By Vahe Assarian

The most pressing issue to the worldwide Armenian community is the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Turks from 1915 to 1923. Approximately 1.5 million Armenians were taken out of their homes and killed in many horrible ways. Half a million barely survived these atrocities but were forced outside of their Historic Homelands into different parts of the Middle East. The Turks’ mission was to get rid of the Armenian population along with Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. They not only robbed the Armenian population by taking away the majority of their lives but also the Historic Homelands as well. Though 97 years have passed, the Armenian population throughout the world have not forgotten these atrocities. Every year on April 24^th, we Armenians unite as one to demand justice for all that we have lost during the Armenian Genocide. Not only do we want an apology from Turkey, we demand reparations and our rightful Historic Lands returned. In order to get our lands back and the genocide recognized, we need to continue demanding other nations around the world to support our cause.

We demand that our Historic Lands be returned to us. These lands include Lake Van, Ani, once known as the City of a 1001 Churches, Kars, Ardahan, Erzerum, Bitlis, and the symbol of the Armenian people, Mount Ararat. Though our Historic Nation was once greater than our demands, we today are basing our demands on the boundaries of Wilsonian Armenia, which the weakened and faltering Ottoman Empire agreed to in the Treaty of Sevres in 1920. We should include Cilicia in our list of demands because our population was living there long before the Ottoman Empire began and even before the Turks from Central Asia started to call the Middle East and Eastern Europe home. Some might ask us why we are so demanding about getting the Armenian Genocide recognized? Well, it’s about justice, if the people responsible for committing the genocide are punished for their actions then it shows the rest of the world that if a nation or group of people tries to commit anything like genocide, then they will be punished. Another reason why it’s important to get the genocide recognized and get our rightful lands back is so present day Armenia can live on. You see the Armenian families weren’t just robbed of life and their lands, during the genocide the Armenian people lost the wealth that was handed down to them for thousands of years.

The Armenian Genocide is the most pressing issue among the Armenian community of the world. We the Armenian people want justice and we want it now. No matter what country we live in, we demand that the Armenian Genocide be recognized by the world but our main goal is to make the Turkish government admit their history, apologize, pay retributions, and give back our Historic Lands. We, the Armenian people, want the guilty to be punished to show the rest of the world that if you commit genocide then you will be punished. Recognition of the Armenian Genocide will open the door for Armenians to move on and continue living their lives. However, we will never forget the Armenian Genocide of 1915, and we will fight on to make sure this never happens to us again.

Here at the Armenian National Committee of America, we work day and night, seven days a week and all year long for the fight for justice. Though recognition and justice for the Armenian Genocide is one of the aspects of the ANCA it’s not the only aspect. The ANCA also works on uniting the Armenian community in the United States and the rest of the Armenians in the world. Also the ANCA works to better Armenia today by convincing the United States and other Western Nations to give more aid to Armenia.

Thank you, I hoped you enjoyed reading my blog and if you’re interested in helping the ANCA, please contact your U.S. Representatives and tell them to co-sponsor the Armenian Genocide Resolution by following this link: http://www.anca.org/action_alerts/action_disp.php?aaid=49238526