The 107th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Marks Today

Today marks the 107th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Young Turk Party 'Ittihat ve Terakki' displaced and exterminated the Armenian population of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Western Armenia.

The date of April 24, 1915, is conventionally observed as the day of remembrance for the victims of the Armenian Genocide, when approximately 235 Armenian intellectuals were arrested in Constantinople according to pre-prepared lists (the arrests of Armenian figures in Constantinople continued even after April 24). Broadly speaking, the Armenian Genocide includes the genocidal actions planned and continuously implemented by various administrations of the Ottoman Empire and Turkey against the Armenian people from 1894 to 1923, the dislocation of Armenians, mass massacres aimed at the annihilation of the Armenian population, ethnic cleansing, the destruction of Armenian cultural and historical heritage, as well as the denial of genocide, avoidance of responsibility, and any attempts to silence or justify the committed crimes and their consequences, are considered a continuation of the crime and encouragement for new genocides.

The genocide of Armenians occurred in several phases—disarming Armenian soldiers, selective displacement of Armenians from border regions, the adoption of the Law on Deportation, and mass deportation and murder of Armenians. Some historians consider the Hamidian massacres of the 1890s, the massacres in Smyrna, and the actions of Turkish troops in the South Caucasus in 1918 as part of the genocidal actions and, consequently, part of the Armenian Genocide.

Just before World War I, more than two million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire. About one and a half million Armenians were killed during the period from 1915 to 1923, while the rest were either forcibly converted to Islam or sought refuge in various countries around the world.

The first international response to these events was the joint declaration by France, Russia, and Great Britain on May 24, 1915, which characterized the violent acts against the Armenian people as a 'crime against humanity and civilization.' The parties held the Turkish government responsible for the committed crimes.