American President Joe Biden has taken the step of calling the killing of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire a genocide. This is a question that has been delicately pushed under the carpet because after the war what was left of the Ottoman Empire became Turkey and its leaders hotly deny their guilt. To complicate matters, Turkey is a key component of NATO.
When the first World War started in 1914, Germany sought the massive Ottoman Empire as an ally in its fight against Russia, France and Britain. In 1915 a battle between Russians and the Ottomans at Sankamish resulted in a crushing defeat at the hands of the Russians.
At that time,. Armenians were looking for autonomy and many Armenian soldiers were serving in the Ottoman army. The defeat was blamed on Armenian treachery without any certifiable evidence and Armenian troops were promptly disarmed.
The Ottoman government then decided to be rid of the Armenians living in its country and rounded up over 200,000 men, women and children and force marched them over the border and into the Syrian desert. No arrangement to provide for water or food was put in place and the vast majority of these deportees died under the summer sun.
The number who died is hotly contested. The Armenian people still living in and around Turkey are still seeking an independent state and they claim more than a million brethren lost their lives in pograms within Ottoman land during the war.
It seems strange that Turkey indignantly continues to deny that a genocide took place, despite photographs and survivors accounts featuring in the world news at that time. Turkey does agree that Armenians were forced to leave the country, but strenuously denies that this constitutes genocide.
The rest of the world has diplomatically left this matter undecided in the interest of maintaining good relations with Turkey. It is quite possible that America's decision to call out the " genocide " epithet may have trade repercussions between the two countries and Turkey may even leave NATO.
It is probable that Joe Biden is rewarding the Armenian diaspora for their support against ISIS during the war to evict them from Syria and Iraq. The Armenians are mainly Christian and and that expulsion from the Ottoman empire in 1915 was most likely more a religious clash than disregard for Armenian loyalty.
The Armenians again suffered horribly under ISIS and willingly participated with American troops when fighting began to take back captured territory. On the other hand, Turkey has often been difficult in its relations with NATO allies. Now that 1915 genocide is being named for what it was Turkey would be wise to accept reality.
What else can you call sending two hundred thousand people to their death in a desert ?
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