So, basically today in class we talked more about the Armenian Genocide and how it all started. What shocked me was that all the stuff we learned the past few days wasn't even part of the actual genocide!
[In the beginning of it all, the Turks felt that they needed to take control of their land and saw the Armenians as "outsiders". They treated them differently, and it got even worse. The tension between the two groups later ended up in huge numbers of casualties (Armenians) that were caused by the Turks. Then in 1914, the Turks and Russians had a battle. The Turks lost and when they found out that their fellow Armenians were on the enemy's side, they got so angry and just saw the Armenians as a threat, which led them to more massacres.]
Now all of that, wasn't even part of the actual genocide! Or would you even call it a genocide? Turks deny it all completely and say that it was just a civil war/rebellion. Part of the reason they deny it is because they went western and changed parts of their culture so they could blend in with the others. But I'm just confused as to why they still deny it and avoid the whole thing. The fact that the Turks won't admit what happened is sad. They're acting too stubborn and just don't want to deal with any of the consequences that'll come from their poor decision to exterminate the Armenian population.
The Young Turks actually organized the extermination of the Armenians! If you plan to wipe out an entire ethnic group by doing whatever you possibly can, then i'm pretty sure that could be considered as a genocide. A genocide is when one group of people uses ethnic cleansing to rid another group of people. I personally think it was for selfish reasons, but who knows..?
If it ain't GENOCIDE, then what is it?! It's not a fair fight. It's not a little cat-fight. What do you think?
Yeah, I don't know how you can deny a clear genocide. All of steps to a genocide were filled out. I guess the Turks don't want to be at fault, even though its pretty obvious.
ReplyDeleteIt’s definitely genocide. It’s surprising because Germany killed far more people in the holocaust than the Turks killed, but at the Germans are the one to own up to it. Maybe the Turks don’t want to own up to it because their citizens actively participated in the genocide, while the Germans just silently went along with it.
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