Pdf with an epic historical sweep, genocide in the middle east. The genocide of pontic greeks and assyrians in the ottoman. Armenian genocide part of the late ottoman genocides armenian civilians, escorted by ottoman soldiers, marched through harput kharpert to a prison in nearby mezireh presentday elaz. The ottoman empire, the republic of turkey and the armenian. Even if by that time the concept of genocide was not yet invented, the criminal acts committed against the. The ottoman empire, iraq, and sudan, reveals how the struggles by nations and empires to establish their regional supremacy resulted in the destruction of families and human groups. After the russoturkish war of 18771878, the ottoman empire was forced to grant. Sometimes called the first genocide of the twentieth century, the armenian genocide refers to the physical annihilation of armenian christian people living in the ottoman empire from spring 1915 through autumn 1916. The ottoman empire, iraq, and sudan, reveals how the struggles by nations and. The christian genocide during the ottoman empire sounds a. Pulat tacar has been cochairperson of the turkish national commission for unesco 19952006. In may 1915, in the midst of the war, britain, russia, and france warned that those leaders would be held accountable for crimes against humanity and civilization if the massacres continued. Introducing new evidence from more than 600 secret ottoman documents, this book demonstrates in unprecedented detail that the armenian genocide and the expulsion of greeks from the late ottoman empire resulted from an official effort to. The treatment of armenians in the ottoman empire, 1915.
Project muse the genocide of the greeks of the ottoman. The turks argue that armenians were targeted and deported because of the armenian communitys collu. Davis, us consul in harput the slaughterhouse province. Armenians charge that the campaign was a deliberate attempt to destroy the armenian people and, thus, an act of genocide. It was instigated by the government of the ottoman empire and the turkish. Before day 1, as homework, students should have completed the background reading, genocide of the ottoman greeks, an overview and the accompanying worksheet. The paper aims at providing an understanding of the genocide and a sense of the ottoman projects of destruction that included armenians, assyriansarameans and greeksand other, lessknown ethnic groupsin an attempt at a total restructuring of ottoman society and the creation of a turkish muslim national state. This comprehensive volume is the first to broadly examine the genocides of the armenians, assyrians, and greeks in comparative fashion, analyzing the similarities and differences among them and giving crucial context to presentday calls for. One hundred years after the deportations and mass murder of armenians, assyrians, and other peoples in the final years of the ottoman empire, the history of the armenian genocide remains a victim of historical distortion, statesponsored falsification, and the deep divisions between armenians and turks. Pdf doris bergen war and genocide pdf download read. Between 1894 and 1924, three waves of violence swept across anatolia, targeting the regions christian minorities, who had previously accounted for 20 percent of the population. He was referring to the systematic murder of the armenians by turkish leaders of the ottoman empire during world war i. Pass out the handout the armenian genocide viewing guide and explain to students that they will be using it to collect information about the rise of turkish nationalism within the ottoman empire and how this shift impacted the armenian christian minority. While the armenians were the primary target of the 1915 genocide perpetrated by the young turk regime, there were other christian minorities in the ottoman empire who fell victim to similar policies of extermination.
With an epic historical sweep, genocide in the middle east. Having written about the genocide of the armenians for 35 years, i have doubts that the actual call for jihad in the turkish ottoman empire unleashed at the start of the first world war was. Also explain that you will pause the video so students can take notes on the handout. This book presents a reconstruction of what happened and why. A nahit k hosroeva, assyrians in the ottoman empire and the official turkish policy of their extermination, 1890s1918. In 1915, during world war i, leaders of the turkish government set in motion a. Shirinian the background to the late ottoman genocides george n. The ottoman empire and the armenian genocide youtube. It makes extensive references to the holocaust to create the impression that the armenian genocide had similar methods and goals and is just as indisputable as the holocaust. There can be no doubt that the eastern provinces of the ottoman empire in 1915 were the scene to many horrible atrocities against armenians, which we. World war i saw the almost complete annihilation of the ottoman armenians. From 19 to 1923, its rulers deported, killed, or otherwise persecuted staggering numbers of citizens in an attempt to preserve turkey for the turks, setting a modern precedent for how a. In 1821 greece unilaterally declared independence from the empire, followed in 1875 by serbia, montenegro, bosnia, and moldavia. The armenian thesis claims that the events constitute a genocide, that the ottoman government had an official albeit hidden intent to exterminate the armenian nation.
It further concludes that ottoman materials conclusively prove that the young turk treatment of ottoman armenians was genocide, and that this was part and parcel of a broader policy of forcible demographic. The genocide of the greeks of the ottoman empire, 19. The rise of nationalism and the collapse of the ottoman empire. This article considers the development of the genocide in the context of wider ottoman demographic policies and late ottoman history. On the contrary, armenians were deported when no danger of outside interference. The last two decades have seen a massive amount of research of the genocide of the armenian population in the ottomanturkish space. One hundred years after the deportations and mass murder of armenians, greeks, assyrians, and other peoples in the final years of the ottoman empire, the history of the armenian genocide is a victim of historical distortion, statesponsored falsification, and deep divisions between armenians and turks. Genocide at the twilight of the ottoman empire oxford. The final years of the ottoman empire were catastrophic ones for its nonturkish, nonmuslim minorities. S hirinian, the background to the late ottoman genocides. Turkish position there actually is no cogent explanation from the turkish side as to why the assyrians were butchered during the assyrian genocide. The armenian deportations were not the result of an armenian rebellion. Just before the first world war there were around two million christian armenians living in the ottoman empire.
The treatment of armenians in the ottoman empire 19151916 complements the gomidas institutes armenian genocide documentation series, which to date includes four volumes of eyewitness accounts. Review and discuss the background reading, referring to the worksheet. The armenian genocide refers to the systematic mass extermination and expulsion of 1. On the one hand, it offers an ideological, social, and political background and framework for understanding that process. The ottoman empire, iraq, and sudan, reveals how the struggles by nations and empires to establish their regional supremacy. The armenian genocide was the systematic killing and deportation of armenians by the turks of the ottoman empire. The genocide of ottoman greeks, 19141923 hellenic news. My contribution to genocide in the ottoman empire was to examine in depth, perhaps for the first time, lemkins writings on these three genocidesarmenian, assyrian, and greekwhat he wrote, what he saw as their similarities and differences, and fault not only the turks but the germans and british, as well, as uneven partners in these crimes. While it does cover, in great detail, the record of genocide in the regions of the ottoman empire, iraq, and sudan, it also includes an extensive discussion of genocide in theory and practice throughout history and around the world. Kaligian assyrians in the ottoman empire and the official turkish policy of their extermination, 1890s1918 anahit khosroeva considering genocide testimony. The decline of the ottoman empire the ottoman empire began to lose territory rapidly. From 1899 to 1922, the swiss deacon jakob kunzler 18711949 headed a missionary hospital in ourfa, an old city in southeastern anatolia. Finally, in the darfur region of sudan, as in southern sudan before it, the president and interior minister issued orders to the army and allied militia to kill and drive.
During the last decade of ottoman rule in 19121922, under two nationalist regimes the socalled young turks ittihat ve terakki cemiyeti, since 1919 the kemalists at least three million indigenous christians greek orthodox, armenians and. Pdf introduction to genocide in the ottoman empire. A case study of the first modern genocide of the 20th century early massacres the seljuk turks began to inhabit anatolia as early as the eleventh century and by 1453 their descendants, the ottoman turks, had captured constantinople now istanbul, firmly establishing the ottoman empire. This article refers to the 191923 genocide of the greeks of the ottoman empire and aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the overall genocidal process.
A reappraisal of the giant massacres perpetrated by the ottoman empire, and then the turkish republic, against their christian minorities. Armenian genocide, campaign of deportation and mass killing conducted against the armenian subjects of the ottoman empire by the young turk government during world war i 191418. Introducing new evidence from more than 600 secret ottoman documents, this book demonstrates in unprecedented detail that the armenian genocide and the expulsion of greeks from the late ottoman empire resulted from an official effort to rid the empire of its christian subjects. Turkish atrocities twentyone reports compiled by james barton. Genocide in the ottoman empire armenians, assyrians, and greeks, 191923 edited by george n. Pontian and anatolian greeks were victims of a broader turkish genocidal project aimed at all christian minorities in the ottoman empire. Beginning in april 1915 and continuing thru 1923, 1. In essence, this book argues that ottoman archives corroborate german, american, and armenian source bases on the armenian genocide.
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