by LISA A. PHILLIPS
Armenian filmmaker Suzanne Khardalian has done much to reveal the horrors of the Armenian genocide under the Ottoman government’s systematic decimination of Armenian citizens that began before World War I and lasted until the fall of…
(WNN) Stockholm, SWEDEN: Armenian filmmaker Suzanne Khardalian has done much to reveal the horrors of the Armenian genocide under the Ottoman government’s systematic decimination of Armenian citizens that began before World War I and lasted until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.
Originally stretching across a large region that now includes 38 separate countries from Sudan to Israel, Jordan to Russia, the Ottoman Empire saw the rise of extremism in the political party called the Committee of Unity and Progress (CUP) lead by what was known as the ‘Young Turks’ in 1913. Party members sided against Russia with Germany during World War I. During this time a systematic program to ‘rid’ the region of Christian Armenians as well as ethnic Muslim Armenians ensued. Part of the crimes against humanity aimed to destroy Armenians who sided with Russia during World War I.
It is estimated by Armenians around the world today that over one and a half million people perished during the years in the Ottoman Empire that spanned 1915 to 1923. This figure is still not recognized though by the Republic of Turkey who continues to be at bureaucratic odds with any global stories linking the mention of genocide to Turkey. They also state a ‘more accurate’ death toll is closer to 300,000. In 1913 those known as the ‘Young Turks’ took over the region now known as Turkey via a government coup-de-tat, From 1919-1920 they were charged with crimes that linked them directly to propaganda, mass murder and atrocity.
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