Armenian/Syriac Genocide 1915

Armenian/Syriac Genocide 1915

On April 24th we join the Armenian Orthodox Church & Armenian people in commemorating the genocide carried out in 1915.Known by the Armenian as Aghet (roughly translated to catastrophe) & by the Syriacs (also known as Arameans, Assyrians, Chaldean) as Sayfo (abbreviation of 'shato d'sayfo' or 'year of the sword') the genocide was the systematic killing & persecution of Christian minorities within the Ottoman Empire.In 1915, 1.5 million Armenians, 500-750,000 Syriacs & 500,000 Greeks were viciously tortured & brutally murdered by the Ottomans, Kurds & Turkish nationalists in an effort to wipe out the indigenous Christian communities who lived in the Middle East. Those who survived were expelled from their homes & lands, their properties were confiscated, their dignity was violated &, in many cases, they were forced to renounce their religion & faith as they watched their churches be plundered, destroyed or turned into stables for animals. The Syriac Orthodox Church by order of the Holy Synod has designated June 15th to be the annual commemoration of the martyrs in our Liturgical Calendar. Sadly, though a century has passed & many nations have officially condemned the genocide, the Turkish state continues to deny any wrongdoing. Adolf Hitler, in an address known as the "Obersalzberg Speech" a week before invading Poland concluded his words with the following chilling statement, "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"