Thoughout much of its history, Turkey has had it's eyes on the Armenian land.
Conquering Armenia was and probably still is their desire today. Geographically speaking,
Armenia is the only Christian nation in that part of the world. It is surrounded in all
directions by Muslim nations who would like nothing more than uniting their religious
lands of muslim nations throughout the middle east stretching all the way to Europe and
Asia.
During WWI the Ottoman emprire (the rulling empire in Turkey) decided that they could
accomplish their goal of taking over Armenia by exterminating the nation all-together.
Exterminating the entire race and leaving no Armenian heirs to guard the Armenian nation.
The Ottoman Empire plotted the mass-evacuation and extermination of Armenians from Western
Turkey and Eastern Armenia and executed these plans without disdain.
For a number of reasons, they were able to get away with it. European countries turned
their back on Armenian genocide that took place in front of their eyes. Armenian leaders
sent letters to European governments pleading to save Armenian people from massacre, but
their cry was not answered. The world witnessed and did almost nothing to stop the first
genocide of 20th century.
On April 24, 1915 Groups of Turkish soldiers knocked on the doors of Armenian people
convincing them that the war would be faught in their lands and an evacuation was in
order. They relocated these Armenian people from their land and home by promising safety
from the war. They were also told that the Turkish soldiers were fighting for their safety
and that they needed every weapon or household appliance that could assist them in
fighting the war. The Armenians in their naïve trust in their neighbors gladly gave the
soldiers all they had to offer.
Turkish soldiers had accomplished what they set out to do: moved the Armenians out of
their homes, taken all their weapons and in the process gained their trust by leading them
to believe that they were saving them!
Once they found themselves in secluded parts of the regions, the Turkish soldiers began
hanging, murdering, raping and burning the Armenian people who could be influential in
leading an uprising against them; professional people like doctors, writers, poets,
professors, phillosophers and noblemen. After this first wave of executions, they began
their pillage against the remainaing Armenian people.
There have been many stories of victims; how their eyes were taped open and they were
forced to stare at the sun until they were blinded, how men were lined up in front of
camps and decapitated one by one!
Many were beaten on their way through the deserts. They were stripped of their clothes and
were forced to walk barefooted and naked through the harshness of the desert! Women were
forced to dance around fire pits for the Turkish soldiers. They were later beaten, raped
and killed. Children were starved and murdered. Turkish people also took many Armenian
children to be raised in Turkish homes so their Armenian identity would be lost! Many
people courageously killed themselves, by either drowning themselves in a river or by
whatever other means they could find, just so the Turks would not get to them!
When all was said and done, 1.5 million Armenians were murdered, a country was torn
apart and a people left grieving for their families and friends and all this, perpetrated
by the government of Turkey, the Ottoman Empire.
(The preceding has been taken exactly from users.ihost.biz/armgeno/History.asp,
as of January of 2003. The three last paragraphs were added by May, updated here... and
the "nutshell" title no longer exists.)
