Society 18:37 20/04/2015

Armenian Genocide: 100th anniversary of a ‘great catastrophe’

By Olivia Ward
Thestar.com

In 1915, the Ottoman Empire’s Armenians were declared enemies of the state by the ruling junta of ultranationalists, who denounced them as supporters of their wartime foe, Russia.

Even in the dark depths of the First World War, what followed was unique in its calculating brutality.

Fiercely denied by the Turkish government, it would be denounced as the 20th century’s first genocide: an organized attempt to ethnically cleanse the Armenians from their homeland. By the time the massacres and deportations were done, as many as 1.5 million men, women and children had perished.

On April 24, Armenians throughout the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the event that destroyed their families, pillaged their patrimony and set them adrift with few, if any, mementos of their past.

A century later, the world is closer to understanding the facts of the “great catastrophe” that befell the Armenians, as histories of the massive killings have swelled.

“What happened in 1915 is the collective secret of Turkish society, and the genocide has been relegated to the black hole of our collective memory,” says Turkish writer Taner Akcam in a foreword to Turkey and the Armenian Ghost.

“Confronting our history means questioning everything — our social institutions, mindset, beliefs, culture, even the language we speak. Our society will have to closely re-examine its own self-image.”

As recently as this week, Turkey sharply criticized the Vatican after the Pope denounced the massacres as genocide, calling on all heads of state to recognize it and oppose such crimes “without ceding to ambiguity or compromise.”

More than 20 countries, including Canada, have passed bills recognizing the killings as genocide. The U.S. does not officially recognize the term, although President Barack Obama had used it before his election.

For decades, Turkey has insisted that the killings were part of civil war and unrest rather than organized genocide, that the Armenians had revolted against the Ottoman Empire by siding with the invading Russians in the First World War, and that although Armenians experienced a “tragedy,” they were only one of many groups that suffered heavy losses during the war.

However, “back in 1915, there was nothing controversial about the catastrophe,” Thomas de Waal writes in Foreign Affairs. The Young Turkish government, headed by Mehmed Talat Pasha and two others, had joined with Germany against its longtime foe, Russia. And two million Christian Armenians, who lived in what is now eastern Turkey, were targeted as internal enemies.

“Talat ordered the deportation of almost the entire people to the arid deserts of Syria. In the process, at least half of the men were killed by Turkish security forces or marauding Kurdish tribesmen,” said de Waal, author of the bookGreat Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide. “Women and children survived in greater numbers but endured appalling depredation, abductions and rape on the long marches.”

Diplomats in the region were shocked by the carnage, including U.S. ambassador Henry Morgenthau, who accused Turkey of “a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race.”

Their reports cited torture, rape, pillage and massacres. Some Armenians were thrown into the Black Sea and drowned. One spoke of mass graves with bodies piled up “as far as the eye can see.”

But in a part of the world riven by ethnic fault lines, no historical landscape is smooth.

“Armenians were divided in the Ottoman Empire,” says Ronald Suny of the University of Michigan, author of “They Can Live in the Desert and Nowhere Else”: A History of the Armenian Genocide. “In cities of Western Turkey like Izmir and Constantinople they were relatively successful, and there were Muslim resentments toward them.”

But those in eastern Anatolia, their historical homeland, were “mostly peasants, craftsmen and workers,” who often felt themselves victims of well-armed nomadic Kurds. “Armenians only got permission (to carry arms) in 1908, but they didn’t have many weapons. It was a dangerous and insecure region.”

Consequently, their leaders demanded government reforms that would give them more rights and protection. “When that failed some joined revolutionary movements, but they were in small numbers. There were small bands that tried to defend the Armenians. Some tried to get Western powers interested in promoting and protecting their interests.”

But Suny says the great majority of Armenians were seeking improved rights and reforms within the Ottoman Empire — not to subvert the government. Nor were they “dreaming of a separate state.”

So why would the Ottoman leaders launch such sweeping attacks?

Some historians dwell on the war, territorial conflicts between Armenians and Kurds, political ambitions of the Young Turks, religious motivations and Armenian appeals to foreign countries for aid. But Suny dug for deeper philosophical and psychological causes.

“All of those background events, and the experience of Armenians, Turks and Kurds roughly from the 1870s to the genocide itself, constituted a moment I call ‘affective disposition,’ ” he said. “A mental and emotional universe formed in which the Young Turks imagined the Armenians as an existential threat so profound in their imagination that they had to be destroyed.”

From the time of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, he says, Armenians were seen as treacherous, agents of the West, and a minority that upset the natural balance of the mainly Muslim country.

The incipient Armenian revolutionary movement fuelled the flames, and grudgingly-accepted reforms urged by Europe backfired on the Armenians. Attitudes hardened as ordinary Turks were freer to go out on the streets, start boycott campaigns and make anti-Christian views public.

When the First World War broke out, some Armenians looked to the Russians as protectors against the Turks. The majority sided with the Ottomans, but efforts to prove their loyalty by joining the Turkish army and supporting the war effort failed and they were attacked and demonized as enemies within. Fear and resentment turned to hatred of Armenians.

“The organizers of the killings were the Young Turks, who ordered mass deportations and in some cases massacres,” says de Waal. “But a lot of the killing was done in a freelance, opportunistic way, often by Kurds.” Other Caucasus minorities joined in.

The Kurds, who have their own experience of repression, have apologized for their part in the killings, which they recognize as genocide. They have opened churches and spoken of reconciliation.

The Turkish government has maintained its hard line, although President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did take an unexpected step forward last year with a message of condolence to Armenians. But many were disappointed that the government scheduled a ceremony to commemorate the First World War battle of Gallipoli on the same day as their 100th anniversary.

On the ground, however, things are beginning to change, and resolution may eventually come by evolution. The path to the past may be through the future.

Descendents of Armenians who survived by converting to Islam and intermarrying with Turks and Kurds are “coming out of the shadows,” says de Waal. “They’re acknowledging they had Armenian grandparents. Now there are people who aren’t exactly Turks, and aren’t Armenians either. They are a bit of both.” 



Source Panorama.am
Share |
Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

17:12
She said yes: Marriage proposal at Hayat Project concert in Gyumri
A young man proposed to his beloved at a Hayat Project concert in Gyumri, Armenia’s second largest city. In a video posted online, the...
16:45
Opposition MP slams Pashinyan's Artsakh statements
Opposition Hayastan faction MP Ishkhan Saghatelyan has expressed support to the Artsakh government in exile following Armenian Prime Minister...
16:04
MP Aghvan Vardanyan visits arrested activists
MP Aghvan Vardanyan, who represents the opposition Hayastan faction, on Thursday visited the Armavir Penitentiary where activists Vazgen...
15:36
Armenian opposition MP visits border villages
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has visited the villages of Voskepar and Baghanis in Tavush Province adjacent to the border areas demanded by...
15:04
Ex-Yerevan mayor setting up new party
Former Yerevan Mayor Hayk Marutyan is setting up a new party in the near future, his team has confirmed to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service....
14:36
Armenia to send 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza
Armenia will deliver 29.94 tons of humanitarian aid to Gaza ravaged by the conflict with Israel. The decision was approved at a cabinet...
14:07
Expert: Pashinyan decided to terrorize Artsakh leaders
Political analyst Suren Surenyants has criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements on Artsakh leaders at a cabinet meeting on...
13:35
Analyst: The West doesn't care about Armenia
The West wants Armenia and Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible and Armenia's territorial losses do not matter to it,...
13:06
Moscow concerned over anti-Russian bias of Armenia-EU-US meeting
The Armenia-EU-US meeting scheduled for April 5 is causing Moscow’s concern as Washington and Brussels are openly discussing its...
12:37
Pashinyan: Some circles displaced from Karabakh take actions threatening Armenia's security
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warns that the actions taken by “some circles” forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh)...
12:04
Artsakh dissolution decree was 'the only way' to save people, president says
President Samvel Shahramanyan claims his decree ordering the dissolution of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic was the “only...
11:30
Japanese supplement products recalled after two deaths and over 100 people hospitalized
Health supplement products believed to have caused two deaths and sickened more than 100 people have been ordered to be taken off store shelves...
11:15
Today is Holy Thursday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:00
Upcoming Armenia-US-EU meeting not directed against any third party – Foreign Ministry
The high-level meeting scheduled for April 5 in Brussels is aimed at strengthening Armenia-EU-US cooperation and is not directed against...
17:00
Azerbaijan's team opts out of Sambo World Cup in Yerevan
Azerbaijan's national team will not participate in the Sambo World Cup to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, Azerbaijani Sambo Federation official...
16:45
Biden calls Putin 'butcher'
US President Joe Biden has disparaged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the second time in two months, publicly calling him a...
16:30
Armenian parliament speaker defends land handover to Azerbaijan
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan has defended the plans to hand over border villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan. He...
16:04
Azerbaijan must create conditions for safe return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh, UK says
The UK government is clear that Azerbaijan must create the conditions for a safe and secure return of ethnic Armenians who were displaced from...
15:35
Photo campaign calls for release of political prisoners in Armenia
A photo campaign for the release of Armenian opposition activists has been launched in Yerevan. Photos of political prisoners Narek...
15:15
Arthur Abraham's father dies at 68
German-Armenian boxing star Arthur Abraham’s father, Grigor Abrahamyan, has died in Berlin at the age of 68. “We’re deeply...
15:00
Armenian MP warns of threats after possible land handover to Azerbaijan
Opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan has warned of threats to a number of settlements in Armenia amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s signaled...
14:31
EU mission hosts French ambassador to Armenia
The EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) on Wednesday hosted French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies and members of the French...
14:06
Azerbaijan opposes Armenia-EU-US conference
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has deplored the EU-Armenia-US joint conference scheduled for 5 April, warning that it will create...
13:36
Political prisoner Vazgen Saghatelyan slams Pashinyan in letter from prison
Political prisoner Vazgen Saghatelyan has blasted Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his regime for efforts to silence their critics in...
12:34
U.S. aims to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to bridge differences – State Dept.
The objective of the United States is to encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to bridge their differences, U.S. State Department...
12:15
Ukraine tells EU to hand over 'missing' €5B in Russian asset profits
Ukraine is pushing for another €5 billion from the proceeds generated by frozen Russian assets that the EU has decided to withhold from the...
12:00
Eurovision 2024: Semi-final running orders revealed
The running orders of the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 semi-finals have been revealed. Armenia’s Ladaniva will perform 8th in the...
11:45
Today marks Holy Wednesday
The week leading up to Easter or Holy Resurrection is called Holy Week (in Armenian Avak Shabat). During this period, the Armenian Apostolic...
11:30
Denialists Erdogan and Netanyahu shamefully exploit the term genocide to bash each other
By Harut Sassounian www.thecaliforniacourier.com For several decades, Israel and Turkey were in a honeymoon, supporting each other...
11:10
SME loan portfolio of Ameriabank reported more than 30% growth in 2023
The small and medium enterprise (SME) loan portfolio of Ameriabank increased by more than 30% in 2023 to reach to AMD 222.6 billion as of...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}