The Armenian Genocide (I): The Origin

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Armenia is one of the countries where, according to several studies, the first known civilizations established. It is not only a country, but its inhabitants also form an ethnic group endorsed by one of the oldest languages and one of the most developing primitive cultures in the history of the world. The Geographic location is under the protection of the mythical Mount Ararat, where it is believed that Noah's ark beached, in the Near East, halfway between Europe and Asia.

The Armenians are considered the first to adopt the Christian religion, a few years after the death of Christ, thanks to the apostolate of two of his apostles, Judas Thaddeus and Bartholomew. At present, the religion practised is the Armenian Apostolic Christian, independent of the Catholic and Orthodox faiths, and has its pope. Due to their geographical location, Armenians have been surrounded by countries of Islamic religion, with which they had maintained a continuous confrontation until the moment when their genocide and subsequent diaspora began.

April 24th 1915 that is the date. It is the first genocide of the modern era, which was inflicted by the new Republic of Turkey, heir to the Ottoman Empire, on the ethnic Armenian population. For more than two years, almost two million Armenians were arrested, expelled, tortured and massacred in an ethnic cleansing for which, to this day, Turkey has still not taken responsibility.

The Antecedents

The "Armenian question" actually erupted in the late 19th century. Since the middle of the 14th century, a large part of the population was under the Ottoman Empire jurisdiction. However, for religious reasons, the Christian variant of the Armenian church, with its pope, has the so-called "Millet", a kind of court of its own for the regulation of matters concerning its confession, independent of the Islamic courts.

In the 1970s, almost three million Armenians lived on Turkish territory. The entire eastern part depends on what they would like to settle, both Turks and Kurds, becoming their favourite target. They are considered second-class citizens.

The situation tries to change when the three leading powers of the European continent, Germany, France and England, put pressure on Turkey to stop mistreating the minorities under its control. In theory, the "Tanzimat" developed by the Turkish government relieved the heavy load on the Armenian people. In practice, none of that changed.

For that reason, the Armenian intellectual elite, many of them from within Turkish government institutions, issued a series of complaints to stop being considered second-class citizens.

"The looting and killing of Armenian cities by Kurds [Muslims] and Circassians, irregularities in tax collection, criminal behaviour of government officials, and the refusal to accept Christians as witnesses in trials.

(Akçam, Taner (2006). A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility)

The so-called "Armenian Question" arose in 1878, following the Russian occupation of the now-defunct Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of San Stefano of March 3rd supposedly gave authority to the Armenians to govern themselves in the territories where this war between Russians and Turks left a real catastrophe. However, once again, the Turks did not accept the clause of the treaty.

Great Britain, alerted by the flagrant lack of scruples on the part of Russia to claim power, decided to take action, once again calling on the high authorities to draw up a new treaty, which took place in Berlin on July 13th of the same year. The result is to reduce even further the clause referring to Armenian self-government, leaving it as a simple provision for reforms that would never be carried out.

The course of events provokes the total indignation of the Armenian delegation, which sees itself as being ignored and used like a rag doll in the hands of the great European powers. The political and intellectual elites, resident in the major European countries, began to set up a series of political parties. These parties, despite their ideological differences, had a common goal: to achieve recognition of the rights of the Armenian people in what they consider to be their territory, where they have lived and lived together with other peoples for centuries.

Armenian nationalist sentiment will trigger all other developments.

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