America & Turkish Genocide of Armenians

The Turkish government's extermination of over 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 coupled with the universal definition of genocide leads to only one rational conclusion: The Ottoman Empire committed genocide. Instead of admitting its shameful past, as many countries with similar histories have done, Turkey throws a tantrum, threatens those that speak the truth abroad and criminalize the usage of the word at home.

The most obvious question is why. Why is Turkey so committed to denying its history and acknowledging its bloody past? Robbie Gennett of the Huffington Post sheds some light on what, exactly, is at stake: Take a look at a map of pre-Genocide Armenia here, here and here. What you will notice is that a huge chunk of what is now Turkey was then considered Armenia. If the 1915 Turkish actions were indeed recognized as a genocide, current day Armenia could potentially petition for the return of its land. Note that this may even include the area known as Cilicia, a separate but ethnically connected entity bordering the Mediterranean Sea that dates back to the Kingdom of Cilician Armenia in the early part of the second Millenium. These historically grounded lands could rightfully be considered Armenian if they could establish that they were unlawfully taken from them via the Genocide. The evidence is there and so is the history.

Huffington Post