Who thought it up? To make a hell Where Eden was In Mount Ararat’s shade… Lord, Don’t you hear The red news of massacre and blood? -Siamanto (Adom Yarjanian)
Dedicated to all our 1.5 million Armenians, and my grandparents and great grandparents, who were some of the few victims of this horrific act by the hands of the murderous turks.
DISCLAIMER This site includes graphical photos of the turks’ horrific acts. Viewer discretion is advised. Truth Hurts!
COMMEMORATION
On April 24, 2016, every single Armenian will commemorate the 101st anniversary of the first act of inhuman butchery, by the turks, of the 20th century: the Armenian genocide. 1.5 million Armenian grandfathers, grandmothers, fathers, mothers and children quenched the thirst of the turks’ animosities with their blood. The “young turks”, under the control of slaughterers like “mustafa kemal”, “enver pasha”, “talaat pasha” and “Dr. nazem”, planned the extermination of all the Armenians, and the destruction of Armenia. Even with all the proofs present today, turks still deny the 1915 genocide. Out of shame, or lack of human compassion?
CHAPTER 1: History
Since the second half of the 19th century, Armenians living in the west side of Armenia (under the control of turks), as well as all the Armenians, Greeks and other ethnic minorities living in turkey, were constantly subjected to massacres ordered by sultan hamid, known as the “red sultan”. Reason? Small protests against the tyrannies of the sultan, led by the turks, to whom joined small numbers of Armenians and other ethnic minorities, as a result of which died many more than the original participants. The situation was unbearable, even for the turks, so, a new generation of turks, fed up with the way of life in turkey, formed a huge organization and called themselves the “young turks”, promising reform in turkey and peace to all its citizens. They acted as the voice of reason, so naturally, all the oppressed minorities followed them. They held true to their promises. They did revolt against the “red sultan”, sultan hamid, who was gradually losing his powers, and now was beginning to be known as the “sick sultan”. By now, the ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Federation, known as the Tashnag) was formed, which produced a lot of “Fedayi“s.
FEDAYI’s are Armenian countrymen, who devote their lives to their sweet country ARMENIA!! they hold a rifle in their hands, and a cross on their necks!.. their most prized possession in life was/ is their mother land ARMENIA… and their most precious GOAL / Mission in life was/is to live, fight and if need be DIE for ARMENIA!!.
All these “Fedayi”s gathered to join the young turks in their “noble” cause. The young turks received a lot of armed support from the oppressed minorities. Around the year 1911, the revolution finally reached its goal. The “sick sultan” was dethroned and the young turks came into power. Reform came quickly. Harmony took place. Christianity and religions other than Muslim were being practiced freely. The history and heritage of each minority were being taught. Life was beautiful and getting better…
Or so thought the minorities…
The young turks did not like the multiculturalism in turkey. Their biggest goal was to establish a turkish turkey: pan-turkism. They did not like the fact that there were a lot of Armenians in high places, earning their living and so living better than them. Of course, this was one of the minor reasons of the anger the turks had towards the Armenians. There were a lot more prejudice and discrimination as well.https://web.archive.org/web/20240417191447if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/8HzZXIchBhQ
CHAPTER 2: The Cover Up
Armenians killed by Turks during the Armenian Genocide, 1915. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)By 1914, the young turks were in total control. However, the world was in a panic. The first World War was going to start. By 1915, there was turmoil. The young turks viewed this as a great opportunity to do something about the Armenians…something terrible…and get away with it by blaming it on the War; and, finally they came up with the most inhuman and murderous solution: GENOCIDE.
What is genocide? The Convention on the Prevention of the Crimes of Genocide (resolution 260 III of 9 December 1948) defines genocide as:
Any of the following acts committed with the 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 (14) within the group; e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.’(15)
The young turks must have written the preceding passage, since It describes exactly what happened during the bloody genocide.
Chapter 3: The Murder
In the eve of April 24, 1915, the darkest night in the Armenian history, the young turks put the word out on the streets that turkey was at war and needed the helping hand of the “fellow” Armenians, aged 16 to 60. Armenians feeling grateful to the young turks for providing them a the promised “good life”, followed the turks, “blindly”, in the back of trucks with covers on them…so they wouldn’t know where the turks were taking them. Little did they know that their “fellow” turks were not leading them to war, but instead, to torture camps, equipped with “murder”. All the Armenian men, including doctors, lawyers, politicians, authors…the “brains” of each Armenian community…were tortured (nails plucked out, eyes burned by iron rods, blazing with heat), dismembered (ears, noses, lips, fingers, toes, limbs and even their heads cut off), burned in “cave” ovens, and crushed to death (they were forced into a cave, which the turks blew up, making the caves collapse).
…and then buried.
“…Feet, hands chests were nailed to a pien of wood, nail of fingers were torn out, eyebrows were pulled out, feet were hammered with nails as they do with horses, others were living with their feet up and heads down over closets… Oh! How one would wish that all these facts were not true.” H. Morgenthau (U.S. Ambassador in turkey) in “The Tragedy Of Armenia”(1918)
Women and children driven to an Unknown Destination (picture taken by a German officer)
The turks did not stop there. The only Armenians left now were the helpless women, children and elders, who were absolutely ignorant as to what had happened to their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. They were easy preys to the vicious turks. All of them were forced to flee their homes with “promises” of going to a “safer” place…away from the war.Little did they know they were going to be forced south, to Syria, through the infamous Dier-el-Zohr desert, where famine, dehydration and death awaited them. Convoys consisting of the women, children and elders set out to the desert. During the long march, women were being raped. Those who wanted to avoid it, jumped in the rivers or committed suicide, as did the women who couldn’t bear the shame and humiliation. Children, most of them orphans now, were sold into slavery. Those who were very young, were given away to turks, to be raised as turks. Elders who couldn’t keep up with the convoy, were shot to death right there, in front of their families.
A million and a half Armenian were exterminated by 1916. The world was largely indifferent to their fate. (Shermer, p.135)
The turk’s goal was very simple, yet very heartless and barbarous: To kill every single Armenian except for only ONE to be displayed in the Museum of Ancient Civilizations.
Those who were fortunate enough to stay alive, migrated to the Middle East: Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan; and many others to Bulgaria, England, France, Italy and a very few to the United States of America.
And so Armenians were scattered all around, each one of them with a heart filled with grief for the loss of loved ones, each one with anger and pain in there souls. All with a single horrifying nightmare, filled with blood. All with the agony of the loss of their Motherland Armenia, with one of its most prized possession: Armenian Ararat, Noah’s mountain (Genesis 8:4).
CHAPTER 5: The Revenge
Have we sought revenge? throughout the years, there have been some who have taken the law in their own hands and punished the murderous turks responsible: Tehlirian, who, for months followed talaat pasha (the person who had Tehlirian’s family murdered in front of him), all the way up to Germany, to put a bullet through the devil’s head. Tehlirian was acquitted after months of trials and courts…The “Lisbon Five”; five heroic Armenian youths set out from Lebanon to Lisbon, with the mission of capturing the turkish ambassador as a hostage. However, when they found themselves surrounded by Lisbon police, in the empty embassy building, from which the ambassador had already escaped, they stood in a circle with a bomb in the middle, holding each other’s hand and praying, and…BOOM… gave their life away in the name of Armenia, in the name of justice, in the name of the 1.5 million victims.
Has the Armenian nation pursued vengeance?
Our endurance, persistence, courage, strength and love of life has helped us to be where we are today: They tried to demolish us, they tried to wipe us off the face of this earth…We took on all the blows…and still turned our other cheeks. They “kicked” us when we were “down”…but we waited…then, we took a deep breath…opened our eyes, and realized we were still alive!
ALIVE! After all that had happened…
We Survived
From the beginning Armenian freedom fighters (FEDAYI’s) fought against turkish oppression. These FEDAYI’s chose the path of “Liberty or Death” (Mah gam Azadoutioun). In the aftermath of the genocide the evil architects of the genocide were shot to death by Armenian Avengers.• talaat was killed by Shoghomon Tehlirian.• said halim by Arshavir Shiragian.• jivanshiri by Missak Torlakian.• jemal by Stepan Dzaghigian.• beheaeddin shakir by Aram Yerganian.Source: The First Holocaust, Hagop Terjimanian
Here ends the tragic tale of the 1.5 million Armenian martyrs. Who fell victim to the first genocide of our century. We cherish their memories as we pray for their souls.
But we the living dedicate this testament to all Armenian parents They who miraculously survived the carnage. Orphaned in 1915 Yet children with no childhood Scattered in all corners of the world How they created a new life Is beyond the ability of any historian’s account.
That a people, prosecuted, abused, orphaned Could rise again, must give courage and hope To all who believe in the forward march of the human race. It is proof of what the sturdy Armenian race can do.
Their history has been a record of insurrections and resurrection.
NOTE
Words associated with turks and turkey were NOT capitalized Intentionally!
