The Armenian Genocide. Armenocide E-Book

Nikolay Hovhannisyan

• Herausgeber: Edit Print
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

"The book presents discussions of Armenocide – the most genocidal genocide. It elucidates the motivations for Arab historiography to study the Armenian genocide and the classification of Arab historiographic literature on that proble. The monograph is addressed to specialists in Armenian history, Arabists, Turkologists and specialists of Oriental studies in general, international affairs experts, genocidologists, students and all those interested in historical issues." The Armenian Genocide (Hayots Tseghaspanutyun), also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, traditionally by Armenians, as Medz Yeghern ("Great Crime"), was the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects from their historic homeland within the territory constituting the present-day Republic of Turkey. The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day Ottoman authorities rounded up and arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. The genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre. The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million. Other indigenous and Christian ethnic groups such as the Assyrians and the Ottoman Greeks were similarly targeted for extermination by the Ottoman government, and their treatment is considered by man.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

AN INCREASING INTEREST TOWARDS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

FOREWORD

CHAPTER 1

ARMENIA THROUGHT CENTURIES BRIEF HISTORICAL-GEOGRAPHIC REVIEW

CHAPTER 2

CONQUEST OF WESTERN ARMENIA BY THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

CHAPTER 3

THE ARMENIAN QUESTION AND THE PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 4

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE – ARMENOCIDE

MAP 1. Deportation of Armenians in Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916

MAP 2. Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire in 1915-1916

MAP 3. Centers and Dates of Armenian Self-Defence in 1915-1916

Notes

•

NIKOLAY HOVHANNISYAN

Published on the decision of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia

Editor: Vladimir Barkhudaryan,

INTRODUCTION

AN INCREASING INTEREST TOWARDS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

This is a collection of monographic studies of the author, published in 2002-2009. The first of among them was the study -“The Armenian genocide. Armenocide”1, published in English in 2002. It was the first attempt to briefly introduce to a non-Armenian reader the Armenian Genocide, gone down in history as the first genocide of the XX century.

It had very large resonance in different countries, became an object of discussions in several international scientific and non-scientific conferences, round tables, etc. More over, that book was completely translated and published in foreign languages in several countries. And we want to mention first of all its translation by Atilla Tuygan into Turkish and publication in Istanbul, in 200 52, on the initiative of Turkish famous public figure Ragip Zarakolu, who during years are struggling for justice, i.e. for recognition by Turkish government the Armenian genocide, committed in Ottoman Empire during the First World War. And on his suggestion I wrote for Turkish edition a special preface- “To Tirkish reader”, attempting to explain Turkish auditorium the reasons and scales of Armenian genocide and responcibility of Ottoman ruling political, social and military forces for that crime. The publication of the above mentioned book in Turkey was sincerely greeted by certain Turkish intellectuals, who recognize the Armenian genocide, accuse it and are insisting on its recognition by the Turkish government too. About the Turkish publication of that book a special and very interesting article in newspaper “Agos”(Istanbul), had wrtten its editor in-chief Hrant Dink3. He had great popularity in Turkey, not only among the Armenians, but also among the Turks, and was very famous and influential person by his public activity, appreciating very highly the political and scientific significance of the book He was symbolizing himself a new stage of development of Turkish society and formation of new political tendencies within it. As it is known, two years later, in 2007, Hrant Dink was killed in Istanbul, becaming the victim of great plot, organaized by the reactonary forces in Turkey. His assasination shocked the world. There were mass demonstrations of protest in Istanbul and other cities of Turkey, during which the demonstrators were currying posters with slogans: “Now we all are Hrant Dink”.

“The Armenian Genocide. Armenocide” was also translated into French4, Germany5 and Russian6 and published in 2005. So in 2005 the study was already published in five languages-in English, Turkish, French, Germany and Russia, occupying dominating place in the world linguistic system.

The translation and publication of my study about the Armenian genocide was continued later on, covering new countries. We mean first of all its translation into Hungarian and publication in Budapest in 2007. It pursued certain practical aims. As mentiond its editor, “Our aim is to represent with the help of this book to the Hungarian society and policymakers a material, ellucidated from different points of view, on the first genocide of the twentieth century, which is not known in our country sufficiently well. Our aim is also that the National Assembly of Hungary at last will recognize that what happened in Turkey is indeed an Armenian Genocide ”7. So the Hungarians wanted by using the information and materials from the mentioned book to reach the recogntaion of Armenian genocide by the Parliament of their country.

Our book twice, in 20068 and 20089, was published in Japan on initiative of professor Hiroyoshi Segawa, who was also the translator of the text into Japanese. Later professor Segawa himself began to study Armenian genocaide, in particular its legal aspects, publishing several works in Japan and other countries.

In 2008 the Cairo University had published in Arabic my study “Armenian-Arabic Historical Relations”10 (translated by professor Muhammad Rifat al Imam, from the University of Alexandria) where it was included all materials from “Armenian Genocide. Armenocide”, relating to Armenian genocide. Thus the geographic borders of dissemination of the mentioned book were widened, including the Arab world.

We would like to mention, that “Armenian Genocide. Armenocide” was translated into different languages not only completely, but also fragmentarly, as into Italian11, Arabic12, etc.

Alongside with the “Armenian Genocide. Armenocide” to the non-Armenian reader was introduced also another my book-“The Armenian Genocide in the Investigating Light of the Arabic Historical Science”13, published in 2004, in Armenian. It was immediately translated into English and published in 200514. Later that book appeared in the center of attention of the Iranian scholars and by their efforts it was translated into Persian and published in Tehran recently, in 200915. Due to it, in the sphere of the study of Armenian genocide was included the point of view of Arabs, who were under the Ottoman yoke about 400 years and knew very well the nature of Ottoman ruling system, based on racial conception. The Arab historiography regards the Ottoman Empire as a country of carnages and massacres, not only practiced towards Armenians and other Christians, but also towards the Arabs and other Muslim peoples of the Ottoman Empire. Upon the Arabian point of view that Empire was a cradle of genocide.

The scholars, specialists on genocide, historians in different countries and representatives of different social groups had gotten acquainted with that book and its translations and were using it, its arguments in their struggle against the denial of Armenian genocide and against the denial of genocides in general. And we can confirm that after that increased the pressure on the Turkish government to recognize the fact of Armenian genocide, which became one of the main tasks of the conference, convened by the International Association of Genocide Scholars in Florida (USA), in June, 2005.The conference was organized in memory of the 90th years of Armenian genocide on the theme “Ninety years after the Armenian Genocide and Sixty years after Holocaust ”16.

In the books, under the discussion, elucidated are the prerequisites and causes, political and national-racial motives, mechanisms and the scope of commission of the Armenian genocide or Armenocide, as well as the issue of the responsibility of the Young Turks and their felonious leaders, who planned and brutally committed it.

A considerable space is given to the explication of the policy of the European Great Powers in the Armenian Question.

The author also dwelt on the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the international community and present day Turkey.

On resuming, we have to state that translation of our books into several languages on the initiative of the given nations, is witnessing about the increasing interest towards the questions of the Armenian genocide. Peoples of the world want more and more to understand the essence of racial policy of Young Turks towards the Armenians and other non-Turkish inhabitants of Ottoman Empire, the policy pursued by the sultan,Turkish political establishment and first of all Young Turks, the final aim of which was to turn the Ottoman Empire into ethnically pure Turkish state by the way of phisical annihilation of non-Turkish nations. They also want to know why the political establishment of contemporary Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian genocide and genocidal actions against the Assyrians, Greeks and other peoples of the Ottoman Empire. We are sure that the publication of this collection of monographic studies on genocide will strengthen the position of antigenocidal forces in every country throughout the world, will encourage their struggle for justice and thus to prevent new genocides, remembering that every genocide is crime not only against the given nation, but also against the mankind.

We have to take into consideration two circumstnces too. In Florida International conference on ”90 years after Armenian Genocide and 60 years after Holacaust” in 2005, special attention was given to the problems of denial of genocide in generally. It was mentioned that in fact all genocides since Armenian genocide of 1915 to the genocide in Darfur, taking also Jewish Holocaust, now are denying by this or other countries or national-political forces. Turkish historian Taner Akcham, one of the strugglers for recognition by Turkey the Armenian genocide, in his paper represented to the mentioned conference, stated that Turkey is not only the orgnizer of the first genocide of the twentieth century, but also “the founder of genocide denial idustry”.His point of view was supported by all participants of that very important international conference. At the same time it was declared by conference that “each denial of genocide means second genocide towards the people who once already had been an object of genocide”.

We think that it is time to think of creating a common world front not only against new genocides, but also against the policy of genocide denial.

And we like to hope that our collecton of monographic studies on genocide and its publication will serve to that noble aim.

FOREWORD

 

The term “genocide” first appeared in scientific literature and political lexicon in 1944, with the right of authorship pertaining to Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent.

The appreciative mankind is forever indebted to him for this significant discovery – in con testable and unobjectionable, for it designates the problem clearly and precisely, communicates the idea comprehensively, accurately and laconically.

Lemkin’s discovery is chiefly based on the first two tragedies of the XX century: the Genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the Holocaust of Jews in Fascist Germany. As Lemken had keenly noticed, those were not an ordinary carnage or slaughter, but, qualitatively, quite a new phenomenon, which required a fundamentally new approach and assessment, and a new scientific definition.

Guided by this idea and having investigated thoroughly the Ottoman and German-fascist leaders’ man-hating political plans and objectives, the methods and mechanisms of their realization, he arrived at a conclusion that what had been done to Armenians and Jews by sultan perpetrators and their German-fascist disciples respectively, was nothing but a policy of destruction of nations, the scientific equivalent, or the term, for which would be genocide.

As a term and definition of a crime, genocidemade its way and was accepted by scholars, statesmen and political scientists quite easily. What is more important – it was accepted by international organizations, first and foremost – by the United Nations – the most authoritative international body of today.

On December 9, 1948, the General Assembly of UN adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which may be with confidence qualified as an international document of historical significance.

Genocide is defined as a policy, aimed to exterminate specific groups of people for racial, national and religious motives either directly, by way of killing, or through inflicting serious bodily and mental harm to members of the mentioned groups. The concept also involves deliberate infliction on the group conditions of life calculated to exterminate the groups in whole or in part; imposing measures which prevent births within the environment, i.e. in that particular group of people; forcible transfer of children from one group to another, etc.

This instrument of UN for the first time in history internationally confirmed that genocide is a crime against humanity, and shall be punished. Such is the political meaning and the legal significance of the resolution of UN.

In 1968, the General Assembly of UN adopted the Convention on Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity –another important resolution, which implied non-recognition of statutory limitations to genocide, too.

The mankind was to cover a long way before it got politically mature enough to perceive the destruction of individual peoples or groups of people as a challenge to all of the humankind, a crime against humanity and, based on that, to arrive at a global conclusion: genocide shall be prevented and punished.

Thus, the issue of punishing the authors, organizers and perpetrators of genocide has become a key subject of international law and one of the major concerns of the present-day international policy.

Here’s another UN instrument worth mentioning – the Declaration on the Rights of Persons

Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, adopted by UN Commission on Human Rights in 1992, by which special status and guarantees are granted to such minorities under international law.

The term genocide in its current understanding laid the foundation for a new trend in the science – genocidology. Although relatively new, it already has its concrete domain of research, which is evolving dynamically in the scientific centers throughout the world, in such countries as the USA, England, Germany, Austria, France, Russia, Armenia, Sweden, Lebanon, and others.

A few decades ago, while the Armenian genocide remained the first and the only genocide of the XX century, we could not yet speak of genocidology as of a new trend of science. Later on, when crimes, similar to that, were perpetrated towards Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, various Asian and African peoples, it became clear that organization of the physical extermination of one nation by the leaders of another became a painful reality of the ethnopolitical life of our epoch. That very reality prompted the necessity to investigate the issues, related with the causes, consequences and the typology of genocide, which burden fell on the shoulders of the young scientific trend, genocidology.

Barbara Harff, a renowned American genocidologist, who has dealt with this problem comprehensively for many long years, believes that 48 genocides and bloody slaughters were committed in the world after World War II. They occurred in Cambodia, Sudan, East Timor, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Equatorial Guinea, Bosnia, and other countries.17

Genocidologists take interest in such key issues, as the environment, conditions, political and social-economic causes, which originate genocide; the spiritual and cultural level, century-long historically shaped traditions in the country, which perpetrate genocide, and other factors.

As a result of their studies, the boundaries and the concept of genocide have been enhanced and specified. We have in mind two aspects in particular.

One aspect is that of a victim, or victimization. American experts Robert Gurr and aforecited Barbara Harff consider that, usually, ethnic groups serve as targets for torture, discrimination and, eventually, victimization.18 By their calculations, within the period from 1945 to 1989, 233 ethnic groups throughout the world presented subjects for such discrimination, i.e. they were potential candidates for victimization.19 Barbara Harff, analyzing the genocide–victim correlation, writes: “In genocides, victimized groups are defined by regimes primarily in terms of their communal characteristics, that is, ethnicity, religion, or nationality”20.