Location: Ottoman Empire
Armenian Genocide Remembered on April 24 (video)
The
starting date of the Armenian Genocide is conventionally held to be 24
April 1915, the day that Ottoman authorities rounded up, arrested, and
deported from Constantinople (now Istanbul) to the region of Ankara 235
to 270 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders, the majority of
whom were eventually murdered. The cleansing continued during and after
World War I resulting in the massacre of millions of Armenians, Greeks
and Assyrians of Anatolia.
The persecution of Armenians in the
Ottoman Empire started in 1914. Initially, it was just boycotting
Armenian businesses and shops. But within months it culminated into acts
of violence and the murder of key Armenian politicians and persons of
importance. By April 15, 1915, almost 25,000 Armenians are slain in the
Van province.
On April 24, 1915, the Ottomans arrested 250
Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople and sent
to Chankri and Ayash, where they were later slain.
On the same
day, the editors and staff of Azadamart, the leading Armenian newspaper
of Constantinople, were arrested to be executed on June 15 in
Diyarbekir, where they had taken and imprisoned.
The Armenian
Patriarch of Constantinople and Zohrab and Armenian deputy in the
Ottoman Parliament petitioned to the Turkish authorities on behalf of
the arrested Armenians of Constantinople. The answer was that the
government was dissolving the Armenian political organizations.
Within
nine months, more than 600,000 Armenians were massacred. Of those who
were deported during that time, more than 400,000 died of the
brutalities and privations of the southward march into Mesopotamia,
raising the victims to one million. This became known as the
Armenian Genocide.
In
addition, 200,000 Armenians were forcibly converted to Islam to give
Armenia a new Turkish sense of identity and strip the Armenian people of
their past as the first Christian state in the world.
On August 30, 1922, Armenians who were living in
Smyrna
were victims of more Turkish atrocities. The “Smyrna Disaster” of 1922
that aimed at Christian Greeks who were living in the seaside city
involved thousands of Armenians. Turkish soldiers and civilians set all
Greek and Armenian neighborhoods on fire, forcing the fleeing of Greeks
and Armenians to the harbor, where thousands were killed or drowned.
On
April 24, 1919, prominent figures of the Armenian community that had
survived held a commemoration ceremony at the St. Trinity Armenian
church in Istanbul. Following its initial commemoration in 1919, the
date became the annual day of remembrance for the Armenian Genocide.
Yet,
ever since the horrific events of 1915, Turkey is methodically denying
the Armenian genocide. But despite Turkish denials, it is unanimously
verified by the International Association of Genocide Scholars and
accepted by nations that uphold moral responsibility above political
purposes.
96 Years Since the Catastrophe of Smyrna (Photos and Video)
Today marks 96 years since the Catastrophe of
Smyrna, modern-day Izmir in the Turkish coast on the
Aegean sea.
It
was a cataclysmic event of great importance for the modern Greek
history that shaped generation upon generation after 1922, adding to
Greece’s long history yet another unforgettable milestone.
The Great Fire
destroyed much of the city, causing the majority of Greeks in Asia
Minor to flee their homes and seek shelter primarily in Greece, but also
in other countries.
Smyrna was undoubtedly one of the wealthiest cities not only in the Ottoman Empire but all around Europe.
It hosted one of the largest populations of
Greeks and Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
who constituted the Christian community of the city that lived
peacefully side by side with the Muslim and the Jewish communities for
centuries.
However, politics, interests of the main global powers,
alongside with the rising nationalism and the outburst of war were the
factors that determined Smyrna’s and its citizens’ fate for the rest of
the 20th Century and beyond.
During the
Greco-Turkish War
from 1919 to 1922, Greek armed forces went to Smyrna on May 15, 1919.
After major military and political mistakes made by the Greek
government, the Turkish army regained control of the city on September
9, 1922.
The future for the Christian population of Greeks and
Armenians was perilous, after a series of events, most of them were
killed as part of the Greek genocide that took over the time period of
1914 to 1923.
Eyewitness
reports state that the fire began on September 13, 1922, and lasted for
about nine days until September 22. The fire’s results were disastrous
— the entire Greek and Armenian quarters of the city were destroyed.
Churches,
villas, and houses of a great architectural importance, as well as
schools and entire markets now belonged to the past.
Official
data about the number of the victims does not exist. Experts believe
that the number victims lands somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000,
while the refugees who were forced to leave the city and its countryside
were between 25,000 and 100,000.
The city suffered a huge-scale damage to its infrastructure — the center literally had to be rebuilt from the ashes.
That’s
why today, 40 hectares of the former fire area is a vast park (also
known as Kültürpark in Turkish) serving as Turkey’s largest open air
exhibition center.
Δημοσιεύτηκε στις 13 Απρ 2014
The Greeks are ousted from Smyrna, Turkey
Full titles read: "THE BURNING OF SMYRNA - Authentic pictures that beggar description - taken by PATHE Cameraman now in the Near East."
Various L/S's of smoke pouring from burning buildings. M/S of thick black smoke. L/S of large building ablaze on the coast, a large rowing boat can be packed with people on the river. M/S of rowing boat with refugees in it. M/S's of more rowing boats colliding with one another. L/S of refugees on the deck of a ship.
L/S's of burning buildings of Smyrna, there is and incredible amount of destruction. Footage of the town burning at night, the flames illuminate the night sky. Intertitle reads: "Britain's Watch Dogs - Majestic in their silent guard of the Dardanelles - are instantly ready." L/S of the fleet of battleships of the Royal Navy in the Dardanelles.
https://youtu.be/0QsRvwYZ2Lk
[Kp note: when this was first posted, incorrect AWK links were provided. This has been corrected.]
