It Was Not a War, It Was Genocide

“There was no Armenian Genocide,” they declare. “It was a war during WWI, where, consequently, people die.”

By extension, does the world assume the Holocaust during World War II was just because of war? No, it too was genocide.

The deniers buried their crimes behind war to conceal their actions against humanity in hopes they would never be witnessed. During the first world war, they caused the Armenian Genocide as a separate massacre; however, World War I was used as a false facade and in turn, the Armenian Genocide has become a forgotten genocide.

Hitler remembered the Armenian Genocide as he proclaimed, “After all, who remembers the Armenians?” as a precedent to declare his impunity before he committed his own crimes.

Although the genocide was a crime witnessed by world diplomats and drew worldwide attention, they have been successful in wiping out the world’s memory.

In actual fact, Turkey had committed massacres previous to the genocide, as it prepared for the total extermination of the Armenian nation. It strategically waited for an advantageous occasion, which presented itself during World War I. Turkey entered the war having objectives of expansion and a horrifying scheme: the annihilation of Armenians.

According to Bahaittin Shakir, one of the masterminds and perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide, and a leader of the Young Turks’ Committee of Union and Progress: “We are at war […] there is no fear of interference from Europe and the Great States, the world press also cannot raise any protest and, even if it does, it will be without much result, and, in the future, it will be considered as a fait accompli.” He fearlessly claimed the world and its media would never have the power to stop the Armenian Genocide for they were distracted with the war.

Therefore, Turkey was presented a great opportunity to commit its evil crimes against the Armenian nation during World War I. Foreign diplomats and missionaries fought for our quest for justice and declared this crime against humanity as the extermination of almost an entire race.

By Hitler’s time, our losses had been forgotten. Hitler’s crimes have been punished and many people believe he deserved punishment, yet they forget to realize that the deniers’ crimes for the Armenian Genocide should be punished as well. It has been advocated, after 100 years, the Armenians must forget, that is, forget their ancestral lands and forgive the deniers without any preconditions.

Euripides wrote, “The duty of the virtuous man is to serve justice and to always, in every occasion, punish the evil ones.” Are the perpetrators of the “The Great Evil”—the Armenian Genocide—punished? Turkey remains without punishment for its crimes against humanity; justice has not yet been served.

The responsible nation is scared, as Armenians have survived and written books regarding our losses. The Hamidian Massacre took place in 1894–1896 by Ottoman Empire Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and the Adana Massacre took place in 1909, by the Young Turks’ government.

Turkey committed a precursor of the Armenian Genocide and in 1915–1923, the Great Genocide occurred. Thus, the genocide cannot be considered merely a battle during World War I (which ended in 1918), seeing as the genocide ended five years later. These three organized historical massacres against Armenians were separate massacres known as The Great Evil and the “unquestionable darkest pages in all of human history.” The world is manipulated by the perpetrators to believe otherwise.

The Holocaust, for example, took place only during the years of World War II. Thus, the Armenian Genocide must be recognized as a separate massacre in history. The truth has survived through our books. We Armenians have a very painful historical memory but the deniers continue to lie.

Do not be so righteous as to forgive and forget the crimes of the enemy. Protect our culture and historical treasures; protect our churches, khachkars, and monuments. Set Wilsonian Armenia free. Please help us spread the truth and assist serving humanity and civilizations. The survivors are still alive, so listen to their voices and their cries for justice. The enemy has destroyed our civilization. Armenia was once a majestic empire and the world does not realize that our cradle of civilization has vanished. The enemy believes they can rewrite history and omit the disappeared murderers. When the wild animal runs free, dictatorship rules over democracy.

Dear World, if you have accidentally welcomed the enemy, pick up one of the old books that document our truth and direct the world toward the truth. With your leadership, we can correct mistakes. Human blood is sacred.

I suggest you read Ambassador Morgenthau’s story, “The Murder of a Nation,” by Henry Morgenthau (U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, 1913–1916); “The Road of No Return,” by Armin T. Wegner (German soldier and medic); and “The Death Corridor of the Armenian People,” by Johannes Lepsius (German Protestant missionary). Although his report was forbidden by the German military censorship in fear of affronting their Turkish ally. Lepsius managed to secretly distribute more than 20,000 copies.

These authors were all firsthand notable eyewitnesses. Help keep the memory of our massacre alive so we can put an end to the chant “1915, Never Again!” The Armenians gained strength from God and miraculously survived a battle fought by our mothers and children known as the Battle of Sardarabad (1918). According to Christopher J. Walker, “It is perfectly possible that the word Armenia would have henceforth denoted only an antique geographical term,” if we were to lose the battle.

The genocide was a systematic extermination used to complete the destruction of the Armenian nation. Turkey seems to have succeeded seeing as it is currently trying to reclaim the history and culture of Armenia as its own. Armenia is the history of Armenia. Dear World, cast this enemy away just like Jesus cast the devil away. The enemy has advanced in social development due to our historical territory. Save our treasures from the hands of the enemy, soon they will trample over your historical treasures, culture, and values as well. Do not forget.

As we approach the centennial commemoration, do not hesitate as we ask you to join us in reverence on April 24, 2015, in honor of our 1.5 million martyrs and the memory of our victims.

What is the Armenian Question? The “Armenian Question” explains the 40 years of Armenian–Ottoman history in the context of English, German, and Russian politics 1877–1914. The deniers never responded to the “Armenian Question” posed by the Great Powers, they solved it by committing the Armenian Genocide. They renamed our cities and country as their own and their crimes left our survivors without land, family, and now without history.

We will never forget the signature of U.S. President Thomas Woodrow Wilson who created our Wilsonian Armenia. We will forever treasure it and fight for the truth regardless of the denial, for the devil does not tell the truth, only lies. Armenia has existed and will always exist.

Rachel Melikian lives in Glendale, Calif.