Speech #900236525

First all Armenian leaders in all communities were arrested and imprisoned. Then all ablebodied men were drafted. ostensibly for war work. but actually they were to be massacred. Then finally mass deportations were carried out under most harassing and heartbreaking circumstances. Most of these were massacred. while those who were able to survive the ordeal of deportation. were sold to the Arabs and Kurds as slaves. or died of starvation in desolate deserts of Arabia. As the result of this hideous massacre and deportation. the number of Armenians in Turkey was reduced. in less than 1 year. to a few hundred thousands. and most of these were enslaved by the Turks. The Turks were able to carry out their planned genocide of these helpless souls because during that war no foreign government could come to the aid of the Armenian people. It was carried out in such secrecy that the outside world was not aware of this shocking event until it was nearly over.