Between 1915 and 1923, the Ottoman empire exterminated 1.5 million Armenians. The starting date is conventionally held to be April 24, 1915. Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day is a national holiday in Armenia.
On that day the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C. holds an annual memorial.
This year’s was marked by a shouting match between Turks and Armenians at Sheridan Circle, with each side held at bay by the DC police.
The mass extermination is generally held to be the first modern genocide, due to the systematic manner in which it was carried out.
Although several dozen countries and most scholars have recognized the events of 1915-1923 as genocide, Turkey disputes this claim. It has challenged both the facts and their interpretation.
Armenians claim this is a classic case of denial.
Armenians and friends gathered in the courtyard of the Armenian Embassy for singing, speeches (in Armenian) and laying of wreaths.
Fathers of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Armenia was the first state to adopt Christianity as its official religion. The accepted date is 301 A.D.
The t-shirt reads: I demand my home in Western Armenia. Part of the original Armenian homeland, this region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th Century. It was from this region that Armenians were deported in 1915-23. Turkey claims that there were only 300,000 deaths, which were a toll of deportation, not extermination.
Jo Freeman has published eleven books and hundreds of articles. She is currently finishing a history and memoir of working for SCLC in 1965-66.
