Nikolai Troitsky, political commentator for RIA Novosti.
Saturday, April 24 marks the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire. This year marks 95 years since this bloody massacre and terrible crime began - the mass extermination of people on ethnic grounds. As a result, from one to one and a half million people were killed.
Unfortunately, this was not the first and far from the last case of genocide in modern history. In the twentieth century, humanity seemed to have decided to return to the darkest times. In enlightened, civilized countries, medieval savagery and fanaticism suddenly revived - torture, reprisals against relatives of convicts, forced deportation and the wholesale murder of entire peoples or social groups.
But even against this gloomy background, two of the most monstrous atrocities stand out - the systematic extermination of Jews by the Nazis, called the Holocaust, in 1943-45 and the Armenian genocide, carried out in 1915.
That year, the Ottoman Empire was effectively ruled by the Young Turks, a group of officers who overthrew the Sultan and introduced liberal reforms to the country. With the outbreak of the First World War, all power was concentrated in the hands of the triumvirate - Enver Pasha, Talaat Pasha and Dzhemal Pasha. It was they who carried out the act of genocide. But they did not do this out of sadism or innate ferocity. The crime had its own reasons and prerequisites.
Armenians lived in Ottoman territory for centuries. On the one hand, they were subject to certain discrimination on religious grounds, like Christians. On the other hand, most of them stood out for their wealth or at least prosperity, because they were engaged in trade and finance. That is, they played approximately the same role as the Jews in Western Europe, without whom the economy could not function, but who were regularly subject to pogroms and deportations.
The fragile balance was disrupted in the 80s - 90s of the 19th century, when underground political organizations nationalist and revolutionary. The most radical was the Dashnaktsutyun party - a local analogue of the Russian Socialist Revolutionaries, and socialist revolutionaries of the very left wing.
Their goal was to create an independent state on the territory of Ottoman Turkey, and the methods of achieving this goal were simple and effective: seizing banks, killing officials, explosions and similar terrorist attacks.
It is clear how the government reacted to such actions. But the situation got worse national factor, and for the actions of the Dashnak militants - they called themselves fidayeen - the entire Armenian population had to answer. In different parts of the Ottoman Empire, unrest broke out every now and then, which ended in pogroms and massacres of Armenians.
The situation worsened further in 1914, when Turkey became an ally of Germany and declared war on Russia, which was naturally favored by local Armenians. The government of the Young Turks declared them a “fifth column”, and therefore a decision was made on their wholesale deportation to inaccessible mountainous areas.
One can imagine what a massive relocation of hundreds of thousands of people, mainly women, old people and children, was like, since the men were drafted into the active army. Many died from deprivation, others were killed, outright massacres took place, and mass executions were carried out.
After the end of the First World War, a special commission from Great Britain and the United States investigated the Armenian genocide. Here is just one brief episode from the testimony of miraculously surviving eyewitnesses of the tragedy:
“Approximately two thousand Armenians were rounded up and surrounded by the Turks, they were doused with gasoline and set on fire. I, myself, was in another church that they tried to burn down, and my father thought it was the end of his family.
He gathered us around... and said something that I will never forget: Do not be afraid, my children, because soon we will all be in heaven together. But fortunately, someone discovered the secret tunnels... through which we escaped."
The exact number of victims was never officially counted, but at least a million people died. More than 300 thousand Armenians took refuge in the territory of the Russian Empire, since Nicholas II ordered the borders to be opened.
Even if the killings were not officially sanctioned by the ruling triumvirate, they are still held accountable for these crimes. In 1919, all three were sentenced to death in absentia, as they managed to escape, but then were killed one by one by vigilante militants from radical Armenian organizations.
Enver Pasha's comrades were convicted of war crimes by the Entente allies with the full consent of the government of the new Turkey, headed by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He began to build a secular authoritarian state, the ideology of which was radically different from the ideas of the Young Turks, but many organizers and perpetrators of massacres came to his service. And by that time the territory of the Turkish Republic was almost completely cleared of Armenians.
Therefore, Ataturk, although he personally had nothing to do with the “final solution to the Armenian question,” categorically refused to acknowledge the accusations of genocide. In Turkey, they sacredly honor the behests of the Father of the Nation - this is how the surname that the first president took for himself is translated - and they firmly stand on the same positions to this day. The Armenian genocide is not only denied, but a Turkish citizen can receive a prison sentence for publicly admitting it. This is what happened recently, for example, with the world famous writer, laureate Nobel Prize in literature by Orhan Pamuk, who was released from prison only under pressure from the international community.
At the same time, in some European countries ah provides for criminal penalties for denying the Armenian genocide. However, only 18 countries, including Russia, officially recognized and condemned this crime of the Ottoman Empire.
Turkish diplomacy reacts to this in different ways. Since Ankara dreams of joining the EU, they pretend that they do not notice the “anti-genocide” resolutions of states from European Union. Türkiye does not want to spoil its relations with Russia because of this. However, any attempts to introduce the issue of recognition of genocide by the US Congress are immediately rebuffed.
It is difficult to say why the government of modern Turkey stubbornly refuses to acknowledge the crimes committed 95 years ago by the leaders of the dying Ottoman monarchy. Armenian political scientists believe that Ankara is afraid of subsequent demands for material and even territorial compensation. In any case, if Turkey really wants to become a full part of Europe, these long-standing crimes will have to be acknowledged.
Every year on April 24, the world celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide in memory of the victims of the first extermination of people on ethnic grounds in the 20th century, which was carried out in the Ottoman Empire.
On April 24, 1915, in the capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul, arrests of representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia took place, from which the mass extermination of Armenians began.
At the beginning of the 4th century AD, Armenia became the first country in the world in which Christianity was established as an official religion. However, the centuries-old struggle of the Armenian people with the conquerors ended with the loss of their own statehood. For many centuries, the lands where Armenians historically lived ended up not just in the hands of conquerors, but in the hands of conquerors professing a different faith.
In the Ottoman Empire, Armenians, not being Muslims, were officially treated as second-class people - “dhimmi”. They were prohibited from carrying weapons, were subject to higher taxes, and were denied the right to testify in court.Complex interethnic and inter-religious relations in the Ottoman Empire worsened significantly towards the end of the 19th century. A series of Russian-Turkish wars, most of them unsuccessful for the Ottoman Empire, led to the appearance on its territory of a huge number of Muslim refugees from the lost territories - the so-called “Muhajirs”.
The Muhajirs were extremely hostile towards Armenian Christians. In turn, the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire by the end of the 19th century, tired of their powerless situation, increasingly demanded equal rights with the rest of the inhabitants of the empire.
These contradictions were superimposed by the general decline of the Ottoman Empire, which manifested itself in all spheres of life.
The Armenians are to blame for everything
The first wave of massacres of Armenians on the territory of the Ottoman Empire took place in 1894-1896. The open resistance of the Armenians to the attempts of the Kurdish leaders to impose tribute on them resulted in massacres not only of those who participated in the protests, but also of those who remained on the sidelines. It is generally accepted that the killings of 1894–1896 were not directly sanctioned by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire. Nevertheless, according to various estimates, from 50 to 300 thousand Armenians became their victims.
Erzurum massacre, 1895. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Public Domain
Periodic local outbreaks of reprisals against Armenians occurred after the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey in 1907 and the coming to power of the Young Turks.
With the entry of the Ottoman Empire into the First World War, slogans about the need for “unity” of all representatives of the Turkish race to confront the “infidels” began to sound increasingly louder in the country. In November 1914, jihad was declared, which fueled anti-Christian chauvinism among the Muslim population.
Added to all this was the fact that one of the opponents of the Ottoman Empire in the war was Russia, on whose territory lived a large number of Armenians The authorities of the Ottoman Empire began to consider their own citizens of Armenian nationality as potential traitors capable of helping the enemy. Such sentiments grew stronger as more and more failures occurred. eastern front.
After the defeat inflicted by Russian troops on the Turkish army in January 1915 near Sarykamysh, one of the leaders of the Young Turks, Ismail Enver, aka Enver Pasha, declared in Istanbul that the defeat was the result of Armenian treason and that the time had come to deport Armenians from the eastern regions who were threatened Russian occupation.
Already in February 1915 against Ottoman Armenians emergency measures began to be applied. 100,000 soldiers of Armenian nationality were disarmed, and the right of Armenian civilians to bear arms, introduced in 1908, was abolished.
Destruction technology
The Young Turk government planned to carry out mass deportation of the Armenian population to the desert, where people were doomed to certain death.
Deportation of Armenians via Baghdad railway. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
On April 24, 1915, the plan began in Istanbul, where about 800 representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia were arrested and killed within a few days.
On May 30, 1915, the Majlis of the Ottoman Empire approved the “Deportation Law,” which became the basis for the massacre of Armenians.
The tactics of deportation consisted of initial separation from total number Armenians in one or another locality, adult men, who were taken out of the city to desert places and destroyed in order to avoid resistance. Young Armenian girls were handed over as concubines to Muslims or were simply subjected to mass sexual violence. Old people, women and children were driven away in columns under the escort of gendarmes. Columns of Armenians, often deprived of food and drink, were driven into desert areas of the country. Those who fell exhausted were killed on the spot.
Despite the fact that the reason for the deportation was declared to be the disloyalty of the Armenians on the eastern front, repression against them began to be carried out throughout the country. Almost immediately the deportations turned into massacres Armenians in their places of residence.
A huge role in the massacres of Armenians was played by the paramilitary forces of “chettes” - criminals specially released by the authorities of the Ottoman Empire to participate in massacres.
In the city of Khynys alone, the majority of whose population were Armenians, about 19,000 people were killed in May 1915. The massacre in the city of Bitlis in July 1915 killed 15,000 Armenians. The most brutal methods of execution were practiced - people were cut into pieces, nailed to crosses, driven onto barges and drowned, and burned alive.
Those who reached the camps around the Der Zor desert alive were killed there. Over the course of several months in 1915, about 150,000 Armenians were killed there.
Gone Forever
A telegram from US Ambassador Henry Morgenthau to the State Department (July 16, 1915) describes the extermination of the Armenians as a “campaign of racial extermination.” Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Henry Morgenthau Sr
Foreign diplomats received evidence of the large-scale extermination of Armenians almost from the very beginning of the genocide. In the joint Declaration of May 24, 1915, the Entente countries (Great Britain, France and Russia) recognized the mass murder of Armenians as a crime against humanity for the first time in history.
However, the powers drawn into a major war were unable to stop the mass destruction of people.
Although the peak of the genocide occurred in 1915, in fact, reprisals against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire continued until the end of the First World War.
The total number of victims of the Armenian genocide has not been definitively established to this day. The most frequently reported data is that between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians were exterminated in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1918. Those who were able to survive the massacre left their native lands in droves.
According to various estimates, by 1915, between 2 and 4 million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire. Between 40 and 70 thousand Armenians live in modern Turkey.
Majority Armenian churches and historical monuments associated with the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire were destroyed or turned into mosques, as well as utility rooms. Only at the end of the 20th century, under pressure from the world community, the restoration of some historical monuments began in Turkey, in particular the Church of the Holy Cross on Lake Van.
Map of the main areas of extermination of the Armenian population. Concentration camps
On April 24, the world will celebrate one of the most tragic dates in the history of the Armenian people - the 100th anniversary of the genocide. In other words, a century of bloody massacre unleashed against the Armenian people.
Mass extermination and deportation of the Armenian population of Western Armenia, Cilicia and other provinces of the Ottoman Empire was carried out by the ruling circles of Turkey in 1915–1923. The policy of genocide against the Armenians was determined by a number of factors. The leading importance among them was the ideology of pan-Islamism and pan-Turkism, which was professed by the ruling circles of the Ottoman Empire. The militant ideology of pan-Islamism was characterized by intolerance towards non-Muslims, preached outright chauvinism, and called for the Turkification of all non-Turkish peoples. Entering the war (World War I), the Young Turk government of the Ottoman Empire made far-reaching plans for the creation of “Great Turan”. It was intended to annex Transcaucasia, the North Caucasus, Crimea, the Volga region, and Central Asia. On the way to this goal, the aggressors had to put an end to, first of all, the Armenian people, who opposed the aggressive plans of the Pan-Turkists.
The Young Turks began to develop plans for the destruction of the Armenian population even before the start of the World War. The decisions of the Congress of the Party “Unity and Progress” (Ittihad ve Terakki), held in October 1911 in Thessaloniki, contained a requirement for the Turkification of the non-Turkish peoples of the empire. Following this, the political and military circles of Turkey came to the decision to carry out the genocide of Armenians throughout the Ottoman Empire. At the beginning of 1914, a special order was sent to local authorities regarding the measures that were to be taken against the Armenians. The fact that the order was sent out before the start of the war irrefutably indicates that the extermination of the Armenians was a planned action, not at all determined by a specific military situation.
The leadership of the Unity and Progress party has repeatedly discussed the issue of mass deportation and massacre of the Armenian population. In September 1914, at a meeting chaired by the Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat, a special body was formed - the Executive Committee of Three, which was tasked with organizing the massacre of the Armenian population; it included the leaders of the Young Turks Nazim, Behaetdin Shakir and Shukri. When plotting a monstrous crime, the leaders of the Young Turks took into account that the war provided an opportunity to carry it out. Nazim directly stated that such an opportunity may no longer exist, “the intervention of the great powers and the protest of the newspapers will not have any consequences, since they will face a fait accompli, and thus the issue will be resolved... Our actions should be aimed at destroying Armenians so that not a single one of them survives.”
From the very first days of the war, rabid anti-Armenian propaganda unfolded in Turkey. The Turkish people were told that Armenians did not want to serve in the Turkish army, that they were ready to cooperate with the enemy. Fabrications were spread about the mass desertion of Armenians from the Turkish army, about uprisings of Armenians that threatened the rear of the Turkish troops, etc. Unbridled chauvinistic propaganda against the Armenians especially intensified after the first serious defeats of the Turkish troops on the Caucasian front. In February 1915, War Minister Enver gave the order to exterminate Armenians serving in the Turkish army. At the beginning of the war, about 60 thousand Armenians aged 18–45 were drafted into the Turkish army, i.e. the most combat-ready part of the male population. This order was carried out with unprecedented cruelty. And on April 24, 1915, a blow was struck against the Armenian intelligentsia.
From May to June 1915, mass deportation and massacre of the Armenian population of Western Armenia (vilayets of Van, Erzurum, Bitlis, Kharberd, Sebastia, Diyarbakir), Cilicia, Western Anatolia and other areas began. The ongoing deportation of the Armenian population in fact pursued the goal of its destruction. The real goals of the deportation were also known to Germany, Turkey's ally. The German consul in Trebizond in July 1915 reported on the deportation of Armenians in this vilayet and noted that the Young Turks intended to put an end to the Armenian question in this way.
The Armenians who were removed from their places of permanent residence were brought into caravans that headed deep into the empire, to Mesopotamia and Syria, where special camps were created for them. Armenians were destroyed both in their places of residence and on the way to exile; their caravans were attacked by Turkish rabble, Kurdish bandits eager for prey. As a result, a small part of the deported Armenians reached their destinations. But even those who reached the deserts of Mesopotamia were not safe; There are known cases when deported Armenians were taken out of the camps and slaughtered by the thousands in the desert.
The lack of basic sanitary conditions, hunger, and epidemics caused the death of hundreds of thousands of people. The actions of the Turkish pogromists were characterized by unprecedented cruelty. The leaders of the Young Turks demanded this. Thus, the Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat, in a secret telegram sent to the governor of Aleppo, demanded an end to the existence of Armenians, not to pay any attention to age, gender, or remorse. This requirement was strictly fulfilled. Eyewitnesses of the events, Armenians who survived the horrors of deportation and genocide, left numerous descriptions of the incredible suffering that befell the Armenian population.
Most of the Armenian population of Cilicia was also subjected to barbaric extermination. The massacre of Armenians continued in subsequent years. Thousands of Armenians were killed, driven into southern regions The Ottoman Empire and those held in the camps of Ras-ul-Ain, Deir ez-Zor and others. The Young Turks sought to carry out the genocide of Armenians in Eastern Armenia, where, in addition to the local population, large masses of refugees from Western Armenia accumulated. Having committed aggression against Transcaucasia in 1918, Turkish troops carried out pogroms and massacres of Armenians in many areas of Eastern Armenia and Azerbaijan. Having occupied Baku in September 1918, the Turkish interventionists, together with the Caucasian Tatars, organized a terrible massacre of the local Armenian population, killing 30 thousand people.
As a result of the Armenian genocide carried out by the Young Turks, 1.5 million people died in 1915–1916 alone. About 600 thousand Armenians became refugees; they scattered throughout many countries of the world, replenishing existing ones and forming new Armenian communities. An Armenian diaspora (Spyurk) was formed. As a result of the genocide, Western Armenia lost its original population. The leaders of the Young Turks did not hide their satisfaction at the successful implementation of the planned atrocity: German diplomats in Turkey reported to their government that already in August 1915, the Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat cynically declared that “actions regarding the Armenians have basically been carried out and the Armenian question no longer exists.” .
The relative ease with which the Turkish pogromists managed to carry out the genocide of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire is partly explained by the unpreparedness of the Armenian population, as well as the Armenian political parties, for the looming threat of extermination. The actions of the pogromists were greatly facilitated by the mobilization of the most combat-ready part of the Armenian population - men - into the Turkish army, as well as the liquidation of the Armenian intelligentsia of Constantinople. A certain role was also played by the fact that in some public and clerical circles of Western Armenians they believed that disobedience to the Turkish authorities, who gave orders for deportation, could only lead to an increase in the number of victims.
However, in some areas the Armenian population offered stubborn resistance to the Turkish vandals. The Armenians of Van, resorting to self-defense, successfully repelled the enemy’s attacks and held the city in their hands until the arrival of Russian troops and Armenian volunteers. The Armenians of Shapin Garakhisar, Musha, Sasun, and Shatakh offered armed resistance to the many times superior enemy forces. The epic of the defenders of Mount Musa in Suetia lasted for forty days. The self-defense of the Armenians in 1915 is a heroic page in the national liberation struggle of the people.
During the aggression against Armenia in 1918, the Turks, having occupied Karaklis, carried out a massacre of the Armenian population, killing several thousand people.
During the Turkish-Armenian War of 1920, Turkish troops occupied Alexandropol. Continuing the policies of their predecessors, the Young Turks, the Kemalists sought to organize genocide in Eastern Armenia, where, in addition to the local population, masses of refugees from Western Armenia had accumulated. In Alexandropol and the villages of the district, the Turkish occupiers committed atrocities, destroyed the peaceful Armenian population, and plundered property. The Revolutionary Committee of Soviet Armenia received information about the excesses of the Kemalists. One of the reports said: “About 30 villages were cut out in the Alexandropol district and Akhalkalaki region, some of those who managed to escape are in the most dire situation.” Other messages described the situation in the villages of Alexandropol district: “All the villages have been robbed, there is no shelter, no grain, no clothing, no fuel. The streets of the villages are filled with corpses. All this is complemented by hunger and cold, which claim one victim after another... In addition, askers and hooligans mock their prisoners and try to punish the people with even more brutal means, rejoicing and taking pleasure in it. They subject parents to various tortures, force them to hand over their 8-9 year old girls into the hands of executioners...”
In January 1921, the government of Soviet Armenia expressed a protest to the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs of Turkey due to the fact that Turkish troops in the Alexandropol district were committing “continuous violence, robberies and murders against the peaceful working population...”. Tens of thousands of Armenians became victims of the atrocities of the Turkish occupiers. The invaders also caused enormous material damage to the Alexandropol district.
In 1918–1920, the city of Shushi, the center of Karabakh, became the scene of pogroms and massacres of the Armenian population. In September 1918, Turkish troops, supported by Azerbaijani Musavatists, moved to Shushi. Ruining Armenian villages along the way and destroying their population, on September 25, 1918, Turkish troops occupied Shushi. But soon, after the defeat of Turkey in the First World War, they were forced to leave it. In December of the same year, the British entered Shushi. Soon the Musavatist Khosrov-bek Sultanov was appointed governor-general of Karabakh. With the help of Turkish military instructors, he formed Kurdish shock troops, which, together with units of the Musavat army, were stationed in the Armenian part of Shushi. The forces of the pogromists were constantly replenished; there were many Turkish officers in the city. In June 1919, the first pogroms of the Armenians of Shushi took place; On the night of June 5, at least 500 Armenians were killed in the city and surrounding villages. On March 23, 1920, Turkish-Musavat gangs committed a terrible pogrom against the Armenian population of Shushi, killing over 30 thousand people and setting the Armenian part of the city on fire.
The Armenians of Cilicia, who survived the genocide of 1915–1916 and found refuge in other countries, began to return to their homeland after the defeat of Turkey. According to the division of zones of influence determined by the allies, Cilicia was included in the sphere of influence of France. In 1919, 120–130 thousand Armenians lived in Cilicia; The return of Armenians continued, and by 1920 their number reached 160 thousand. The command of the French troops located in Cilicia did not take measures to ensure the safety of the Armenian population; Turkish authorities remained in place, Muslims were not disarmed. The Kemalists took advantage of this and began massacres of the Armenian population. In January 1920, during 20-day pogroms, 11 thousand Armenians, residents of Mavash, died; the rest of the Armenians went to Syria. Soon the Turks besieged Ajn, where the Armenian population by this time barely numbered 6 thousand people. The Armenians of Ajn put up stubborn resistance to the Turkish troops, which lasted 7 months, but in October the Turks managed to take the city. About 400 Ajna defenders managed to break through the siege and escape.
At the beginning of 1920, the remnants of the Armenian population of Urfa - about 6 thousand people - moved to Aleppo.
On April 1, 1920, Kemalist troops besieged Aintap. Thanks to a 15-day heroic defense, the Ayntap Armenians escaped massacre. But after French troops left Cilicia, the Armenians of Ayntap moved to Syria at the end of 1921. In 1920, the Kemalists destroyed the remnants of the Armenian population of Zeytun. That is, the Kemalists completed the destruction of the Armenian population of Cilicia, begun by the Young Turks.
The last episode of the tragedy of the Armenian people was the massacre of Armenians in the western regions of Turkey during the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. In August - September 1921, Turkish troops achieved a turning point in the military operations and launched a general offensive against the Greek troops. On September 9, the Turks invaded Izmir and massacred the Greek and Armenian population. The Turks sank ships stationed in the harbor of Izmir, on which there were Armenian and Greek refugees, mostly women, old people, children...
The Armenian genocide carried out in Turkey caused enormous damage to the material and spiritual culture of the Armenian people. In 1915–1923 and subsequent years, thousands of Armenian manuscripts stored in Armenian monasteries were destroyed, hundreds of historical and architectural monuments were destroyed, and the shrines of the people were desecrated. The tragedy experienced affected all aspects of the life and social behavior of the Armenian people and firmly settled in their historical memory.
Progressive public opinion around the world condemned the heinous crime of the Turkish pogromists, who tried to destroy one of the most ancient civilized peoples in the world. Social and political figures, scientists, cultural figures from many countries branded genocide, qualifying it as a grave crime against humanity, and took part in the implementation humanitarian aid to the Armenian people, in particular to refugees who have found refuge in many countries of the world. After Turkey's defeat in World War I, the leaders of the Young Turk party were accused of dragging Turkey into a disastrous war and put on trial. Among the charges brought against war criminals were organizing and carrying out the massacre of Armenians of the Ottoman Empire. However, the death sentence against a number of Young Turk leaders was pronounced in absentia, because after the defeat of Turkey they managed to flee the country. The death sentence against some of them (Taliat, Behaetdin Shakir, Jemal Pasha, Said Halim, etc.) was subsequently carried out by the Armenian people's avengers.
After World War II, genocide was classified as the gravest crime against humanity. The legal documents on genocide were based on the principles developed by the international military tribunal in Nuremberg, which tried the main war criminals Hitler's Germany. Subsequently, the UN adopted a number of decisions regarding genocide, the main of which are the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) and the Convention on the Inapplicability of the Statute of Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity (1968).
In 1989, the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR adopted a law that condemned the Armenian genocide in Western Armenia and Turkey as a crime against humanity. The Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR appealed to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR with a request to make a decision condemning the Armenian genocide in Turkey. The Declaration of Independence of Armenia, adopted by the Supreme Council of the Armenian SSR on August 23, 1990, declares that “The Republic of Armenia supports the cause of international recognition of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey and Western Armenia.”
http://www.pulsosetii.ru/article/4430
§ 1. Beginning of the First World War. Progress of military operations on the Caucasian front
On August 1, 1914, the First World War began. The war was fought between coalitions: the Entente (England, France, Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey) for the redistribution of spheres of influence in the world. Most states of the world took part in the war, voluntarily or forcedly, which is why the war got its name.
During the war, Ottoman Turkey sought to implement the “Pan-Turkism” program - to annex the territories inhabited Turkic peoples, including Transcaucasia, southern regions of Russia and Central Asia to Altai. In turn, Russia sought to annex the territory of Western Armenia, seize the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits and access the Mediterranean Sea. Fighting between the two coalitions unfolded on many fronts in Europe, Asia and Africa.
On the Caucasian front, the Turks concentrated an army of 300 thousand, led by Minister of War Enver. In October 1914, Turkish troops launched an offensive and managed to capture some border territories, and also invaded the western regions of Iran. In the winter months, during the battles near Sarykamysh, Russian troops defeated superior Turkish forces and drove them out of Iran. During 1915, military operations continued with varying success. At the beginning of 1916, Russian troops launched a large-scale offensive and, having defeated the enemy, captured Bayazet, Mush, Alashkert, the large city of Erzurum and an important port on Black Sea coast Trapizon. During 1917, there were no active military operations on the Caucasian Front. The demoralized Turkish troops did not attempt to launch a new offensive, and the February and October Revolution 1917 in Russia and changes in government did not give the Russian command the opportunity to develop an offensive. On December 5, 1917, a truce was concluded between the Russian and Turkish commands.
§ 2. Armenian volunteer movement. Armenian battalions
The Armenian people took an active part in the First World War on the side of the Entente countries. In Russia, about 200 thousand Armenians were drafted into the army. More than 50,000 Armenians fought in the armies of other countries. Since the aggressive plans of tsarism coincided with the desire of the Armenian people to liberate the territories of Western Armenia from the Turkish yoke, Armenian political parties conducted active propaganda for the organization of volunteer detachments with a total number of about 10 thousand people.
The first detachment was commanded by the outstanding leader of the liberation movement, national hero Andranik Ozanyan, who later received the rank of general in the Russian army. The commanders of other detachments were Dro, Hamazasp, Keri, Vardan, Arshak Dzhanpoladyan, Hovsep Argutyan and others. The commander of the VI detachment subsequently became Gayk Bzhshkyan - Guy, a later famous commander of the Red Army. Armenians - volunteers from various regions of Russia and even from other countries - signed up for the detachments. The Armenian troops showed courage and participated in all major battles for the liberation of Western Armenia.
The tsarist government initially encouraged the volunteer movement of the Armenians in every possible way, until the defeat of the Turkish armies became obvious. Fearing that the Armenian detachments could serve as the basis for a national army, the command of the Caucasian Front in the summer of 1916 reorganized the volunteer detachments into the 5th rifle battalion of the Russian army.
§ 3. Armenian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire
In 1915-1918 The Young Turk government of Turkey planned and carried out the genocide of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire. As a result of the forced eviction of Armenians from their historical homeland and massacres, 1.5 million people died.
Back in 1911 in Thessaloniki, at a secret meeting of the Young Turk party, it was decided to Turkify all subjects of the Muslim faith, and destroy all Christians. With the outbreak of World War I, the Young Turk government decided to take advantage of the favorable international situation and carry out its long-planned plans.
The genocide was carried out according to a specific plan. Firstly, men liable for military service were drafted into the army in order to deprive the Armenian population of the possibility of resistance. They were used as work units and were gradually destroyed. Secondly, the Armenian intelligentsia, which could organize and lead the resistance of the Armenian population, was destroyed. In March-April 1915, more than 600 people were arrested: parliament members Onik Vramyan and Grigor Zokhrap, writers Varuzhan, Siamanto, Ruben Sevak, composer and musicologist Komitas. On the way to their place of exile, they were subjected to insults and humiliation. Many of them died along the way, and the survivors were subsequently brutally murdered. On April 24, 1915, the Young Turk authorities executed 20 Armenian political prisoners. An eyewitness to these atrocities, the famous composer Komitas lost his mind.
After this, the Young Turk authorities began to evict and exterminate already defenseless children, old people and women. All property of the Armenians was plundered. On the way to the place of exile, the Armenians were subjected to new atrocities: the weak were killed, women were raped or kidnapped for harems, children died from hunger and thirst. From total number Of the exiled Armenians, barely a tenth reached the place of exile - the Der-el-Zor desert in Mesopotamia. Of the 2.5 million Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire, 1.5 million were destroyed, and the rest scattered throughout the world.
Part of the Armenian population was able to escape thanks to the help of Russian troops and, abandoning everything, fled from their homes to the borders of the Russian Empire. Some Armenian refugees found salvation in Arab countries, Iran and other countries. Many of them, after the defeat of the Turkish troops, returned to their homeland, but were subjected to new atrocities and destruction. About 200 thousand Armenians were forcibly Turkified. Many thousands of Armenian orphans were rescued by American charitable and missionary organizations operating in the Middle East.
After the defeat in the war and the flight of the Young Turk leaders, the new government of Ottoman Turkey in 1920 conducted an investigation into the crimes of the previous government. For planning and carrying out the Armenian genocide, the military tribunal in Constantinople convicted and sentenced to death in absentia Taleat (Prime Minister), Enver (Minister of War), Cemal (Minister of Internal Affairs) and Behaeddin Shakir (Secretary of the Central Committee of the Young Turks Party). Their sentence was carried out by Armenian avengers.
The Young Turk leaders fled Turkey after their defeat in the war and found refuge in Germany and other countries. But they failed to escape vengeance.
Soghomon Tehlirian shot Taleat on March 15, 1921 in Berlin. The German court, having examined the case, acquitted Tehlirian.
Petros Ter-Petrosyan and Artashes Gevorkyan killed Dzhemal in Tiflis on July 25, 1922.
Arshavir Shikaryan and Aram Yerkanyan shot Behaeddin Shakir on April 17, 1922 in Berlin.
Enver was killed in August 1922 in Central Asia.
§ 4. Heroic self-defense of the Armenian population
During the genocide of 1915, the Armenian population of some regions, through heroic self-defense, was able to escape or die with honor - with arms in hand.
For more than a month, the residents of the city of Van and nearby villages heroically defended themselves against regular Turkish troops. Self-defense was led by Armenak Yekaryan, Aram Manukyan, Panos Terlemazyan and others. All Armenian political parties acted in concert. They were saved from final death by the Russian army's offensive on Van in May 1915. Due to the forced retreat of Russian troops, 200 thousand residents of the Van vilayet were also forced to leave their homeland along with Russian troops to escape new massacres.
The highlanders of Sasun defended themselves against regular Turkish troops for almost a year. The siege ring gradually tightened, and most of the population was slaughtered. The entry of the Russian army into Mush in February 1916 saved the people of Sasun from final destruction. Of the 50 thousand population of Sasun, about a tenth was saved, and they were forced to leave their homeland and move within the Russian Empire.
The Armenian population of the town of Shapin-Garaisar, having received an order to relocate, took up arms and fortified themselves in a nearby dilapidated fortress. For 27 days, the Armenians repelled attacks by regular Turkish forces. When food and ammunition were already running out, it was decided to try to break out of the encirclement. About a thousand people were saved. Those who remained were brutally killed.
The defenders of Musa-Lera showed an example of heroic self-defense. Having received an order to evict, the 5 thousand Armenian population of seven villages in the Suetia region (on the shore Mediterranean Sea, near Antioch) decided to defend itself and fortified itself on Mount Musa. Self-defense was led by Tigran Andreasyan and others. For a month and a half there were unequal battles with Turkish troops armed with artillery. The French cruiser Guichen noticed an Armenian call for help, and on September 10, 1915, the remaining 4,058 Armenians were transported to Egypt on French and English ships. The story of this heroic self-defense is described in the novel “40 Days of Musa Dagh” by the Austrian writer Franz Werfel.
The last source of heroism was the self-defense of the population of the Armenian quarter of the city of Edesia, which lasted from September 29 to November 15, 1915. All the men died with weapons in their hands, and the surviving 15 thousand women and children were exiled by the Young Turk authorities to the deserts of Mesopotamia.
Foreigners who witnessed the genocide of 1915-1916 condemned this crime and left descriptions of the atrocities carried out by the Young Turk authorities against the Armenian population. They also refuted the false accusations of the Turkish authorities about the alleged uprising of the Armenians. Johann Lepsius, Anatole France, Henry Morgenthau, Maxim Gorky, Valery Bryusov and many others raised their voices against the first genocide in the history of the 20th century and the atrocities taking place. Nowadays, the parliaments of many countries have already recognized and condemned the genocide of the Armenian people committed by the Young Turks.
§ 5. Consequences of genocide
During the Genocide of 1915, the Armenian population in their historical homeland was barbarously exterminated. Responsibility for the Genocide of the Armenian population lies with the leaders of the Young Turks party. Turkish Prime Minister Taleat subsequently cynically declared that the “Armenian Question” no longer existed, since there were no more Armenians, and that he had done more in three months to resolve the “Armenian Question” than Sultan Abdul Hamid had done in 30 years of his reign. .
Kurdish tribes also actively participated in the extermination of the Armenian population, trying to seize Armenian territories and plunder the property of the Armenians. The German government and command are also responsible for the Armenian genocide. Many German officers commanded Turkish units that took part in the genocide. The Entente powers are also to blame for what happened. They did nothing to stop the mass extermination of the Armenian population by the Young Turk authorities.
During the genocide, more than 2 thousand Armenian villages, the same number of churches and monasteries, and Armenian neighborhoods in more than 60 cities were destroyed. The Young Turk government appropriated the valuables and deposits plundered from the Armenian population.
After the Genocide of 1915, there was practically no Armenian population left in Western Armenia.
§ 6. Culture of Armenia in late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century
Before the Genocide of 1915, Armenian culture experienced significant growth. This was associated with the rise of the liberation movement, the awakening of national self-awareness, and the development of capitalist relations both in Armenia itself and in those countries where a significant number of the Armenian population lived compactly. The division of Armenia into two parts - Western and Eastern - was reflected in the development of two independent directions in Armenian culture: Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. The major centers of Armenian culture were Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tiflis, Baku, Constantinople, Izmir, Venice, Paris and other cities, where a significant part of the Armenian intelligentsia was concentrated.
Armenian educational institutions made a huge contribution to the development of Armenian culture. In Eastern Armenia, in the urban centers of Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus and in some cities of Russia (Rostov-on-Don, Astrakhan) at the beginning of the 20th century, there were about 300 Armenian schools, male and female gymnasiums. In some rural areas There were primary schools where they taught reading, writing and counting, as well as the Russian language.
About 400 Armenian schools different levels operated in the cities of Western Armenia and major cities Ottoman Empire. Armenian schools did not receive any state subsidies either in the Russian Empire, much less in Ottoman Turkey. These schools existed thanks to the material support of the Armenian Apostolic Church, various public organizations and individual patrons. The most famous among Armenian educational institutions were the Nersisyan school in Tiflis, the Gevorkian theological seminary in Etchmiadzin, the Murad-Raphaelian school in Venice and the Lazarevsky Institute in Moscow.
The development of education greatly contributed to the further development of Armenian periodicals. At the beginning of the 20th century, about 300 Armenian newspapers and magazines of various political trends were published. Some of them were published by Armenian national parties, such as: “Droshak”, “Hnchak”, “Proletariat”, etc. In addition, newspapers and magazines of socio-political and cultural orientation were published.
The main centers of Armenian periodicals at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were Constantinople and Tiflis. The most popular newspapers published in Tiflis were the newspaper “Mshak” (ed. G. Artsruni), the magazine “Murch” (ed. Av. Arashanyants), in Constantinople - the newspaper “Megu” (ed. Harutyun Svachyan), the newspaper “Masis” (ed. Karapet Utujyan). Stepanos Nazaryants published the magazine “Hysisapail” (Northern Lights) in Moscow.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Armenian literature experienced rapid flowering. A galaxy of talented poets and novelists appeared in both Eastern and Western Armenia. The main motives of their creativity were patriotism and the dream of seeing their homeland united and free. It is no coincidence that many of the Armenian writers in their work turned to the heroic pages of the rich Armenian history, as an example for inspiration in the struggle for the unification and independence of the country. Thanks to their creativity, two independent literary language: Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. Poets Rafael Patkanyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Vahan Teryan, prose poets Avetik Isahakyan, Ghazaros Aghayan, Perch Proshyan, playwright Gabriel Sundukyan, novelists Nardos, Muratsan and others wrote in Eastern Armenian. Poets Petros Duryan, Misak Metsarents, Siamanto, Daniel Varudan, poet, prose writer and playwright Levon Shant, short story writer Grigor Zokhrap, great satirist Hakob Paronyan and others wrote their works in Western Armenian.
An indelible mark on Armenian literature of this period was left by the prose poet Hovhannes Tumanyan and the novelist Raffi.
In his work, O. Tumanyan reworked many folk legends and traditions, sang national traditions, life and customs of the people. His most famous works are the poems “Anush”, “Maro”, the legends “Akhtmar”, “The Fall of Tmkaberd” and others.
Raffi is known as the author of the historical novels “Samvel”, “Jalaladdin”, “Hent” and others. His novel “Kaytser” (Sparks) enjoyed great success among his contemporaries, where the call was clearly heard for the Armenian people to stand up in the fight for the liberation of their homeland, not really hoping for help from powers.
Achieved significant success social Sciences. Professor of the Lazarev Institute Mkrtich Emin published ancient Armenian sources in Russian translation. These same sources in French translation were published in Paris at the expense of the famous Armenian philanthropist, Prime Minister of Egypt Nubar Pasha. A member of the Mkhitarist congregation, Father Ghevond Alishan, wrote major works on the history of Armenia, gave a detailed list and description of the surviving historical monuments, many of which were subsequently destroyed. Grigor Khalatyan was the first to publish a complete history of Armenia in Russian. Garegin Srvandztyan, traveling through the regions of Western and Eastern Armenia, collected enormous treasures of Armenian folklore. He has the honor of discovering the recording and the first edition of the text of the Armenian medieval epic “Sasuntsi David”. The famous scientist Manuk Abeghyan conducted research in the field of folklore and ancient Armenian literature. The famous philologist and linguist Hrachya Acharyan studied the vocabulary of the Armenian language and made comparisons and comparisons of the Armenian language with other Indo-European languages.
The famous historian Nikolai Adonts in 1909, wrote and published in Russian a study on the history of medieval Armenia and Armenian-Byzantine relations. His major work, “Armenia in the Age of Justinian,” published in 1909, has not lost its significance to this day. The famous historian and philologist Leo (Arakel Babakhanyan) wrote works on various issues of Armenian history and literature, and also collected and published documents related to the “Armenian Question”.
Armenian musical art developed. Creativity of folk gusans on new heights raised gusan Jivani, gusan Sheram and others. Armenian composers who received classical education appeared on the stage. Tigran Chukhajyan wrote the first Armenian opera “Arshak the Second”. Composer Armen Tigranyan wrote the opera “Anush” on the theme of the poem of the same name by Hovhannes Tumanyan. The famous composer and musicologist Komitas laid the foundation scientific research folk musical folklore, recorded the music and words of 3 thousand folk songs. Komitas gave concerts and lectures in many European countries, introducing Europeans to the original Armenian folk musical art.
The end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries were also marked by the further development of Armenian painting. The famous painter was the famous marine painter Hovhannes Aivazovsky (1817-1900). He lived and worked in Feodosia (in Crimea), and most of his works are devoted to marine themes. His most famous paintings are “The Ninth Wave”, “Noah Descends from Mount Ararat”, “Lake Sevan”, “Massacre of Armenians in Trapizon in 1895” and etc.
Outstanding painters were Gevorg Bashinjagyan, Panos Terlemezyan, Vardges Surenyants.
Vardges Surenyants, in addition to easel painting, was also engaged in mural painting; he painted many Armenian churches in different cities of Russia. His most famous paintings are “Shamiram and Ara the Beautiful” and “Salome”. A copy of his painting “The Armenian Madonna” today adorns the new Cathedral in Yerevan. Forward
In 1453, Constantinople fell, heralding the beginning of the history of the Ottoman Empire (previously the Ottoman State), which was destined to become the author of one of the most terrible atrocities in human history.
1915 - symbol of human cruelty
Throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians lived in the east of the country, considering this land their home and historical homeland. However, the Muslim state treated them differently.
Being both a national and religious minority, Armenians were perceived as “second-class citizens.” Not only were their rights not protected, but the authorities themselves contributed in every possible way to the oppression of the Armenian population. The situation worsened sharply after Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878
The defeated empire did not come to terms with the conditions dictated to it, turning all its anger towards the Christians living on its territory. It is no coincidence that Muslims expelled from the Caucasus and the Balkan countries were settled next to them. The close proximity of people of different religions and cultures often led to serious conflicts.
Raids on Christian villages became commonplace. The authorities simply watched. The outbreak of protests by Armenians became another reason for mass arrests and murders. But this was just the beginning. Approaching 1915 which became a symbol of human cruelty and indifference, a year painted with a scarlet helmet of blood of millions of innocent victims.
Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire
April 24, 1915- this date has become a symbol of the Great Tribulation, grief over lost lives and ruined destinies. On this day, an entire people was beheaded, striving only for a peaceful life in the land of their ancestors.
It was on this day in Constantinople (Istanbul) that the arrests of the most prominent political and public figures Armenian elite. Politicians, writers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, musicians were arrested - everyone who could lead the people, become their leader on the path to resistance.
By the end of May, more than 800 of the most influential Armenians were completely isolated from society and few of them returned alive. Then it was the turn of the civilians. Raids on Armenian settlements became more frequent and merciless. Women, old people, children - the sword in the hands of the embittered “punishers” incited by the authorities did not spare anyone. And there was even no one to protect their home, because the men were called up to serve in the army of a country that only wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible. The surviving people were gathered into groups and, under the pretext of protection from enemy invasions, “resettled.”
How many people were left on the road, and how many of them, driven by sword and whip across the endless and barren expanses of Der Zor, reached their destination where slow death awaited them? They have no account. The scale of the operation planned by the authorities to exterminate an entire people under the guise of war was truly enormous.
Armenian genocide was preparing even before the war, and its beginning became a lever for launching the merciless “death machine.”
Back in February 1914, a boycott of Armenian enterprises began, followed by collection of property “for the army” and demobilization. In January 1915 Turkish army was defeated in the battle of Sarykamysh and retreated. Rumors began to spread that the success of the Russian army was greatly facilitated by the voluntary assistance of the Armenians.
The retreating army brought down its wrath on local Christians: Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks. Raids on settlements, massacres and deportations continued until the end of the First World War, but in fact, the genocide continued after the surrender of Turkey and the overthrow of the Young Turks.
The new government condemned the actions of the previous one, and the main organizers of the crimes were put on trial. But even those sentenced to death, many of them escaped punishment by escaping from a country where, in fact, they did not want to condemn them. All investigations into crimes committed under the cover of hostilities pursued only one goal: to reassure the world community, which, despite the attempts of the Turkish authorities to hide the true state of affairs in the country, already knew what actually happened.
Largely thanks to the courage of ambassadors and public figures of European countries, the world learned about the greatest atrocity of the early 20th century. The progressive public demanded punishment for the criminals.
But the true punishment came from the victims themselves. In October 1919, on the initiative of Dashnaktsutyun party activist Shaan Natali, a decision was made to organize the punitive operation “Nemesis”. As part of this operation, Taleat Pasha, Jemal Pasha, Said Halim and others who fled from justice criminals.
But the operation itself became a symbol of retribution. Soghomon Tehlirian, who lost his entire family during the genocide, on March 15, 1921, in the Charlottenburg region, shot and killed the man who took away his house and relatives Taleat Pasha. And right in the courtroom, Tehliryan was acquitted. The world did not recognize the guilt of the man who avenged the crippled fate of an entire people.
Genocide of 1915- everlasting memory !
But, despite numerous condemnations, the world is still not ready to completely free itself from the shackles and let into its home all the bitterness of one of the greatest atrocities in the history of mankind.
Countries such as France, Belgium, Argentina, Russia, Uruguay recognized and condemned the Armenian genocide on the territory of the Ottoman Empire. But one of the most important players in the world political arena, the United States, continues to ignore such an important topic, speculating on it to influence modern Turkey (so far, only a few states have recognized the Armenian genocide).
And, most importantly, the fact of genocide is denied by the Turkish state itself, the legal successor of the Ottoman Empire. But the facts cannot be changed, history cannot be rewritten, and the 1,500,000 voices of innocent victims will never be silenced. Sooner or later, the world will bow to history, because despite Hitler’s words that marked the beginning of the Holocaust (“And who now remembers the destruction of the Armenians”), in fact, “nothing is forgotten, no one is forgotten.”
Every year on April 24, Armenians will rise to the heights of Tsitsernakaberd, bringing with them fresh flowers in tribute to the victims of the “great atrocity” and the eternal flame of torches will burn in the hands of the new generation.