Ottoman Genocide Begins: One Million Armenians Perish
Ottoman authorities arrested 235 Armenian intellectuals, professionals, and community leaders in Constantinople on April 24, 1915, in what is now recognized as the start of the Armenian Genocide. The deportations and systematic killings that followed over the next two years killed between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians through death marches into the Syrian desert, mass shootings, drowning, and starvation. Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish lawyer, studied the Armenian case when he coined the word "genocide" in 1944. Turkey officially denies the events constituted genocide, calling them wartime casualties during civil unrest. Over 30 countries have formally recognized the genocide. April 24 is commemorated as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day worldwide.
April 24, 1915
111 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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