The Armenian Genocide. Armenocide

By Nikolay Hovhannisyan

"The book presents discussions of Armenocide – the most genocidal genocide. It elucidates the motivations for Arab historiography to study the Armenian genocide and the classification of Arab historiographic literature on that proble.
The monograph is addressed to specialists in Armenian history, Arabists, Turkologists and specialists of Oriental studies in general, international affairs experts, genocidologists, students and all those interested in historical issues."
The Armenian Genocide (Hayots Tseghaspanutyun), also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, traditionally by Armenians, as Medz Yeghern ("Great Crime"), was the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects from their historic homeland within the territory constituting the present-day Republic of Turkey. The starting date is conventionally held to be 24 April 1915, the day Ottoman authorities rounded up and arrested some 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople. The genocide was carried out during and after World War I and implemented in two phases: the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through massacre and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour, followed by the deportation of women, children, the elderly and infirm on death marches leading to the Syrian desert. Driven forward by military escorts, the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery, rape, and massacre. The total number of people killed as a result has been estimated at between 1 and 1.5 million. Other indigenous and Christian ethnic groups such as the Assyrians and the Ottoman Greeks were similarly targeted for extermination by the Ottoman government, and their treatment is considered by man.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Edit Print
• Release date: Mar 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9788832544794

Book preview

Armenia

INTRODUCTION

AN INCREASING INTEREST TOWARDS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

This is a collection of monographic studies of the author, published in 2002-2009. The first of among them was the study -The Armenian genocide. Armenocide¹, published in English in 2002. It was the first attempt to briefly introduce to a non-Armenian reader the Armenian Genocide, gone down in history as the first genocide of the XX century.

It had very large resonance in different countries, became an object of discussions in several international scientific and non-scientific conferences, round tables, etc. More over, that book was completely translated and published in foreign languages in several countries. And we want to mention first of all its translation by Atilla Tuygan into Turkish and publication in Istanbul, in 200 5², on the initiative of Turkish famous public figure Ragip Zarakolu, who during years are struggling for justice, i.e. for recognition by Turkish government the Armenian genocide, committed in Ottoman Empire during the First World War. And on his suggestion I wrote for Turkish edition a special preface- To Tirkish reader, attempting to explain Turkish auditorium the reasons and scales of Armenian genocide and responcibility of Ottoman ruling political, social and military forces for that crime. The publication of the above mentioned book in Turkey was sincerely greeted by certain Turkish intellectuals, who recognize the Armenian genocide, accuse it and are insisting on its recognition by the Turkish government too. About the Turkish publication of that book a special and very interesting article in newspaper Agos(Istanbul), had wrtten its editor in-chief Hrant Dink³. He had great popularity in Turkey, not only among the Armenians, but also among the Turks, and was very famous and influential person by his public activity, appreciating very highly the political and scientific significance of the book He was symbolizing himself a new stage of development of Turkish society and formation of new political tendencies within it. As it is known, two years later, in 2007, Hrant Dink was killed in Istanbul, becaming the victim of great plot, organaized by the reactonary forces in Turkey. His assasination shocked the world. There were mass demonstrations of protest in Istanbul and other cities of Turkey, during which the demonstrators were currying posters with slogans: Now we all are Hrant Dink.

The Armenian Genocide. Armenocide was also translated into French⁴, Germany⁵ and Russian⁶ and published in 2005. So in 2005 the study was already published in five languages-in English, Turkish, French, Germany and Russia, occupying dominating place in the world linguistic system.

The translation and publication of my study about the Armenian genocide was continued later on, covering new countries. We mean first of all its translation into Hungarian and publication in Budapest in 2007. It pursued certain practical aims. As mentiond its editor, Our aim is to represent with the help of this book to the Hungarian society and policymakers a material, ellucidated from different points of view, on the first genocide of the twentieth century, which is not known in our country sufficiently well. Our aim is also that the National Assembly of Hungary at last will recognize that what happened in Turkey is indeed an Armenian Genocide ⁷. So the Hungarians wanted by using the information and materials from the mentioned book to reach the recogntaion of Armenian genocide by the Parliament of their country.

Our book twice, in 2006⁸ and 2008⁹, was published in Japan on initiative of professor Hiroyoshi Segawa, who was also the translator of the text into Japanese. Later professor Segawa himself began to study Armenian genocaide, in particular its legal aspects, publishing several works in Japan and other countries.

In 2008 the Cairo University had published in Arabic my study Armenian-Arabic Historical Relations¹⁰ (translated by professor Muhammad Rifat al Imam, from the University of Alexandria) where it was included all materials from Armenian Genocide. Armenocide, relating to Armenian genocide. Thus the geographic borders of dissemination of the mentioned book were widened, including the Arab world.

We would like to mention, that Armenian Genocide. Armenocide was translated into different languages not only completely, but also fragmentarly, as into Italian¹¹, Arabic¹², etc.

Alongside with the Armenian Genocide. Armenocide to the non-Armenian reader was introduced also another my book-The Armenian Genocide in the Investigating Light of the Arabic Historical Science¹³, published in 2004, in Armenian. It was immediately translated into English and published in 2005¹⁴. Later that book appeared in the center of attention of the Iranian scholars and by their efforts it was translated into Persian and published in Tehran recently, in 2009¹⁵. Due to it, in the sphere of the study of Armenian genocide was included the point of view of Arabs, who were under the Ottoman yoke about 400 years and knew very well the nature of Ottoman ruling system, based on racial conception. The Arab historiography regards the Ottoman Empire as a country of carnages and massacres, not only practiced towards Armenians and other Christians, but also towards the Arabs and other Muslim peoples of the Ottoman Empire. Upon the Arabian point of view that Empire was a cradle of genocide.

The scholars, specialists on genocide, historians in different countries and representatives of different social groups had gotten acquainted with that book and its translations and were using it, its arguments in their struggle against the denial of Armenian genocide and against the denial of genocides in general. And we can confirm that after that increased the pressure on the Turkish government to recognize the fact of Armenian genocide, which became one of the main tasks of the conference, convened by the International Association of Genocide Scholars in Florida (USA), in June, 2005.The conference was organized in memory of the 90th years of Armenian genocide on the theme Ninety years after the Armenian Genocide and Sixty years after Holocaust ¹⁶.

In the books, under the discussion, elucidated are the prerequisites and causes, political and national-racial motives, mechanisms and the scope of commission of the Armenian genocide or Armenocide, as well as the issue of the responsibility of the Young Turks and their felonious leaders, who planned and brutally committed it.

A considerable space is given to the explication of the policy of the European Great Powers in the Armenian Question.

The author also dwelt on the issue of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the international community and present day Turkey.

On resuming, we have to state that translation of our books into several languages on the initiative of the given nations, is witnessing about the increasing interest towards the questions of the Armenian genocide. Peoples of the world want more and more to understand the essence of racial policy of Young Turks towards the Armenians and other non-Turkish inhabitants of Ottoman Empire, the policy pursued by the sultan,Turkish political establishment and first of all Young Turks, the final aim of which was to turn the Ottoman Empire into ethnically pure Turkish state by the way of phisical annihilation of non-Turkish nations. They also want to know why the political establishment of contemporary Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian genocide and genocidal actions against the Assyrians, Greeks and other peoples of the Ottoman Empire. We are sure that the publication of this collection of monographic studies on genocide will strengthen the position of antigenocidal forces in every country throughout the world, will encourage their struggle for justice and thus to prevent new genocides, remembering that every genocide is crime not only against the given nation, but also against the mankind.

We have to take into consideration two circumstnces too. In Florida International conference on 90 years after Armenian Genocide and 60 years after Holacaust in 2005, special attention was given to the problems of denial of genocide in generally. It was mentioned that in fact all genocides since Armenian genocide of 1915 to the genocide in Darfur, taking also Jewish Holocaust, now are denying by this or other countries or national-political forces. Turkish historian Taner Akcham, one of the strugglers for recognition by Turkey the Armenian genocide, in his paper represented to the mentioned conference, stated that Turkey is not only the orgnizer of the first genocide of the twentieth century, but also "the founder of genocide denial idustry".His point of view was supported by all participants of that very important international conference. At the same time it was declared by conference that each denial of genocide means second genocide towards the people who once already had been an object of genocide.

We think that it is time to think of creating a common world front not only against new genocides, but also against the policy of genocide denial.

And we like to hope that our collecton of monographic studies on genocide and its publication will serve to that noble aim.

FOREWORD

The term genocide first appeared in scientific literature and political lexicon in 1944, with the right of authorship pertaining to Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer of Jewish descent.

The appreciative mankind is forever indebted to him for this significant discovery – in con testable and unobjectionable, for it designates the problem clearly and precisely, communicates the idea comprehensively, accurately and laconically.

Lemkin’s discovery is chiefly based on the first two tragedies of the XX century: the Genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, and the Holocaust of Jews in Fascist Germany.