Razmik Davoyan
Translated from the Armenian by Arminé Tamrazian
Creation
I am Not Here Now
Notes
1 The Armenian Genocide, known to be the first genocide of the twentieth century, refers to the organised, systematic mass killings and deportation of Armenians from their historical homeland. In 1915 the Turkish government ordered the mass killings of able-bodied men and the deportation and murder of women, children and the older population of Armenians from Western Armenia (part of Turkey today), leading them on death marches into the Syrian desert and emptying the entire region of its native Armenian population, who had lived on that land for thousands of years. Over one and a half million Armenians perished as a result, leaving behind their property, homeland and huge wealth; and this also led to the formation of an Armenian diaspora in Syria, Lebanon and all over the world.