Deportations led to 1m deaths: History Legacy of first world war
The Guardian, UK
March 6, 2010 Saturday
Mark Tran
What happened to the Armenians in 1915?
During the first world war, Armenians from the Caucasus formed
volunteer battalions to help the Russian army against the Turks. Early
in 1915, these battalions organised the recruiting of Turkish
Armenians from behind Turkish lines. The Young Turk government reacted
by ordering the deportation of the Armenian population to Syria and
Palestine. About 1 million died from starvation or were killed by Arab
or Kurdish tribes along the route. Many survivors fled to Russian
Armenia where, in 1918, an independent Armenian republic was
established.
What is the definition of genocide?
The legal definition is found in the 1948 UN convention on the
prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. Article two of the
convention defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed
with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group;
causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to
bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing
measures intended to prevent births within the group; (and) forcibly
transferring children of the group to another group".
Did genocide take place in 1915?
Armenians think so. Turkey accepts that atrocities took place but
argues that there was no systematic attempt to destroy the Christian
Armenians. It puts the number of deaths during 1915 at around 300,000
and says many innocent Muslim Turks also died in the turmoil of war.
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay are
among more than 20 countries that have formally recognised genocide
against the Armenians. The European parliament and the UN
sub-commission on prevention of discrimination and protection of
minorities have also done so.
What is the US position?
During the US presidential election campaign, Barack Obama had no
doubt that genocide occurred. "The Armenian genocide is not an
allegation, a personal opinion or a point of view, but rather a widely
documented fact supported by an overwhelming body of historical
evidence," he said. But in a visit to Istanbul last year, he avoided
the word genocide, and described the events of 1915 as "one of the
great atrocities of the 20th century". The Obama administration does
not want to antagonise Turkey, viewing it as a valuable interlocutor
on a host of regional problems, including Iran’s nuclear programme.
How has Turkey responded?
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said his country had
been accused of a crime it had not committed, adding that the
resolution would hamper efforts by Turkey and Armenia to end a century
of hostility. Under US prodding, Turkey and Armenia last October
signed a landmark accord to improve ties.
What happens next?
Both the White House and Turkey will be hoping that the current row
will become a rerun of 2007, when the house foreign affairs committee
passed an identical resolution, prompting Turkey to recall its
ambassador in protest. The 2007 resolution never came to a vote on the
house floor after intense lobbying by the Bush administration.
300,000
20 Captions:
The face of an Armenian orphan. Many survivors fled to Russian Armenia
The number of Armenians who died in 1915, according to Turkey’s figures
The number of countries to have recognised ‘genocide’ against Armenians
Barack Obama used the word ‘genocide’ during his election campaign,
but avoided it on a visit to Istanbul