the armenian non-genocide?

The 1948 U.N. Convention on Genocide defines a genocide as an act or acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group”. Between 1915 and 1919, at the end of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey, up to 1.5 million Armenians died or were forcibly displaced.

History is a funny thing, though. The nation of Turkey refuses to officially acknowledge that the events of 1915-1919 were a genocide. Unfortunately, a massive army of other nations, including the United States, also refuse to acknowledge the genocide. The refusal to acknowledge the genocide is not a historical move, not an attempt to change history, but a political move. Acknowledging the genocide could alienate Turkey, America’s strongest ally among the Middle Eastern Muslim nations.

In reality, this is a no-win situation for everyone involved. If the genocide is not acknowledged, then we will not be paying due respect to the Armenians who died and who were displaced during that time. However, if it is acknowledged, Turkey might abandon the US in our attempts to fight the Taliban, Al Qaeda, etc. Even if Turkey does not abandon the US, undoubtedly the Taliban and Al Qaeda will be unhappy with the acknowledgment of those events, as the Ottoman Empire was one of the earliest manifestations of Middle Eastern control.