Turkic NGO conducts flash mob in New York to reconcile Turks and Armenians within the next 100 years

A flash mob was conducted in New York City's famous Times Square to promote a campaign to reconcile Turkish and Armenian relations over the next hundred years to come.

The flash mob, in which 225 dancers performed and were watched by thousands, was organized by the Turkic Platform, an NGO based in Istanbul, for their campaign titled "The Next 100 Years".

The group uses #next100Years and #partnerinpeace as hashtags to promote their campaign on Twitter.

There are approximately 350,000 Turkish-Americans and 386,000 Armenian-Americans living in the U.S., with the New York metropolitan area being its population and cultural center.

The 1915 incidents have been a source of dispute, disagreement and the reason for decades of strained relations between Turkey and Armenia. Armenia claims that 1.5 million people were deliberately killed. However, Turkey denies these claims, saying that the historical facts do not reflect such an intention and that the deaths were a result of deportations and civil strife.

The 1915 events took place during World War I when a portion of the Armenian population living in the Ottoman Empire sided with the invading Russians and revolted against the empire.

The Ottoman Empire relocated Armenians in eastern Anatolia following the revolts, and there were Armenian casualties during the relocation process.

Armenia demands a formal apology and compensation, while Turkey has officially refuted Armenian allegations over the incidents, saying that although Armenians died during the relocations, many Turks also lost their lives in attacks carried out by Armenian gangs in Anatolia.




A 1915 advertisement given by Armenian lobby groups is seen in the background.