BY VAHAN GRIGORYAN
When the date April 24 comes around, it is mainly remembered for the devastating effects of the 1915 Armenian Genocide on the ethnic Armenians. Yet, what is often overlooked is the profound influence this atrocity had on global affairs, the evolution of international law, and the precedent it set for recognizing and responding to future crimes against humanity.
The Armenian Genocide was the Ottoman Empire’s strategic scapegoating of the Armenian ethnicity for military defeat, internal unrest, and economic collapse. Under the cover of World War I, the Ottoman government systematically arrested, deported, and massacred its Armenian population—resulting in the deaths of approximately 1.5 million Armenians, or about 75 percent of the Armenian population in Ottoman Turkey.
A region once home to prosperous Armenian communities, cultural centers, and thriving businesses was now viewed as a threat to the consolidation of power under leaders like Ataturk, who sought a homogenous Turkish identity. This Genocide marked one of the first modern, state sponsored attempts to eradicate an entire ethnic group and exposed the horrifying power a government could wield under the justification of national security and ethnic purity.
The Armenian Genocide was not only a turning point in Armenian history but a critical precedent in international history. The international community’s failure to act or hold the Ottoman Empire accountable laid the groundwork for future genocides. As World War II approached, a young German veteran named Adolf Hitler, shaped by Germany’s defeat and its crumbling alliance with the Ottomans, sought to resurrect nationalist pride by promoting the supremacy of the Aryan race. In his infamous Obersalzberg Speech just days before invading Poland, Hitler stated: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
This quote revealed how the world’s silence in response to the Armenian Genocide emboldened Hitler to believe he could carry out extermination without international consequence. The genocide of the Armenians became, in effect, the unspoken blueprint for future crimes against humanity.
Today, over a century later, the trauma of the Genocide continues. The Turkish government still refuses to officially recognize the Armenian Genocide, continuing a campaign of denial despite being condemned by scholars and human rights advocates around the world. Due to the absence of consequences being enforced to hold Turkey responsible for its genocidal actions and intentions, the history sadly repeated itself.
In 2020, with military and financial support from Turkey, Azerbaijan launched aggressive operations against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), a historically Armenian-populated region, leading to the displacement of over 120,000 Armenians, destruction of cultural heritage sites, and human rights violations including torture and execution of prisoners of war.
As of 2025, Azerbaijan continues to threaten Armenian sovereignty, particularly targeting the Syunik Region—the strategic corridor between Armenia and Iran. The international community once again risks turning a blind eye, repeating the same pattern of silence that empowered genocidal regimes in the past.
I urge the international community to stay vigilant and condemn any nation that expresses the slightest intention to steal another nation’s ethnic sovereignty and cultural integrity. I am convinced that the global community has the power to dismantle such ambitions ensuring the preservation of ethnic identity and the broader peace and security in the world. Moreover, it bears the moral responsibility to do so.
Vahan Grigoryan is a junior at La Canada High School.
