Armenian genocide is a historical event which is not accepted by Turkish official view. Many Turkish institutions, especially political and bureaucratic ones, do not have tendency to take responsibility for this historical event. Turkish official view created several arguments for Armenian genocide. Until the establishment of Turkish Republic, Armenian mass murders was not denied. According to Akcam(2005), even Ataturk, the founding father of the Turkish Republic, was accepted the mass murders of Armenians. Along with the establishment of the Turkish Republic, denial is appeared. Turkish official view accepted the deportation and mass murders as self-protection of Ottoman Empire “against Western and Russian ambitions and the encroachment of Christianity.” (Akcam, 2005) Although self-protection or defense thesis was accepted by Turkish officials, there was not salient discussion about what happened to Armenians in Anatolia. 1980’s was the awakening period for the event occurred in 1915. Assaults of Armenians towards Turkish diplomats and the lobbying activities of Armenians brought up the mass murders of Armenians to the agenda of several countries. Official discourse of the Turkish Republic about the mass murders of Armenians began to shape in that decade.
Official view of Turkish Republic about foreign policy issues can be found in the website of Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The “foreign policy with questions” section in the website of the ministry, explains Turkish foreign policy by answering many questions. The questions mostly focuses on problematic issues of Turkey in foreign policy. Issues like Israel-Palestine problem, European Union and Armenian “genocide” are focused areas. Statistically, Armenian...
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...Republic. All these discourses straightforwardly demonstrates that Armenian Genocide is used by Turkish officials. Armenian genocide and the recognition of it described as part of secret agenda and starting point for new demands. Possibility of future “harmful” demands perception is created scenario which reproduce the paranoia derives from the legacy of the Treaty of Sevres. Briefly, Armenian genocide used by Turkish officials, who are both members of ruling and opposition parties, to reproduce Sevres syndrome.
Works Cited
the Treaty of Sevres, 1920
Yilmaz, Hakan. 2006. "Two Pillars of Nationalist Euroskepticism in Turkey: The Tanzimat and Sevres Syndrome". In Turkey, Sweden and the European Union: Experiences and Expectations, ed. Ingmar Karlsson and Annika Strom Melin, Stockholm: SIEPS(Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies), 2006, pp.29-40
April 24th, 1915 marked the beginning of the first genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide. From April to October, 1918 approximately 1.8 million Armenian Turks were murdered by their fellow Turks. Leaders of this genocide were never brought to justice. The Turkish government managed to cover up the crimes, going as far as blackmailing other countries into ignoring the actions committed by the Turkish government during World War I. The United States is one of those countries. No recent American president in office has yet to acknowledge the events in the years 1915 - 1918 against the Armenian people as a genocide for fear of how it will affect the country’s relationship with Turkey. This fear has gone on to erase the topic from American discussion. The United States has a moral responsibility to hold the Turkish government responsible for this crime against humanity, as well as to take a step forward and have its citizens become educated about the Armenian Genocide. By doing so, it will reveal the cover up, hold the Turkish people responsible, and with great hope, the American citizens will come one step closer towards participating in ending future Holocausts, Rwandas, Bosnias, and Darfurs and their cover ups.
Much like the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide involved the use of concentration camps and violations against natural and human rights. Through the methods of destroying the Armenians, many of them were burnt, drowned in the Black Sea, or poisoned. Despite these horrific events, the Armenian Genocide remained as an undiscussed topic worldwide because once a genocide became evident, other nations were expected to step up and help. In a matter of a few years, the Armenian population had decreased by nearly half of their population due to the uncivil acts of displacement, murders, famine, and more. The Armenian Genocide took place because the Turks felt the Armenians were jeopardising their power because their religion conflicted with the nations bordering them, the Armenians were demanding an abundance o...
Gunter, Michael M. Armenian History and the Question of Genocide. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
To purify the Ottoman Empire, the Turks decided to try and erase the Armenian race. The Turks used the war to cover up the mass killings of Armenians and it worked for a little because everybody was worrying about the war. However, the Turks called it a civil war and not a genocide, but there are many things proving otherwise. The treatment of the Armenians is a genocide, despite Turkish claims, because the genocide process was evident, the government was involved, and it was done on a large scale.
In 1915 leaders in the Turkish government devised a plan to exterminate and or expel all Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire. There are several different reports varying in content, but it is believed that there were about 2 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the massacre. By the 1920’s 1.5 of the 2 million Armenians were dead and the majority of the remaining had been deported. Today most historians will classify the events as a genocide ; but to this day the Turkish
The word genocide brings up images of the second world war and the Holocaust. While the actions taken against the Jews and minority groups deserve remembrance, this is not the first genocide the world has experienced. During the first world war, Armenians found themselves in a similar position of the future Jews in Nazi Germany. What is left of the Ottoman Empire begins to align with a Turkish nationalism that leads to creating a country for Turks. This brings out the changes that ultimately lead to the Armenian genocide. While this topic has been an area of conflict, the Armenian genocide is a major turning point for the Turkish people. While the name suggests only Armenians were affected, groups like the Assyrians and Greeks were also targeted for their Christian beliefs.
There are many ideas of what genocide is, but, according to Webster’s Dictionary, the official definition of genocide is “The deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group”. However, the more realistic and practical definition is “The unnecessary and unjustified killings of tens of thousands of innocent people all because of hate”. This was most defiantly the case in the Kurdish Genocide, which took place between 1986 and 1989. The result of this mass murdering left thousands of people without loved ones, and even more wondering why it had to happen.
Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity: "Armenians in Ottoman Turkey and the Armenian Genocide. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005. (Accessed March 20, 2014).
Every Armenian remembers the date which he/she lost a family member. On April 24, 1.5 million Armenians were systematically massacred in western Armenia during the years of 1915 to 1923. Turkish governments always denied the charges, historians and government officials relied on undeniable documents and eyewitnesses that Turkey is responsible for the crimes it committed to the Armenian people. Not very many countries recognize the massacre as a genocide, but France, Russia, Sweden, Greece, Argentina, and many others recognize the massacre as a genocide. The Armenian genocide became the primary Genocide of the twentieth century. Who are the Armenians and why was their destiny so tragic? The Armenians are an ancient nation with a very wealthy
The Armenian Genocide was an unbelievable catastrophe that can be related to the Holocaust, which was also very violent. Genocides usually occur with stages of hate that elevate each step, and discrimination is an imperative point in the start of genocide. The two genocides both started with the discrimination of another ethnic group of people. For instance, the Armenian Genocide started with the Turk’s long-lasting hatred towards the Armenian people. Similarly, in the Holocaust, Hitler’s hatred for Jews fueled the beginning of the massacre in Germany. In Armenia, the Turkish government soon took over the Ottoman Empire’s weak government and immediately discriminated the Armenians, starving them and blami...
On April 24, 1915 the Armenian genocide began. 1 million and 5 hundred-thousand people got killed because of Turkish government. Many of them got raped, enslaved and murdered. For instance, they drowned people in rivers, burned them alive, executed and etc. They also kidnapped children and sent to Turkish families. In many places, Turkish people rapped and used Armenian women as a slave. “The Armenians marched by Turkish soldiers” picture in “artvoice.com” website shows the Armenians nearby prison in Mezierh by armed Turkish soldiers. Also only 25% Armenians deported to the deserts of Syria and Iraq. After the war between Armenian and Turks, only 380’000 Armenian remained in the Ottoman Empire. In June 1915, 25 percent of the Armenian population was deported t...
The Armenian genocide is recognised as the first of the century and it was carried out by Turks during World War I. The genocide was an act of revenge as selected Armenians volunteered to fight alongside the Russian army, against Turkey. The attack on Armenians of the Ottoman Empire began in March, 1915. It took an immense toll on the women; hundreds of thousands of women were murdered or died on the harsh march from Turkey, south to Syria. The genocide consisted of brutal deaths, including burning alive, drowning, being tossed off cliffs, starvation, dying of thirst and through the act of rape and evisceration. The majority of men were killed through the severing of the head. Khanum Palootzian was a surviv...
The Armenian Genocide can be labelled as a very controversial topic. Many people argue that the massacre of Armenians was considered a genocide. On the other hand, an abundance of people along with the Turks deny the event to be a genocide even till this day. The Turkish government deliberately had an intent to isolate and destroy the Armenians. They had an organized plan to carry out the killings and the acts of the Turkish government can be considered as the destruction of Armenians, not just the killings of them. The mass murder of this specific group of people during World War One should be identified as a genocide not only in this course but around the world as well.
The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Great Calamity, and the Armenian Massacre, was the organized killing of nearly 1.5 million Armenians. It occurred in the Ottoman Empire - present-day Turkey - where 2 million Armenians lived. The Armenian Genocide is the second-most studied massacre, after the Nazi Holocaust. Twenty-two countries have officially recognized it as genocide, but the Republic of Turkey rejects the characterization of the events as genocide. Many Armenians who are descendants of survivors are fighting for its recognition.
"Armenian Genocide, The." The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute. National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .