Donald Riegle: “I rise today to pay tribute to the victims of one of the bleakest episodes in human history. This Saturday, April 24…”

“I rise today to pay tribute to the victims of one of the bleakest episodes in human history. This Saturday, April 24, marks the 79th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. On that date in 1915, the Ottoman Turks began escalating their campaign to wipe out the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. By 1923, more than 1.5 million Armenians had died and more than 500,000 had been forced from their homes. Today we honor those who died during the first genocide of the 20th century and refocus on the repeated instances of genocide that have occurred this century. At the time of the Armenian Genocide, Europe was being torn apart by World War I and the Ottoman Empire was experiencing a rapid decline in power. By the end of the war, Russia, fighting on the side of the allies, would invade Turkey and deal a crushing blow to the Ottoman rulers. Internally, the Ottomans had turned to a leadership that espoused pan-Turkish nationalism, and sought to annihilate non-Turkish populations within the empire. In particular, the Ottomans escalated their campaign designed to eliminate the entire Armenian population. On the night of April 24, 1915, more than 200 Armenian religious, political, and intellectual leaders were rounded up in Constantinople. In a gruesome preview of what was in store for other Armenians, these leaders of the community were taken to a remote location inside Turkey and brutally executed.”