Armenian Genocide

Why in news?

• US President Joe Biden is preparing to formally acknowledge the Armenian Genocide.

About Armenian Genocide:

• The Armenian Genocide (other names) was the systematic mass murder and ethnic cleansing of around 1 million ethnic Armenians from Asia Minor and adjoining regions by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
• At the orders of Talat Pasha, the de-facto leader of ottoman empire, an estimated 800,000 to 1.2 million Armenian women, children, and elderly or infirm people were sent on death marches leading to the Syrian Desert in 1915 and 1916.
• Driven forward by paramilitary escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to robbery, rape, and massacre.
• In the Syrian Desert, they were dispersed into a series of concentration camps; in early 1916 another wave of massacres were ordered, leaving about 200,000 deportees alive by the end of 1916.
• Around 100,000 to 200,000 Armenian women and children were forcibly converted to Islam and integrated into Muslim households.
• Massacres and ethnic cleansing of Armenian survivors were carried out by the Turkish nationalist movement during the Turkish war of independence after World War I.
• According to the Armenian National Institute, an American non-profit organisation, 30 countries officially recognise the Armenian Genocide.

About Armenia:

• Armenia is a landlocked country located in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.
• It is a part of the Caucasus region; and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor under a Russian peacekeeping force, and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
• Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage.
• In 1922 became a founding member of the Soviet Union and the modern Republic of Armenia became independent in 1991 during the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
• Armenia is a developing country and ranks 81st on the Human Development Index (2018).
•  Since Armenia aligns itself in many respects geopolitically with Europe, the country is a member of numerous European organizations including the Council of Europe and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Prelims Question

Which of the following countries border Armenia?
1.Turkey
2.Iran 
3.Syria
4.Georgia
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a)1 and 2 only
(b)1,2 and 4 only
(c)1,2 and 3 only
(d)1,2,3 and 4 only

Answer to the Prelims Question