Examines the last 100 years of Armenian history, the alleged genocide of 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey over 25-year period, and Armenian protests and other activities aimed at redressing wrongs and having a painful history recognized, not silenced. This report begins with a history of Armenia???s ancient homeland, linguistic origins, powerful early rulers, and the series of invasions that culminated in the establishment of Ottoman rule. In Constantinople during Ottoman hegemony, Armenians served the empire as bankers, government officials, and imperial architects. The era of massacres began with increased oppression in the early 1890s, which triggered the formation of Armenian resistance groups that carried out acts of armed defiance of Turkish authorities, and continued through mass deportations and murders in 1915. The Armenian Republic???s independence, declared in 1918, was short-lived, and much of its modern history concerns the former Soviet Union???s domination of a portion of its territory and ensuing disputes about regional control and autonomy. Many Armenians have emigrated worldwide. In the United States, they have established patriotic organizations, Armenian-English newspapers, and day schools.
