The Armenian Genocide, the First Genocide of Twentieth Century.
April is the month of mourning for Armenians around the world. On April 24, every Armenian remembers the loss of his/her family member in Turkey. Some 1.5 million Armenian systematical massacred during the years of 1915 to 1923 in their homeland, western Armenia. This barbarous crime was the first Genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide. .
But who are Armenians and why their fate was so tragic. Armenians are an ancient nation with rich heritage. 2500 years ago, Darius the king of Iranian Empire conquered a region on the north west of his territory. He was so happy of his victory that ordered to curve the event on a stone hanging on one of the walls of its palace in Persepolis, noting that he captured Armenia. Many scholars believe that Armenians were living in the region between Caspian, Mediterranean and Black see for more than 3500 years. This region later has been called Asia Minor. Armenians have their own language and their own Alphabet. Armenia Alphabet is 1500 years old. Armenians were also the first nation who officially accepted Christianity in 301 AD and kept their independent church during centuries to come. They have their own country who declared its independency in 1991 from former Soviet Union. The total number of Armenians throughout the world exceeds 7 million with some 3 million living in Armenia, some one million living in former Soviet Union republics and some 1 million living in U.S. Armenians now live in a flourishing Diaspora from L.A to Beirut and Brasilia to Sydney. The main reason of this scattered population of Armenians is the series of attacks and campaigns they experienced during centuries that forced them to leave their homeland. The most disastrous of those campaigns was the Turkish annihilation program against the Armenia ns that resulted in 1.5 million deaths.