Genocide

Last updated: June 11, 2026

The Armenian Genocide of 1915 represents one of history’s first systematic mass killings of a civilian population, in which Ottoman Turkish forces and local militias killed approximately 1.5 million Armenians and displaced hundreds of thousands more from their ancestral homelands in Anatolia. Perpetrators used massacres, deportations into desert conditions, and starvation as deliberate instruments of elimination. Survivors scattered across the globe, establishing diaspora communities in the Middle East, Europe, North America, and beyond. Turkey has denied the genocide for over a century, refusing to acknowledge the Ottoman state’s intent to destroy the Armenian people, a position that shapes contemporary Turkish-Armenian relations and regional politics. Genocide denial remains an official Turkish state policy backed by legal penalties in Turkey itself for those who acknowledge the historical record, complicating efforts toward Turkish-Armenian normalization and historical justice.

The ethnic cleansing of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) in September 2023 displaced more than 150,000 Armenian inhabitants from the enclave in a matter of hours, following Azerbaijan’s 24-hour military offensive on September 19–20, 2023. Unlike the 44-Day War of 2020, which ended in a ceasefire with Russian peacekeepers deployed, the 2023 operation resulted in complete displacement of the Armenian population and the effective erasure of Armenian self-governance in a territory that had been ethnically Armenian for centuries. Azerbaijan’s destruction of Christian heritage sites, including damage to the Stepanakert Cathedral documented in early 2026, compounds the physical and cultural dimension of the cleansing. The international community, including Western governments and human rights organizations, provided minimal diplomatic pressure or consequences for the displacement, contrasting sharply with rhetoric regarding other contemporary conflicts. Through works like photographer Erhan Arik’s Horovel project and the documentary Ojakh: On the Other Side of Silence, artists and documentarians have recorded the personal stakes of Armenian memory and continuity—capturing testimony from elderly Armenians whose families originated from historic Armenian regions and reflecting on how identity and community persist despite rupture and loss.

The concept of genocide denial has become inseparable from Armenian political consciousness. Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the 1915 genocide shapes the terms on which Armenia negotiates peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey, as recognition remains a precondition for many Armenians and diaspora organizations seeking justice and historical truth. The speed and completeness of the 2023 displacement from Artsakh has prompted scholars and Armenian analysts to assess whether the term genocide applies to the 2023 events, a question with legal, moral, and political dimensions. Arthur Martirosyan examined in January 2026 the long-term consequences of the Baku pogroms, connecting historical violence to ongoing patterns of threat and displacement. Whether international law will address either the 1915 genocide or the 2023 cleansing through accountability mechanisms remains uncertain, leaving Armenia in a position where historical memory and contemporary survival are bound to geopolitical outcomes beyond Armenian control.

Groong episodes that include this tag

Below are all Groong episodes tagged with Genocide.

State of Affairs in Lebanon & the Armenians a Year After the Beirut Explosion | Ep #98 - Nov 8, 2021 [EP98]

Posted on Monday, Nov 8, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Economy, Syria, Armenian Genocide, Artsakh, China, Genocide, Israel, Middle East, Russia, Nagorno Karabakh, European Union | Series: cog

The State of Affairs in Lebanon A Conversation with Dr. Ohannes Geukjian and Vera Yacoubian

Topics:

A year after the Beirut Explosion, whatâs the state of investigations?
Has Anyone been held Accountable?
Who are the Internal and External Players in Lebanon?
Whatâs the State and Future of the Armenian Community in Lebanon?

Guests:

Dr. Ohannes Geukjian
Vera Yacoubian

Guest(s):

Hosts:

Asbed Bedrossian TW/@qubriq
Katia Peltekian TW/@KatiaPeltekian

Episode 98: Recorded on Saturday, November 6, 2021 Show notes: https://groong.org/podcasts/CoG-20211108.html

State of Affairs in Lebanon & the Armenians a Year After the Beirut Explosion | Ep #98 - Nov 8, 2021 [EP98]

Posted on Monday, Nov 8, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Lebanon, Iran, Turkey, Economy, Syria, Armenian Genocide, Artsakh, China, Genocide, Israel, Middle East, Russia, Nagorno Karabakh, European Union

The State of Affairs in Lebanon A Conversation with Dr. Ohannes Geukjian and Vera Yacoubian

Topics:

A year after the Beirut Explosion, whatâs the state of investigations?
Has Anyone been held Accountable?
Who are the Internal and External Players in Lebanon?
Whatâs the State and Future of the Armenian Community in Lebanon?

Guests:

Dr. Ohannes Geukjian
Vera Yacoubian

Guest(s):

Hosts:

Asbed Bedrossian TW/@qubriq
Katia Peltekian TW/@KatiaPeltekian

Episode 98: Recorded on Saturday, November 6, 2021 Show notes: https://groong.org/podcasts/CoG-20211108.html

Save Our Monuments | A Year After the War in Artsakh | AM/AZ Case at the ICJ | Ep #97 - Nov 3, 2021 [EP97]

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 3, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Genocide, Artsakh, Georgia, Turkey, Nagorno Karabakh | Series: cog

Guest(s):

Save Armenian Monuments A Conversation with Virginia Davies and Heghnar Watenpaugh

Topics:

One year after the War in Artsakh, the State of Armenian Monuments in Lands turned over to Azerbaijan
What is Save Armenian Monuments?
The Significance of Pilgrimage and Holy Sites
Armenia and Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice: Is Intentional Cultural Destruction a form of Racial Discrimination?
What Next Steps?

Guests:

Virginia Davies TW/@vdaviesnyc
Heghnar Watenpaugh TW/@HeghnarW

Host:

Simon Maghakyan TW/@simonforco

Episode 97 |

Save Our Monuments | A Year After the War in Artsakh | AM/AZ Case at the ICJ | Ep #97 - Nov 3, 2021 [EP97]

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 3, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Genocide, Artsakh, Georgia, Turkey, Nagorno Karabakh

Guest(s):

Save Armenian Monuments A Conversation with Virginia Davies and Heghnar Watenpaugh

Topics:

One year after the War in Artsakh, the State of Armenian Monuments in Lands turned over to Azerbaijan
What is Save Armenian Monuments?
The Significance of Pilgrimage and Holy Sites
Armenia and Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice: Is Intentional Cultural Destruction a form of Racial Discrimination?
What Next Steps?

Guests:

Virginia Davies TW/@vdaviesnyc
Heghnar Watenpaugh TW/@HeghnarW

Host:

Simon Maghakyan TW/@simonforco

Episode 97 |

Armenia's Borders in Maps - A Conversation with Rouben Galichian | Ep 95 - Oct 29, 2021 [EP95]

Posted on Friday, Oct 29, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, History, Maps, Nagorno Karabakh, Iran, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Genocide, NATO, Syria | Series: cog, video

Armenia’s Borders in Maps - A Conversation with Rouben Galichian | Ep 95 - Oct 29, 2021

Guest:

Rouben Galichian

Topics:

Following the 44-day War in Artsakh, Azerbaijan’s president demands Armenia sign a “Peace Treaty” involving full border recognition.
Historical and contemporary mapping of Armenian borders
Early cartography and 20th-century developments
Enclaves, the Goris-Kapan Highway, and Sev Lake
Armenia-Iran border considerations

Episode 95 | Recorded: October 29, 2021

Armenia's Borders in Maps - A Conversation with Rouben Galichian | Ep 95 - Oct 29, 2021 [EP95]

Posted on Friday, Oct 29, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, History, Maps, Nagorno Karabakh, Iran, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Genocide, NATO, Syria

Armenia’s Borders in Maps - A Conversation with Rouben Galichian | Ep 95 - Oct 29, 2021

Guest:

Rouben Galichian

Topics:

Following the 44-day War in Artsakh, Azerbaijan’s president demands Armenia sign a “Peace Treaty” involving full border recognition.
Historical and contemporary mapping of Armenian borders
Early cartography and 20th-century developments
Enclaves, the Goris-Kapan Highway, and Sev Lake
Armenia-Iran border considerations

Episode 95 | Recorded: October 29, 2021

One-year anniversary of Artsakh War | Can the Opposition Reorg | TARC 2.0 | Ep 90 - Sep 26, 2021 [EP90]

Posted on Sunday, Sep 26, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Politics, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Russia, Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian Genocide, Genocide, Economy, China, Syria | Series: wir

Guest:

Tevan Poghosyan , is president of the International Center for Human Development in Yerevan. Mr. Poghosyan was an MP in the National Assembly between 2012 and 2017 from the Heritage party. From 1997 to 1999 he served as the Nagorno-Karabakh Public Affairs Office Director in Washington, D.C.

Topic:

The One-year anniversary of The War in Artsakh
Can the Opposition Reorganize?
Turkish-Armenian Possible Rapprochement

Episode 90 | Recorded: September 27, 2021

One-year anniversary of Artsakh War | Can the Opposition Reorg | TARC 2.0 | Ep 90 - Sep 26, 2021 [EP90]

Posted on Sunday, Sep 26, 2021 | Category: Armenia, Politics, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey, Russia, Nagorno Karabakh, Armenian Genocide, Genocide, Economy, China, Syria

Guest:

Tevan Poghosyan , is president of the International Center for Human Development in Yerevan. Mr. Poghosyan was an MP in the National Assembly between 2012 and 2017 from the Heritage party. From 1997 to 1999 he served as the Nagorno-Karabakh Public Affairs Office Director in Washington, D.C.