Well, we gotta go. More fun at work tomorrow.
stay savage!
I remember reading on an English language Turkish government website years ago that the Ottoman Empire did in fact do those horrible things. The modern Republic of Turkey rejects genocide to describe the horror and in my opinion for good reason.
As for the word "genocide".. IMO
-- especially the demands of both Armenia and the Armenian diaspora here in the U.S. that the United States of America adopt resolution after resolution condemning Turkey for genocide when both Armenia and the Armenian diaspora here in the U.S. apparently know that Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey is a secondary issue ( interview with Harut Sassounian an Armenian living in southern California).
[Excerpt ]"The real purpose of the resolution is not recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but a political struggle the issue of which side has a larger political capital in Washington. . . . [T]he admission of the Armenian Genocide by Turkey is an issue of secondary importance for us. . . . our lands were seized and our 3,000-year-old culture was destroyed. . . . Therefore, our true demand is compensation for this injustice. . . . Now specialists must study the lawyers advice and decide which issue should be submitted to which court, as there is the International Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights, US Federal Courts, etc. This is a most important issue. It must be studied with all seriousness, because, if we lose in court, Turkey will claim that Armenians have no legal demands."
There is general agreement among western scholars that over 500,000 Armenians died between 1914 and 1918 [end of W.W.I]; other estimates vary between 600,000 to 1,500,000.
I am not a historian but I can read and there is a hell of a lot more to this issue than we normally hear talked about -- including the involvement of Wilhelm II Germany, et al. had in the Armenian genocide.