Thousands rally in New York to mark Genocide centennial

April 27, 2015 - 14:07 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - A rally in Times Square marked the centennial of the deaths of as many 1.5 million Armenians under the Ottoman Empire — today’s Turkey.

Sunday, April 26 afternoon’s rally drew several thousand people demanding the U.S. government deem the deaths during World War I genocide, New York Post reports.

The international dispute over the killings focuses on that one word.

Pope Francis recently labeled the deaths genocide, a view widely shared by scholars. Turkey however denies that the deaths constituted genocide. They say the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

The New York rally is sponsored by the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee of America.

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.