A day of recognition should be put aside for the casualties of the Armenian massacre. This event should be made known to the whole nation. Let the people know who was responsible and why one and one-half million Armenians were killed. Turkish people had no respect for any people except for themselves. They were a barbaric nation that had little education and were not known as good business people. On the other hand, the Armenians were intelligent, lived decent and orderly lives and were very good business people, all opposite characteristics of the Turks. Turks were actually threatened by Armenian characteristics which they lacked.
Some other issues which provoked the massacre were different relegious backgrounds: Armenians were Christians; the Turks were Moslems. These two religions have had difficulties throughout time. Even today, the difference between Iran and Israel is still great. Another reason for the massacre was that Abdul Hamid, leader of the Turkish people in 1895 surmised that Armenians would follow the steps of the Rumanians and Bulgarians and form an independent nation apart from the Ottoman Empire. Turkey would not stand by and let another race form a country from the Ottoman Empire. So, Abdul Hamid, better known as Red Sultan, began his plan of extermination of the Armenians. Directed by the state, Hamid decided to physically massacre 2,000,000 men, women and children. Between 1895 - 1896 , two hundred thousand Armenians were butchered. But Sultan's plan soon came to a halt when England, France and Russia decided to intervene. Torturing and persecution still continued.
The years went by and the Turks' plan of extermination was still in back of their heads. Then, in 1915 the Young Turks took over command then told the Armenians there would be peace and promised brotherhood; a few months later 35,000 Armenians were killed. The Young Turks felt now was the time to continue with the Sultan's plan. This was an opportune time because Great Britain, France and Russia were occupied with Germany and World War I. Basically, the only Country that could stop Turkey at this time was Germany who was Turkey's ally.
The first major City which Turkey targeted was Van. It was heavily populated with Armenians. Van bordered Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Russia , at this time, had control of good portions of the City and decided to retreat. The Turkish people did not pursue the retreating Russian army, but instead attacked and murdered Armenian men, women, children, and old men. At this time in the City of Akantz, five hundred Armenian men were called from other cities to enter Akants and await Sultan command. The Armenian men were sent out of town on a mission and as they reached the outskirts of town they were shot. This same occurance took place in eighty Armenian villages totaling 24,000 Armenian soldiers killed. In Van, 1500 Armenians took over part of the city and held their ground for 5 weeks. The odds were 5,000 Turkish men to 1,500 Armenian men. The Armenians fought courageously and held ground for five weeks. Then, the Russians re-entered Van and helped the Armenians to triumph over the Turks.
Needless to say, the Turks decided they would have to disarm the Armenian soldiers, before they could perform their butchering strategies. Now, the Armenian soldiers were transformed into road laborers and pack animals, and were forced to sleep outside and given very little to eat. The Armenians were herded out in squads of 50 to 100, tied together in groups of four, marched to a spot and told to dig graves, which were their own ,and then shot. The Turks continued with such cowardly acts like walking the Armenians until they could not walk any more. In the meantime, notify the Kurds that they were approaching, so the butchering would begin.
Turks often gathered Armenians for annual torturing. Techniques included beating the soles of their feet with rods until the feet swelled and burst. If a victim fainted, they would quickly revive them and continue with torture. Some other techniques would be to pull out the beard and eyebrow hairs, one at a time, rip out fingernails and toenails and put hot irons on the breast. Then, tearing off the flesh with red hot pincers, and pour hot butter into the wounds.
Turks would nail the Armenians to the cross and while they were suffering say "Now let your Christ come and hlep you." Armenian men ages 15 to 70 were from Angora to Caesarea. At a certain point, they would reach a secluded valley and suddenly be attacked by a mob of Turkish peasants with clubs, hammers, axes, scythes, spades and saws! After completing their butchering they would meet in a local tavern, compare notes and brag about the numbers of Armenians they killled. The government actually opened the prisons and set the convicts free to attack the Armenians. Turkish armies ransacked churches and treated the alters and sacred utensils with no respect. Sometimes they would arm the bishops and priests with guns, pistols and swords then proceeded with a Court Marshal. The Armenian women were treated with the same cruelty and indecency as the men. Women were sometimes stripped naked and whipped with branches that were cut fresh and these beatings were inflicted upon women who were pregnant. Some babies were thrown alive into pits and covered with stones.
Still not enough Armenians were being killed so Turkey decided the final steps would be to deport the Armenians. Turkey decided to transport all the Armenians left to a desolate and unlivable region in the desert. On the journey many Armenians died of thirst, starvation, or were butchered by the Mohammedan desert tribe. Any Armenian who fell while walking would be bayonetted. Some managed to flee to Russia and others to Europe, United States and Middle East. About 500,000 survived this disaster.
Then in 1990 Senator Dole proposed a Bill to declare April 24th as a "Day of Remembrance" for the Armenian victims. The Bill was put to a vote and declined. Senators claimed that Turkey purchases a good quantity of hardware from U.S. Turkey is a good friend of Israel and Turkey lets U.S. use their air bases and listening posts. Regan thought if the Bill was passed that terrorism would increase. Bush feels that it should be passed one year and next year changed his mind. The Turkish government heard of this proposal and denies there was ever a genocide and doesn't connect itself to the Ottoman Empire. Turkey actually paid $5 million to four top Washington DC public relations firms to lobby against the proposal. Turkey is trying to silence the truth. Hitler once said, "Who now remembers the Armenians."" It seems Turkey wants Armenia to be forgotten.
I believe Turkey should finally admit to what they have done. More than a million and a half Armenians were slaughtered and somebody should take the blame for this atrocity. Turks back in 1915 were nothing more than cowards. Slaughtering innocent people without any just cause is a cowardly act. There has been a great injustice done to the Armenian race. It is time that the world recognize this genocide occurred and give the Armenians a day of remembrance. Armenians have lost their 57,000 square miles of country and most likely will never receive any reparations. The least we should do is grant the Armenians this day of remembrance, which will help put the Armenian minds at rest. Then the Armenian people will have a better chance of actually forgiving the Turkish people.