A fierce local war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the "Nagorno-Karabakh" issue. It is worth noting that in this small-scale but bloody and cruel Caucasus War, Turkey, as Azerbaijan’s "foreign aid", was deeply involved and very eye-catching. This also raises a question, what kind of historical entanglement does Turkey have with Armenia?
The "Armenian Genocide" is listed as one of the three most famous genocides in human history in the 20th century, along with the Nazi Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide. Behind this horrific tragedy are the historical evils and crimes against humanity that the Ottoman Turks cannot wash away. The Armenian Genocide in a broad sense includes the Hamid Genocide of 1894-1896 and the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1917. The Armenian Genocide in a narrow sense refers specifically to the latter, and this genocide can also be called the genocide of 1915-1917. The genocide began on April 24, 1915, which was designated as the Genocide Memorial Day by the Republic of Armenia.
From April 1915 to 1917, of the nearly 2 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire, about 1 million were killed in the massacres and expulsions by the Turkish army, and hundreds of thousands fled Turkey. To this day, the Turkish government has never acknowledged its role in the genocide at the beginning of the century. The Armenian Genocide has caused eternal pain to the Armenian nation. Because the Turkish government firmly denies the genocide, believing that it was an abnormal death during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the Republic of Armenia insists that the then Ottoman Turkish government carried out a brutal genocide against the Armenians, and set April 24th of each year as the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, trying to force the Turkish government to apologize and compensate the Armenians through various means, the Armenian Genocide has become the main obstacle to the development of relations between Turkey and Armenia, and has also become the deep historical root of the Turks’ use of Azerbaijan to wage war against Armenia again in the current Caucasus War.
Let’s start with the so-called "Armenia" issue during the Ottoman period
In the history of the Ottoman Empire, there have always been sharp ethnic, class and religious conflicts between Armenians and Turks. The Armenian issue has always been a relatively complicated ethnic issue in history. "The Armenians are an ancient nation formed by the long-term integration of the local tribes of the Haias who have lived on the Armenian Plateau for generations, the Urartians, the Hurrians and the Hittites, as well as the foreign Arminians." They use their own language - Armenian (a branch of the Indo-European language family). Most Armenians believe in the Gregorian sect of Christianity, and a few believe in Catholicism and Islam.
In the 16th century BC, Armenians had already lived on the Armenian Plateau. In the 5th century BC, the Armenian tribe was basically formed. Around the 2nd century BC, the Artax Dynasty established the powerful Great Armenia. Later, due to its gradual decline, it was successively ruled by the Roman Empire and the Iranian Sassanid Dynasty. From then on, the Armenians lived a turbulent and displaced life. Although their lives were difficult, the Armenians did not abandon their national characteristics and Christian beliefs. In the 7th century AD, the Arabs gained control over the Armenians. In the 10th century AD, with the decline of the Arab Empire, the Armenians once again became victims of slaughter. During the "Crusades", in order to liberate themselves from the rule of foreign races, the Armenians also actively participated in the Crusades. This behavior of the Armenians aroused the hatred of other Muslim nations around them, which led to deep contradictions. Since then, Muslims no longer trust the Armenians. In the 11th to 14th centuries AD, the Armenians were successively ruled by the Mongols and the Seljuks. In the 14th century AD, the Mamluk dynasty forced the Armenians to migrate to Egypt, Syria and other places. This was the first large-scale migration of the Armenians.
In the 15th century AD, after the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II occupied Constantinople, he immediately annexed Armenia, and Armenia became part of the Ottoman Empire. In the early days of the Ottoman Empire, the Armenians were not cruelly oppressed. The Ottoman government only implemented the millet system and appointed Orthodox bishops to manage their ethnic and religious affairs, prohibiting them from possessing weapons and military service. Under the millet system, the Armenians lived a relatively stable life and maintained religious independence, but according to Islamic law, non-Muslim monotheists, including monotheistic Armenians, were vassals of the people in the Ottoman Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire also provided them with protection measures, it set up many discriminatory measures for them, which put Christian Armenians at a disadvantage in the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, due to religious issues, they have always been second-class citizens in the Ottoman Empire.
Later, in the mid-16th century, the power structure of the Ottoman Empire changed significantly, and the Ottoman government stipulated that non-Muslims could not join the army. A small number of people in the military class became the real ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. To become part of this group, three conditions must be met: first, they must be Muslims; second, they must hold important positions in the government; and finally, they must be proficient in Turkish and master the etiquette of the ruling class of the Ottoman Empire. This completely isolated the Armenians from the ruling class. Although later due to the Tanzimat reform movement, Armenians also served as senior officials in the imperial government, they could not really grasp the power of the country. As historians said: "Although many Armenians served as senior officials in the diplomatic and financial departments of the Turkish government in the 19th century, this small number of people were Muslims, but they could not really grasp the power of the country. They basically relied on their technical and language skills." Therefore, when the Turks attacked the Armenians, they had no way to do anything. Especially during the reign of Muhammad I (1730-1754), in order to fight against the Ulema in the Islamic religious organization, the Sultan allied with non-Muslims and asked the Armenians to suppress the Muslim uprising in 1740, which further exacerbated the contradiction between the Armenians and Muslims.
At the same time, the Ottoman Empire often faced economic crises after the 16th century. One of the important factors leading to the economic crisis was that the population of the Ottoman Empire doubled. Because of the population growth, the original economic system could not operate, resulting in a financial crisis in the government, making the country unable to support the operation of the entire imperial bureaucracy. The officials of the empire could only transfer the crisis to the lower classes. The lower classes, especially the Christians in the empire, had to face more extortion and abuse. Under this circumstance, they had to start contacting Western powers to fight against the Ottoman Empire.
Because the strategic location of the Armenian settlement is very important, it has always been a battleground for military strategists. The Safavid Dynasty of Iran, which emerged in the 16th century, soon launched a fierce competition with the Ottoman Empire for Armenia, and the two sides fought many times. In 1639, the Safavid Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire signed the "Constantinople Agreement", and the two countries divided Armenia. Western Armenia was assigned to the Ottoman Empire, and the Safavid Dynasty got Eastern Armenia. Facing the danger of being divided, the Armenians put their hopes on Russia, which provided an excuse for Russia to intervene in Armenian affairs, and also marked the beginning of the Armenian issue in modern history.
In 1813 and 1826, Russia and Iran fought two wars. The Armenians supported the Russians, and Iran was defeated. The Armenians fled in large numbers for fear of retaliation from the Iranian government. Russia eventually seized the Eastern Armenian region under Iranian rule and established an Armenia under Russian rule east of the border of the Ottoman Empire. From then on, Armenia was officially divided into two, belonging to Ottoman Turkey and Russia.
At this time, the Ottoman Empire was already "on the decline". Due to its oppressive policies towards ethnic minorities within the empire, coupled with the influence of the French Revolution and the Tanzimat Reform Movement, ethnic minorities in the Ottoman Empire expressed dissatisfaction with the government. Serbs and Greeks took the lead in carrying the banner of independence and embarked on the road of independent nation-building. The Armenians also awakened to national independence. However, the Armenian nation did not want to be independent from the empire, but demanded that the Ottoman government carry out reforms.
They had always hoped that the Ottoman government would improve their living conditions and domestic business environment, especially the situation of Armenians as second-class citizens in the empire. However, the Ottoman government was not willing to remove the shackles on the Armenians. The Tanzimat Reform also aroused strong opposition from Muslim religious leaders and the Ottoman military. They criticized the content of national equality in the decrees related to the Tanzimat Reform. For example, when Kaka Mustafa Rosed served as Grand Virgil from 1846 to 1858, he directly refused to implement this decree. He believed that the complete liberation of these non-Muslim groups who were destined to be ruled was completely contrary to the privileges of the ruling class and violated the traditions of the Ottoman Empire for many years. He also predicted at the time that a massacre of non-Muslims would be carried out in the future, which led to the increasing dissatisfaction of the Armenians with the empire. Since the Armenians were good at business and understood the languages of European countries, they basically controlled the business and trade of the Ottoman Empire, which caused serious dissatisfaction among the Turks. The Turks called the Armenians "the Jews of the Middle East", and the contradictions between the two nations gradually became acute. At the same time, in the 1830s, American missionaries began to spread Protestantism in the Armenian settlements. Influenced by Protestant ideas, the Armenians established their own cultural centers. Many Armenians influenced by Western ideas demanded that the Ottoman government reform the Armenians. The Armenians’ sense of national independence became stronger and stronger, and the Armenian national independence movement intensified. In order to annex Western Armenia, Russia also secretly instigated the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire to engage in national separatist activities, which objectively fueled the Armenian national independence movement and also aroused the Ottoman government’s vigilance against the Armenians.
In order to ease ethnic conflicts, the rulers of the Ottoman Empire "recognized the equal legal rights of Armenians and Muslims in the edicts of 1839 and 1856, but did not fundamentally improve the situation of Armenians." This further prompted the Armenian revolutionary groups to believe that it was meaningless to pin their hopes on the Ottoman government, and that Armenians could only have a bright future through national independence.
From then on, the Armenians quickly embarked on the road of national independence. However, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were a minority with a population of only more than 2 million, and the areas where they lived were relatively scattered. In addition, successive Ottoman governments prohibited Armenians from owning weapons. In addition, the Armenians were not united, and the Catholics and Gregorians within them had long been at odds, which weakened the development of the Armenian national independence movement.
Russia’s ambition to get involved in Western Armenia has not stopped. In the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, one of Russia’s most important goals was to annex Western Armenia. Both wars affected the survival of the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire, directly leading to the intensification of conflicts between the Ottoman government and the Armenians in its territory. After the end of the Russo-Turkish War, Russia forced the Ottoman Empire to sign the Treaty of San Stefano, which stipulated: "Russia will retain Kars, Batumi, Ardahan, and Beyezd and Alesko occupied by it in the Caucasus. Bulgaria will obtain autonomy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will jointly supervise Bosnia and Herzegovina with Russia." Article 16 of the treaty also stipulates: "Russian troops will continue to occupy the Armenian provinces until the Ottoman government implements reforms in the Armenian provinces within its territory." This was the first time that Russia interfered in Turkey’s internal affairs in the form of a treaty, but the treaty was ultimately not implemented. Because both Britain and Austria-Hungary believed that Russia had seriously violated their rights and interests, and Britain also sent warships to the Dardanelles to demonstrate to the Russian government.
Under pressure from Britain and Austria-Hungary, Russia agreed to amend the Treaty of San Stefano. Later, under the mediation of German Prime Minister Bismarck, in 1878, the European powers signed the Treaty of Berlin, and the Treaty of San Stefano was abolished. However, the Treaty of Berlin was also a change of soup but not medicine. It only redistributed the interests of European powers in the Ottoman Empire, handed over Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was originally jointly managed by Russia and Austria-Hungary, to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for independent management, recognized Serbia’s independence, Bulgaria continued to implement autonomy, and Russia still occupied Kars, Batumi, and Ardahan, but it could not control the Dardanelles. However, the most critical part of the treaty was the modification of Article 16 of the Treaty of San Stefano, which changed the original occupation of Armenian provinces by Russia until the Ottoman government implemented reforms in the Armenian provinces within its territory to the joint action of the signatory countries to ensure that the Ottoman Empire promulgated decrees aimed at implementing reforms in the Armenian provinces.
On the surface, Article 16 of the Treaty of San Stefano and Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin seem to be not much different, but this change has a far-reaching impact on the Armenians in Russia and the Ottoman Empire, because according to the original provisions, if Russia occupied the Armenian provinces in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, then the Ottoman government must implement reforms in the Armenian provinces within its territory. Ottoman officials also understood that if the Armenian provinces were not reformed in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty of San Stefano, then the Russian army would definitely take measures against Turkey to force the Turkish government to change its ruling policy towards the Armenians. Therefore, as long as the Russian army remained stationed in these areas, the situation of the Armenians would definitely change positively, and the subsequent massacres against the Armenians would not have occurred.
Although Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin stipulated that the Ottoman Empire should immediately reform its eastern Armenian provinces, improve the living conditions of the Armenians, and require the Ottoman government to ensure that the Armenians are not violated by their powerful neighbors. On the surface, the revised treaty seemed to have given a certain degree of "care" to the Armenians, but Article 61 of the treaty also stipulated that the signatory countries should jointly supervise the reform measures of the Ottoman Empire, and at the insistence of Britain, the Russian army was forced to withdraw from the occupied areas, which made this clause actually a dead letter. Therefore, "the agreement reached by these great powers in the collective note was thrown out of the window by the Turkish government in 1880."
Because once the Russian army withdraws from Western Armenia, the Armenians in Turkey will directly lose their "protector", and the Berlin Treaty has almost no binding force on the Ottoman government. The safety of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire cannot be guaranteed at all. Moreover, the Ottoman government is not willing to implement reforms in the Armenian provinces, so the Ottoman government can completely implement the provisions of the Berlin Treaty in disguise, and the timetable for implementing reforms can be greatly postponed.
To a certain extent, it is also empty talk for the great powers to jointly supervise the implementation of reforms by the Ottoman government, because the essence of joint supervision is only to coordinate the interests of the great powers in the Ottoman Empire, and the latter can completely use the contradictions between the great powers to resolve the risks they face, so joint supervision is difficult to implement in reality. It can be said that to a certain extent, joint supervision is actually impossible to supervise. During the Berlin Conference, the Western Armenian delegation asked the powers to agree to establish an autonomous Armenia governed by a governor sent by the Ottoman Empire, but the powers did not agree to their plan.
In fact, in the secret request submitted to the Berlin Conference, the Armenians gave up their political desire for independence and only requested to establish a Christian governor in the Lebanese model, but the powers only made vague promises in terms of security and reform, which made the entire Armenian nation extremely disappointed. At the same time, within the Ottoman Empire, both Muslims and the Sultan himself believed that the Armenians posed a threat to the Ottoman Empire. They also believed that the Armenians attempted to sacrifice the interests of the Ottoman Empire in exchange for the support of Western powers, especially Russia, and hoped that the powers would interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire.
After Western Armenia’s wishes were dashed, a group of Armenian national extremists attempted to provoke Muslims in the Ottoman Empire to retaliate against the Armenians through kidnapping, assassination and other means. They believed that as long as Muslims took retaliatory actions against the Armenians, the powers would intervene in accordance with the provisions of the Berlin Treaty, and Armenia would be able to get rid of the rule of the Ottoman Empire. However, their wishful thinking failed again, because the Western powers would not care about the fate and future of the Armenians at all. They only cared about their own country’s interests in the Ottoman Empire, and the Armenian issue was just a tool for them to maintain their own interests. In addition, the number of Armenian extremists was small, and most Armenians did not support it, so few people responded to their call, but their actions had a great impact. Their actions broke the barely maintained peace between Armenians and Muslims, seriously intensified the contradictions between Muslims and Armenians, and further strengthened Sultan Hamid II’s belief: Armenians were dividing the territory of Ottoman Turkey, and the Ottoman Empire would not be at peace unless the Armenians were eliminated. This not only meant the formal formation of the so-called "Armenian issue" in the Ottoman Empire, but also laid the seeds for the subsequent massacres of Armenians by the Turkish government.
Hamid Massacre
The Hamid Massacre was a series of large-scale massacres of Armenians that occurred during the period of 1894-1896 during the autocratic rule of Sultan Hamid II, so it is also called the 1894-1896 Massacre. In 1894, tensions between Armenians and Turks had reached a point of tension in eastern Anatolia. The Armenian Revolutionary Party actively sought Armenian independence and was very active in the provinces of the empire. The Ottoman authorities brutally suppressed the Armenians, arrested a large number of Armenians, and tortured them. The Kurdish armed Hamid Corps, as an irregular army of the Turkish Sultan, also played an important role in the massacre. In the summer of 1894, the massacre of Armenians in the Sassoon area of Bitlis Province prompted the Ottoman Empire to form an investigation committee. After completing its work, the investigation committee condemned the provocative activities of the Armenians and issued an investigation result that was unfavorable to the Armenians. These actions angered the Armenians.
The Hachak Party, which advocated independence, incited the Armenians to engage in armed riots and sent volunteers to assist the villagers. The riots lasted for 23 days, during which Muslims were massacred, houses were burned, and more than 265 Armenians died in the riots. The situation then escalated further.
After the European consuls in the area denied that the Armenians had launched an armed rebellion, the Ottoman army and the Hamid Corps massacred the Armenians who participated in the riots, killing nearly a thousand people. This massacre was like a flood that shocked Europe and the United States.
The people of the United States and Britain held a series of protests. The British, French and Russian ambassadors to the Ottoman Empire put pressure on Sultan Hamid II. The ambassadors of the three countries issued a joint statement demanding that the Sultan implement political reforms in the six eastern provinces and immediately release the detained Armenian political prisoners. One-third of government civil servants should be Armenians, the gendarmerie should accept more Armenian soldiers, and the Kurdish Hamid Corps should be included in regular military units. The appointment of local officials should be agreed to by the European powers. Although the great powers took concerted action to interfere in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire, each country also had its own agenda for its own interests.
The British and most Armenians hoped to implement more far-reaching political reforms in the six eastern provinces and eventually establish an Armenian state. However, Russia was reserved about the above statement, fearing that some measures, once implemented, might trigger an independence movement among its Armenians and undermine its territorial integrity. Therefore, it was difficult for the European powers to reach a consensus on these reform measures. The Turkish Sultan saw the contradictions among Western countries and began to clearly oppose these reform measures. The diplomatic struggle between the parties continued until the summer of 1895, and the relationship between Christians and Muslims in the empire became increasingly tense. The Armenian revolutionaries planned to launch an armed uprising, and some Muslim conservative forces also planned to take measures to try to prevent the implementation of the reforms. The latter was worried that with the support of European powers, the Armenian independence movement would eventually succeed, thus causing the division of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire’s ambassador to Britain also protested to the British government on August 11, saying, "If Britain continues to incite the Armenians in the empire to revolt, it will cause severe retaliation from Muslims, further leading to serious ethnic divisions in the Ottoman Empire."
On September 30, 1895, the Armenian Hachak Party organized a demonstration in the capital Constantinople. Nearly 4,000 demonstrators, armed with pistols and daggers, demanded that the Ottoman government immediately implement reforms in the eastern region to meet their demands for autonomy, and called on European powers for assistance and support. The police and the army blocked the road and fired at the demonstrators, so there was a small-scale conflict between the petitioners and the military and police. 60 Armenians and 15 military and police were killed, and many were injured. Then the riots spread throughout the city, and many Armenians were arrested and brutally killed. European powers accused the Ottoman government of being the first to shoot at the demonstrators and should be held responsible for the riots. A few days later, the former governor of Van, Bariri Pasha, retaliated against the Armenians in Trabzon and launched another round of killings.
On October 8, 1895, some Turkish radicals attacked Armenian homes and shops, and the police and army also participated. The massacre and looting lasted for nearly 5 hours, and it is estimated that more than 11,000 Armenians were killed in Trabzon and its surrounding areas. The Ottoman authorities told American writer George Hopworth that "it was the Armenians’ ambition for independence that brought them disaster." Hopworth also admitted that it was the many provocative actions of the Armenians that stimulated the Ottoman Empire. But he also wrote that "both Armenian thugs and civilians will be severely punished by the Ottoman government."
The brutal suppression and massacre in Istanbul once again made the Sultan face the interference and accusations of European powers. Under pressure, the Sultan finally agreed to sign the reform decree, but refused to release the rebels. This once again angered the Muslims in the country. There were rumors that the Sultan agreed to the Armenians’ demands for independence, so the Muslim conservative forces began to massacre Armenians on a large scale in retaliation for the latter’s demands for independence.
This large-scale massacre first broke out in Bitlis, the base of Muslim extremist forces. On Friday, October 25, 1895, when Muslims were praying in the mosque, gunshots suddenly rang out. It was rumored that the shooter was an Armenian, so Muslims came out in droves and attacked all Armenians on the road. 500 to 800 Armenians were killed that day. The massacre in the Erzurum area took place on October 30. The local Armenian Revolutionary Party became more and more active, and Muslims constantly accused Armenians of plotting to establish an independent state. The relationship between the two sides became increasingly tense, with revenge and counter-retaliation activities occurring frequently, and the Kurds also participated in the attacks on Armenians.
British Consul Greve narrated: "The massacre was obviously well prepared. Before the massacre, a large number of Turks swarmed into the city and looted Armenian villages after entering the city. The massacre of Armenian men was mainly carried out by the army. After the massacre in one block lasted for four or five hours, it started in another block. Only women and children survived. It was obvious that this was an organized massacre.
In the winter of 1895-1896, women and orphans who survived the previous massacres faced severe food and housing difficulties, and most of them died of cold and hunger. The British ambassador said in his report to his government, "According to reports from various provinces, the Sultan did not stop the killing of Turks and Kurds, and the perpetrators of the massacre are still at large, while most innocent Armenians have been arrested and imprisoned. ”
As the situation developed, the Armenian Revolutionary Party decided to carry out extremely violent activities in order to attract the attention of European powers to the Armenian issue. On August 26, 1896, a group of Armenian revolutionaries occupied the Ottoman Empire Bank in the capital Constantinople with guns and ammunition, threatening the Ottoman government to blow up the bank if their demands for autonomy were not met. Bomb attacks also occurred in other cities at the same time. This series of activities once again stimulated the Ottoman government.
On the evening of August 26, mainly by Kur The Muslim armed forces composed of Germans began to massacre Armenians, and a small number of Ottoman soldiers also participated in the massacre. The massacre was initially concentrated in Istanbul and did not spread to other cities until the next night. The number of Armenians killed was between 5,000 and 6,000, most of whom were poor workers. In short, this massacre was not a spontaneous activity, but a well-planned and organized activity. The Hamid Massacre caused heavy casualties to the Armenians. There are large differences in statistical data from various countries. According to official Ottoman statistics, the total number of Armenians killed was approximately 13,432, American writer George Hopworth counted 50,000, and the number reported to his country by the German ambassador was between 60,000 and 80,000. But in any case, The Hamid genocide brought great suffering to the Armenians. Thousands of houses and shops were destroyed, and many Armenians were forced to change their original religious beliefs or flee their homeland.
Sultan Hamid II may not have directly ordered the massacre, but he condoned the massacre and did not stop it in time. Frustrated by the Europeans’ indifference to the massacre, the Armenian revolutionaries occupied the European-managed Ottoman Bank on August 26, 1896. This incident also won more sympathy for the Armenians in Europe and won praise from the European and American press, while they portrayed Hamid II as a "butcher" and "bloody sultan." Although the powers vowed to take action to force the Ottoman government to implement new reforms, they did not do so because of political and economic interests.
The Adana Massacre and the rise of the Young Turks
After the Hamid Massacre, Sultan Hamid II’s rule lasted for another 12 years until the Young Turks took over the government. During this period, the Armenian Revolutionary Party’s violent activities continued, and they even attempted to assassinate Sultan Hamid II, while also constantly striving for Western aid. However, all these activities could not truly free the Armenians from the rule of the Turks.
It must be admitted that a series of provocative activities by the Armenians made the Turks tougher and ultimately led to a complete breakdown of relations with the Armenians during the Young Turks’ rule. Compared with the persecution suffered during the Hamid II period, the disaster of the Armenians during the Young Turks’ rule was more serious. At the beginning of the establishment of the Young Turks, due to their limited power, they welcomed all forces that opposed Hamid II, and naturally did not reject the Armenians who resisted Hamid II’s rule. Later, when the Young Turks came to power, their governing philosophy was constantly challenged by the reality, their original ideas were frustrated one after another, and the national security of the Ottoman Empire was also affected. Under the influence of Pan-Turkism, they believed that all ethnic minorities in the country were unreliable, and among the ethnic minorities in the country, the Armenians were the most harmful to the empire. Only by Turkifying the Ottoman Empire could the country’s territory remain intact. From then on, their attitude towards the Armenians in the country changed. Then a conspiracy to completely exterminate the Armenians kicked off.
The origin of the Young Turks began in the Imperial Military Medical School of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople. In May 1889, four students of the Imperial Military Medical School, under the leadership of Albanian Ibrahim Temo, established a secret political group, the Union and Progress Committee (another name for the Young Turks). They believed that the Ottoman Empire was very corrupt at the time. In order to prevent the entire country from falling apart, the rule of Hamid II must be overthrown before the entire empire collapsed. Under this slogan, they immediately gained the support of students from other public schools, and their power gradually grew. After Hamid II ascended the throne, in order to prevent the emergence of revolutionary forces in various places, he established a huge spy network across the country to monitor all walks of life in the Ottoman Empire, but omitted the government’s military school. Later, the organization was exposed because a student of the Imperial Military Medical School reported Temo and his organization to the Ottoman authorities. Surprisingly, Hamid II did not react strongly to this. He did not immediately eliminate these "heretics" as he did in the past. He only arrested several members of the organization and exiled them to remote areas of the empire. However, the development of this organization was not affected.
Throughout the early 1890s, the movement continued to develop, and its influence spread to areas outside government schools. Later, due to Hamid II’s renewed suspicion, the main members of the organization quickly fled to Paris and Geneva. Under the leadership of Ahmed Riza, various forces opposing Hamid II soon united, and they continued to mail various books to Turkey to promote their ideas. In 1896, when Hamid II massacred Armenians, the Young Turks were ready to launch an uprising in Constantinople. Later, their plan was leaked, and Hamid II still did not execute the rebels, and still exiled them to the remote areas of the empire.
In 1899, due to political differences, Hamid II’s brother-in-law Prince Sabaheddin and two nephews Sabaheddin and Lutfoula also fled to Paris. Their "joining" quickly increased the prestige and power of the Young Turks. In 1902, Prince Sabaheddin convened the first Ottoman liberal congress. Arabs, Greeks, Kurds, Armenians, Albanians, and Jews in exile from the Ottoman Empire attended the congress. During the meeting, Prince Sabaheddin expressed the hope that European powers would support their actions and hoped that the Young Turks would decentralize power, but his proposal was strongly opposed by other members of the Young Turks led by Ahmed Riza.
So far, the Young Turks actually split into two factions. One faction was the nationalist faction, which advocated autocracy and centralization under the leadership of Ahmed Riza, while the other faction was the liberal faction, which supported Turkish nationalism and federalism to solve the difficulties of the empire. The leader was Prince Sabah, the nephew of Abu Hamid. In fact, the biggest disagreement between the two factions was whether foreign forces needed to intervene. Both sides actually supported Turkish nationalism, and the essence of Turkish nationalism was Ottomanization. The so-called Ottomanization meant that all different ethnic groups should become Ottoman Turks. This means that they also have to deal with other ethnic minorities in the country, but because they want to overthrow Hamid II’s rule, the contradictions between them and ethnic minorities have not intensified for the time being. In particular, the Armenians have always wanted to change their situation through the intervention of Western powers, and the nationalists are consistent with Hamid II on this point, that is, they are extremely disgusted with the Armenians seeking support from Western powers. The reason why they did not turn against the Armenians at that time was because their cause still needed the support of the Armenians, so when the nationalists seized the leadership of the Young Turks and completely took control of the Ottoman Empire, they had to confront the Armenians in order to completely solve this hidden danger.
In 1908, the Third Army of the Ottoman Empire, deeply influenced by Riza’s ideas, launched an uprising. They began to march towards Constantinople. The uprising quickly spread throughout the country. In order to keep his throne, Hamid II tried his best to appease the rebels and announced the restoration of the 1876 Constitution. The Young Turks also accepted Hamid II’s proposal to establish a constitutional monarchy in Ottoman Turkey.
Although the Young Turks took over the government, unfortunately, they were immediately besieged by a series of problems at home and abroad. With the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria declared independence, and Crete was also incorporated into Greece. Many people in the religious community also expressed dissatisfaction with the new regime, believing that the Young Turks undermined the ruling position of Islam in the empire. The Liberal Party, which separated from the Young Turks and was led by Prince Sabaheddin, formed a political alliance with the Muslim Association against the Young Turks. The alliance swore allegiance to the Sultan and safeguarded the royal power, which eventually led to the rebellion on April 13, 1909.
In the early morning of April 13, soldiers of the First Corps of the Capital, who were loyal to the Sultan, launched a rebellion. They gathered at Hagia Sophia Square, where the Imperial Parliament was located. Many anti-Young Turks also joined the rebellion. The rebels’ demand to ban the Young Turks was exactly what Hamid II wanted, so the Sultan immediately met the rebels’ demands, decided to ban the Young Turks, and ordered the governors of the provinces to protect religious law. The Young Turks in Thessalonika immediately formed an "action army" and began to advance towards the capital. They arrived in the capital Constantinople on April 23 and controlled the entire city on the 26th. The rebellion failed. On April 27, the Young Turks deposed Sultan Hamid II through the parliament and established a new Sultan, Mehmed V. However, although the incident was initially aimed at the newly established Young Turk government, it affected the Armenians.
Armenians were killed by rebel forces because they supported the restoration of the constitution. When the government troops were suppressing the rebellion, they did not stop the atrocities. Instead, they took advantage of the situation in the Adana area, plundered Armenian land, and massacred Armenians. 15,000 to 30,000 Armenians were killed in the "Adana Massacre". However, this massacre did not lead to the Armenians parting ways with the Young Turks, because the Armenian Revolutionary Federation continued to cooperate with the Young Turks and they were still using the same election platform. It was not until 1911 that the situation of Armenians in the empire became worse and worse, and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation broke away from the Young Turks.
In order to win the election in April 1912, the nationalists in the Young Turks attempted to manipulate the election using their power. They dissolved the Ottoman Parliament in January 1912, which immediately caused concern among the liberals in the party. In order to prevent the country from returning to the era of Hamid II’s autocracy, liberal officials quickly launched a coup to seize the leadership of the Young Turks and established a government headed by Grand Vizier Kemiel Pasha and Minister of War Nazim Pasha. However, the liberal officials lacked experience. After taking power, they did not liquidate the nationalists in the party, and suffered heavy losses in the Balkan War that year. Later, they had to cede Adrianople to Bulgaria according to the arrangements of the great powers.
Obviously, this incident provided an opportunity for the nationalists within the party. Taking advantage of the Turkish national sentiment against the annexation of Adrianople, in January 1913, Envi led more than 200 followers to assassinate the Minister of War Najim, forcing the cabinet headed by Virgil Kemier to resign. Another coup was launched to overthrow the liberal government. Later in June 1913, the nationalists within the Young Turks Party eliminated the liberals in the party in a way that was close to state terrorism. So far, the nationalists have completely controlled the Young Turks Party and established a government headed by Minister of the Interior Talat, Minister of the Navy Cemal, and Minister of War Envi. Sultan Mehmed V has also become their puppet. As historians have said: "The Young Turks destroyed Hamid II’s regime, but pacified the opposition in a way that the Sultan liked.
From then on, the Young Turks, led by Talaat, Enwe and Cemal, constantly used terrorist means to crack down on dissidents and eventually firmly controlled Ottoman Turkey. Among the "Big Three", Talaat was actually the leader of the Young Turks and had the final say on all the affairs of the party. Enwe’s power was second only to him, and Cemal was the weakest of the three. Until the outbreak of the First World War, the "Big Three" had been controlling Ottoman Turkey with an iron fist, and they exercised centralized rule over the Young Turks, severely punishing those in the party who disobeyed them. The terror and unrest during Hamid II’s reign reappeared on the land of Ottoman Turkey.
After the Young Turks took power, "the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed two provinces of Turkey-Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Italy extended its scope to Turkey. Turkey suffered heavy losses and almost lost its territory in the entire European region. Their attitude towards the Armenians gradually changed subtly, and they returned to the path opened by Hamid II, that is, to distrust the Armenians. Therefore, preventing the collapse of the Ottoman Empire naturally became the main task of the party.
The Young Turks have always strongly opposed the Western powers’ interference in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Turkey and the division of the Ottoman Turkey’s territory. Like the Sultan, they are also afraid that the European powers will dismember Turkey, and they are also afraid that the minorities in the empire will seek help from the great powers. Fundamentally speaking, they also oppose the establishment of an independent Armenian state. Since the Tanzimat Reform, the Armenians have been eager to change their destiny through the assistance of the great powers and help them establish their own country. Both the Sultan and the Young Turks hate this. In this regard, the contradiction between them cannot be reconciled, but the current contradiction has not intensified. As long as the Armenians still have the idea of establishing an independent country, once the Young Turks take control of the country, they will inevitably eradicate the Armenians who attempt to be independent in the country.
The Armenian Genocide and Its Impact in 1915-1917
After the outbreak of World War I, Turkey was quickly involved. On October 25, 1914, Envi announced the end of Turkey’s neutrality and ordered the Ottoman Empire’s fleet to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet. A few days later, Russia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, followed by Britain and France. Since then, Ottoman Turkey has officially joined the war. However, on November 21, 1914, the Young Turks, relying on the prestige of the Sultan, claimed that the current war was a holy war, attempting to confront the Allies with the power of the Muslim world, which caused serious unrest among the Armenians. Because holy war means calling on Muslims to kill believers, although the main purpose of holy war was to call on Muslims in British colonies to rebel, "it mainly caused trouble between Turkish Muslims and Armenians", causing Muslims in Turkey to take this opportunity to attack Christians in the country.
In December 1914, Envi personally commanded the Third Army stationed in Erzurum to attack the Russian Caucasus. The Young Turks hoped to recapture the Caucasus occupied by Russia through this military victory. They even wanted to unify the Muslims in Central Asia. At first, Envi’s attack went smoothly and soon occupied the Russian regions of Kars, Ardahan and Batumi. Later, due to the severe winter cold and difficulties in logistics supply, the Russian army quickly launched a counterattack and wiped out the Ottoman Turkish army in the Sakamiz region, and Envi’s plan was shattered.
The Young Turks then "passed the buck" and said that the failure of this battle was entirely due to the Armenians’ treason. Although Envi publicly expressed his satisfaction and gratitude to the Armenians on his way back to Constantinople, saying that "the Armenians have completely devoted themselves to the empire", he changed his views after returning to Constantinople. He told Hussein Jahit, a pro-Young Turk newspaper publisher and a vice-president of the Ottoman Parliament, that "he failed because of the Armenian treason. In order to prevent these domestic enemies from harming the Turkish army from behind, he suggested that all Armenians living in the east should be immediately cleared to ensure that these Armenians would never again harm the Ottoman Empire.
So, under the guidance of this idea, the Young Turk Party government’s top leaders drafted the famous "Ten Measures" from December 1914 to January 1915. It was a plan to commit genocide against the Armenians and was a top-secret document of the Ottoman Empire. According to the research of historians, the "Ten Measures" were a plan for the massacre of Armenians formulated by the Young Turk Party’s top leaders at a secret meeting in the early days of World War I. The release of this plan showed that the Young Turk Party government had long been planning to commit racial crimes against the Armenians, and its purpose was to commit genocide against the entire Armenian population.
The ten measures are as follows:
1. Arrest all Armenians working in government agencies and deport them to remote provinces such as Baghdad and Mosul. They should be eliminated as much as possible, whether in Istanbul or on the way of deportation.
2. Confiscate all weapons of Armenians.
3. Stir up hatred of Muslims against Armenians through special means, especially in Van, Erzurum, Adana and other areas, and organize large-scale massacres, just like what the Russians did in Baku.
4. Order the Ottoman troops in Erzurum, Mamlit and Bitlis to protect the Armenians on the surface to cover up their tracks, but in fact closely cooperate with Muslim people and police to massacre Armenians in Adana, Sivas, Burusa, Insmit and Smyrna.
5. Kill all Armenian men, priests and teachers under the age of 50, and force Armenian women and children to Islamize.
6. Hunt down all Armenians who have escaped and try to cut off their connection with their homeland. 7. Issue a statement to the public that Armenian officials are spies, expel them completely, and make Armenians disappear from all departments and positions in the government.
8. Eliminate all Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman army in an appropriate manner. 9. All massacres and expulsions must be carried out simultaneously and quickly across the country, and no time should be left for the Armenians to prepare for defense.
10. This plan must be kept strictly confidential and must not be leaked to the outside world. No more than two or three people should be informed.
Then the Ottoman government began to implement the massacre plan in accordance with the "Ten Measures". On February 25, 1915, Army Minister Enver Pasha ordered the transfer of all Armenians in the army and classified them as non-combat troops. They were not allowed to hold weapons. Enver explained this move as "fear that they would collude with the Russians." In fact, this was to facilitate the subsequent genocide. On April 19, 1915, Van Governor Devdet Bey used conscription as an excuse to immediately recruit 4,000 Armenians. The Armenians thought it was a conspiracy and did not agree. Devdet immediately accused the Armenians in Van of rebellion and was determined to eliminate these rebels at any cost. On April 20, Turkish soldiers shot and killed two Armenian men because an Armenian woman was molested and the two men came to help. The armed conflict in Van began. Tens of thousands of Armenian refugees were surrounded by Turkish troops and were later rescued by the Russian army. On the evening of April 24, the Ottoman Turkish government implemented the next plan to kill the Armenian political and cultural elites living in Istanbul, because these people were likely to be the organizers of the anti-genocide movement. In May, Interior Minister Tairat Pasha asked the parliament to legislate to allow the relocation and resettlement of Armenians to other places, on the grounds that in the Van incident, Armenians participated in riots and massacres of Turkish people, and this riot may continue to spread to other parts of the country, thus affecting the security of the Caucasus war zone. Later, the scope of "migrating" residents was expanded to Armenians in other provinces. On May 27, 1915, the Ottoman Parliament passed the "Tesir Law", also known as the "Provisional Law on Expulsion", which allowed the government and the army to expel anyone who was considered a threat to the security of the entire empire and confiscate all Armenian property. From then on, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire fell into an abyss of no return. After the Young Turk Party government issued an expulsion order, local governments quickly took action against the Armenians. Some of the larger cities in Ottoman Turkey, such as Constantinople, Smyrna, Aleppo, and Sasun, immediately expelled the Armenians. Although the orders issued by the government seemed mild, the local governments were extremely cruel in their implementation.
On April 20, Turkish soldiers shot and killed two Armenian men who came to help an Armenian woman who was molested. The armed conflict in Van began. Tens of thousands of Armenian refugees were surrounded by Turkish troops and were rescued by Russian troops. On the evening of April 24, the Ottoman Turkish government implemented the next plan to kill the Armenian political and cultural elites living in Istanbul, because these people were likely to be the organizers of the anti-genocide movement. In May, Interior Minister Tairat Pasha asked the parliament to legislate to allow the relocation and resettlement of Armenians to other places, on the grounds that in the Van incident, Armenians participated in riots and massacres of Turkish people, and this riot may continue to spread to other parts of the country, thus affecting the security of the Caucasus war zone. Later, the scope of "migrating" residents was expanded to Armenians in other provinces. On May 27, 1915, the Ottoman Parliament passed the Tesir Law, also known as the Temporary Law of Expulsion, which allowed the government and the army to expel anyone who was considered a threat to the security of the entire empire and to confiscate all Armenian property. From then on, the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire fell into an abyss of no return. After the Young Turks government issued the expulsion order, local governments quickly took action against the Armenians. Some larger cities in Ottoman Turkey, such as Constantinople, Smyrna, Aleppo, and Sasson, immediately expelled Armenians. Although the order issued by the government seemed mild, the local governments were extremely cruel in their implementation.
In some villages, notices were posted ordering all Armenians in the village to arrive at public places on time, usually one or two days in advance, while in other areas, weeping people in towns were searched on the streets according to the issued verbal orders. Women were taken away from the washtubs, children were pulled out of their beds, bread was half baked in the oven, students were taken away from the classroom, and men were forced to abandon their plows in the fields and cattle at the foot of the mountain. Even women who had just given birth were forced out of bed to attend this panicked gathering, with their children in their arms. They hastily grabbed a scarf, a blanket, perhaps a few scraps of food, and they might have taken their own property. This was confirmed by a British Foreign Office official who pointed out that "the Armenians were ordered to leave their homes at the shortest possible time and were not given time to carry or dispose of their property. The Turks took possession of the property that the Armenians did not take away." During this deportation, almost no Armenian escaped punishment, regardless of their educational background or whether they were wealthy, but it must be pointed out that a few very wealthy Armenians managed to escape to Russia by bribing Turkish soldiers or officials with gold bars. Sometimes, Turkish soldiers gave Armenians a little time to dispose of their property, but this method was actually a disguised plunder of the Armenian wealth, because both parties knew the whole story, so the Turks obtained the Armenian’s property at a very low price. At the same time, the Armenians’ valuables were handed over to the local police station for safekeeping, and the government prohibited them from selling their houses. When the Armenians were expelled, the Turks divided up their valuables and then moved Muslims from other areas to the houses that originally belonged to the Armenians.
Before the expulsion, young men had been regularly separated from their families, tied together in groups of four, and then taken to the suburbs to be killed. However, in most cases, "men (who had reached the age requirement for military service) were tied together with ropes or tied to chairs. Women, including women who were about to give birth and children, were expelled like cattle under the supervision of weapons." Even if some Armenian men were able to survive, they would be eliminated during the expulsion. When the Armenian men were massacred, the remaining Armenian women and children were almost defenseless. On November 27, 1916, a survival report of Armenians from Syria showed that "the Turkish government usually gathered the Armenian men and boys in the army and sent 20 Turkish soldiers to escort them to another place without providing them with water during this period. The guards usually said that the Armenians were trying to escape from the desert or that the Armenians were trying to launch a mutiny, and they were forced to kill them in self-defense." When the expulsion began, a large number of Armenian women, children, and the elderly were forced to leave their homes. At first, the Turkish government pretended to protect the expelled Armenians and sent gendarmes to escort the expulsion team. The local government occasionally provided them with oxcarts to transport the exiles’ belongings. Later, the Turkish government did not care about the life and death of the exile team. Poor Armenian women held their children and the elderly leaned on crutches to the government-designated migration site. The migration of Armenian exiles was destined not to be a peaceful journey, because before that, the Turkish government had planned to deal with them in exile. Even if some of them were lucky enough to reach their destination, it would be useless and they would still be killed in the end.
The Turkish government did this, on the one hand, to cover up the truth and create a false impression, and on the other hand, to absolve itself of guilt. So when the exiles began their long "journey", they were often beaten by Turkish gendarmes. If the exiles were slow, the soldiers would not hesitate to stab the Armenian exiles with their bayonets. When some exhausted exiles tried to sit on the roadside to rest, the gendarmes would also use extremely brutal methods to force them to move forward. Sometimes, the gendarmes would also kill pregnant women with bayonets. A survivor later recalled: "I remember that my uncle’s grandson’s wife was pregnant and was about to give birth. My mother told me to go with her to get some water for the pregnant woman because her mother-in-law was too old to be convenient. So we went to get water together. A Turk broke in and took the pregnant woman away and killed her. The Turk also took the child out of the pregnant woman’s womb and killed the child." And at night, the Turkish gendarmes would snatch Armenian women from the exile team and rape them, and then the cruel Turkish gendarmes would kill these women.
At the same time, before the exiles arrived in a certain area, the Turkish gendarmes would notify the Kurds and special organizations in advance and let them prepare. When the exiles passed through Muslim gathering places, the Kurds and special organizations would persecute the Armenian exiles as if they were enemies. They robbed the Armenian exiles of everything, even the clothes on the exiles. At the same time, the Kurds would also brutally kill the exiles. The shouts of Armenian women and the elderly could be heard at any time, and the escorting gendarmes turned a blind eye to this. Therefore, each exile team had to continue to fight several types of enemies, including the gendarmes’ entourage, Turkish farmers and villagers, as well as Kurdish tribes and a group of bandits.
As the expulsion time gradually became longer, the atrocities suffered by the Armenian exiles became more and more, and the gendarmes began to kill the exiles at will, and torture of the exiles was commonplace. Since the expulsion took place during the hot summer, the exiles were often thirsty, but the brutal gendarmes did not allow them to drink water. Even when they encountered rivers during the exile, the soldiers would make things difficult for the exiles. For example, when an exile team passed the Euphrates River, the Turkish gendarmes did not allow the exiles to drink the river water at first, but the hungry and thirsty Armenian exiles rushed to the river to drink water. "The gendarmes pushed the women into the river and shot all those who tried to save themselves by swimming. There were often women who jumped into the river to defend their dignity, holding their children in their arms. Therefore, in the final stage of the exile, tens of thousands of Armenian exiles died. The exiles died one after another.
Many old people and women suffered from diseases such as cholera and dysentery, but the cruel gendarmes still drove them forward. Armenian girls who fell behind during the exile were sold as slaves by the Turkish gendarmes, and they were often even forced into prostitution. Therefore, very few exiles were able to reach their destination safely.
During the expulsion process, the Ottoman Turkish government built many concentration camps in the border area between present-day Iraq and Syria. The concentration camps were managed by a secret force called the "Special Organization" established by the Young Turks, and most of their members were criminals and murderers. , specifically used to massacre exhausted and unarmed Armenian refugees. Their methods were extremely brutal and barbaric, and the Ottoman officer Vehib Pasha once admitted that these people were "human butchers." In this way, from 1915 to 1917, about 1 million of the nearly 2 million Armenians living on Ottoman territory were killed in the massacre and expulsion of the Turkish army, and the rest of the Armenians were sold as slaves, exiled abroad, or assimilated into Turkish Islamic society.
There is no documentary evidence on the number of Armenians killed in the Armenian genocide of 1915-1917. No one can give an accurate number, and there are many different opinions. Turkish and Armenian scholars have reduced or exaggerated the number of victims due to their different identities, while European and American scholars are relatively objective. For example, American historian Quintl Louis believes that "the total number of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire before World War I was 1.75 million. After the war, there were nearly 700,000 Armenians who survived, including those who went into exile or changed their religious beliefs. So according to this calculation, excluding those who died directly in the war, the number of Armenians killed in the genocide should be more than 1 million." The United Nations "Genocide Convention" also uses the same number.
As the most tragic event in human history, the Armenian genocide has had a profound impact on both Turkey and Armenia today. After the Armenian genocide, successive Turkish governments have denied the existence of the genocide, believing that the deaths of a large number of Armenians were mainly caused by the war and social unrest at the time. This was a normal death during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and could not be defined as a "genocide". The death toll was between 250,000 and 500,000, not the 1.5 million claimed by the Armenians.
In Turkey, the Armenian genocide has always been a controversial and extremely sensitive topic, and it can be said to be a political minefield. Turkish President Abdullah Gul once said that launching a genocide was not in line with the character of the Turkish nation, and the Turkish nation would never carry out ethnic cleansing against other ethnic groups. He believes that although Turkey and Armenia had fought a tragic war in history, Turkey has never carried out a genocide against the Armenians. It can be seen that the Turkish government denies the genocide and refuses to acknowledge the existence of the Armenian genocide from 1915 to 1917. The Armenians who suffered the genocide still have lingering fears about the genocide itself, and the Turkish authorities have always denied it, so the ethnic hatred of Armenians towards Turks has intensified. The genocide and the Turkish government’s non-recognition attitude have naturally seriously affected the development of relations between Turkey and Armenia. So far, the two neighboring countries have not established diplomatic relations, and in the shadow of local wars, they have repeatedly been motivated to settle historical accounts...
Conclusion
Bauman wrote in "Modernity and the Holocaust", "The silent horror of the Holocaust that permeates our collective memory is to make people painfully doubt that the Holocaust may be far more than an aberration, far more than a deviation from the smooth path of human progress, and far more than a cancerous change in the healthy body of civilized society." This is indeed the case. A new round of conflict broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on September 27, 2020, local time. Both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement and launching a military offensive first.
After the conflict, Turkish President Erdogan took the lead in clearly expressing his support for Azerbaijan, while Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Nations urged all parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to exercise restraint. On September 28, 2020, local time, the Turkish president once again stated that it was time to end Armenia’s "occupation" of Azerbaijani territory. The Armenian president subsequently accused Turkey of directly providing Azerbaijan with military drones, mercenaries, and even F-16 fighter jets... Considering that successive Turkish governments have denied the historical "Armenian Genocide" and have shown no remorse, Turkey’s role and intentions in this Caucasus war are undoubtedly disturbing.
