the mass killings of armenians in the ottoman empire , which began 100 years ago friday , is said by some scholars and others to have been the first genocide of the 20th century , who are descended from those killed , and for turks , the heirs to the ottomans .
for both groups , the question touches as much on national identity as on historical facts .
some armenians feel their nationhood can not be fully recognized unless the truth of what happened to their forebears is acknowledged , and say many people of various ethnicities -- including turks -- were killed in the chaos of war .