the Turkish government, political descendants of the Ottoman Empire disputes the contention that it was a genocide.BBC: Bitter history of Armenian genocide row (January 23, 2001)