The Armenian Genocide was carried out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916 (with subsidiaries to 1922-23).
One and a half million Armenians were killed, out of a total of two and a half million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
The Turkish government today denies that there was an Armenian genocide and claims that Armenians were only removed from the eastern "war zone."
Historically Armenia and Azerbaijan have been long associated with Asia and the Middle East.
In recent years some sources now consider them to be more closely aligned with Europe based on their modern economic and political trends.
Both are similar to the former CIS country of Georgia, now included as part of Europe.
Armenia is a mountainous, landlocked country, on the southeastern edge of Europe, and at the gateway to the Middle East, and all of Asia.
That valuable geographical position for potential trade between continents became a curse of sorts. Over the centuries it was invaded and controlled by various empires, including the Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Persian, and Ottoman.
Incorporated into the former Soviet Union in 1920, it finally, along with Azerbaijan, gained independence in 1991.
Regional fighting with its neighbor (Azerbaijan) over land control bloodied both countrys, and a cease-fire agreement was finally reached in 1994.
The local economy still suffers from the long-term ramifications of war, an Azerbaijan fuel blockade, and a very severe 1988 earthquake that destroyed much of its infrastructure, and killed over 55,000 of its citizens.
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