"The Armenian Genocide was the worst crime of World War I"-Theodore RooseveltThe Armenian Genocide is a term which refers to the forced mass evacuation and related deaths of hundreds of thousands or over a million Armenians , during the government of the Young Turks from 1915 to 1917 in the Ottoman Empire . Several facts in connection with the event are a matter of ongoing dispute between parts of the international community and Turkey . Although it is generally agreed that events said to comprise what is termed the Armenian Genocide did occur, the Turkish government rejects that it was genocide , on the alleged basis that the deaths among the Armenians were not a result of a state-sponsored plan of mass extermination, but of inter-ethnic strife, disease and famine during the turmoil of World War I .Despite this thesis, most Armenian, Russian, Western, and an increasing number of Turkish scholars believe that the massacres were a case of genocide. For example, most Western sources point to the sheer scale of the death toll . The event is also said to be the second-most studied case of genocide, and often draws comparison with the Holocaust. To date 24 countries have officially recognized and accepted its authenticity as Genocide.Each April 24th (Armenian Genocide Commemoration Holiday) hundreds of thousands of people walk to the genocide monument and lay flowers (usually red carnations or tulips) around the eternal flame. Armenians around the world mark the genocide in different ways, and many memorials have been built in Armenian Diaspora communities.
