The kingdom of Armenia was an independent entity in the region of southern Caucasus since the 7th century BC. At the beginning of the 4th century AD, it became the first nation in the world to make Christianity its official religion. But, during the 15th century, Armenia was absorbed into the mighty Ottoman Empire. Since then, Armenians, a Christian minority, lived as second class citizens subject to legal restrictions which denied them normal safeguards. In 1915, under the cover of the First World War, the Ottoman government resolved to expel and massacre Turkey's Armenian population entirely. The Armenian people were tortured, massacred, and starved. The majority were sent into the desert to die of thirst and hunger. Many were forcibly removed from Armenia and Anatolia to Syria. The Armenian population of the Ottoman state was reported at about two million in 1915. By 1922, there were fewer than 400,000.keep on reading here ... Warning Graphic !