Turkey's Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians, from 1915 to 1917.

On Facebook Mark Hazarabedian writes,

Today, April 24, is the anniversary of the beginning of Turkey's Genocide of 1.5 million Armenians, from 1915 to 1917.

These were people peacefully living on their ancestral land, as their families had for millennia. They were targeted only because they were Christian.

Among them were my paternal great grandparents and dozens of cousins.

First, Turkey confiscated the guns of law-abiding Armenians.

On this day, Turkey arrested Armenian leaders, military personnel, and intellectuals, thus, the Armenian community's ability to defend themselves was crippled. The arrests extended to able-bodied men of military age.

After that, Turkey's plan to 'cleanse' itself of Christians and non-Turks became much more simple.

The means of murder were horrific. Rape was a routine aspect of the process.

The victims who were shot, bayoneted, hacked, bludgeoned, or hanged were the 'lucky' ones. Their deaths were quick, and mostly spared of agony.

Others died slow, lingering, sadistic deaths.

Armenians were taken from their villages, driven on foot to deportation centers, sometimes taken there on over-packed cattle cars such as used to take Jews to death camps in Nazi Germany, then driven on foot to final destinations of execution. many were driven across the Syrian desert.

Resources were not spent on a drop of water nor a crumb of food. People who dared to try survive by trying to eat a blade of grass or a dead mouse were savagely beaten.

Those who didn't oblige the cowardly Turkish savages by dying along the way were forced to march in circles around the destination death camps, again, no food or water, until they dropped dead.

Others were put aboard ships, taken out into the middle of the Mediterranean or Black Seas, and thrown overboard.

Some were crucified.

To this second, Turkey denies all of this, and manufactures and distributes slander against their victims and survivors.