During WWI, the Ottoman Empire systematically massacred 1.5 million Armenians. Men were rounded up and executed, women endured rape, mutilation, and brutal violence, children were slaughtered before their parents’ eyes, pregnant women were disemboweled. Survivors were driven on death marches across deserts, starved, abused, and treated as less than human. Today’s Armenians are almost all descendants of genocide survivors, and we carry their stories with us. We will never forget. Today, despite denying that the Armenian Genocide happened, the two terrorist states, Turkey and Azerbaijan, openly threaten to “finish what their ancestors started.” In 2023, Azerbaijan, with the full backing of Turkey, ethnically cleansed Nagorno-Karabakh - a region that is historically Armenian, had a population of 99% Armenians, and has been home to 120,000 Armenians for centuries. 

We want the UW to stand up with other universities across the country and publicly recognize the Armenian Genocide, helping break the cycle of genocide denial.