Do you think the Turks recognized the Armenian Genocide? No, no one seeks to foment ethnic hatred. In this article we will try to find out what happened back in 1915.
Negative attitude
Many of those who, at work or in everyday life, came across Armenians envy their cohesion. Some say that Armenians live in a small area, that no one understands their language. Therefore, it is believed: that is why the people are well organized.
Negation
Why do Turks not like Armenians? Why do not they recognize the genocide of this people? We will find out what happened in Turkey in 1915. Soon after the country entered the First World War, all law enforcement officers, as well as Armenian soldiers, were arrested and then shot together with their family members (an old Eastern tradition).
The same fate befell all famous Armenians living in Istanbul. After this began the mass destruction of the nationality, absent-mindedly living in Turkish lands. Pogroms swept across the country, resulting in the killing of half a million people.
It is known that the Ottoman Empire also included western Armenia, on the territory of which one and a half million Armenians lived. All of them were killed. The massacre was carried out under the motto: "People must be destroyed, but gardens and crops should not be touched."
Turks kept gardens for the Kurds, who later settled on these lands. As a result, western Armenia completed its existence and became part of Turkish Kurdistan. And the eastern one has turned into modern Armenia.
After Ataturk, the savior of peoples and specific people, came to power, a commission was established to investigate the Armenian Genocide. In the course of her work, the following conclusions were made:
- Residents of western Armenia were slaughtered, but the territory remained. According to world law, these lands must be returned.
- Few Armenians lived in Turkey (maximum two hundred thousand). The war began, and this people, treachery and dirty maneuvers in whose blood, he himself provoked numerous skirmishes.
- Patient Turkish people are people of a wide soul, instantly forgetting insults. In the Ottoman Empire in those days, a single multinational family built a new beautiful society. That is why there can be no talk of genocide.
It is known that in Turkey it is forbidden to mention the existence of western Armenia. According to Turkish law, public statements about her are considered a criminal offense. This point of view is the official position of the country from the time of Ataturk to the present.
Armenian Genocide
Many cannot answer the question why Turks do not like Armenians. The genocide was prepared and implemented in 1915 in areas supervised by the top of the Ottoman kingdom. The destruction of people was carried out by deportation and physical destruction, including the movement of civilians in an environment leading to inevitable death.
Why is Memorial Day in Armenia considered the most important date? We will consider this question further, and now we will describe in detail the terrible events of those years. The Armenian Genocide took place in several stages: the disarmament of soldiers, selective deportation of people from border areas, the mass exile and extermination of residents, the introduction of a law on resettlement. Some historians include the actions of the Turkish army in Transcaucasia in 1918, the murder of the 1890s, the massacre in Smyrna.
The organizers are the leaders of the Young Turks Jemal, Enver and Talaat, as well as the head of the "Special Organization" Shakir Behaeddin. In the Ottoman Empire, along with the genocide of the ancient people, the destruction of the Pontic Greeks and Assyrians took place. Most of the global Armenian diaspora came from people who fled from the Ottoman kingdom.
At one time, author Lemkin Rafael proposed the term "genocide", which served as a synonym for the massacre of Armenians in Turkish territory and Jews in lands captured by German Nazis. The extermination of Armenians is the second act of genocide after the Holocaust in history. In the collective Declaration of May 24, 1915 of the Union countries (Russia, Great Britain and France), this mass destruction was first recognized in the annals as a crime against humanity.
Conditions
Now let's find out what historical prerequisites preceded the genocide of the ancient people. The Armenian ethnos ripened in the VI century BC. e. on the lands of Armenia and eastern Turkey, in the area covering Lake Van and Mount Ararat. By the 2nd century BC e. the Armenians under the rule of King Artashes I united to form the state of Great Armenia. It had the largest territory during the reign of Emperor Tigran II the Great, when the cordon of his power moved apart from the Euphrates, Palestine and the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east.
At the beginning of the 4th century n e. (generally accepted date is 301) this country (the first in the world) officially adopted Orthodoxy as a state religion. The Armenian alphabet was created in 405 by the scientist Mashtots Mesrop, and in the 5th century the Bible was written in a new language.
The establishment of Orthodoxy became a decisive factor linking the Armenian ethnos after the loss of the state system, and the Apostolic Church turned into the most important institution of national life.
In 428, Great Armenia ended its existence, and until the 7th century the Byzantines ruled its western lands, and the Persians ruled the eastern lands. From the middle of the 7th century, an impressive part of this country was controlled by the Arabs. The Armenian kingdom in the 860s under the rule of the Bagratid dynasty restored its sovereignty. Byzantines in 1045 captured Ani - the capital of this country. Prince Ruben I in 1080 founded the Cilician Armenian state, and Prince Levon II in 1198 adopted the title of king.
The Egyptian Mamelukes captured Cilicia in 1375, and the independent power ceased to exist. The church conflict of Armenians who did not want to abandon Christianity during the multiple invasions of Muslims (Persians, Oguz Turks and Seljuks, Arab Abbasids) into the territory of historical Armenia, mass resettlements and devastating wars led to a decrease in the population on these lands.
Armenian Question and Turkey
And yet: why do Turks not like Armenians? Living in the Ottoman Empire, they were not Muslims and therefore were considered Zimmies - second-class citizens. The Armenians paid huge taxes, they were not allowed to carry weapons. And the one who converted to Orthodoxy did not have the right to testify in court.
Of course, it is difficult to answer the question why the Turks do not like Armenians. It is known that 70% of the people persecuted by them, who lived in the Ottoman kingdom, consisted of poor peasants. However, among Muslims, the image of a successful and cunning Armenian with impressive commercial talent extended to all representatives of nationality without exception. Hostility was exacerbated by the struggle for resources in the agricultural sector and unresolved social problems in cities.
These actions were hindered by the influx of Muslims from the Caucasus - the Muhajirs (after the Turkish-Russian and Caucasian wars of 1877-78) and from the newly-minted Balkan countries. Refugees, expelled by Christians from their territories, foiled evil on local Orthodox. The claims of the Armenians on collective and personal security and the parallel deterioration of their situation in the Ottoman kingdom led to the emergence of the "Armenian issue" as part of a more general eastern problem.
Turks and Armenians are warring nations. In 1882, one of the first associations of Armenia, the Agricultural Society, was established in Erzurum Oblast to protect the people from robberies by Kurds and other nomads. The first political party “Armenakan” was created in 1885. Its platform included the acquisition of local self-determination of people through propaganda and education, as well as military specialization to combat state terror.
In 1887, the Hnchakyan Social-Democratic bloc appeared, which, with the help of the revolution, sought to liberate Turkish Armenia and create an independent socialist state. The first congress of the most radical union, “Dashnaktsutyun”, was held in Tiflis in 1890, the program of which stipulated autonomy within the borders of the Ottoman Empire, equality and freedom of all residents, and in the social segment referred to the foundation of peasant communes as the basic elements of a new society.
The extermination in the years 1894-1896
The massacre of Armenians began in 1894 and continued until 1896. The massacre took place in Istanbul, Sasun and the Van district, the pretext for which was the outrage of settled Armenians. In all regions of the empire in 1895 hundreds of thousands of souls were destroyed. The least studied and most bloody is the second stage. The percentage of the administration’s involvement in the unfolding of the killings is still a subject of fierce debate.
Preparation for the extermination of Armenians
Perhaps the Turks began the genocide of Armenians, as they needed to look for a new identity after the Ittihat revolution, which occurred in 1908. Imperial Ottoman unity was undermined by the constitution, which equalized the rights of all kinds of residents of the Port and deprived the Turks of great power status. In addition, this ideology pashed before the aggressive principles of Islamic doctrine and pan-Turkism. In their turn, the positions of the Islamic worldview were undermined by the atheistic views of the Ittihat leaders and the fact of the existence of the nearby Shiite country of Persia.
The poet and sociologist Gökalp Zia formulated the principles according to which the Ottoman kingdom took part in the First World War. He was the most influential ideologist of the Young Turks. His views extended to the country of Turan, which was inhabited by Turkish-speaking Muslims. He believed that the territory of Turan should contain the entire area of the Turkic ethnic group. This doctrine actually excluded Neturoc not only from the government, but also from civil society. It was unacceptable for the Armenians and other national minorities of Turkey.
For the main inhabitants of the empire, pan-Turkism was the most convenient, which was adopted as the basic rule by almost all Ittihat leaders. The Armenians identified themselves, first of all, from a religious position. They were probably mistaken in believing that Turkism was better than Islam.
During the Balkan War of 1912, these people for the most part were inclined towards the principles of Ottomanism, and Armenian soldiers (more than 8,000 volunteers) played an important role in the Turkish army. Most warriors, according to the stories of the English ambassador, found extraordinary courage. In addition, the Armenian blocs “Dashnaktsutyun” and “Gnchakyan” began to adhere to the anti-Ottoman point of view.
Turks do not want to recognize the Armenian Genocide. How did it start? In 1914, on August 2, Turkey entered into a secret agreement with Germany. One of his conditions was the transformation of the eastern borders. This nuance was necessary for the formation of a corridor leading to the Islamic peoples of Russia, which hinted at the destruction of the Armenian stay in the reformed possessions. This policy was voiced by the whole people by the Ottoman leadership after entering the war in 1914, on October 30. The appeal contained a prescription on the easy merger of all representatives of the Turkish race.
A couple of hours after the signing of the secret German-Turkish military treaty, Ittihat announced a general mobilization, which resulted in the draft of almost all healthy Armenian men in the army. Further, after entering the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was drawn into hostilities on many fronts. The Turkish army’s raid on the lands of Persia and Russia increased the range of violence against Armenians.
First deportations
Turks, Armenians, 1915 ... What happened in that distant time? In mid-March 1915, French-British forces attacked the Dardanelles. In Istanbul, preparations began to move the capital to Eskisehir and evacuate local residents. The leadership of the Ottoman Empire was afraid of the merger of the Armenians with the allies, therefore, decided to deport the entire hated population between Eskisehir and Istanbul.
At the end of March, the “Special Organization” began to prepare the massacre of this people in Erzurum. She sent to the provinces the most radical emissaries of Ittihat, who were to conduct anti-Armenian agitation. Among them was Reshid Bay. It was he who, using extremely inhuman means, including detention and torture, sought out weapons in Diyarbakir, and then turned into one of the most rampant killers.
The eviction of Armenians began on April 8 from the city of Zeytun, whose inhabitants enjoyed partial independence for centuries and were in confrontation with the Turkish authorities. Their exile provides an answer to the main question related to the timing of the preparation of the genocide. A small part of the Armenians was deported to the city of Konya, located near Iraq and Syria - places where other people were later evicted.
The killings were accompanied by a wave of robberies. Merchant Mehmet Ali testified that Azmi Cemal (Governor of Trebizond) and Asent Mustafa appropriated 400,000 gold Turkish pounds of jewelery (approximately 1,500,000 US dollars). The US Consul in Aleppo reported to Washington that a monstrous plan of embezzlement was operating in the Ottoman Empire.
The consul in Trebizond reported that every day he sees how a horde of children and Turkish women follows the police and captures everything that can be carried away. He also said that the house of the commissar Ittihat in Trebizond was littered with jewelry and gold obtained as a result of the division of the loot.
By the end of the summer of 1915, most of the Armenians who inhabited the empire were killed. Ottoman authorities tried to hide this, but refugees reaching Europe reported on the extermination of their people. In April 1915, on April 27, the Armenian Catholicos called on Italy and the United States to intervene to stop the killings. The Armenian massacre was condemned by the allied powers, but in the conditions of war they could not help the long-suffering people.
In England, after an official check, a documentary book entitled “Attitudes towards Armenians in the Ottoman Empire” was published; in the USA and Europe people began to raise funds for refugees. The elimination of Armenians in western and central Anatolia continued after August 1915.
Conspirators
We practically found out why the Turks killed the Armenians. In Boston, in 1919, at the IX Congress of Dashnaktsutyun, it was decided to exterminate the leaders of the Young Turks participating in the killings. The operation was named after the ancient Greek goddess of vengeance Nemesis. Most of the conspirators were Armenians who managed to escape from the genocide. They ardently wanted to avenge the death of their families.
Operation "Nemesis" acted quite effectively. Its most famous victims were one of the members of the Turkish triumvirate Talaat Pasha and the Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire. Talaat, along with the other leaders of the Young Turks, fled to Germany in 1918, but was eliminated in Berlin by Teiliryan Soghomon in March 1921.
Legal side
The Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Armenia interested the whole world in their opposition. The Collective Declaration of May 24, 1915 of the allied countries confirms this.
Awareness of the genocide is the most important goal of Armenian lobbying organizations, and, besides recognition itself, the demand for reparations by Turkey and territorial claims was announced. To achieve acceptance, lobbyists attract influential people and parliamentarians, founded institutions that deal with this problem, put pressure on the leadership of different countries, widely cover this issue in society. Almost all members of the Armenian diaspora are direct descendants of the victims of the genocide. This organization has sufficient material resources with which it can withstand the pressure of Turkey.
America three times passed resolutions on the mass extermination of Armenians. This genocide is recognized by the European Parliament, the parliamentary coalition of South American countries, the UN Sub-Commission on the Protection and Prevention of Discrimination of Minorities, and the Parliament of Latin America.
Recognition of the destruction of the Armenian people is not a mandatory point for Turkey’s accession to the EU, however, some experts believe that it will have to fulfill this condition.
Important date
Remembrance Day for the victims of the Armenian Genocide in Turkey was scheduled for April 24 by the European Parliament in 2015. In Armenia, this date is a day off and is of great importance. Every year, on the anniversary of the expulsion of the Armenian intelligentsia from Istanbul, millions of people around the world pay tribute to the dead.