Was it an act of genocide or a tragedy of war? One hundred years later, world leaders are still struggling with how to define the deaths of more than a million Armenians during the Ottoman Empire.

April 24th marks 100 years since the massacre of up to one-and-a-half million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during World War One. Yet, a century later, raging controversy still surrounds the commemorations.
The European Union, along with other governments, is urging Turkey to use the centennial to acknowledge the events as “genocide”, a term adamantly denied by Ankara for years.

CCTV’s Natalie Carney provided an update from Istanbul.

The Heat began its discussion with Taniel Koushakjian. He’s the communications director of the Armenian Assembly of America in Washington D.C.

Dignitaries will gather Friday to commemorate the centennial of the mass killings of Armenians during World War One. More than 20 countries, as well as the European Parliament, have formally recognized the deaths of up to one-and-a-half million Armenians as an act of “genocide.” Turkey’s leadership rejects the description, arguing it was a war with casualties on both sides. The Heat continued its discussion on the Turkish perspective on the 1915 conflict with:

• Tulin Daloglu, a journalist and opinion writer based in Ankara, Turkey.
• Tal Buenos, a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Utah and has studied the Turkey-Armenian conflict extensively.