Page 46 - THE ARMENIAN CHURCH_Neat

Long History in Brief 47

and secular ideology. The Armenians, who
were actively present in the economic, cul-
tural, and intellectual life of Ottoman society,
were regarded as a major hindrance to the
realization of this plan. The First World War
provided the opportune moment for the
Ottoman-Turkish Empire to realize its final
solution: the total annihilation of the Ar-
menian people.
The western powers did nothing to pre-
vent or to stop the first genocide of the 20th
Century. Historical evidence and eyewitness
accounts clearly prove that the Armenian
Genocide was carefully organized and sys-
tematically executed by the Ottoman-Turkish
government of the time. The genocide put the
very survival of the Armenian people and the
Church at risk. One-and-a-half million Ar-
menians were massacred and the survivors,
including thousands of orphans, took refuge
in Syria, Lebanon, and other Arab countries,
which received them with compassion and
respect. Thousands of churches, monasteries,
religious sites, schools, and community cen-
ters were either destroyed or confiscated,
including church, community, and individual
properties; many clergymen were killed; in-
numerable manuscripts and liturgical objects
of immeasurable value were stolen or de-
stroyed. A number of Armenians were
forcefully converted to Islam, particularly
in the rural areas, and, thus, the Ottoman-