by Clifford D. May
The slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Armenians in 1915 was carried out by the Ottoman Empire. It was therefore, by definition, an imperialist crime, one regarded by most experts as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Displayed outside the
Turkish Embassy in Washington last week was a large banner reading:
"Armenian genocide is an imperialist lie." That claim might be amusing
were the subject not so dreadful. The slaughter of hundreds of thousands
of Armenians in 1915 was carried out by the Ottoman Empire. It was
therefore, by definition, an imperialist crime, one regarded by most
experts as the first genocide of the 20th century. The notion that some
other empire (which one?) has fabricated a slander against Turkey is
ludicrous. Those who came up with that slogan must assume they are
addressing a clueless audience.
One place to find clues
is Dr. Efraim Karsh's "Islamic Imperialism: A History," published in
2006 by Yale University Press. Karsh notes that in the last quarter of
the 19th century, the weakening Ottoman Empire (which was also an
Islamic caliphate) was being forced to give up most of its European
colonies. Around the same time, the empire's Armenian population --
Christians, whose rights were limited by their Muslim rulers -- began to
undergo a "nationalist awakening." Uprisings ensued.
"In a brutal campaign
of repression in 1895-96, in which nearly 200,000 people perished and
thousands more fled to Europe and America, Armenian resistance was
crushed and the dwindling population cowered into submission," Karsh
wrote.
A few years later,
however, nationalist aspirations resurfaced. Under European pressure,
the Ottomans accepted a proposal for limited Armenian autonomy, "a far
cry from the Armenians' aspirations for a unified independent state,"
but a significant gain nonetheless. When the Ottoman Empire entered
World War I, most of its Armenian subjects took pains to demonstrate
their loyalty. But a minority became revolutionaries, offering
assistance to the Russians, confirming "the Ottoman stereotype of the
Armenians as a troublesome people."
In reaction, Armenians
were "uprooted from their homes and relocated to concentration camps in
the most inhospitable corners of Ottoman Asia. The Armenians' towns and
villages would then be populated by Muslim refugees, their property
seized by the authorities or plundered by their Muslim neighbors."
Armenians were ordered
to give up their weapons. Those "who could not produce arms were
brutally tortured; those who produced them for surrender … were
imprisoned for treachery and similarly tortured; those found to have
hidden their arms were given even harsher treatment."
By 1915, with the
Armenian population disarmed, "the genocidal spree entered its main
stage: mass deportations and massacres." At times, "the Turks attempted
to preserve an appearance of a deportation policy, though most deportees
were summarily executed after hitting the road." Ottoman authorities
sent others "out to sea, ostensibly to be deported, only to be thrown
overboard shortly afterward."
There were many
Armenian towns in which all the men were exterminated, leaving the women
to be raped. In addition, "thousands of young Armenian women and girls
were sold" in newly established "slave markets." Estimates of the total
number of Armenians murdered over a period of more than two years range
from 850,000 to 1.5 million.
In the early 1920s, in
the aftermath of World War I, the defeated Ottoman Empire and Islamic
caliphate were dissolved. The Republic of Turkey rose from its ashes. A
strong argument can be made that it bears no responsibility for the
crimes committed by the imperialist state it replaced.
On the other hand,
modern Turkey continues to occupy Armenian lands. Mount Ararat, where,
according to legend, Noah's ark came to rest after the great flood, is
Armenia's holiest site and a symbol of the nation. It can be seen from
Armenia's capital, Yerevan, among the world's oldest continually
inhabited cities. But Mount Ararat rises from territory now claimed by
Turkey.
Ironically -- one also
might say hypocritically -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan rails
at Israel for its "occupation" of Gaza and the West Bank. Those
territories were under Ottoman rule for centuries. They fell to the
British following the Ottoman collapse. In 1948, Egypt seized Gaza, and
Jordan seized Judea and Samaria, which it renamed "the West Bank." In a
defensive war in 1967, Israelis took control of both. Since then, they
have repeatedly offered to help Palestinians establish their own state
on these lands in exchange for peace. Palestinian leaders have declined.
And Gaza, from which Israelis withdrew 10 years ago, is ruled by Hamas,
a terrorist group openly committed to exterminating Israel.
Today, a jihad -- one
that includes persecution, enslavement and slaughter -- is again being
waged against Christians throughout much of the Middle East and in
Africa as well. Many of those carrying out these crimes consider
themselves warriors of a new caliphate. The mainstream media has mostly
avoided discussing the Armenian genocide as preface and precedent. But
the media also has been reluctant to report on the very real possibility
that we are now witnessing the final, historic eradication of ancient
Christian communities from what we have come to call the Islamic world.
Another poster
displayed at the Turkish embassy calls for "reconciliation" with
Armenia. Surely, such a process must begin with truth-telling. What
Erdogan declared last week instead: "The Armenian claims on the 1915
events ... are all baseless and groundless."
Final point: In 1939, a
generation after the Armenian genocide and a week before invading
Poland, Hitler gave a speech to his commanders. He told them that his
"war aim" was not merely territorial. Nazi Germany also sought "the
physical destruction of the enemy." He recognized that "weak Western
European civilization" would not approve. But, he added, it will forget:
"Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?"
That is just one of several reasons we should continue to do so.
Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a columnist for The Washington Times.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=12399
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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