Western English-language Historiography of the Hamidian Massacres (1970s-2010s)

This historiographical essay explores how the scholarship on the Hamidian massacres has evolved in Western English-language scholarship over the past fifty years introducing the main debates on this topic. The discussion reveals that almost all scholars have reflected on the question of “continuity” between the Hamidian massacres and the Armenian Genocide. Arguing for or against the “continuity” they have made it perhaps the most discussed issue in the scholarship. This paper rejects this dichotomy and argues for a more complex view on Hamidian massacres that should consider both perspectives and not necessarily contrast them. Morover, it contends that positioning the Hamidian massacres in relation to the Armenian Genocide is not enough for its contextulization. The paper argues that the contextualization of the Hamidian massacres should (a) place it and the Armenian Genocide in the context of the Armenian Question, (b) consider the Ottoman massacres of other subject groups in a longer (1820s-1920s) perspective, and (c) observe the Hamidian massacres transcending the “container” of the Ottoman state and discussing the foreign factors in the Ottoman violence.

Tracking the Japanese ship:the Rescue Route of Smyrna’s Armenians and Greeks

The purpose of the research is to comprehensively present the rescue process of the Armenians and Greeks exiled from Smyrna, tracking the example of a Japanese ship. To achieve the stated goal, the history of the Smyrna fire and the extermination of the Armenian and Greek populations of the local Christian districts have been studied, the details of the Japanese ship’s arrival and the passage of the survivors to the Greek shores has been explored according to the verificated data by eyewitness-survivors. The relevance of the research topic is conditioned by the “originality” and importance of the rescue operation performed by the Japanese ship. Voicing out about such realities nowadays will contribute educating a righteous and unbiased society.

Some Prospects for Studying the Complicity of German Empire in the Armenian Genocide

In studying the history of the Armenian Genocide, consideration of the issue of the organizers of this crime and accomplices is of key importance. In the context of the second part of this question, the problem of complicity of the German Empire is of greatest interest. Armenian and foreign researchers have regularly addressed this problem (including coverage of a broader topic – the role of the German Empire during the Armenian Genocide in previous years), studying it from different points of view: political, military, economic, humanitarian, etc. The already accumulated research material has created the need for some intermediate observations. The article presents some intermediate conclusions and prospective areas of research on this topic. They can be useful for researchers planning to deal with the topic of the involvement of the German Empire in the Armenian Genocide, in order to avoid possible repetitions and facilitate their research path.

Tun Pupils’ Magazine of Jbeil Orphanage։ an Attempt of National Reconstruction

The three-year issues of Tun [Home] pupils’ magazine of the Near East Relief’s Jbeil (Lebanon) orphanage have been researched and analyzed in this paper. The article has studied the papers written by orphans sometimes based on emotions, patriotism, and sometimes on realistic approaches. By analyzing and summarizing the papers this article aims at better understanding the nationalistic atmosphere in the orphanage, the feelings of the children and the steps undertaken to overcome the consequences and hardships of the Genocide. Summarizing the content of the papers published in 34 issues of the journal, the article concludes that Tun with its articles on literature and national feelings, pieces of evidence about homeland and the years of Genocide had a special meaning for the orphans. Through the articles the orphans of Jbeil made unique attempt of national reconstruction, which contributed to their eff orts to overcome the trauma of Genocide. Among the papers were articles about the events of April 24 and dedicated to the memory of martyrs, articles on the Armenian language, literature and folklore, and the Armenian spiritual values sharing them with the younger generation through reading and reciting.

Haildé Edip and the Turkification of the Armenian Children at Antoura Orphanage: Identification of the Problem Field

The article presents and analyses the Turkish intellectual Halidé Edip and her role in the state policy of Turkification of Armenian children at the Antoura orphanage during the Armenian Genocide. The article compares the three known memoirs of Armenian orphans from Antoura (Garnik Banyan, Harutyun Alboyajyan, and Melqon Petrosyan) to that of Halidé Edip, and reveals essential differences, manipulations, as well as disguised facts by Edip that are collected and presented in the article. Thus, the research identifies the problem field relating to various aspects of Antoura orphanage by raising new questions, offering explanations and new approaches, as well as highlighting issues that need to be researched further.

The Heroic Battle of Van-Vaspourakan according to the Testimonies of the Eyewitness Survivors

The Young Turk leaders of the Ottoman Empire participated in World War I having expansionist objectives and with their former pan-Turkic and pan-Islamic plan to carry out the genocide of the Armenians. The mobilization and the collection of arms of the Armenians started with the war. The governor of Van Djevdet pasha besieged the town with the Turkish armed forces. The people of Van struggled heroically, till the last drop of their blood, to defend their elementary human right for survival and their Motherland. The testimonies and historical songs, communicated by 35 eyewitness survivors of the heroic battle of Van, which I have enscribed, audio- and video-recorded, have served as a basis for the preparation of the present article.

Armenian Population Numbers in the Sandjak of Sghert in the Bitlis Vilayet of Western Armenia on the Eve of the Armenian Genocide

The article attempts to enumerate of the Armenian population of the Sanjak of Sghert in the Bitlis vilayet of Western Armenia on the eve of the Armenian Genocide. For this purpose 1) a general overview of the history of the administrative-territorial division of the sanjak is presented for the period preceding the Armenian Genocide (1878- 1914), 2) the main Ottoman, Armenian, Russian and Western primary statistical sources on the size of the Armenian population of the sanjak are collated and presented for the period 1878-1914 and a general description of these data is given, 3) statistical data on the Armenian population have been collated and compared according to the small administrative-territorial units – the kazas of the Sghert sanjak, paying particular attention to primary statistical sources containing data on the distribution of the Armenian population by settlements. Our own calculations of the size of the Armenian population of the sanjak were made on the basis of, and through, comparison and comparative analysis of these data. According to our calculations, based on the methodology mentioned above, on the eve of the Armenian Genocide there were 143 Armenian settlements in the Sghert sanjak, with about 2,480 Armenian households or 22,350 persons, including: the kaza of Sghert - 10 Armenian settlements, 550 households or 4,950 persons, the kaza of Shirvan - 17 Armenian settlements, 200 households or 1,800 persons, the kaza of Kharzan - 76 Armenian settlements, 940 households or 8,450 persons, the kaza of Erouh - 26 Armenian settlements, 510 households or 4,600 persons and the kaza of Bervari - 14 Armenian settlements, 280 households or 2,550 persons.

Forcible Child Transfer as a Genocidal Act: from Conceptualization to Criminalization

Forcible child transfer is one of the five genocidal acts listed in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. It forbids forcibly transferring children from one group to another with intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Operating in the nexus of cultural and biological genocides, forcible child transfer has a unique application in comparison with the other genocidal acts as it forms a new identity for a targeted group through the destruction of its former one. The aim of the Genocide Convention is not only to punish the worst forms of violence against national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups, but also to protect the groups quoted. As rightly mentioned in the explanation set out by the International Law Commission, “forcible child transfer could have particularly serious consequences for the future viability of the group.” The article studies the conceptual basis of the forcible child transfer clause; the perception of the concept by Raphael Lemkin and why he has proposed it be included in the crime; some conditions of inclusion of the clause in the Genocide Convention and the use of the clause just after the end of World War II by international and national tribunals.

The Armenian Population of the Diarbekir Province of Western Armenia during Hamidian Massacres

In the province of Diarbekir, as in other provinces of Western Armenia, the massacres of Armenians in 1895 were organized by the authorities and carried out by ordinary Muslim citizens as well as by the army and police. In this province, as well as in others, tens of thousands of Armenians were killed, as were hundreds of other Christians. It can also be assumed that the massacres were aimed primarily at the Armenian population, while other Christians suffered, as it was sometimes difficult to verify their ethnicity. It was not easy to stop the Kurds during the massacres. It is noteworthy that in some localities where Assyrians, Catholics and Protestants lived in greater numbers, the attackers were mainly Kurds, and the police and troops took part in the defense of population. The consequences of the massacres were not limited to the number of people who were killed: thousands of people died after they ended due to illness, stress, and starvation. According to some sources, several tens of thousands of Armenians, especially women, were forcibly Islamized in the province during the massacres. It is impossible, unfortunately, to calculate the material losses of Armenians in the province, since a thousand houses, shops, churches and monasteries were all looted and many of them were set on fire. After the massacres, the tendency for Armenians to migrate intensified.

R. Erdogan’s Myth of “Common History” and the Armenian Genocide

The state policy in modern Turkey is to continue falsifications concerning the Armenian Genocide and the essence of the Armenian question. The newly created historic myths deny the existence of Armenia and the indigenousness of the Armenian people; their goal is to justify the Turkification and Islamization policy, as well as the disappearance of the Armenian people from their historical territories and to legitimize the politics of the extermination of the Armenians. Engaged American historians, writing about the position of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey, significantly contributed to this state of affairs; it allowed President Erdogan to replace the rigid policy of denial of the genocide by using tolerant formulas of common pain and common history, stating that there were an equal number of Armenian and Muslim victims. The use of the old myths about the deportation and the activities of Armenian robbers is preserved. At the same time, the process of the further modernization of Turkey under President Erdogan is acquiring new aspects and facets of Armenian Genocide denial.