Armenian Genocide Research Paper
Linda Luu Ho
History 155
Writing Assignment #1
T TH 9:00am
Turkey and the Armenian Genocide Denial An American first coined the word genocide in 1944 for all the Jewish that were killed in World War Two. A similar type of killing occurred in April of 1915 during World War One. The Armenians were victims of genocide during the 1st world war by the Turks. Turkey did not always deny about the killings of Armenians, but it has changed its stance on what happened during World War One. Is it right for Turkey to deny what happened to the Armenians during World War One since they were part of the Ottoman Empire at the time or wrong since it is denying a part of their history? I believe that it is wrong for Turkey to deny the genocides of …show more content…
the Armenians during World War 1. Although Turkey was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time it occurred, it still needs to acknowledge what happened instead of denying the facts. From the book Sources od Twentieth -Century Global History, James Overfield stated that the “first genocide occurred in Eastern Turkey in 1915, three decades before Lemkin coined a word to describe it (Overfield, 84).” Anywhere from six hundred thousand to one millions Armenians were killed during World War One.
The Armenians were a population of a little more than two million that were captured by the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century.
Although ruled by the Ottoman Empire, the Armenians were able to practice their religion and keep their culture by paying special taxes. They were not allowed to own weapons or become government officials.
It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the conditions between the Armenians and Muslims population worsen that made the Ottoman officials in a bind. The Muslims were resentful that the Armenian community was flourishing in culture and economics whiled the Ottoman Empire was experiencing trouble. Armenian leaders wanted more fairer treatments and autonomy within the empire caused the tensions between Muslim and Armenians to rise even further.
During the Revolution of 1908, the committee of Union and Progress also known as Young Turks controlled Turkey. This was also the same group that was responsible for the genocide that occurred in 1915. Overfield stated that jealousy; religious antagonism, political fear and nationalism pushed the group to rid of the Armenians. The Young Turks dreamed of extending the borders of Turkey and an exclusive Turkish state did not have room for two million Armenians along with the Turks (Overfield, …show more content…
85).
In 1915, when the Turkish offensive against Russia failed, the Young Turks needed a scapegoat for the military defeats. To settle the Armenian issue once and for all, they made the Armenians the scapegoats. The genocides of the Armenians began during the night of April 22, 1915, Armenian churchmen, intellectuals, educators; businessmen were arrested in Istanbul and sent to the countryside to get executed.
According to the Armenian National Committee of America’s web article, Turkey claims that the genocides never happened. Turkey have changed it stances and reasons over the years. Right after World War One, the Turks blamed the killings to corrupted officials, Kurds and common criminals. Eventually the Turks decided to avoid the whole situation by keeping silence whenever it was possible to do so.
Even with their denials there are records that show otherwise from eyewitnesses. In the book Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, a letter from Mary L. Graffam, a foreign eyewitness described how the Armenians were treated. Since the city she and the Armenians were leaving had not done anything revolutionary, the men were allowed to join their families on the move to a new location. There were armed Ottoman officials that were supposed to protect these people from villagers, but instead “let them rob and trouble the people until we all began to scream, and then they would come and drive them away (Overfield, 86).”
From the accounts of Graffam’s letter, it showed how cruel the Armenians were treated.
The people were robbed of everything; the men were soon taken away from the group as well. The Muslim villagers even robbed the dying. The letter accounted deaths all around the Armenians. The killings of the Armenians included “every male over ten years old (Overfield, 88)” and “woman over fifteen (Overfield, 88).”
Also in the book Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, the memoir of Talaat Pasha, the Ottoman minister wrote about the deportation of the Armenians. He wrote that the Armenians exaggerated what happened and that the Armenians used propaganda to gain sympathy from the American and European. He claims that Russia had equipped the Armenians with weapons in the eastern provinces. In his memoir, Pasha claims that the bandits were responsible for “blowing up bridges, setting fire to the Turkish towns and villages by killing the innocent Mohammedan inhabitants, regardless of age and sex (Overfield,
90).”
Pasha also claimed that when the Armenians were abused during their deportations, it was not the intentions of the government. He claimed that the general public made it impossible for the government to intervene the abuse the Armenians were enduring. He claimed that since they were in the middle of a war, “it would have been dangerous to divide the nation into two camps (Overfield, 91)” since they needed “strength to fight outside enemies (Overfield, 91).”
From the memoir the Ottoman minister did not deny the genocides, but in fact gave reasons as to what made the killings occurred. He put the blame on the Armenians as to what happened. He confessed that the government did nothing to prevent the abuse of the innocent Armenians. Pasha also claimed that those that were responsible for the abuse of the innocent Armenians were wanted for punishment but with the general public’s support, it was not a possible for the government to follow up. With all of the denials of the Armenian genocides, there was a short period of time when Turkey did admit to its wrongdoing. According to the article “Turkey’s Armenian dilemma” on the BBC News website, “there was such a moment: the immediate aftermath of World War I” that Turkey admitted to the killings. The Ottoman government found a local governor guilty of the “mass killings of Armenians in the Ankara district.” But once the Ottoman Empire dissolved, the new government did not consider that it wasn’t responsible for what occurred previously.
Also according to Armenian National Committee of America’s web article, there were telegrams sent in June 1915 that had evidence that the genocide might have been planned. The telegram sent by Dr. Sakir asks the people responsible for the “deportations and massacres of Armenians within his district: “Are the Armenians, who are being dispatched from there, being liquidated? Are those harmful persons whom you inform us you are exiling and banishing, being exterminated, or are they being merely dispatched and exiled? Answer explicitly…”” The article states that it is hard to believe that over one million Armenians died from resettlement.
Although Turkey has a point that the killings and massacres occurred during a time when it was under a different regime, I still believe that they should still acknowledge what happened in their land. To deny what happened is just not right to the Armenians. I understand that the new government may have not cause this massacre, it is still part of the nation’s history and it should not deny it. Even if the history itself is not a pleasant one for the people to remember, it needs to be told and not hidden or avoided to make it fair for the many of lives that were taken during that time period.
Bibliography
Overfield, James. 2002. Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History. Boston, MA:
Wadsworth.
Smith, Roger W., Eric Markusen, and Robert Jay Lifton “Professional Ethics and Denial of the Armenian Genocide.” Armenian National Committee of America. Accessed September 11, 2012. http://www.anca.org/genocide/denial.php.
“Turkey’s Armenian Dilemma.” BBC News. (February 27, 2007).
Accessed September12, 2012.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6386625.stm.
History 155
Writing Assignment #1
T TH 9:00am
Turkey and the Armenian Genocide Denial An American first coined the word genocide in 1944 for all the Jewish that were killed in World War Two. A similar type of killing occurred in April of 1915 during World War One. The Armenians were victims of genocide during the 1st world war by the Turks. Turkey did not always deny about the killings of Armenians, but it has changed its stance on what happened during World War One. Is it right for Turkey to deny what happened to the Armenians during World War One since they were part of the Ottoman Empire at the time or wrong since it is denying a part of their history? I believe that it is wrong for Turkey to deny the genocides of …show more content…
the Armenians during World War 1. Although Turkey was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time it occurred, it still needs to acknowledge what happened instead of denying the facts. From the book Sources od Twentieth -Century Global History, James Overfield stated that the “first genocide occurred in Eastern Turkey in 1915, three decades before Lemkin coined a word to describe it (Overfield, 84).” Anywhere from six hundred thousand to one millions Armenians were killed during World War One.
The Armenians were a population of a little more than two million that were captured by the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century.
Although ruled by the Ottoman Empire, the Armenians were able to practice their religion and keep their culture by paying special taxes. They were not allowed to own weapons or become government officials.
It wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the conditions between the Armenians and Muslims population worsen that made the Ottoman officials in a bind. The Muslims were resentful that the Armenian community was flourishing in culture and economics whiled the Ottoman Empire was experiencing trouble. Armenian leaders wanted more fairer treatments and autonomy within the empire caused the tensions between Muslim and Armenians to rise even further.
During the Revolution of 1908, the committee of Union and Progress also known as Young Turks controlled Turkey. This was also the same group that was responsible for the genocide that occurred in 1915. Overfield stated that jealousy; religious antagonism, political fear and nationalism pushed the group to rid of the Armenians. The Young Turks dreamed of extending the borders of Turkey and an exclusive Turkish state did not have room for two million Armenians along with the Turks (Overfield, …show more content…
85).
In 1915, when the Turkish offensive against Russia failed, the Young Turks needed a scapegoat for the military defeats. To settle the Armenian issue once and for all, they made the Armenians the scapegoats. The genocides of the Armenians began during the night of April 22, 1915, Armenian churchmen, intellectuals, educators; businessmen were arrested in Istanbul and sent to the countryside to get executed.
According to the Armenian National Committee of America’s web article, Turkey claims that the genocides never happened. Turkey have changed it stances and reasons over the years. Right after World War One, the Turks blamed the killings to corrupted officials, Kurds and common criminals. Eventually the Turks decided to avoid the whole situation by keeping silence whenever it was possible to do so.
Even with their denials there are records that show otherwise from eyewitnesses. In the book Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, a letter from Mary L. Graffam, a foreign eyewitness described how the Armenians were treated. Since the city she and the Armenians were leaving had not done anything revolutionary, the men were allowed to join their families on the move to a new location. There were armed Ottoman officials that were supposed to protect these people from villagers, but instead “let them rob and trouble the people until we all began to scream, and then they would come and drive them away (Overfield, 86).”
From the accounts of Graffam’s letter, it showed how cruel the Armenians were treated.
The people were robbed of everything; the men were soon taken away from the group as well. The Muslim villagers even robbed the dying. The letter accounted deaths all around the Armenians. The killings of the Armenians included “every male over ten years old (Overfield, 88)” and “woman over fifteen (Overfield, 88).”
Also in the book Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History, the memoir of Talaat Pasha, the Ottoman minister wrote about the deportation of the Armenians. He wrote that the Armenians exaggerated what happened and that the Armenians used propaganda to gain sympathy from the American and European. He claims that Russia had equipped the Armenians with weapons in the eastern provinces. In his memoir, Pasha claims that the bandits were responsible for “blowing up bridges, setting fire to the Turkish towns and villages by killing the innocent Mohammedan inhabitants, regardless of age and sex (Overfield,
90).”
Pasha also claimed that when the Armenians were abused during their deportations, it was not the intentions of the government. He claimed that the general public made it impossible for the government to intervene the abuse the Armenians were enduring. He claimed that since they were in the middle of a war, “it would have been dangerous to divide the nation into two camps (Overfield, 91)” since they needed “strength to fight outside enemies (Overfield, 91).”
From the memoir the Ottoman minister did not deny the genocides, but in fact gave reasons as to what made the killings occurred. He put the blame on the Armenians as to what happened. He confessed that the government did nothing to prevent the abuse of the innocent Armenians. Pasha also claimed that those that were responsible for the abuse of the innocent Armenians were wanted for punishment but with the general public’s support, it was not a possible for the government to follow up. With all of the denials of the Armenian genocides, there was a short period of time when Turkey did admit to its wrongdoing. According to the article “Turkey’s Armenian dilemma” on the BBC News website, “there was such a moment: the immediate aftermath of World War I” that Turkey admitted to the killings. The Ottoman government found a local governor guilty of the “mass killings of Armenians in the Ankara district.” But once the Ottoman Empire dissolved, the new government did not consider that it wasn’t responsible for what occurred previously.
Also according to Armenian National Committee of America’s web article, there were telegrams sent in June 1915 that had evidence that the genocide might have been planned. The telegram sent by Dr. Sakir asks the people responsible for the “deportations and massacres of Armenians within his district: “Are the Armenians, who are being dispatched from there, being liquidated? Are those harmful persons whom you inform us you are exiling and banishing, being exterminated, or are they being merely dispatched and exiled? Answer explicitly…”” The article states that it is hard to believe that over one million Armenians died from resettlement.
Although Turkey has a point that the killings and massacres occurred during a time when it was under a different regime, I still believe that they should still acknowledge what happened in their land. To deny what happened is just not right to the Armenians. I understand that the new government may have not cause this massacre, it is still part of the nation’s history and it should not deny it. Even if the history itself is not a pleasant one for the people to remember, it needs to be told and not hidden or avoided to make it fair for the many of lives that were taken during that time period.
Bibliography
Overfield, James. 2002. Sources of Twentieth-Century Global History. Boston, MA:
Wadsworth.
Smith, Roger W., Eric Markusen, and Robert Jay Lifton “Professional Ethics and Denial of the Armenian Genocide.” Armenian National Committee of America. Accessed September 11, 2012. http://www.anca.org/genocide/denial.php.
“Turkey’s Armenian Dilemma.” BBC News. (February 27, 2007).
Accessed September12, 2012.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6386625.stm.