100th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

[Larry1]

Observances are taking place around the world this week to commemorate the genocide the Ottoman Empire committed against Armenians within its borders 100 years ago.

For readers who aren't familiar with this topic, I will write a brief narrative. By 1914, when the first world war began, the Ottoman Empire ruled a large empire centered in present-day Turkey and extending across much of the Middle East and North Africa. At the beginning of the war the allied powers of Russia, France, and Britain fought the Central Powers of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I am omitting certain details that don't have a bearing on the topic of this thread, including the many other countries that participated in the war. Not long after the war began Germany convinced the government of the Ottoman Empire to enter it as an ally.

Armenia was a Christian nation, the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official faith, in the 4th century, A.D.  The Ottoman Empire was, of course, Muslim. I will refer to the people running the Ottoman Empire as Turks. Russia, another Christian nation, had sometimes been a protector of Armenia against the Turks. Russia had fought several wars against the Turks.

In 1915 the Turks decided to rid their empire of Armenians. First they rounded up intellectuals and leaders, then soon rounded up ordinary people. Some they shot.  Some they marched into the desert, where most died. They kept some of the children and made them convert to Islam. They raped many of the Armenian women and took some as concubines, sex slaves.

The genocide was witnessed by many people, including German officers (Germany sent many military advisors to the Ottoman Empire) and diplomats, as well as diplomats of other nations.

The Turks said they were taking action because Armenians were potentially a fifth column with the ability to fight against them. Most historians regard this claim as without merit.

It can only be estimated how many Armenians the Turks killed. I've seen some estimates of 800,000 and some well over a million.

Turkey has consistently denied that it perpetrated a genocide against the Armenians. It still exercises its political muscle to try to keep world leaders from calling it a genocide.  US President Obama avoids calling it a genocide. http://www.newsweek.com/why-scholars-say-armenian-genocide-was-genocide-obama-wont-325262

But Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the massacre of Armenians a genocide:

Turkey Condemns Putin for Calling 1915 Armenian Massacre a 'Genocide'

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/turkey-condemns-putin-for-calling-1915-armenian-massacre-a-genocide/519720.html

[Ed S.]

I would like to note that the Ottoman Empire also committed similar acts of violence against Greeks and Assyrians with similar pretexts. Unfortunately they are not remembered as well because of the subsequent population transfers between Turkey and Greece, and the Assyrians are such a tiny community with few advocates. Unfortunately for the Assyrians, they face extinction yet again after finally beginning to recover from the previous genocide. 

[Larry1]

I would like to note that the Ottoman Empire also committed similar acts of violence against Greeks and Assyrians with similar pretexts. Unfortunately they are not remembered as well because of the subsequent population transfers between Turkey and Greece, and the Assyrians are such a tiny community with few advocates. Unfortunately for the Assyrians, they face extinction yet again after finally beginning to recover from the previous genocide. 

I knew about the crimes against the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire in those years but didn't know about the crimes against the Assyrians.

[Anathema]

Interesting; thanks for another cool, informative thread, Larry. 

[Slumba]

The genocide of the Great Fire of Smyrna was another Ataturk "success".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_Smyrna

[Ed S.]

I knew about the crimes against the Greeks in the Ottoman Empire in those years but didn't know about the crimes against the Assyrians.

Unfortunately the Assyrian genocide is usually clumped under the Armenian genocide, since the community is so small. They don't have any state of their own to lobby for them either, which is probably why it's forgotten, or at best an afterthought.

The rather cruel irony is that now the Assyrians are dependent upon the Kurds for protection, and many Assyrians haven't forgotten the fact that many Kurds also participated in the previous genocide.

[Larry1]

Interesting; thanks for another cool, informative thread, Larry. 

My pleasure.

Unfortunately the Assyrian genocide is usually clumped under the Armenian genocide, since the community is so small. They don't have any state of their own to lobby for them either, which is probably why it's forgotten, or at best an afterthought.

There are quite a number of people of Armenian descent in the US, mainly in California and Nevada I believe. One of them is trying to persuade people that it was genocide that the Turks perpetrated on the Armenians.

Kim Kardashian urges Obama to call Armenian massacre a genocide

Reality TV star criticises president’s choice of words in Time magazine op-ed, saying she will ‘fight for the genocide to be recognized for what it was’

... “I would like President Obama to use the word ‘genocide’,” the reality TV star, who is married to the rapper Kanye West, wrote in an op-ed piece for Time magazine. “It’s very disappointing he hasn’t used it as president. We thought it was going to happen this year...

Historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks in 1915. Turkey, however, disputes the use of the word “genocide” to describe the killings and says the death toll has been inflated...

On Saturday, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said France, Germany, Russia and Austria – whose leaders or parliaments have recently described the killings as genocide – supported “claims constructed on Armenian lies”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/25/kim-kardashian-obama-armenian-genocide

Kardashian's great-great-grandparents were Armenians who left the country in 1914.