International Christian Concern praised a White House statement issued April 24 affirming the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The statement came on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.
According to ICC, the Ottoman Empire undertook the genocide against Armenians beginning in 1915, a policy which continued during the initial years of the Republic of Turkey. It is estimated that at least 1.5 million Armenian Christians were killed or displaced from present-day Turkey, forcing many Armenians to resettle elsewhere and causing large Armenian populations to grow across the world.
More recently, Turkey supported Azerbaijan’s aggressions against Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh, where Azerbaijani troops alongside Turkish-paid Syrian mercenaries invaded the region and took control after a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement in December.
Ongoing conflict
Evidence of violence against Armenian civilians and destruction of religious sites during this conflict suggests some religious and ethnic hatred towards Armenian Christians still held by many, reminiscent of the genocide over a century ago, the ICC statement noted. (Read more about recent violence in Armenia by clicking here or here.)
ICC’s Advocacy Director, Matias Perttula, welcomed the statement from the White House, and said that “Armenian Christians continue to suffer because of the systematic Ottoman campaign of 1915, and the United States owes it to the Armenian community to stand with them in solidarity by recognizing their suffering. As heirs to the oldest Christian nation, Armenians are an integral part of the global community of Christians and ought to enjoy freedom from persecution.”
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