Genos  race Cide  killing

 11 th century, Turks invaded Armenian land  16 th century, Armenia part of the Ottoman Empire  Armenians treated as 2nd class citizens, afraid to speak their language, persecuted  Turks did not want Armenians to fight for independence or equality  Aggressive nationalism  Pan-Turkism, rejected pluralism (all minorities)  Armenians lived in the path of “Turkish expansion”  Turkish rulers decided to get rid of them

Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire caused tension between Turks (the majority) and minority groups

Tension triggered the genocide of the Armenians (a minority)

It is estimated that one and a half million Armenians perished / died between 1915 and 1923

Map 1: The Ottoman Empire and areas of influence at its peak in the mid-1500s, including the historic Armenian Homeland.

Map 2: The Land of Turan as planned by the Young Turks to create a new empire in the East, but blocked by Historic Armenia.

Map 3: Present day map of Turkey and Armenia, showing an outline of Historic Armenia. What is the significance? Explain what you learn.

What do YOU think?  Do you think a nation would ever deny that genocide occurred there?  What would the motivations be?  Do you think a nation could have reasons to deny that a genocide occurred somewhere else, even if it was not involved and didn’t have anything to do with it?  What would the motivations be?

Eric black ink Thu, October , 9:21am Good Thursday morning Fellow Seekers, Turkey is threatening serious consequences in its relations with the United States to protest a vote by the House Foreign Relations Committee declaring the slaughter of more than 1 million Armenians to be an act of genocide.is threatening serious consequences in its relations with the United States Armenian-Americans have been lobbying for years to have what happened to their ancestors during World War I officially declared a case of genocide. It has been a perennial issue – noticed mostly by Armenian-Americans and by Turkey – in Congress and even in presidential campaigns. Turkey denies that a genocide occurs, asserting that not so many Armenians died and that the deaths were an unintended consequence of a program to relocate troublesome Armenian nationalists out of a war zone. Decide for yourself whether the cost, in damaged U.S.-Turkish relations, is worth the declaration that a genocide occurred. But make no mistake, it occurred. In 2000, I interviewed historian Vahakn Dadrian, who has made it his life’s work to keep alive the history of the Armenian genocide.

What is this man protesting? Why? This is happening TODAY, but why now, nearly 100 years after the fact?

What symbols do you see in this picture? What do you think this picture represents? How is it relevant RIGHT NOW?

Decide for yourself whether the cost, in damaged U.S.-Turkish relations, is worth the declaration that a genocide occurred. Explain your thoughts and support your opinions intelligently.