What to know about the mass killings of Armenians a century ago
The massacre of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War I — and the question of whether it should be called a genocide — remains highly contentious a century after the event.
The issue is an emotional one, both for Armenians, many of whose forebears were killed, and for Turks, the heirs to the Ottomans. For both groups, the question touches as much on national identity as on historical facts.
Some Armenians feel their nationhood cannot be fully recognized unless the truth of what happened to their people, beginning in April 1915, is acknowledged. Some Turks still view the Armenians as having been a threat to the Ottoman Empire in a time of war, and say many people of various ethnicities — including Turks — were killed in the chaos of conflict.