Last year, Turkey offered its first-ever condolences over mass deportations that preceded the Armenian deaths. Armenia estimates 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed from 1915 to 1923. Turkey says the figure is inflated and that killings of Armenians took place during clashes in which thousands of Turks also died. The country has never officially recognized the killing of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Turkish regime 100 years ago as genocide. But Turkish and Armenian-American organizations from California are working together to commemorate the centennial of the Armenian genocide in Istanbul this Thursday –on the 100th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire’s campaign against Armenians. Joining us from Istanbul, Turkey to talk about the anniversary of the Armenian genocide is professor of Modern Islam and the director of the Human Rights Initiative at UC Davis, Keith Watenpaugh.

LINKS:

• California Museum: Armenian Journey: From Shattered Past To Prosperity
• Armenian Genocide Centennial Commemoration in Istanbul: Press Release in Armenian, French, Turkish