In the 4th century AD, Armenia became the first nation in the world to make Christianity its official religion. For this reason Armenia is known as an independent entity. For 15 centuries Armenia was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was the leader of two different religious groups, Muslims and Christians. The Ottoman Empire treated Armenians differently. They had to pay higher taxes than Muslims. They had very few political and legal rights. Despite their obstacles, they still lived richer than the Muslims. For example, they tended to be more educated than Turks. For this reason, Turkish neighbors tended to resent their success. They also lived in peace due to their smaller population. In 1914, the Turks entered World War I, siding with Germany and also the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time the Armenian helped Russia fight the Turks. Because of this war, the Turks tried to remove the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire. On April 24, 1915, the Armenian Genocide began. 1.5 million people were killed because of the Turkish government. Many of them were raped, enslaved and killed. For example, they drowned people in rivers, burned them alive, executed them, etc. They also kidnapped children and sent them to Turkish families. In many places, the Turks raped and used Armenian women as slaves. The image "Armenians march by Turkish soldiers" on the website "artvoice.com" shows Armenians near the Mezierh prison by armed Turkish soldiers. Furthermore, only 25% of Armenians were deported to the deserts of Syria and Iraq. After the war between Armenians and Turks, only 380,000 Armenians remained in the Ottoman Empire. In June 1915, 25 percent of the Armenian population was deported to...... middle of paper... The Turkish government denies the genocide and the only reason is that it will cost them in many ways. "Soghomon Tehlirian | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers." Soghomon Tehlirian | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014. “Jihad Timeline.” : Crucifixion: Muslim revenge. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014."About Tsitsernakaberd." Armenian Genocide -. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014."The Soghomon Tehlirian Trial." The trial of Soghomon Tehlirian. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014. Bohjalian, Chris. The Sandcastle Girls: A Novel. New York: Doubleday, 2012. Print. “Armenian Genocide Denial: An American Problem.” ArtVoice RSS. Np, nd Web. May 15, 2014."Markarian, Herand M. Soghomon Tʻēhlirian. Niw Yorkʻ: Hrand Margarian, 1980. Print. ""Barack Obama." Armenian weekly. Np, nd Web. May 15 2014.