Armenian Genocide Begins. On April 24, 1915, the Armenian genocide began. That day, the Turkish government arrested and executed several hundred Armenian intellectuals. After that, ordinary Armenians were turned out of their homes and sent on death marches through the Mesopotamian desert without food or water. read more
Armenian Genocide, campaign of deportation and mass killing conducted against the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire by the Young Turk government during World War I (1914–18). Armenians charge that the campaign was a deliberate attempt to destroy the Armenian people and, thus, an act of genocide. read more
The real reason behind the genocide was ultra-nationalist currents that strove for the creation of a "Turkey for Turks" in which the non-Turkish and non-Muslim minorities, especially those with strong cultural and ethnic identities, mostly Armenians but also Assyrians/Syrians/Chaldeans and the Greeks who had thousands of years of history and background in the region could not be assimilated and therefore must be eliminated physically. read more