David Isa wrote the following on the Arab lebanondebate.com

This year marks the centennial of the massacres that were perpetrated against the peace-loving Armenians.

The massacres began on April 24, 1915 with the arrests of 600 Armenian intellectuals and political figures in Istanbul, as well as Armenian soldiers serving in the Ottoman army. The Ottoman Turks killed all of them without any remorse, after which all the Armenians of Anatolia were forcefully displaced and massacred.

These atrocities took the lives of at least 1.5 million Armenians, who made up nearly half of the Armenian population of Anatolia.

Although all historical sources assure that the Armenian massacres were planned by the Ottoman Turkish government, the Turkish government succeeding the Ottoman government denies those massacres.

The annihilation of the Armenian people is a great wound that can’t be healed only by the confession and recognition of the Ottoman government’s legal successor.

With an uncompromising attitude towards their rights, the Armenian people proved that the right to recognition of the massacres is a universal right. No matter where the Armenians settled following the genocide, they worked hard to convince the governments of the receiving countries to recognize that annihilation. Today, more than 20 countries have officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenians dispersed across four corners of the globe and managed to establish organized communities, preserving their national culture and traditions at the same time. Even in 1991 when Armenia declared its independence, they remained devoted to the receiving countries.

On the occasion of the centennial, there is a need to adopt binding international laws for all countries. Those laws especially need to concern the great powers so that they suspend the massacres against Christians, Yezidis and Kurds in Iraq and Syria and condemn those crimes.

Finally, we demand that all freedom-loving people pressure Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide. By recognizing the Armenian Genocide, Turkey will apologize to the Armenian people and will guarantee that such massacres will never be perpetrated again.

Translation by Hayern Aysor