Bob Filner: “I join my other colleagues today to discuss one of the greatest unrecognized tragedies of the 20th Century, you have…”

“I join my other colleagues today to discuss one of the greatest unrecognized tragedies of the 20th Century, you have heard it by the previous speakers, that is the Armenian genocide. April 24th marks the 85th anniversary of the start of the first genocide of the 1900's. Before the Holocaust there was the Armenian genocide. It took place between 1915 and 1923 in the Ottoman Empire. In April of 1915, a weak Ottoman Empire ordered mass deportations of Armenians. This was carried out swiftly and systematically on official orders from the government of the Ottoman Empire. Forced marches resulted in the deaths of over 1 million Armenians. Armenian men of military age were rounded up, marched for several miles and shot dead throughout eastern Anatolia. Women, children, and the elderly, many subjected to rape, were forced to leave their homeland and move to relocation centers in the Syrian desert. During these long marches, no food, water, or shelter was provided. Many died of disease or exhaustion, and survivors were subjected to forcible conversion to Islam. The annihilation of such a large portion of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire led to the loss of many lives and the dream of an Armenian homeland. Surviving Armenians fled to the then Soviet Union, the United States, and other parts of the world in pursuit of their basic freedoms. Many Armenians live and work in my congressional district in San Diego. Their history and story need to be shared and embraced.”