The Armenian Genocide

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THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES

During the last century, the ottoman Turks attempted in many times to abolish the autonomy of Zeitoun, which had been assured by a decree dating back to 1618. In July 1862, a small incident, between the village of Alabash and the Turkish village Ketman, which served the government, planned against Zeitoun. Aziz Pasha of Marash, with 40,000 men, marched on Alabash and reduced it to ruins. His forces then moved toward Zeitoun, burning and pillaging villages in route. On August 2, 1892, The large Turkish army laid siege to the town of Zeitoun. The self-defense of the town, obliged Turkish army to flee in disarray. A second assault from nearby monastery but failed once again, thereupon the Turkish army withdrew to Marash.

The Massacres of 1895-1896

The Massacres of 1894-1896 carried out by the Turks, during the reign of Red sultan Abdul Hamid, against the Armenians, in Cilicia, and Greater Armenian, caused the massacres of more than 300,000. Except Zeitoun, who had escaped these massacres, The heroic self-defense of Zeitoun, who fought the Turkish army for four months, showed the spirit of their race had not declined.

THE ADANA MASSACRES

On April 1909, Cilician Armenians experienced a renewed out break of massacres. The Ottoman authority, in all over Cilicia had carried the Adana massacres. In 1909, were 50,000 lives were lost. Only two towns Zeitoun and Tchork Marzevan (Dort Yol) had escaped these horrible massacres, by means of their heroic resistance. Elsewhere 5189 burnt houses, 12 churches and 17 schools were destroyed, hundreds of shops and commercial centers devastated.

The Armenian Genocide

.The massacre did not end here, hence between 1915 and 1918, the Young Turk government of Ottoman Turkey carried out a systematic, premeditated genocide against the Armenian people, who were unarmed, de-fenseless, and living under Turkish rule.

In a letter dated October 3, 1918 and addressed to Lord Bryce by Robert Cecil assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the UK, he wrote:

"The Ottoman Armenians were systematically murdered by the Turkish government in 1915. Two thirds of the populations were exterminated by the most cold-blooded and fiendish methods.

Over a million and a half Armenians were exterminated during this time through direct killing, starvation, and deportation and about another million were sent into exile, thus wiping out Anatolian Armenia. The Armenians had been the largest Christian nationality living in Turkey, and most of them were living on their ancient homeland of 3,000 years.

Before the Genocide 2,660,000 Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire, mostly in Armenian provinces and in Cilicia. More than 1,500,000 of them were massacred. 2050 churches and 203 monasteries were destroyed. Financial losses amounted to billions of dollars.