In the history of the genocide, some historians distinguish two periods. If at the first stage (1878-1914) the task was to hold the territory of the enslaved people and organize a mass exodus, then in 1915-1922 the destruction of the ethnic and political Armenian clan, which prevented the implementation of the pan-Turkism program, was put at the forefront. Before the First World War, the destruction of the Armenian national group was carried out in the form of a system of widespread single killings, combined with periodic massacres of Armenians in certain areas where they constituted an absolute majority (the massacre in Sasun, murders throughout the empire in the autumn and winter of 1895, the massacre in Istanbul in Van area).
The original number of the people who lived in this territory is a moot point, since a significant part of the archives was destroyed. It is known that in the middle of the XIX century in the Ottoman Empire, non-Muslims made up about 56% of the population.
According to the Armenian Patriarchate, in 1878, three million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire. In 1914, the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey estimated the number of Armenians in the country at 1,845,450. The Armenian population decreased by more than a million due to the massacre in 1894-1896, the flight of Armenians from Turkey and forced conversion to Islam.
The Young Turks, who came to power after the revolution of 1908, continued the policy of brutally suppressing the national freedom movement. In ideology, the old doctrine of Ottomanism was replaced by no less rigid concepts of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Islamism. A campaign of forcible Turkification of the population was launched, and non-Turkish organizations were banned.
In April 1909, the Cilician massacre took place, the massacre of the Armenians of the vilayets of Adana and Allepo. The victims of the massacre were about 30 thousand people, among whom were not only Armenians, but also Greeks, Syrians and Chaldeans. In general, during these years, the Young Turks paved the way for a complete solution of the "Armenian issue".
In February 1915, at a special meeting of the government, the Young Turk ideologist Dr. Nazim Bey outlined a plan for the complete and widespread annihilation of the Armenian people: “It is necessary to completely exterminate the Armenian nation, leaving not a single living Armenian on our land. memory..."
On April 24, 1915, the day now celebrated as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide, mass arrests of the Armenian intellectual, religious, economic and political elite began in Constantinople, which led to the complete destruction of a whole galaxy of prominent figures of Armenian culture. More than 800 representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia were arrested and subsequently killed, including writers Grigor Zohrab, Daniel Varuzhan, Siamanto, Ruben Sevak. Unable to bear the death of his friends, the great composer Komitas lost his mind.
In May-June 1915, a massacre and deportation of Armenians began in Western Armenia.
The general and systematic campaign against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire consisted in the expulsion of Armenians into the desert and subsequent executions, death by bands of marauders or from hunger or thirst. Deportations were subjected to Armenians from almost all the main centers of the empire.
On June 21, 1915, during the final act of the deportation, its main mastermind, Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha, ordered the deportation of "all Armenians without exception" living in ten provinces eastern region Ottoman Empire, with the exception of those who were deemed useful to the state. Under this new directive, the deportation was carried out on the "ten percent principle", according to which Armenians should not exceed 10% of the Muslims in the region.
The process of expulsion and extermination of the Turkish Armenians culminated in a series of military campaigns in 1920 against the refugees who had returned to Cilicia and during the massacre in Smyrna (modern Izmir) in September 1922, when troops under the command of Mustafa Kemal slaughtered the Armenian quarter in Smyrna, and then, under pressure from the Western powers, the survivors were allowed to evacuate. With the destruction of the Armenians of Smyrna, the last surviving compact community, the Armenian population of Turkey practically ceased to exist in their historical homeland. The surviving refugees scattered around the world, forming diasporas in several dozen countries.
Modern estimates of the number of victims of the genocide vary from 200,000 (some Turkish sources) to more than 2 million Armenians. Most historians estimate the number of victims between 1 and 1.5 million people. Over 800 thousand became refugees.
It is difficult to determine the exact number of victims and survivors, since since 1915, fleeing murders and pogroms, many Armenian families have changed their religion (according to some sources - from 250 thousand to 300 thousand people).
For many years, Armenians around the world have been striving to international community officially and unconditionally recognized the fact of the genocide. The first special decree recognizing and condemning the terrible tragedy of 1915 was adopted by the Parliament of Uruguay (April 20, 1965). Laws, resolutions and decisions on the Armenian Genocide were subsequently adopted by the European Parliament, the State Duma of Russia, the parliaments of other countries, in particular Cyprus, Argentina, Canada, Greece, Lebanon, Belgium, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Venezuela, Lithuania, Chile, Bolivia, and the Vatican.
The Armenian Genocide has been recognized by over 40 US states, the Australian state of New South Wales, the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario (including the city of Toronto), the Swiss cantons of Geneva and Vaud, Wales (Great Britain), about 40 Italian communes, dozens of international and national organizations, including including the World Council of Churches, the Human Rights League, the Elie Wiesel Humanitarian Foundation, the Union of Jewish Communities of America.
On April 14, 1995, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a statement "On the condemnation of the genocide of the Armenian people in 1915-1922."
The US government massacred 1.5 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, but refuses to call it a genocide.
The Armenian community of the United States has long adopted a resolution recognizing the fact of the genocide of the Armenian people by Congress.
Attempts to carry out this legislative initiative have been made in Congress more than once, but they have not been crowned with success.
The issue of recognition of the genocide in the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.
Armenia and Turkey have not yet established diplomatic relations, and the Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 at the initiative of official Ankara.
Turkey traditionally rejects accusations of the Armenian genocide, arguing that the victims of the 1915 tragedy were both Armenians and Turks, and reacts extremely painfully to the process of international recognition of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire.
In 1965, a monument to the victims of the genocide was erected on the territory of the Catholicosate in Etchmiadzin. In 1967, the construction of a memorial complex was completed in Yerevan on the hill of Tsitsernakaberd (Swallow Fortress). In 1995, the Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide was built near the memorial complex.
The motto of Armenians around the world for the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide is the words "I remember and I demand", and the symbol is a forget-me-not. This flower in all languages has a symbolic meaning - to remember, not to forget and remind. The memorial in Tsitserkaberd with its 12 pylons is graphically depicted in the cup of the flower. This symbol will be actively used throughout 2015.
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
In 1453, Constantinople fell, heralding the beginning of the history of the Ottoman Empire (formerly the Ottoman state), which was destined to become the author of one of the most terrible atrocities in the history of mankind.
1915 - a symbol of human cruelty
Throughout the history of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians lived in the east of the country, who considered this land their home and historical homeland. However, the Muslim state treated them differently.
Being both a national and a religious minority, the Armenians were perceived as “second-class citizens”. Their rights were not only not protected, but the authorities themselves contributed in every possible way to the oppression of the Armenian population. The situation escalated sharply after Russian-Turkish war 1877-1878
The defeated empire did not accept the conditions dictated to it, turning all its anger on the Christians living on its territory. It is no coincidence that Muslims expelled from the Caucasus and from Balkan countries. The close proximity of people of different faiths and cultures often led to serious conflicts.
Raids on Christian villages have become commonplace. The government just watched. The beginning of the protests of the Armenians became another reason for mass arrests and killings. But that was only the beginning. Approached 1915 which has become 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 Sorrow, grief for lost lives and lost destinies. On this day, a whole nation was beheaded, striving only for a peaceful life in the land of their ancestors.
It was on this day that the arrests of the most prominent political and public figures of the Armenian elite began in Constantinople (Istanbul). Politicians, writers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, musicians were arrested - everyone who could lead the people, become its 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 civilians. Raids on Armenian settlements became more frequent and more merciless. Women, old people, children - the sword in the hands of the "punishers" embittered and incited by the authorities did not spare anyone. And even there was 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 soon as possible. The surviving people were gathered into groups and, under the pretext of protection from enemy invasions, "relocated".
How many people were left on the road, and how many of them, driven by sword and whip through the endless and barren expanses of Der Zor, reached their destination where their slow death awaited? They don't have an account. The scale of the operation conceived by the authorities to destroy an entire people under the guise of war was truly enormous.
Armenian Genocide was prepared even before the war, and its beginning became a lever for launching a merciless "death machine".
Back in February 1914, a boycott of Armenian enterprises began, followed by the collection of property “for the army” and demobilization. In January 1915, the Turkish army was defeated in the battle of Sarikamish and retreated. Rumors began to circulate that success Russian army the voluntary assistance of the Armenians contributed greatly.
The retreating army unleashed its wrath on the 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 capitulation of Turkey and the overthrow of the Young Turks.
The new government condemned the actions of the previous one, the main organizers of the crimes fell under the tribunal. But even sentenced to death, many of them escaped punishment by fleeing a country where, in fact, they did not want to condemn them. All investigations of crimes committed under the guise 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 really happened.
Largely thanks to the courage of the ambassadors and public figures of European countries, the world learned about the greatest atrocity of the early 20th century. The advanced public demanded punishment for criminals.
But the real punishment came from the victims themselves. In October 1919, at the initiative of Shaan Natali, an activist of the Dashnaktsutyun party, a decision was made to organize a punitive operation "Nemesis". As part of this operation, Taleat Pasha, Dzhemal 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 dead a man who had taken away his house and relatives Taleat Pasha. And right in the courtroom, Tehlirian was acquitted. The world did not recognize the guilt of a man who avenged the crippled fate of an entire nation.
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 have 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 bypass such an important topic, speculating on it to influence modern Turkey (so far Armenian genocide recognized by only a few states).
And, most importantly, the fact of the genocide is denied by the Turkish state itself, the 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 (“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 height of Tsitsernakaberd, bringing with them fresh flowers as a tribute to the victims of the “great atrocity” and the eternal fire of torches will burn in the hands of a new generation.
About crimes and information war after 102 years
Isabella Muradyan
In these beautiful spring days, when nature awakens and blooms, is there a place in the heart of every Armenian, young or adult, that will no longer bloom ... All Armenians, not excluding those whose ancestors did not suffer during a series of Genocides organized by the Turks and their patrons in 1895-1896, 1909, 1915-1923 bear this pain in themselves...
And everyone is tormented by the question - why, why, why ...?! Despite the fact that so little and so much time has passed at the same time, most of the Armenians, and not only them, have a poor idea of the answers to these questions.
This happens because since the end of the 19th century, a large-scale information war has been waged against the Armenians - and the majority of the Armenian elite of the Republic of Armenia and the Diaspora do not understand this.
The sacred duty of every Armenian parent, especially a mother, in the name of love and in the name of the life she has given, is not only to provide the child with normal conditions for growth and development, to provide knowledge about the terrible danger that can find him everywhere, her name is the Unpunished Armenian Genocide...
Within the framework of this article, I will only have the opportunity to lift the veil on this issue and awaken your desire to learn more ...
Feral wolf effect
In order to better understand the problems of the peoples living under the Turkish yoke, one should better consider the Turks themselves and their legislative acts and customs. These nomadic tribes came to our region around the 11th century, following their herds during a terrible drought that reigned in Altai and the Volga steppes, but this is not their homeland. The Turks themselves and most scientists of the world consider the steppe and semi-desert, which are part of China, to be the ancestral home of the Turks. Today it is the Xinjiang Uygur region of China.
Worthy of mention widely famous legend about the origin of the Turks, which is told by the TURKIC scientists themselves. A certain young boy survived after an enemy raid on his village in the steppe. But they chopped off his arms and legs and left him to die. The boy was found and raised by a wild she-wolf.
Then, having matured, he copulated with the she-wolf who fed him and from their connection eleven children were born, who formed the BASIS of the ELITE of the TURKIC TRIBES (genus Ashina).
If you at least once visit the ancestral home of the Turks - in the Xinjiang Uygur region of China and in the mass you will encounter the Uyghurs - a relatively pure form of the Turks, you will see their way of life and everyday life, you will immediately understand a lot - and most importantly, that the Turkic legends were right ... Already For a couple of centuries, the Chinese have been trying with a firm hand to ennoble the Uyghurs / train them, build modern houses, create infrastructure, provide the latest technologies, etc. /. However, even today the relationship between the Chinese and the Uyghurs is rather ambiguous, based on the support of the “fraternal Turkish government”. Turkey officially finances terrorist Uyghur organizations that advocate secession from China and organize numerous terrorist attacks in China. One of the brutal ones was in 2011, when in Kashgar Uyghur terrorists first threw explosive device to the restaurant, and then they began to finish off the fleeing visitors with knives ... As a rule, in all terrorist attacks, the majority of the victims are Han Chinese / ethnic Chinese /.
The centuries-old processes of abduction and mixing of the Turks determined their external distance from their Uyghur relatives, but as you can see, their essence is one. Despite today's external deceptive similarity of the Turks / incl. Azeri-Turks / with the peoples of our region, it does not change, which is dispassionately evidenced by the terrible statistics of their inhuman crimes against Armenians (Greeks, Assyrians, Slavs, etc.), that in 1895-96, that in 1905 or 1909, that 1915- 1923, 1988 or 2016 / slaughtered family of Armenian old people and abuse of the corpses of Armenian soldiers, 4-day war / ...
One of the reasons is our misunderstanding of the Turkish essence. It is interesting, but being very practical people in everyday life and business, Armenians become “incorrigible romantics” (the words of the father of Zionism T. Herzel) in politics and operate in advance with categories that fail from the very beginning. Instead of moving away from the feral "wolf" or trying to isolate / destroy it, the majority is trying to "establish cooperation", "cause guilt", "offended" or looking for negotiators". Needless to say, at any opportunity this "wolf" will try to deal with you - a favorite Turkish proverb even today "you cannot cut off the outstretched hand, kiss it while you can ...". And let’s also imagine that a feral wolf has partial human thinking and is aware that he lives on land stolen from you, in a house stolen from you, eats fruits stolen from you, sells valuables stolen from you ... It’s not that he is bad, it’s just different - a completely different subspecies, and these are your problems since you don’t understand this ...
Another very important aspect is the causes of the Armenian Genocide should be sought primarily in the geopolitical and economic planes.
On the topic of the causes of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey, there are great amount archival documents, historical, scientific and other literature, but even the broad masses of the Armenian people and its elite (including the Diaspora) are still in captivity of a number of delusions specially carried out by Turkish propaganda and its patrons - and this a significant part of the information war against the Armenians.
I will bring Top 5 of these misconceptions:
The genocide was a consequence of the First World War;
Mass deportations of the Armenian population were carried out from the Eastern front zone deep into the Ottoman Empire and were caused by military expediency so that the Armenians would not help the enemy (mainly the Russians);
Numerous casualties among the Armenians - the civilian population of the Ottoman Empire were random, not organized;
The basis of the Armenian Genocide was the religious difference between Armenians and Turks - i.e. there was conflict between Christians and Muslims;
The Armenians lived well with the Turks as subjects of the Ottoman Empire, and only the Western countries and Russia destroyed friendly relations two peoples - Armenian and Turkish.
Giving a brief analysis, we immediately note that none of these statements has any serious grounds. This a well-thought-out information war that has been going on for decades.
It is designed to hide the true causes of the Armenian Genocide, which lie in the economic and geopolitical planes and are not limited to the 1915 Genocide. It was precisely the desire to physically destroy the Armenians, take away their material wealth and territory, and so that nothing would prevent the creation of a new pan-Turkic empire led by Turkey - from Europe (Albania) to China (Xinjiang province).
Exactly the pan-Turkic component and the economic defeat of the Armenians(and then the Pontic Greeks) were one of the main ideas of the Genocide of 1909, 1915-1923 carried out by the Young Turks.
(On the map, the planned pan-Turkic empire is marked in red, its further advancement is marked in pink). And today, a small part of our homeland, the Republic of Armenia (about 7% of the original, see the map of the Armenian Highlands) cuts the proposed empire with a narrow wedge.
MYTH 1st. The genocide of 1915 was a consequence of the First World War.
It's a lie. The decision to exterminate the Armenians has been discussed in certain political circles in Turkey (and especially in the Young Turks) since the end of the 19th century, especially intensively since 1905, when there was still no talk of the First World War. With the participation and support of Turkish emissaries in Transcaucasia in 1905. the first Turkic/Tatar-Armenian clashes and pogroms of Armenians in Baku, Shushi, Nakhichevan, Erivan, Goris, Yelisavetpol were prepared and carried out. After the suppression of the Turkic / Tatar rebellion by the tsarist troops, the instigators fled to Turkey and entered the central committee of the Young Turks (Akhmed Agaev, Alimardan-bek Topchibashev, etc.). In total, there were from 3,000 to 10,000 people who died.
As a result of the pogroms, thousands of workers lost their jobs and livelihoods. The Caspian, Caucasian, "Petrov", Balakhani and other oil companies, warehouses, Beckendorf's theater owned by Armenians were burned. The damage of the pogroms reached about 25 million rubles - about 774,235,000 US dollars today (the gold value of 1 ruble was 0.774235 grams of pure gold) Armenian campaigns were especially affected, since the fires were directed specifically against the Armenians (for comparison, the monthly average earnings of a worker in 1905 in the Russian Empire was 17 rubles 125 kopecks, 1 kg of beef shoulder blade - 45 kopecks, 1 liter of fresh milk - 14 kopecks, 1 kilogram of premium wheat flour - 24 kopecks, etc.
We should not forget the Armenian Genocide already provoked by the Young Turks in 1909. in Adana, Marash, Kessab (massacre on the territory of the former Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, Ottoman Turkey). 30,000 Armenians were killed. The total damage inflicted on the Armenians was about 20 million Turkish liras. 24 churches, 16 schools, 232 houses, 30 hotels, 2 factories, 1,429 summer houses, 253 farms, 523 shops, 23 mills and many other objects were burned down.
For comparison: the Ottoman debt to creditors after the First World War under the Treaty of Sèvres was fixed at 143 million gold Turkish liras.
So The First World War was for the Young Turks only a screen and decoration for the well-thought-out and prepared destruction of the Armenians in their area of residence - on the historical land of Armenia...
MYTH 2nd. Mass deportations of the Armenian population were carried out from the Eastern front zone deep into the Ottoman Empire and were caused by military expediency so that the Armenians would not help the enemy (mainly the Russians). It's a lie. The Ottoman Armenians did not help the enemies - and the same Russians. Yes, in the Russian army in 1914. were Armenians from among the subjects Russian Empire- 250 thousand people, many were mobilized for the war and fought on the fronts, incl. against Turkey. However, according to official data, there were also Ottoman subjects of Armenians from the Turkish side - about 170 thousand (according to some sources, about 300 thousand) who fought as part of the Turkish troops (whom the Turks drafted into their army and then killed). The very fact of the participation of Armenian subjects of the Russian Empire did not make the Ottoman Armenians traitors, as some Turkish historians are trying to prove. On the contrary, when the Turkish troops under the command of Enver Pasha (Minister of War) after an attack on the Russian Empire were rebuffed and suffered a brutal defeat near Sarikamysh in January 1915, it was the Ottoman Armenians who helped Enver Pasha escape.
The thesis about the deportation of Armenians from the frontline zone is also false, since the first deportations of Armenians were carried out not at all on the eastern front, but from the center of the empire - from Cilicia and AnatoliainSyria. And in all cases, the deportees were doomed to death in advance.
MYTH 3rd. Numerous casualties among the Armenians - the civilian population of the Ottoman Empire were random, not organized. Another FALSE - a single mechanism for the arrest and murder of Armenian men, and then the deportation of women and children under escort with gendarmes and the organized extermination of Armenians throughout the empire directly point to state structure in the organization of the Genocide. The murder of Armenian subjects drafted into the Ottoman army, regulations, numerous testimonies, including the Turks themselves, speak of the personal participation of Turkish state officials of various ranks in the Armenian Genocide.
This is also evidenced by inhuman experiments in state institutions of the Ottoman Empire on Armenians (including women and children). These and many other facts of the 1915 Armenian Genocide ORGANIZED BY THE TURKISH AUTHORITIES. revealedTurkish military tribunal 1919-1920And many still do not know that one of the first countries to recognize the Armenian Genocide, afterThe first world war was precisely TURKEY. Among the general cruelty and savagery, the methods of extermination of Armenians by OFFICIAL TURKISH PERSONS in 1915 stand out, which subsequently were only partially used by fascist executioners in World War II and recognized as crimes against humanity. For the first time in the history of the 20th century and on a similar scale, it was to the Armenians were appliedthe so-called lower“biological status” .
According to the accusation announced on Turkish military tribunal, the deportations were not dictated by military necessity or disciplinary reasons, but were conceived by the central committee of the Ittihad Young Turks, and their consequences were felt in every corner of the Ottoman Empire. By the way, the Young Turk regime was one of the successful "color revolutions" of that time, there were other projects that were unsuccessful - young Italians, young Czechs, young Bosnians, young Serbs, etc.
In evidence Turkish military tribunal 1919-1920. mostly relied on documents and not on witness statements. The Tribunal considered as proven the fact of the organized murder of Armenians by the leaders of Ittihat (tour. taktil cinayeti) and found Enver, Dzhemal, Talaat and Dr. Nezim, who were absent from the trial, guilty. They were sentenced by the tribunal to death penalty. By the beginning of the work of the tribunal, the main leaders of Ittihat - denme Talaat, Enver, Jemal, Shakir, Nazim, Bedri and Azmi - fled with the help of the British outside of Turkey.
The killings of Armenians were accompanied by robberies and theft. For example, Asent Mustafa and the governor of Trebizond, Cemal Azmi, embezzled Armenian jewelry worth between 300,000 and 400,000 Turkish gold pounds (at that time about 1,500,000 US dollars, while the average salary of a worker in the US during the specified period was about $45.5 per month). The American consul in Aleppo reported to Washington that a "gigantic plundering scheme" was operating in Turkey. The Consul in Trebizond reported that he saw daily "a crowd of Turkish women and children following the police like vultures and seizing everything they could carry", and that the house of Commissioner Ittihat in Trebizond was full of gold and jewels, which are his share of the robberies, and etc.
MYTH 4th. The basis of the Armenian Genocide was the religious difference between Armenians and Turks - i.e. There was conflict between Christians and Muslims. And this is also a FALSE. during the Genocide of 1915. were destroyed and robbed not only Christian Armenians, but also Muslim Armenians who converted to Islam from the 16th to the 18th centuries - the Hamshens (Khemshils). During the Genocide of 1915-1923. Armenians were not allowed to change their religion, many agreed to this just to save their loved ones - Directive of Talaat "On the change of faith" dated December 17, 1915. directly insisted on the deportation and actual murder of Armenians REGARDLESS OF THEIR BELIEF. And do not forget that the difference in religion did not become an obstacle and the bulk of the Armenian Christian refugees found shelter and conditions for organizing a new life. EXACTLY IN THE NEIGHBOR MUSLIM COUNTRIES . So, the factor of Islamic-Christian confrontation was only a background / cover.
MYTH 5th. The Armenians lived well with the Turks as subjects of the Ottoman Empire, and only the Western countries and Russia destroyed the friendly relations of the two peoples - the Armenian and Turkish. This statement can be considered the apotheosis of LIE and visual aid information propaganda, since the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire, not being Muslims, were considered second-class subjects - dhimmis (submissive to Islam), and they were subject to many restrictions:
- Armenians were forbidden to carry weapons and ride horseback(on a horse);
- the murder of a Muslim - incl. in self-defense and protection of loved ones - punishable by death;
- Armenians paid higher taxes, and in addition to the official ones, they were also taxed by various small-town Muslim tribes;
- Armenians could not inherit real estate(for them there was only lifetime use, heirs had to get permission again. for the right to use the property)
- the testimony of the Armenians was not accepted in court;
In a number of localities Armenians were forbidden to speak their native language under pain of cutting off the tongue(for example, the city of Kutia - the birthplace of Komitas and the reason for his ignorance of his native language in childhood);
- Armenians had to give part of their children - to the harem and to the Janissaries;
- Armenian women and children were constantly the targets of violence, abductions and the slave trade and much more…
For comparison: Armenians in the Russian Empire. They were equated in rights with Russian citizens, including the possibility of entering the service, representation in noble assemblies etc. In serf Russia, serfdom did not apply to them, and Armenian settlers, regardless of class, were allowed to leave the Russian Empire without hindrance. Among the benefits provided to Armenians was the establishment of an Armenian court in 1746. and the right to use the Armenian judicial code in Russia, permission to have their own Magistrates, i.e. granting full self-government. The Armenians were exempted for ten years (or forever, as, for example, the Armenians of Grigoriopol) from all duties, camps, and recruitment. They were given sums without a refund for the construction of urban settlements - houses, churches, buildings of magistrates, gymnasiums, the installation of water pipes, baths and coffee houses (!). Sparing fiscal legislation was carried out: “after 10 grace years, to pay them to the treasury from the merchant's capital 1% per ruble, from workshops and philistines 2 rubles a year from each household, from the villagers 10 kopecks. for a tithe." See Decree of Empress Catherine II of October 12, 1794.
During the organization of the Armenian Genocide in 1915, at the beginning of 1914-1915. the government of the Young Turks declared war on the infidels - jihad, organizing numerous gatherings in mosques and public places, at which Muslims were called upon to kill ALL Armenians as spies and saboteurs. According to Muslim law, the property of the enemy is the trophy of the first one who kills him. Thus, murders and robberies were carried out everywhere, because. after the mass declaration of Armenians as enemies - this was considered a LEGAL and FINANCIALLY ENCOURAGED act. One fifth of what was stolen from the Armenians OFFICIALLY went to the Young Turks' party fund.
The speed and scale of the implementation of the 1915 Genocide by the Young Turks is appalling. During the year, about 80% of the Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were destroyed - in 1915. about 1,500,000 Armenians were killed, as of today, in 2017. the Armenian community in Turkey is about 70,000 Christian Armenians, there are also Islamized Armenians - the number is unknown.
Geopolitical and Legal Aspects of the Armenian Genocide
IN 1879 Ottoman Turkey officially declares itself bankrupt- the size of Turkey's external debt was considered astronomical and reached a nominal value of 5.3 billion francs in gold. Central State Bank of Turkey "Imperial Ottoman Bank" was a concession company established in 1856. and was given for 80 years English and French financiers (including those from the Rothschild clan) . Under the terms of the concession, the Bank serviced all operations related to the accounting of financial receipts to the state treasury. The bank had the exclusive right to issue banknotes (i.e. issue Turkish money) valid throughout the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
It should be noted that it was in this bank that the values and funds of the majority of Armenians were stored, which were then seized from them ALL AND WAS NOT RETURNED TO ANYONE, so did branches of foreign banks.
Map of the killings and pogroms of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915
Turkey quickly sold off existing assets, includingleased to foreign companies(mainly western) land, rights to build and operate large infrastructures ( Railway), field development, etc. This is an important detail, in the future the new owners were not interested in changing the status of the territories and losing them to Turkey.
Map of mineral resources of Western Armenia /Turkey today/.
For reference: the territory of Western Armenia is rich in various useful, incl. ore minerals: iron, lead, zinc, manganese, mercury, antimony, molybdenum, etc. There are rich deposits of copper, tungsten, etc.
Living in their historical homeland, Armenians and Pontic Greeks also participated in economic legal relations within the empire - especially after a series of intra-Turkish reforms (1856, 1869), which took place under pressure from the Western powers (France, Great Britain) and Russia and represented a significant part of the financial and industrial elite of Turkey.
Having a centuries-old relevant civilizational potential and strong ties with compatriots from outside, including the possibility of attracting (turning in) national capital, the Armenians and Greeks represented serious competition and therefore were exterminated by the Denme Young Turks.
Legal levers operated by the Young Turks during the deportation and the Armenian Genocide of 1915. (the most important acts).
1. The totality of a number of aspects of the Ottoman Muslim law, which legalized the seizure of the property of Armenians by virtue of declaring them en masse as “Western and Russian spies”. An important step in indicated direction- declaration of a holy war - jihad against the infidels from the Entente countries and their allies on November 11, 1914. The confiscated property of the Armenians/”harbi”, according to the legal custom established and applied in Turkey, passed to the killers. By order of the Young Turks, one fifth of it was officially transferred to their party fund.
2. Decisions of the congresses of the party "Unity and Progress" 1910-1915. ( the extermination of the Armenians has been considered since 1905. ), including Secret decision of the "Unity and Progress" committee at the congress in Thessaloniki on the Turkishization of the non-Turkish peoples of the empire. The final decision on the implementation of the Armenian Genocide was made at a secret meeting of the Ittihadists on February 26, 1915. with the participation of 75 people.
3. Decision on education special. organ - Executive Committee of the three, as part of the Young Turks-Denme Nazim, Shakir and Shukri, October 1914, who was to be responsible for the organizational issues of the destruction of the Armenians. Organization of special detachments of criminals “Teshkilat-i Mahsuse” (Special Organization), to help Executive Committee three had up to 34,000 members and was largely composed of "chettes" - criminals released from prisons.
4. Order of Minister of War Enver in February 1915 on the destruction of Armenians serving in the Turkish army.
7. Provisional Law "On the disposal of property" of September 26, 1915 Eleven articles of this law regulated issues related to the disposal of the property of the deportees, their loans and assets.
8. Order of the Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat of September 16, 1915 on the extermination of Armenian children in orphanages. In the initial period of the 1915 Genocide, some Turks began to officially adopt Armenian orphans, but the Young Turks saw this as a “loophole for saving the Armenians” and a secret order was issued. In it, Talaat wrote: “gather all the Armenian children, ... remove them under the pretext that they will be taken care of by the deportation committee, so that suspicion does not arise. Destroy them and report on their execution."
9. Provisional Law “On the Expropriation and Confiscation of Property”, dated October 13/16, 1915 Among the many shocking facts:
The unprecedented nature of the confiscation carried out by the Ministry of Finance of Turkey, on the basis of this law, of bank deposits and jewelry of Armenians deposited by them before deportation to the Ottoman Bank;
- official expropriation of money that was received by the Armenians when selling their property to local Turks;
Attempts by the government, represented by Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat, to receive compensation under the insurance policies of Armenians who insured their lives in foreign insurance companies, based on the fact that they had no heirs left and the Turkish government becomes their beneficiary.
10. Talaat's directive "On the change of faith" of December 17, 1915 etc. Many Armenians, trying to escape, agreed to change their religion, this directive insisted on their deportation and actual murder, regardless of their faith.
Losses from the Genocide for the period 1915-1919. / Paris Peace Conference, 1919 /
Losses of the Armenian people at the end of the 19th century. and the beginning of the 20th century, the highest point of which was the implementation of the 1915 Genocide. - cannot be calculated either by the number of those killed or by fixed property damage - they are immeasurable. In addition to those brutally killed by enemies, tens of thousands of Armenians died every day from hunger, cold, epidemics, and stress etc., mostly helpless women, old people and children. Hundreds of thousands of women and children were converted into Turks and held captive by force, were sold into slavery, the number of refugees numbered in the hundreds of thousands, plus tens of thousands of orphans and homeless children. The mortality figures also speak of the catastrophic situation. In Yerevan alone in 1919, 20-25% of the population died. According to experts, for 1914-1919. the population of the current territory of Armenia decreased by 600,000 people, a small part of them emigrated, the rest died from illness and deprivation. There was a massive looting and destruction of numerous valuables, incl. destruction of the priceless treasures of the nation: manuscripts, books, architectural and other monuments of national and world significance. The unfulfilled potential of the destroyed generations, the loss of qualified personnel and the failure in their succession, which had a sharp impact on general level development of the nation and the world niche it occupies so far, and this list can be continued ...
Total from 1915-1919. 1,800,000 Armenians were killed throughout Western Armenia and Cilicia, part of Eastern Armenia. 66 cities, 2,500 villages, 2,000 churches and monasteries, 1,500 schools, as well as ancient monuments, manuscripts, factories, factories, etc. were plundered and devastated.
Incomplete (admitted) damage on Paris Peace Conference in 1919 amounted to 19,130,932,000 French gold francs, of which:
Recall the size of the external debt of Ottoman Turkey was the largest among the countries of Eurasia and reached the face value of 5,300,000,000 French gold francs.
Turkey paid for it and today it has a lot due to the robbery and murder of Armenians on Armenian soil…
Since the Armenian Genocide remained an unpunished crime that brought huge dividends to its organizers, ranging from material to moral and ideological - perpetuating their positive role in the formation of the Turkish state and the embodiment of the ideas of pan-Turkism, Armenians will constantly be a target.
It is the unwillingness of the Turkish side to part with the loot and pay the bills of history that makes any negotiations on the problem of the Armenian genocide impossible.
The recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 is the most important element of the state security of the Republic of Armenia, since the impunity of the crime and too large dividends unequivocally lead to an attempt to REPEAT the ARMENIAN GENOCIDE.
The increase in the number of countries that have recognized the Armenian genocide also increases the level of Armenia's security, since the international recognition of this crime is a deterrent for Turkey and Azerbaijan.
We do not call for hatred, we call for UNDERSTANDING and ADEQUACY not only for Armenians, but also for all those who consider themselves cultured and civilized people. And even after more than 100 years, but the crimes against the Armenians must be condemned, the criminals punished, and the proceeds of crime must be returned to the owners (their relatives) or to the national successor state.This is the only way to stop new crimes, a new genocide at any pointpeace. In the dissemination of significant information and the consistent struggle for the punishment of criminals, the salvation of our future generations - in the hands of mothers, look for the fate of nations ...
Isabella Muradyan - migration lawyer (Yerevan), member of the International Law Association, especially for
If the Law does not work, and the state does not fulfill its duties, then the duty of citizens is to take justice into their own hands.
Ch.Lynch
The trial of V. Kaloev, who killed an air traffic controller in Switzerland, through whose negligence the Kaloev family died, in again raised the age-old legal question: does an ordinary citizen have the right to revenge against notorious criminals?
We will not touch on the purely legal side of this problem. Let us just recall how, without any international tribunals and trials, justice overtook the organizers of the first genocide in the 20th century.
1915 was not only the second year of the First World War. 90 years ago, there was a genocide of an entire nation. The so-called Young Turks who ruled the Ottoman Empire organized a brutal massacre of the Armenians living under Turkish rule, aiming at their complete destruction.
Recall that at the beginning of the twentieth century, the Armenians did not have their own statehood for several centuries and were a divided people. The eastern part of historical Armenia became part of Russia in 1828, which was the salvation of the Armenians as a nation. In the Russian Empire, the Armenians were able to freely develop their culture and achieved economic prosperity. Many Russian Armenians have made a brilliant career, giving Russia many military leaders, administrators, economic leaders, artists, and scientists. Both in the Russian Empire and in the USSR, the Armenians were very abundantly represented in the political, economic and cultural elite. (However, you can’t erase the words from the song. Many revolutionaries also came out of the ranks of the Armenians, and at the end of the Soviet era, it was the Armenian movement in Karabakh that became the bomb that blew up the USSR).
But Russian eastern Armenia was only 1/10 of the territory of historical Armenia. Most of the Armenian lands are still part of Turkey. 90 years ago, most of the Armenian people also lived there. But now there are no Armenians in these lands. For many years, the Turks very creatively "worked" to clear these lands from the indigenous people. Armenian pogroms took place many times over a number of centuries. Only in 1894-96. At least 200,000 Armenians were killed by the Turks. Fleeing from Turkish captivity, hundreds of thousands of Armenians fled to Russia. Interestingly, in 1828, only 107 thousand people lived on the lands of eastern Armenia annexed to Russia. But by 1914, there were already 2 million Armenians in the Russian Empire. It is clear that the main reason for such a rapid growth was the mass immigration of Armenians from the Ottoman Empire. However, despite the departure to Russia and other countries, the assimilation of part of the Armenians who converted to Islam and turned into "Turks", as well as the death of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in periodic pogroms, by the beginning of World War I, over 4.5 million lived in Turkish Western Armenia. Armenians.
The situation of the Turkish Armenians worsened especially when the Young Turks seized power in the Ottoman Empire. So they called themselves not because of their youth, but because among them there really were enough "new Turks" from among those who converted to Islam, people from various ethnic and religious groups. There were especially many crypto-Jews among the Young Turks. The Young Turks were led by three military men: Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha and Jemal Pasha. The Young Turks' party was called "Ittihad ve Terraki" ("Unity and Progress"), and the official ideology of the party was Pan-Turkism, or the "Great Turan" theory, which proclaimed the need to unite all Turkic tribes in one empire from Bosnia to Altai.
The Armenians aroused particular hatred among the Young Turks by the fact that the western Armenia inhabited by them separated purely Turkish regions from Azerbaijan and the places of settlement of other Turkic tribes. In addition, enterprising Armenian merchants, even under Turkish oppression, managed to take over a significant part of the finances of the Ottoman Empire. And, what was most important for the Young Turks, Armenians have always been distinguished by pro-Russian sympathies, and the Young Turks rightly feared a general uprising in Western Armenia.
And so, in the conditions of the outbreak of war, on April 24, 1915, by order of the Young Turkish triumvirate, Turkish regular waxes, police, gangs of marauders and Muslim fanatics began a grandiose massacre of Armenians throughout the Ottoman Empire. Within a few months, up to 2.5 million Armenians died, a few managed to escape, the bulk of the survivors were thrown into concentration camps in the Arabian deserts, where most of them died of starvation and epidemics. Several hundred thousand Armenians were saved by the offensive of the Russian army on the Caucasian front, launched by the command specifically with the aim of saving Christians. However, after 1915 there were no Armenians left in the former Western Armenia.
Soon, Eastern Armenia also suffered severe trials. After the revolution, the Russian Empire collapsed. In Azerbaijan, the pan-Turkists from the Musavat party who seized power immediately began the massacre of Armenians. The Georgian Mensheviks did the same. Turkish troops continued to finish off the Armenians not only at home, but also launched an offensive into eastern Armenia, continuing to develop their plan of genocide. On a small patch of Eastern Armenia, famine and disease raged, which claimed the lives of a third of the population, but the Armenians managed to defeat the Turks, Azerbaijanis and Georgians. In November 1920, the Red Army occupied eastern Armenia almost without resistance, and the Armenian Soviet Republic was created.
In total for 1915-1920. half of all Armenians died, Western Armenia was left without an indigenous population, in Soviet Armenia a third of all men were war invalids, over a million Armenian refugees scattered around the world.
The Armenian refugees were split into many parties, but all Armenians were unanimous that the Young Turk leaders should be destroyed. But not a single government in the world was going to help the Armenians. USSR, where many Armenians were part of the party and state leadership of the country, in the 20s. had close friendly ties with Turkey. The Entente countries were occupied with the division of the Ottoman Empire, and they had no time for some Armenians there. The "world progressive public" then was as venal as it is today. The genocide of the Armenian people was not noticed by her. Subsequently, Hitler, preparing genocide against other peoples, cynically, but rightly remarked: "who knows about the Armenians these days"?
But even in such conditions, the Armenians decided to carry out justice. Shagen Natalie (it was a pseudonym in honor of the beloved woman) and Grigory Merchanov took up revenge. A list of organizers and main perpetrators of the genocide was compiled. started preparatory work: pursuit, collection of information, production of weapons. And then came the fast and right judgment:
- Talaat Pasha was shot in Berlin on March 16, 1921 by Soghomon Tehlirian (by the way, the jury completely acquitted him);
- Enver Pasha was killed in 1922 in Turkestan by the red commander Akop Melkumov;
- Jemal Pasha was killed in Tiflis on June 25, 1922, the avengers were Stepan Tsakhikyan and Petros Ter-Poghosyan;
- Beibut Khan Jevanshin (Minister of Internal Affairs of Musavatist Azerbaijan) was killed on June 18, 1921 in Constantinople by Misak Torlakyan;
- Said Halim Pasha (former Prime Minister of Turkey) was assassinated in Berlin on December 5, 1921 by Arshavir Shirokyan;
- Shekir Bey (former head of the special commission for organizing the massacre of Armenians) was killed on April 17, 1922 by Aram Yerkyan.
The "black list" of the perpetrators of the genocide also included several Armenian traitors. All of them were killed by their relatives (brothers, fathers, nephews). This was done on purpose so as not to cause blood feud among the Armenians themselves.
In just three years, all the organizers of the genocide were executed. Along the way, several thousand more participants in the massacre of a lower rank were liquidated. No one escaped retribution!
This is how the poor emigrants, who survived the massacre, lost their homeland, divided into dozens of parties, took on the role of judges and delivered justice. like this historical example history gives us.
Sergei Viktorovich Lebedev, doctor philosophical sciences, Professor (St. Petersburg)
§ 1. The beginning of the First World War. The course of hostilities 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 of the states of the world took part in the war voluntarily or involuntarily, which is why the war got its name.
During the war, Ottoman Turkey sought to implement the program of "Pankturkism" - to annex the territories inhabited by the Turkic peoples, including the Transcaucasus, the southern regions of Russia and Central Asia to Altai. In turn, Russia sought to annex the territory of Western Armenia, seize the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and go to 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 300,000 headed 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. During the winter months, during the battles near Sarykamysh, Russian troops defeated the superior Turkish forces and drove them out of Iran. During 1915 hostilities 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 the important port on the Black Sea coast of Trabizon. During 1917 active hostilities did not take place on the Caucasian front. The demoralized Turkish troops did not try to launch a new offensive, and the February and October revolutions of 1917 in Russia and the change of government did not give the Russian command the opportunity to develop the offensive. On December 5, 1917, a truce was concluded between the Russian and Turkish command.
§ 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 200,000 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, the Armenian political parties carried out active propaganda to organize volunteer detachments with a total number of about 10 thousand people.
The first detachment was commanded by an outstanding leader of the liberation movement, national hero Andranik Ozanyan, who later received the rank of general of the Russian army. The commanders of other detachments were Dro, Amazasp, Keri, Vardan, Arshak Dzhanpoladyan, Hovsep Argutyan and others. Subsequently, the commander of the VI detachment was Hayk Bzhshkyan - Guy, later known as the commander of the Red Army. Armenians were enrolled in the detachments - volunteers from various regions of Russia and even from other countries. The Armenian detachments showed courage and participated in all major battles for the liberation of Western Armenia.
The tsarist government at first 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 the 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. The 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 turkish all subjects of the Muslim faith, and to destroy all Christians. With the outbreak of the First World War, the Young Turk government decided to take advantage of the favorable international situation and implement its long-planned plans.
The genocide was carried out according to a certain plan. Firstly, they drafted men liable for military service to deprive the Armenian population of the possibility of resistance. They were used as work units and 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: MPs Onik Vramyan and Grigor Zohrap, writers Varuzhan, Siamanto, Ruben Sevak, composer and musicologist Komitas. On the way to the place of exile, they were subjected to insults and humiliation. Many of them died on the way, the survivors were subsequently brutally murdered. On April 24, 1915, the Young Turk authorities executed 20 Armenian political prisoners. The famous composer Komitas, who witnessed these atrocities, lost his mind.
After that, the Young Turk authorities began to evict and destroy the already defenseless children, the elderly and women. All Armenian property was looted. On the way to the place of exile, the Armenians were subjected to new atrocities: the weakened were killed, women were raped or kidnapped for harems, children died of hunger and thirst. Of the total number of exiled Armenians, barely a tenth made it to the place of exile - the desert of Der-el-Zor in Mesopotamia. Of the 2.5 million Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire, 1.5 million were destroyed, and the rest dispersed throughout the world.
Part of the Armenian population was able to escape thanks to the help of Russian troops and, leaving everything, fled from their homes to the Russian Empire. Part of the Armenian refugees found salvation in the Arab countries, in Iran and in 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 have been rescued by American charitable and missionary organizations active 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 former government. For planning and carrying out the Armenian Genocide, the military tribunal in Constantinople found guilty and sentenced in absentia to death Thaleat (Prime Minister), Enver (Minister of War), Jemal (Minister of the Interior) and Behaeddin Shakir (Secretary of the Central Committee of the Young Turks). Their sentence was carried out by the Armenian avengers.
After the defeat in the war, the Young Turk leaders fled Turkey and found shelter in Germany and other countries. But they did not succeed in escaping revenge.
On March 15, 1921, Soghomon Tehlirian shot Taleat in Berlin. The German court, having considered the case, acquitted Tehlirian.
Petros Ter-Petrosyan and Artashes Gevorkyan killed Dzhemal in Tiflis on July 25, 1922.
Arshavir Shikaryan and Aram Yerkanyan shot Bekhaeddin 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 died with honor - with weapons in their hands.
For more than a month, the inhabitants 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 offensive of the Russian army on Van in May 1915. Due to the forced retreat of the Russian troops, 200 thousand residents of the Van vilayet were also forced to leave their homeland together with the Russian troops in order to escape from a new massacre.
For almost a year, the highlanders of Sasun defended themselves against regular Turkish troops. The ring of siege was gradually shrinking, and most of the population was slaughtered. The entry of the Russian army into Mush in February 1916 saved the inhabitants of Sasun from final destruction. About a tenth of the 50,000 population of Sasun escaped, 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 resettle, took up arms and fortified itself in the nearby dilapidated fortress. For 27 days the Armenians fought off the attacks of 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. The rest were brutally killed.
An example of heroic self-defense was shown by the defenders of Musa-Ler. Having received an order to evict, the 5,000-strong Armenian population of seven villages in the Suetia region (on the Mediterranean coast, near Antioch) decided to defend themselves and fortified themselves 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. From the French cruiser "Guichen" they noticed the call of Armenians for help, and on September 10, 1915, the surviving 4,058 Armenians were transported to Egypt on French and British ships. The history of this heroic self-defense is described in the novel by the Austrian writer Franz Werfel "40 Days of Musa Dagh".
The last focus of heroism was the self-defense of the population of the Armenian quarter of the city of Edessia, which lasted from September 29 to November 15, 1915. All the men died with weapons in their hands, and the Young Turkish authorities exiled the surviving 15 thousand women and children to the deserts of Mesopotamia.
Foreigners who witnessed the genocide of 1915-1916 condemned this crime and left descriptions of the atrocities committed against the Armenian population by the Young Turk authorities. 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 ongoing atrocities. Today, 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 Armenian Genocide lies with the leaders of the Young Turk party. Turkish Prime Minister Taleat subsequently declared with cynicism that there was no longer an “Armenian Question”, 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. .
The Kurdish tribes also actively participated in the extermination of the Armenian population, trying to seize the 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 Turkish authorities.
During the genocide, more than 2 thousand Armenian villages, the same number of churches and monasteries, Armenian quarters of 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 early 20th century
Prior to the 1915 Genocide, Armenian culture experienced a significant upsurge. This was due to the rise of the liberation movement, the awakening of national self-consciousness, 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 trends 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.
A huge contribution to the development of Armenian culture was made by Armenian educational institutions. 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 elementary schools where they taught to read, write and count, as well as the Russian language.
About 400 Armenian schools of various 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, or even more so in Ottoman Turkey. These schools existed thanks to the financial support of the Armenian Apostolic Church, various public organizations and individual patrons. The most famous among the Armenian educational institutions were the Nersisyan school in Tiflis, the Gevorkyan theological seminary in Etchmiadzin, the Murad-Rafaelyan school in Venice and the Lazarev Institute in Moscow.
The development of education largely contributed to the further development of Armenian periodicals. At the beginning of the 20th century, about 300 Armenian newspapers and magazines of various political directions. Some of them were published by the Armenian national parties, such as: "Droshak", "Hunchak", "Proletariat", etc. In addition, newspapers and magazines of socio-political and cultural direction were published.
Constantinople and Tiflis became the main centers of Armenian periodicals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most popular were the Mshak newspaper published in Tiflis (edited by Gr. Artsruni), the Murch magazine (edited by Av. Araskhanyants), in Constantinople - the Megu newspaper (edited by Harutyun Svachyan), the Masis newspaper . Karapet Utujyan). Stepanos Nazaryants published the Hyusisapail (Northern Lights) magazine in Moscow.
Armenian literature at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century experienced a rapid flourishing. A galaxy of talented poets and novelists appeared both in Eastern and Western Armenia. The main motives of their work were patriotism and the dream to see the 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 languages took shape: Eastern Armenian and Western Armenian. Poets Rafael Patkanyan, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, Vahan Teryan, prose poets Avetik Isahakyan, Gazaros 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, novelist Grigor Zohrap, great satirist Hakob Paronyan and others wrote their works in Western Armenian.
Prose writer Hovhannes Tumanyan and novelist Raffi left an indelible mark on the Armenian literature of that period.
In his work, O. Tumanyan reworked many folk legends and traditions, sang the 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, Khunt and others. great success Among his contemporaries, his novel “Kaytser” (Sparks) was used, where an appeal was clearly heard to the Armenian people themselves to stand up for the liberation of their homeland, not really hoping for the help of the powers.
Significant progress has been made 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, Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha. A member of the Mkhitarist cogregation, Father Ghevond Alishan wrote fundamental 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 published for the first time a complete history of Armenia in Russian. Garegin Srvandztyan, traveling through the regions of Western and Eastern Armenia, collected huge treasures of Armenian folklore. He has the honor of discovering the record and the first edition of the text of the Armenian medieval epic "Sasuntsi David". The famous scientist Manuk Abeghyan was engaged in research in the field of folklore and ancient Armenian literature. The well-known philologist, 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, Armenian-Byzantine relations. His major work "Armenia in the era of Justinian", published in 1909, has not lost its significance to this day. The well-known 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. The creativity of folk gusans was raised to new heights by gusan Jivani, gusan Sheram and others. Armenian composers who received a classical education appeared on the stage. Tigran Chukhajyan wrote the first Armenian opera Arshak II. Composer Armen Tigranyan wrote the opera "Anush" based on the poem of the same name by Hovhannes Tumanyan. The famous composer, musicologist Komitas laid the foundation for the scientific study of 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 century and the beginning of the 20th century were also marked by further development Armenian painting. A famous painter was the famous marine painter Hovhannes Aivazovsky (1817-1900). He lived and worked in Feodosia (in the Crimea), and most of his works are devoted to the marine theme. The most famous of his paintings are "The Ninth Wave", "Noah descends from Mount Ararat", "Lake Sevan", "Massacre of Armenians in Trabizon in 1895" and etc.
Outstanding painters were Gevorg Bashinjaghyan, Panos Terlemezyan, Vardges Surenyants.
Vardges Surenyants, in addition to easel painting, was also engaged in mural painting, painted many Armenian churches in different cities of Russia. The most famous are his paintings "Shamiram and Ara the Beautiful", "Salome". A copy of his painting "Armenian Madonna" today adorns the new Cathedral in Yerevan. Forward
