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However, like every major event in history, the Armenian Genocide has its causes and circumstances. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the events and processes that eventually led to the scabies of 1915. The massacres that have begun.
The situation of the Armenian diaspora in the Ottoman Empire
In the early 20th century, there were around 2.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire, concentrated mainly in six eastern Anatolian provinces. Armenians did not form a majority in any of the regions, and the position of this diaspora in the empire in the 19th century. at the end of the 20th century. At first it was very similar to the Jews in Europe.
Despite the fact that the current territory of eastern Turkey was shared by Armenian Christians with Kurds for many centuries, the life of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire was difficult and in some cases unbearable.
This diaspora rarely received justice, as local courts in many cases tended to favor Muslims. The crimes of the nomadic Kurds against the Armenians, such as the expropriation of land or other property, the imposition of much higher taxes, violence, kidnappings, the translation in “conversion” to Islam, etc., did not receive the attention of the relevant authorities.
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were constantly oppressed, despite the concession. dhimmi A state that was supposed to guarantee Christians certain liberties, which was practically useless.
The Turks considered that the Armenians were second class citizens, unequal to the Muslims, so their testimonies against the Muslims were not accepted in court, they were prohibited from carrying weapons, riding horses, camels, even religious practices were restricted ; church bells were strictly prohibited.
The vast majority of Armenians were poor peasants, but few were successful as merchants and artisans. Armenian participation in international trade in the 17th-18th centuries led to the establishment of settlements of this diaspora in Istanbul and other Ottoman port cities.
Erik Ovcharenko / 15min photo / Istanbul
Few Armenian families in the 18th and 19th centuries. He managed to take important positions in banking and commerce, there were even cases in power. This nation paid special attention to the importance of science, making the Armenian elite an object of Muslim dissatisfaction and, over time, mistrust.
The steps of the Ottoman authorities towards genocide
Young Armenian activists, many of them from the Caucasus part of Russia, sought to protect their suffering compatriots in the Ottoman Empire by campaigning for an independent state.
1887 and 1890. They formed two revolutionary parties (Bell and Federation). It is true that none of them received broad support now. among Armenians in eastern Turkey, but such revolutionary activities caused fear and anxiety among Muslims.
The first large-scale violent attack was against the Armenians as early as 1894, when they refused to pay the taxes that oppressed them.
Reuters / Scanpix photo / Armenian family deported during World War I
The government then used the forces of the empire and the Kurdish tribes to kill thousands of Armenians. The following year, the Armenian demonstration in Istanbul was stopped at gunpoint, and the culmination of the terrible attacks that began after the Hamidian massacre culminated in the burning of 3,000 Armenians hidden in Urf Cathedral.
1894-1896 the massacre took up to 200 thousand. Armenian life, but this was far from the end, but from the end of the beginning.
The crimes of humanity, incomprehensible to the mind, in other words, the genocide of a particular nation, were the efforts of the ruling elite to maintain political and economic control in the country.
The Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Turks is completely unjustifiable, but the phenomenon is explained.
The turmoil within the empire and the heartbreaking hopes of the Armenians.
XX a. In the early 19th century, the Ottoman Empire went through difficult times, more precisely, the collapse of the empire that began.
The country’s territory has simply disappeared from view, the threat from Austria and Russia and their desire to expand their influence in the region has increased, and the number of refugees from the lost territories has grown at a tremendous rate: the situation has changed. become practically unmanageable.
In such cases, the “wavering government” needs a scapegoat, which in the case of the Ottoman Empire became the Armenian diaspora.
There was also turmoil in the political life of the empire. 1908 The Sultan’s power was overthrown by the Ottoman Revolutionary Group, the Union and Progress Committee (CUP), which was received by the Armenians for their tolerance of non-Muslims, the restoration of the constitutional monarchy, and their ambitions to modernize the country. according to European standards.
Reuters / Scanpix Photo / Exhausted Armenian orphans during World War I
However, over time, the influence of CUP nationalist extremists increased and liberal-minded Turks were expelled from the committee.
After the defeat of the defeat in the First Balkan War (1912-1913), the most radical members emerged: Cemal Paşa, Enver Paşa and Talat Paşa, who were far from being considered equal nations by the Armenians and other minorities in the country. Armenians were even considered a potential fifth column: they were blamed for the defeat of that war.
Red Sunday or the genocide of the Armenian people
With the outbreak of World War I, the situation began to worsen. The anti-Armenian ideology spread by the authorities and, in general, the anti-Christian propaganda took the first steps towards the Armenian genocide. Armenians were portrayed as the greatest security threat to the Ottoman Empire.
1915 On the night of April 23-24, known as Red Sunday, the Ottoman government imprisoned some 250 Armenian intellectuals and gradually killed them. This was the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, which claimed more than 1.5 million lives.
Massive deportations of Armenians from the east to the Syrian desert, starvation deaths, systemic massacres, sexual abuse and trafficking of women and girls, and even more heinous crimes that the Armenian people had to endure during the First World War in the Ottoman Empire.
AFP / Scanpix Photo / Armenian Genocide
At the end of the war, more than 90% of the Armenian population remained in the country, most of them were assassinated and the “happiest” managed to escape and settle abroad.
The properties and homes of the missing Armenians were seized by Muslim refugees, the surviving women were forced to “convert” to Islam, and thousands of orphans found refuge abroad.
Today, several Armenian communities continue to seek worldwide recognition for the genocide of this nation, as so far only 29 countries and 49 US states. USA They have recognized genocide.
Unfortunately, Turkey does not intend to acknowledge this. For now.
The author of the text is a student of the Vilnius University Faculty of History and he does an internship for 15 minutes.
The following sources were used in the preparation of the article:
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Alfred de Zayas, “The genocide against the Armenians 1915-1923 and the relevance of the 1948 Genocide Convention”, 2010, in: https://www.mfa.am/filemanager/Statics/ARMENIANGENOCIDE.pdf
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“Dhimmi”, in: https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Dhimmi
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Ellen Kennedy, “Beware of Elites Who Fear of Losing Power and Control,” in: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2015/05/01/heres-why-genocide-keeps-happening/ideas/up-for-discussion/
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“Genocide”, in: https://www.mfa.am/en/genocide/
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Peter Galbraith, “One of the unintended consequences of war”, in: https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2015/05/01/heres-why-genocide-keeps-happening/ideas/up-for-discussion/
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