1. why in news
1.1. U.S. President Joe Biden officially recognised the mass killings of Armenians
1.1.1. by Ottoman Turks
1.1.2. in 1915-16 as “an act of genocide
2. When
2.1. Up to 1.5 million Armenians are estimated to have been killed in the early stage of the First World War
2.1.1. within the territories of the Ottoman Empire.
3. What is A genocide?
3.1. carrying out acts intended “to destroy, in whole or in part,
3.1.1. a national, ethnic, racial or religious group
3.1.2. Article II of the UN Convention on Genocide of December 1948,
4. Situation of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
4.1. Before the First World War broke out in 1914,
4.1.1. there were 2 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
4.2. four years after the War,
4.2.1. the Armenian population in the region was about 387,800.
4.2.1.1. This has led historians to believe that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the course of the War
4.3. Armenians were largely living in the eastern fringes of the Empire.
4.3.1. The Ottoman Turks unleashed Turkish and Kurdish militias upon them, killing and pillaging tens of thousands
4.3.2. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were deported from eastern Anatolia (today’s Turkey)
4.3.2.1. to concentration camps in the Syrian steppe
4.3.2.1.1. Most of the deaths occurred during this flight
4.3.2.2. those who were not killed at once were driven through mountains and deserts without food, drink or shelter.
4.3.2.2.1. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians eventually succumbed or were killed
4.4. Why Armenians were targetted
4.4.1. Growing resentment towards armenians
4.4.1.1. Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 in which the Turks lost territories.
4.4.1.2. In the Treaty of Berlin, big powers dictated terms to the Ottomans,
4.4.1.2.1. including putting pressure on Sultan Abdülhamid II to initiate reforms “in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and Kurds.”
4.4.1.3. Post the Treaty
4.4.1.3.1. there were a series of attacks on Armenians by Turkish and Kurdish militias
4.4.1.4. 1908
4.4.1.4.1. the Young Turks wrested control from the Sultan and promised to restore imperial glory.
4.4.1.5. In 1914
4.4.1.5.1. Turkey joined the First World War on the side of Germany.
4.4.1.6. As the War was still waging, the Ottomans feared that Armenians in eastern Anatolia would join the Russians if they advanced into Ottoman territories.
4.4.1.6.1. The Ottoman government passed legislation to deport anyone who is a security risk.
5. Was anyone punished for it?
5.1. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire
5.1.1. many Ottoman officials, including a governor in Anatolia, were tried and executed for the atrocities committed against Armenians
5.2. Three Pashas fled the country and took refuge in Germany.
5.2.1. They were sentenced to death in absentia
5.3. Armenian resistance fighters under the banner of Operation Nemesis continued to hunt down Ottoman officials
5.3.1. On March 15, 1921, Talat Pasha, the Grand Vizier and the key architect of the atrocities,
5.3.1.1. was assassinated on the street of Berlin
5.3.1.1.1. by Armenian student Soghomon Tehlirian.
6. Turkish Response
6.1. acknowledged that atrocities were committed against Armenians, but denies it was a genocide
6.2. challenges the estimates that 1.5 million were killed.
6.3. The Turkish Foreign Ministry has issued a strong statement to Mr. Biden’s announcement
6.3.1. saying it doesn’t not have “a scholarly and legal basis,
6.3.2. nor is it supported by any evidence