04/24/2021 Turkey (International Christian Concern) – Today marks the 106th anniversary of the start of the Armenian Genocide that killed and displaced an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenians. In 1914, roughly 2 million Armenians lived in what is now modern-day Turkey. Today, they number in the tens of thousands, and evidence of their history inside the country is constantly threatened by the Turkish authorities.
On April 24, 1915, the genocide was officially marked as the beginning when the Turkish government arrested and executed several hundred Armenians. What ensued was a systematic killing and Turkification of the country. These campaigns affected not just Armenians, but also Greeks and other ethnic Christians like Assyrians as the country sought “the liquidation of the Christian elements,” as one officer put it. This included the forced conversion of children to Islam and sending them to Turkish families, seizing of property, horrific killings, labor camps, and death marches.
The Armenian diaspora continues to advocate for the international recognition of the genocide, especially in light of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Armenian: Artsakh) war this past fall. As Turkey exports their anti-Christian rhetoric to Azerbaijan, Armenians continue to face persecution, harassment, and concern about their future.
For interviews, please contact Alison Garcia: press@persecution.org.
