1. Armenians in Turkey

2. What is the definition of a genocide?
Genocide is a term used to describe the violence of killing targeted towards a specific ethnic group or nation.

3. Who was targeted?
Armenians in Turkey were eliminated from their homeland through deportations and massacres. There were about 1.5 million deaths from this

4. 1914-1918 Where/when did it occur?
Ottoman Empire Republic of Turkey (Turkey)
The Ottoman Empire Republic of Turkey is a state that controlled much of southeastern Europe, western Asia and northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries.

5. What happened?
Armenians were attacked through deportation, genocide, mass murder and starvation

6. It started with…
1913, Three “Young Turks” that had come to hold power wanted to expand Turkish borders eastward but faced conflicts for Traditional homeland of Armenians was in their path
Turks began to overrule the area until Armenians were seen as nothing but strangers
WW1 comes into place, mass arrests of Armenian men by Turkish soldiers had the shot dead or stabbed by death squads

7. How did it happen? Men were arrested and shot or stabbed to death
Women, children and elderly were told they were being taken to a safer place, they were actually taken on death marches towards the Syrian dessert
Children were not deported but were forced to give up Christianity, become Muslim and were given new Turkish names
Caravans with thousands of Armenians were guarded by Turkish police
They allowed the “Special organization” to attack and kill the Armenians as wanted. Kurdish bandits were encouraged to raid the caravans for anything they wanted. Young girls and women were sexually abused and raped.
Most of the attractive young females were kidnapped for a life of involuntary servitude.

8. Death marches…
Death marches continued for everlasting months. Food and water supplies quickly ran out and further request for more was denied. Those who stopped to rest were beaten until they continued, if they didn’t they were shot. Armenians were stripped of clothing and forced to walk nude in the blazing sun until they dropped dead. Those who survived till the end were herded into the desert without a drop of water. Others were killed by being thrown off cliffs, burned alive, or drowned in rivers.

9. Why did it occur?
Discrimination and against Armenians, the decisions to completely destruct the entire population of Armenians came directly from the ruling three Young Turks

10. What was the worlds response?
Turkey's new government and the Allies demanded Germany to send the Young Turks back home to stand trial. However it was turned down. Armenian activists took matters into their own hands, located the Young Turks and killed them. Not much was done other than this

11. Was this delayed or quick?
Delayed, the actions against the three Turks took place after millions had already died.

12. Could more have been done?
Actions towards the Young Turks could have been done before the conflict led to millions of deaths, the main source of this was discrimination so not much could have been done to alter perspectives on Armenians.