Ts՚eghaspanagitakan handes (“Journal of Genocide Studies”)
HISTORY
Hayk Demoyan
Pages 9-23
Abstract
The article presents and analyzes the episodes of the Armenian-Turkish nationalist rivalry in sport and the scout movement in the Ottoman Empire at the beginning of the XX century.
Coming to power in 1908 the Young Turk party “Unity and Progress” launched a consistent policy, based on the ideology of the Turkish chauvinist nationalism, the cornerstone of which became the policy of Turkifi cation and restrictions on the rights of national minorities.
The success of the Armenian sportsmen and the development of the Armenian sport life were in contradiction with the offi cial policy aimed at strengthening the domination of the Turkish element in the Empire. On the eve of World War I the Young Turks completely reorganized the Turkish sport life in the spirit of Ittihatist ideology thus seeking to gain an advantage toward the most advanced sports structures belonging to non-Turkish ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire.
Keywords: Young Turks, sport, scout movement, Olympic games, physical education.
Received on 05.11.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Narine Hakobyan
Pages 24-31
Abstract
The paper studies the main directions as well as results of the humanitarian works carried out by foreign missionaries in the Ottoman Empire during and after the Hamidian massacres. The relief work of American (ABCFM, American Red Cross), as well as European (KMA, DOM) organizations of taking care of thousands of orphans and widows and recovering the devastated economy of Western Armenia is presented and analyzed.
Keywords: Armenian Genocide, missionaries, Ottoman Empire, Armenian Massacres.
Received on 30.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Arpine Bablumyan
Pages 32-38
Abstract
The paper analyzes the main mechanisms of Hamidian massacres on the example of Kharberd province of Western Armenia.
Anti-Armenian policy of Turkish authorities was pursued for centuries. An important part of that policy was attempt to change the demographic situation in favor of Muslim population. Massacres of the Armenians at the end of XIX century also brought demographic changes: nearly 40,000 Armenians were killed during these slaughters, nearly 15,000 were forcefully Islamized in Kharberd province.
Keywords: Western Armenia, Kharberd province, Hamidian massacres, Islamization, demography, Malatia, Arabkir, Akn.
Received on 06.11.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Valery Tunyan
Pages 39-54
Abstract
Historical myths on the deportation of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Turkey during World War I are caused by ethnocratic approach of the Turkish authorities, the wish to whitewash the history for the future generations and avoid responsibility. The contribution is made by the biased historians promoting the ethnic conflict, concealing the reality, imposing false images and stereotypes. In the Turkish society the history is constructed on the Young Turk’s myths about the Armenian Genocide as well as the biased historians. The result is the complex meme formation to counteract the Armenian
Genocide recognition.
Mythology about deportations of the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide passed a number of stages: the official myths of the Young Turks (1915-1918) that justify the policy regime; the myths of denial and distortion (late XX century-early XXI century), developing and modernizing the images of the deportation and the Armenian Genocide; the myths of denial and recognition (2014), acknowledging the deportation, equalizing the number of victims of the Armenian and Muslim populations, denying the Armenian Genocide.
Keywords: Armenian genocide denial, deportation of the Armenians, Young Turks, meme formation, Turkey, Armenia.
Received on 24.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Narine Margaryan
Pages 55-66
Abstract
This paper deals with the Young Turks’ policy to use Islam as a tool in implementing the Armenian Genocide. Turkish politicians were trying to foster their anti-Armenian rhetoric through triggering religious bigotry. Armenians were portrayed as a foe of Islam thus trying to substantiate their arguments for annihilation of the Armenian nation. Jihad was also exploited to further bolster anti-Armenian feelings. Meanwhile Arab religious leaders, among them Sheriff Hussein, were vehemently opposing this line by directly challenging Young Turks’ approach. They were urging Young Turks not to use Islam to achieve their political goals and declaring that main postulates of Islam were in sharp contradiction with Ottoman Empire’s authorities’ Genocidal policy against Armenians.
Keywords: Armenian genocide, Young Turk government, Arabs, government policy, manipulating Islam, Islamic ideas, religious intolerance, Jihad.
Received on 24.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Gevorg Vardanyan
Pages 67-75
Abstract
After the Mudros armistice Ottoman Empire had to withdraw its troops from Transcaucasia to the pre-World War I boundaries. However, the Turkish authorities delayed the removal of the soldiers. They established the Muslim Council of Kars and declared so-called South-Western Caucasian Provisional Government. The main goal of this policy was “to preserve” those areas and prevent their transition to the newly established Republic of Armenia. The attempts to create artificial state formations were largely used in the Turkish foreign policy throughout the 20th century.
Keywords: Ottoman Empire, South – Western Caucasian Provisional Government, Kars, Shura, Republic of Armenia, Republic of Azerbaijan.
Received on 31.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Regina Galustyan
Pages 76-89
Abstract
The history and historical memory are crucial for nation building projects. With the memory of the past collectiveness obtains identity. In the case of the Republic of Turkey identity formation was factitious. During this policy fabulous Turkish historiography was developed, the cornerstone of which became a Speech delivered by Mustafa Kemal Pasha (later Atatürk). Thesises underpinned in it, such as indegenouty of Turks in the Western Armenia, the Turkishness of Armenian regions, treachery of Armenians and of all the minorities in the Empire, their collaboration with the West, the version of the Turks’ innocence in the Armenian Genocide has united to form the theory of “the world conspiracy against Turkish people”, which made them accept their Turkish identity, consolidate against foreign danger in a new Turkish Republic, to deny Armenians and anything Armenian.
Keywords: identity construction, memory formation, historiography, Speech, Western Armenia.
Received on 06.11.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Robert Tatoyan
Pages 90-99
Abstract
The article presents and analyzes some of the new tendencies in the Turkish historiography aimed at lessening the number of victims of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire on the example of the monograph of the Turkish historian Fuat Dündar “Crime of Numbers: The Role of Statistics in the Armenian Question” (published in English in 2010).
In his book Dündar among other topics touches upon the issues of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire on the eve of the Armenian Genocide and the number of victims of this terrible crime, devoting a separate chapter to its estimates. Dündar bases his calculations on the statistical figures found in recently published notebook of Talaat, one of the main organizers of the Armenian Genocide, and comes to the conclusion that on the eve of 1915 about 1.5 million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire. This number is a miscalculation and is significantly below reality.
Then Dündar deducts from the number of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire on the eve of the genocide, estimated by him as of 1.5 million, the number of survived Armenians in 1918, which he defines as 836,000, coming to the conclusion that as a result of the Armenian Genocide about 664.000 were killed – the number, which is also underestimate.
Keywords: Armenian genocide denial, statistics, Turkish historiography.
Received on 08.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY
Suren Manukyan
Pages 100-126
Abstract
The hierarchy of Armenian genocide perpetrators can be divided into three levels. The main decision makers to mass murders։ top-members of government, party elite and several influential persons, who often were at the same time members of authority and leaders of Union and Progress party.
“Desk murderers” at the middle-level, where regional officials (valis, mutasarifs, local police and gendarmerie chiefs, religion leaders) implemented orders of the political leadership. To accomplish Armenian deportations and massacres in the provinces, the CUP reverted to the institute of executive secretaries, who carried out orders coming from the center. The Turkish army and police also participated in the Armenian Genocide. A quasi-military structure, Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa (Special Organization) had a pivotal role in the Armenian Genocide. Manpower to commit the atrocities was replenished with criminals set free from prisons, Circassian gangs and Kurdish tribes.
Direct perpetrators were at the most basic local level of society. A substantial number of ordinary Muslim Ottoman citizens were also involved in mass killings, marauding and plunder of Armenian property, taking advantage of atmosphere of impunity.
Keywords: Responsibles for Armenian Genocide, perpetrators, mass participation.
Received on 09.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Kristine Najaryan
Pages 127-132
Abstract
This article considers the issue of teaching the Armenian Genocide in the public schools. The main mechanisms of the representation of the Armenian Genocide applied during the last decades are shown. The main conclusion is that the Armenian Genocide should be taught in the schools as a separate subject, because the education is important in the context of saving and passing the collective memory of the Armenian Genocide, as well as preventing future genocides.
Keywords: genocide education, Armenian genocide, prevention, memory.
Received on 11.11.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Shushan Khachatryan
Pages 133-143
Abstract
The article deals with some interpretations of the phenomenon of genocide in terms of theology and religious studies. The article is an introductive description of the religious studies and theological research of genocides. The issues are classified under two main groups with its points: historical-religious and theological. The first group touches some questions of human massacres in the pagan religions, the stories about the slaughter of indigenous nations of Canaan reflected in the Old Testament, some issues on religious conversions and clashes of the religions that might lead to genocides (the principal pattern is Islam and Christianity). The second group includes some aspects of theology of sacrifices, problem of evil and theodicy, a discussion of canonization of the victims of the Armenian Genocide and some questions of the Armenian national identity after the Genocide.
Keywords: genocide theology, conversion, sin of all sins, problem of evil, theodicy, canonization.
Received on 05.11.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
LAW
Edita Gzoyan
Pages 144-155
Abstract
The current article deals with an issue of the Armenian Genocide denial by the Republic of Turkey. It reveals the opinions of the renowned genocide scholars, as well as court decisions qualifying Genocide denial to racism and racial discrimination. The main point of the article is that the denial of the Armenian Genocide amounts to discrimination and racism towards the Armenians all over the world. The article also demonstrates that Genocide denial is a punishable act under the national and international legislation and discusses the international legal responsibility of Turkey under the European Convention of Human Rights and International Covenant on Civil and political Rights.
Keywords: Armenian Genocide denial, racism, European Convention of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and political Rights, international legal responsibility of Turkey.
Received on 24.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Narek Poghosyan
Pages 156-163
Abstract
This article examines how the Armenian genocide impacted Raphael Lemkin in his early career. Mainly the role of the Armenian genocide in conceptualizing the mechanism of punishment for such crimes is discussed. The article which presents also some biographical data on Lemkin, shows that the Armenian genocide had an important role for Rafael Lemkin in studying the international law.
Keywords: genocide, international law, Raphael Lemkin.
Received on 18.11.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
Seda Parsamyan
Pages 164-175
Abstract
This article discusses the following issues:
1. The pivotal role of the term “cultural genocide” or the presence of cultural element in the concept of “genocide”, defined by Raphael Lemkin.
2. The issue of expanding the definition of the term Genocide in international legal documents and including the cultural aspect in it.
Particularly, the main focus is on 2 documents – the UN Convention of December 9, 1948 titled “The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”, and the “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, issued on September 13, 2007. Although in the drafts of these documents the term “cultural genocide” was included and any action of cultural genocide was condemned, in the final versions of them the term of “cultural genocide” was omitted.
Keywords: cultural genocide, cultural aspect of genocide, genocide concept, draft convention, genocide convention, International Law, Rafael Lemkin.
Received on 31.10.2014
Published on 23.12.2014
All works in the "Journal of Genocide Studies" are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.