part III
I believe in not to declare the subject as closed, instead we should
promote the necessary research that eventually you will make it possible
to arrive a more conclusive knowledge at a consensus of informed opinion
that will facilitate reconciliation between Armenians and Turks.
No one, it should be stressed, disputes the extent of Armenian suffering
at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during the World War I. With little or
no notice, the Ottoman government forced Armenian men, women, and children
to leave their historic communities; during the subsequent harrowing trek
over mountains and through deserts, large numbers of them died of
starvation and disease, or were murdered. Although the absence of good
statistics on the size of the pre-war Armenian population in Turkey makes
it impossible to establish the true extent of the loss of life, reliable
estimates put the number of deaths at more than 650,000, or around 40
percent of a total Armenian population of 1.75 million.
The historical question at issue is specific intent-that is, whether the
Turkish regime intentionally organized the annihilation of its Armenian
minority, and thus guilty of genocide. According to the Genocide
Convention of 1948, intent to destroy a group is a necessary condition of
genocide; most other definitions of this crime of crimes similarly insist
upon the centrality of malicious intent. Hence the crucial problem to be
addressed is not the huge loss of life in and of itself but rather whether
the Young Turk government deliberately sought the deaths that we know to
have occurred.
Historical background:
The Armenians have lived in the southern Caucasus, between the Black Sea
and the Caspian Sea, since ancient times. In the early 4th century of the
CE, they were the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion.
Much of their long history, however, has been spent under foreign rule.
The last independent Armenian state (before the present-day, post-Soviet
Republic of Armenia) fell in 1375, and by the early 16th century most
Armenians were subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Under the millet system
instituted by Sultan Mohammed II (1451-1481), they enjoyed religious,
cultural, and social autonomy and they were known as the "loyal
community," a status that lasted well into the 19th century.
Though large numbers of Armenians settled in Constantinople and in other
Ottoman towns, where they prospered as merchants, bankers, and artisans,
the majority continued to live as peasants in eastern Anatolia. During
the autocratic rule of Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909), the lot of the
Armenians deteriorated, and nationalistic sentiment began to emerge. In
June 1890, Armenian students in the Russian-controlled area of the
Caucasus organized the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Demanding the
political and economic emancipation of Turkish Armenia, the Dashnaks (as
they were known) waged guerrilla warfare against Turkish army units,
gendarmerie posts, and Kurdish villages involved in attacks on Armenians.
They operated from bases in the Caucasus and Persia and took advantage of
eastern Anatolia's mountainous terrain.
promote the necessary research that eventually you will make it possible
to arrive a more conclusive knowledge at a consensus of informed opinion
that will facilitate reconciliation between Armenians and Turks.
No one, it should be stressed, disputes the extent of Armenian suffering
at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during the World War I. With little or
no notice, the Ottoman government forced Armenian men, women, and children
to leave their historic communities; during the subsequent harrowing trek
over mountains and through deserts, large numbers of them died of
starvation and disease, or were murdered. Although the absence of good
statistics on the size of the pre-war Armenian population in Turkey makes
it impossible to establish the true extent of the loss of life, reliable
estimates put the number of deaths at more than 650,000, or around 40
percent of a total Armenian population of 1.75 million.
The historical question at issue is specific intent-that is, whether the
Turkish regime intentionally organized the annihilation of its Armenian
minority, and thus guilty of genocide. According to the Genocide
Convention of 1948, intent to destroy a group is a necessary condition of
genocide; most other definitions of this crime of crimes similarly insist
upon the centrality of malicious intent. Hence the crucial problem to be
addressed is not the huge loss of life in and of itself but rather whether
the Young Turk government deliberately sought the deaths that we know to
have occurred.
Historical background:
The Armenians have lived in the southern Caucasus, between the Black Sea
and the Caspian Sea, since ancient times. In the early 4th century of the
CE, they were the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion.
Much of their long history, however, has been spent under foreign rule.
The last independent Armenian state (before the present-day, post-Soviet
Republic of Armenia) fell in 1375, and by the early 16th century most
Armenians were subjects of the Ottoman Empire. Under the millet system
instituted by Sultan Mohammed II (1451-1481), they enjoyed religious,
cultural, and social autonomy and they were known as the "loyal
community," a status that lasted well into the 19th century.
Though large numbers of Armenians settled in Constantinople and in other
Ottoman towns, where they prospered as merchants, bankers, and artisans,
the majority continued to live as peasants in eastern Anatolia. During
the autocratic rule of Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909), the lot of the
Armenians deteriorated, and nationalistic sentiment began to emerge. In
June 1890, Armenian students in the Russian-controlled area of the
Caucasus organized the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Demanding the
political and economic emancipation of Turkish Armenia, the Dashnaks (as
they were known) waged guerrilla warfare against Turkish army units,
gendarmerie posts, and Kurdish villages involved in attacks on Armenians.
They operated from bases in the Caucasus and Persia and took advantage of
eastern Anatolia's mountainous terrain.
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