Essay Example on Armenian Genocide: 600,000-1.5 Million Lives Lost, Turkish Denial

Introduction

Armenian genocide is the massive killing of Armenians who lived during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish leaders came up with a plan to eliminate and massacre the Armenians in 1915. As the war ended in the early 1920s, when all the deportation activities were over, most Armenians, ranged between 600,000 and 1.5 million had lost their lives, and others forced to live as refugees in other countries. Nevertheless, the government of the Turkish denied the happening of the events. Moreover, the massive murdering that happened is today termed as genocide. The Armenian people consisted of a largely independent entity that used Christianity as its official religion. However, the Ottoman Empire absorbed it in the 15 century and dominated the people.

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Nevertheless, topics such as genocide justification and causes, the Turkish denial of the genocide, the comparisons between the Armenian genocide and other different genocides, and the impacts of the genocide have been discussed in this essay.

Causes and justifications of the genocide

The Armenians took the form of a state-sanctioned program between 1894 and 1896. However, the Turkish government sacked the Armenians from the cities. This was due to the widespread protests of the Armenians . A new Turkish government came to power in 1908 by overthrowing the running government and establishing a new and advanced constitution that was different from the former. Despite the Armenians being hopeful that equality would be considered in a ruling, it was clear that the new government wanted to make the entire empire to be dominated by Turks. War started in 1914 when the Turks declared a war by opposing the Christianity movements that were conducted by the Armenians.

Moreover, Turkish military leaders began accusing the Armenians of being traitors. On the other hand, the Armenians believed they could win independence and they prepared to defeat and conquer their enemies. The Armenian genocide began on April 24, 1915, and unfortunately, most Armenians were executed and killed by the Turkish representatives. After the defeat of the Armenians, the remnants were forced to flee from their homes. They marched through the Mesopotamian desert where they suffered due to a lack of food and water. The ways of execution were too harsh and hard for the Armenians to bear. For example, the Turkish military forced them to strip naked and walk in the scorching sun until they died. The Turkish killing teams aimed to eliminate all Christian elements to ensure the dominance of their ruling. Besides, they threw the victims off clips and drowned them in rivers, making the Islam dominions to occupy the abandoned homes and seizing all properties. Moreover, most Armenian children got kidnapped and absorbed in Islam families.

Turkish denial of the genocide

The Turkish government acknowledged the misunderstandings and the inhumanities that happened, but claims that all the happenings were due to war and more other people, despite the Armenians got killed too. The government representatives claim that happening was not meant to sweep out the Armenians, but it was due to war . Moreover, despite the Armenians demanding an apology for the misfortune that happened, the Ankara has failed to participate in the memorial tabulations since it believes that the government was not responsible for all events. Besides, the establishment of the Turkish government is marked by the execution history of the Armenians. Nevertheless, the Turkish authorities have softened the Armenians claims when the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan acknowledged the painful history and offered his condolences to the Armenians.

Comparisons between the Armenians genocide and other genocides

Different scholars have addressed the issue of genocide and deportation of people at different times of history. Human beings are self-destructive hybrid since they are capable of killing fellow humans for power and dominance, or other purposes. In comparison to the Armenian and Rwandan genocides, both the survivors came up with organizations that provide a safer environment for other people who survived the torture . According to reports of the interviews conducted between the Armenians and the Rwandans, both sides had formed associations that were meant to protect surviving siblings, relatives, and neighbors. However, the Armenians experience is associated with more years of experience, which is fifty or more years after the occurrence. While on the other hand, the Rwandans experienced the process for only eight years. As a result, the Armenians are said to spend more time consuming and processing the loss and torture they went through more than the Rwandan genocide victims.

Also, the Armenian war against the Turkish government can be compared with the Jew’s holocaust. Unlike the Armenian’s experience, the holocaust entailed the execution of both victims and perpetrators. The Jews were being slaughtered for their belief and their religious passion. Holocaust was an ideology of Hitler to become a manifest for destruction . The similarity aspect between the Armenians and the Jews is that both operations were the government’s plan to destroy part or the whole of its ruling areas due to ethnoreligious communities that were segmenting the government cooperation. Besides, another main similarity between the two is that they both happened between significant wars.

Impacts of genocide

Genocide mainly aims at eliminating a particular group of people from existence. The main impact of genocide is the change of culture and religious beliefs since people get displaced from their native lands, and travel to new areas where conditions force them to adopt new ways of life. People also tend to change their cultural and national identities based on the dominating team.

Conflicts and damaged relationships

Genocide caused immeasurable pains and suffering to millions of people between the 20th and 21st centuries. People lost their loved ones, and some families perished due to the harsh and unkind execution practices . With over millions of Armenians, Jews, and Rwandans killed in the process, genocide resulted in conflicts that are nearly unforgivable. For instance, the Turkish government and the Armenians still conflict over activities that happened in the first world war since they are highlighted in the history of the establishment of the government.

Victimhood and trauma healing

Conflicts result in trauma that makes people continue suffering and getting frozen with time. The harsh execution and suffering of the Armenians went on for a longer period. As a result, the attempt of eliminating the Armenian’s society is mentioned in the narration of the establishment of the Turkish government. Ultimately, the depth of pain and suffering of the Armenians continue to portray a negative attitude toward their participation in events that concern the Turks.

Refugees

After the defeat of the Armenians, the surviving squad was forced to flee from their homes to more peaceful paces. The torturing and butchering of the victims increased suffering, making the Armenians move to nearby countries resulting in increased refugees in the country.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Armenian genocide led to the destruction of Armenian cultures and religious beliefs. The Turkish military converted the churches to mosques and seized the Armenian places of living. Generally, the painful execution of the Armenians led to their opposition to the denial of their rights. The opposition caused deaths of hundreds of thousands of the Armenians and loss of their properties without refund. Their claims to reclaim their lost properties got turned down by Ankara who claimed that all the events happened in wartime and more people, others that the Athenians only were affected. Moreover, genocide is a result of culture and beliefs and mostly aims at eradicating a particular group of people.

References

Bloxham, Donald. "Determinants of the Armenian genocide." In Looking Backward, Moving Forward, pp. 23-50. Routledge, 2017.

Boyajian, Levon, and Grigorian. "Psychosocial sequelae of the Armenian genocide." In The Armenian genocide in perspective, pp. 177-186. Routledge, 2017.

Jacobs, Steven L. "Raphael Lemkin and the Armenian genocide." In Looking Backward, Moving Forward, pp. 125-135. Routledge, 2017.

Melson, Robert F. "The Armenian Genocide as precursor and prototype of twentieth-century genocide." In Is the Holocaust Unique, pp. 125-137. Routledge, 2018.

Melson, Robert. "Provocation or nationalism: A critical inquiry into the Armenian genocide of 1915." In The Armenian genocide in perspective, pp. 61-84. Routledge, 2017.