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Errata
0:45 Most Armenians were Oriental Orthodox, not Eastern Orthodox (thx @victorhoang6633 )

Bibliography
Raymond Kevorkian, The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History (New York:  IB Tauris, 2011).  https://amzn.to/2zrw0br

In before the comment's get flooded with Turkish nationalists saying "it never happened but it should happen again"

0:45 Armenians are not generally Eastern Orthodox. The Armenian Apostolic Church which is the largest of the Armenian Churches are Oriental Orthodox or Miaphysite as they reject the Council of Chalcedon which Eastern Orthodox Christians accept. It's weird that Eastern and Oriental are synonyms and can be used interchangeably in most contexts except this one.

thank you for mentioning Rafał Lemkin. he was a polish lawyer and an expert on international law. after hearing about Armenia he practically made it his life mission to have the crime of genocide recognized legally. he died in poverty, couldn't pay rent, didn't have money for food.. before anyone was ever prosecuted for the crime he named. the UN genocide definition was formed imho through big compromises, Lemkin's original theory published was already fairly precise. after all it took him 20 years and he faced a lot of pushback from peers... may his efforts never be forgotten.

As an addendum, it might be mentioned for American audiences that the federal government didn't officially recognize Armenian genocide until 2021.  49 of the 50 states recognized the event as well with the last holdout, Mississippi, recognizing it in 2022.

This is unfortunately an often (deliberately) forgotten chapter of history and it’s a travesty that the denial of the Armenian Genocide is still so normal and accepted for many even today. The crybullying by these denialists shouldn’t be entertained on any platform for one second but here we are.

As of recently, many Muslim majority countries have been openly acknowledging the genocide after relations with Turkey soured. Back in Egypt (which was one of the first countries in the Arab world which recognized the independence of Armenia in 1991) there was a drama series that aired during Ramadan in 2021 that openly referenced the genocide. The fact that Turkey still refuses to acknowledge it is disgusting.

Here come the Turks.
They review bombed Moon Knight for a one line reference one can only imagine how much they hate actual history

I recently visited the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.  One of the areas of the museum is a very powerful display about the Ten Stages of Genocide, with one historical example used to highlight each stage.  The Armenian Genocide was the example for the tenth and final stage - denial.

There are generally three ways the perpetrators of a genocide talk about it after the fact:
- brag about it and inflate the numbers. The people who were killed were pretty much orcs from Lord of the Rings, and we were righteous in wielding the mighty power of God against them.
- admit to it, but insist that you only did it because they were orcs from Lord of the Rings, and you REALLY hated doing it. Downplay the numbers and insist that actually, you're kinda the victim too since you had to sully your hands.
- I'm sorry, who are these "Armenian" people you keep speaking of? Never heard of em.

As an Armenian I can't thank you enough for covering the topic. So many large historical youtube channels blatantly ignore the Armenian Genocide, jeopardizing historical integrity. The state-sponsored denialism being conducted by Turkey and Azerbaijan feels crushing for us Armenians, it feels like we are being ignored yet again by the world. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

I got here before the Turkish nationalist.  I'm sure the comment section is going to spiral out of control rapidly.

If I got a call from the state department telling me that I should avoid traveling to Turkey because of coverage of the Armenian Genocide I'd treat that as a badge of honor.

I'm so happy you put System of a Down in the video, they introduced me to the topic at a young age

My Armenian brothers...
I speak from the heart, I wish all the best to all of you, a beautiful, kind and special people for us Brazilians.
A hug from the Latin American giant, the best and most beautiful nation in the Caucasus!
✝🇧🇷❤🇦🇲☦✝

I'm not Armenian but I'm just shocked most people in the West don't know this even my co-worker who has Armenian roots. Her Armenian family never spoke about their past and I informed her of this because I felt she had the right to know. But that explains everything why her grandfather hardly talks. It was just too painful.

Its ironic how the Armenian Genocide which lead to the term being coined is also one of the most denied genocides.

You did the right and just thing. Thank you for standing up for factual, actual information.

This is an interesting quote, in the stanford news, contained in an article about Norman Naimark:

"All early drafts of the U.N. genocide convention included social and political groups in its definition. But one hand that wasn’t in the room guided the pen. The Soviet delegation vetoed any definition of genocide that might include the actions of its leader, Joseph Stalin. The Allies, exhausted by war, were loyal to their Soviet allies – to the detriment of subsequent generations."

I had a particularly weird encounter with an Armenian genocide denialist. She believed the genocide didn't happen-- but she also believed we should let people believe it happened anyway. Very weird!

When I was in my freshman year of college, I saw a disturbing presentation by another undergrad that went like this. She claimed that there was "really no evidence" that the Armenian genocide actually happened—but that we should encourage people to believe it happened anyway, or at least not publicly discourage it, because of how important the belief in the genocide is for the cultural identity of the Armenian people today.

This was one of the worst political takes I’ve ever seen expressed in person. There are two main reasons it’s bad. First, if we didn’t have evidence that the Armenian genocide happened, then it would actually be monstrous to encourage (or fail to discourage) a false belief in it. Such a false accusation of genocide would be viciously slanderous to the Turks and therefore unjust. It would also be disrespectful and needlessly re-traumatizing to the Armenians themselves.

Second, it turns out we DO have a ton of evidence the Armenian genocide happened! This isn’t a mere dogma we repeat to avoid hurting Armenians’ feelings. It is a historical fact, attested by all serious historians, based on overwhelming scientific evidence. The Armenian genocide definitely happened.

My memory is fuzzy, since this was in 2011 or 2012. I remember thinking it was screwed up as I was watching it, but I was too ignorant and insecure to say anything at the time. I don’t recall that anyone else significantly pushed back on it either. This was at some kind of undergrad paper presentation conference. I can’t remember the makeup of the presentation's audience. I think it had maybe a few dozen people in it, including mostly undergrads. I don’t remember if there were any professors there or not. I hope there weren't any professors who gave their approval of it.