Definition of Genocide         Presently, Genocide means whichever of the following

Definition of Genocide Presently, Genocide means whichever of the following acts committed with the intent to annihilate, completely or partially, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

1. Killing members of the group; 2. Causing serious physical or mental harm to members of the group; 3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 4. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; 5. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

The following acts shall be punishable.

1. Genocide; 2. Conspiracy to commit genocide; 3. Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; 4. Attempt to commit genocide; 5. Complicity in genocide.

What Happened? Surprisingly, Armenians and Turks lived reasonably in agreement in the Ottoman Empire and the Armenians were considered allies to the Turks. The tension began when Christian minorities gained their independence and Armenians and Turks began to have conflicting dreams for the future.

English: Portrait of Mehmet Talaat Pasha, Minister...

A telegram sent by Ambassador Henry Morgenthau Sr....

English: The Armenians of Constantinople celebrate...

Turkey began to envision a new Turkish Empire spreading all the way into Central Asia where there was already Turkish speaking groups. Armenians were the only ethnic nation between these two major pockets of Turkish groups. They decided to get rid of Armenians altogether. European power began to urge the Turkish Government to give better treatment towards the Armenians but the Armenians received poorer treatment.

When World War one occurred, it gave the Turkish Government an excuse to carry out their plan. On April 24th, 1915 hundreds of Armenian leaders were murdered in Istanbul after being gathered which is now honored worldwide by Armenians as Genocide Memorial Day. The Armenian people were now leaderless and like their leaders, they were to be the following victims. The same murders transpired from village to village killing anyone associated with Armenians. Armenians had not much choice but to cooperate with their Government and they were first asked to hand in their hunting weapons for the effort against the War. Then the Turkish Government would claim that the weapons were proof that the Armenian people were planning to rebel. Later the Armenian men were "drafted" to help in the War. These men were either killed immediately or work until they were dead. The villages now were left with only women, children and elderly people. The residents were temporarily relocated and again the Armenian people obediently did as they were told. They were led on death marches across Anatolia and they were raped, starved, dehydrated and murdered. Those who miraculously survived were either helped by foreign missionaries or Arabs.

After the War, the three men who masterminded the annihilation of the Armenians, Cemal pasha, Enver Pasha and Talat Pasha, were found guilty and were executed by Armenians. The Turkish Government has denied that the genocide ever occurred and has spent millions of dollars to ensure that the genocide of the Armenians is never discovered.

English: The Armenian population in historical Arm...

Djemal Pasha with Iraqi tribal leaders, celebratin...

English: Enver Pasha visiting the Mosque accompani...