Introduction
This essay is a short discussion on the international criminal courts’ contribution to truth finding and reconciliation, examining the Greek Genocide. The essay presents the Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek genocide as one and so has a broader scope, the genocide of the Christians in the Ottoman Empire. The experiences of the three ethnic groups took place in the same region, during the same time period, as part of the same historical, social, and political forces involving a continuity of perpetrators with an identical motive: to create an ethnically pure Turkish state out of a multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire. Ultimate purpose was that economic power would stay in Turkey.
The genocides occurred in a period where the law was completely different from as we know it today. I will compare the legal facts of the case and then move on to a hypothetical assumption of how the case would be handled from a contemporary legal point of view. This will lead to the conclusion on international
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The non-Muslims during their rule turned into second class citizens. Ultra-nationalists, the party of the Young Turks, got in power, after the liberation of many Balkan countries from the Ottoman rule, with the purpose to turkify the Ottoman Empire. They turned to Germany, which trained the Turkish soldiers, and became the advisors of the Young Turks and the new Turkish State.
The elimination of the populations started with boycotts, then with the labor battalions (Amele Tabourou) and lastly with the deportations and the death marches. The U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire said, that ‘no such horrible episode before in the history of human race ever existed’. Few survived and the ones that made it were executed. The great powers of the time, expressed their concern for the suppression of the Christian populations, but their true concern was their interests in the
There was great resistance against this movement, and much of the neighboring Islamic world looked upon this westernization with disdain. Although Ataturk and Reza Shah ruled their countries with absolute power, and suppressed many citizens and minority groups, there were some positive aspects of the movement. The countries of Turkey and Iran would not be what they are today without the influence of these rulers in their
Unlike the other three scholars, who all look to prove intent in the event of the Hamidian Massacres, Suny takes a different approach in his book that contrasts greatly to Ackam, Dadrian, and Bloxham. Suny challenges the idea that the Hamidian Massacres were the start of the Armenian Genocide and announces that “on closer examination the Hamidian Massacres we not genocidal, but a kind of “‘exemplary repression,’ demonstrating to the sultan's subjects what the consequences of resistance and rebellion would be” (Suny, 131). The massacres showed no intent to eliminate the Armenians, unlike the genocide of 1915. Comparing the Hamidian Massacres to those of the past and to the genocide soon to be committed Suny brings a new perspective to when intent actually began against the Armenians, which may lead to questioning the claims put forth by his fellow
One of the most gruesome genocides to happen during the 20th century is the Greek Genocide, often referred to as the Pontian or Ottoman Greek Genocide. This genocide consisted of mass killings and exterminations of the Ottoman Greeks by the Turkish rule from 1914-1923. The main dispute was difference in religion and beliefs, Christians versus Islam. What most people do not know is that the Ottoman Greek Genocide is responsible for the almost complete destruction of the Christian Orthodox culture, including monuments and history. Many Greeks suffered from forced deportations, death marches, forced conversion of religion, executions, labor battalions, hunger, and the overall cruelty of the Turkish government during this time period. The ones responsible for these acts was the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and the Young Turk reformists who seized control of the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman Greeks of all ages and genders were persecuted because of their culture and minority in Turkey, so that the CUP and the Young Turks could achieved perfect “Turkification” of the empire.
They leaders of the Young Turks consisted of Mehmet Talaat, Minister of Interior in 1915 and Prime Minister in 1917, Ismail Enver, Minister of War, and Ahmed Jemal, Minister of the Marine and Military Governor of Syria. This group of leaders sent out the commands to commit mass slaughter of Christian Armenians. This killing was done through “Special Organizations” or killing squads. Zia Gokalp was head of propaganda. He was in charge of promoting Pan-Turanism. Pan-Turanism is the creation of a new empire stretching from Anatolia into Central Asia whose population would be only Turkish. The article, "Questions about the Armenian Genocide," states, “The Young Turk conspirators, other leading figures of the wartime Ottoman government, members of the CUP (Committee of Union and Progress) Central Committee, and many provincial administrators responsible for atrocities against the Armenians were indicted for their crimes at the end of the war.” It is clear to see that the Young Turks were in charge of the Armenian Genocide ("Questions about the Armenian
Meticulous plans were laid so that the Armenian populace could be exterminated with as little resistance as possible. The first step was to kill or disband all Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman Empires army so that there would be little powerful resistance when the
The Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire against its minority Armenian population from 1915-1917 left an estimated 1.5 million dead and to date, not one individual has been tried for these egregious crimes. The mass killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire in World War I and Jews by the Nazis in World War II shocked the conscience of the international community and led to the creation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), in order to hold the perpetrators of crimes of this magnitude accountable. In its preamble, the UN charter sets the objective to "establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained". The genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire and Nazis made it clear that an international standard must be set in order to protect the rights of individuals. The UN has attempted to establish international law with the creation of the CPPCG and other resolutions, however, these resolutions are simply words on paper unless they are properly enforced. In this essay I will be examining whether the United Nations have been successful in its enforcement international law, specifically the CPPCG.
The Armenian Genocide of 1915 was the Ottoman Governments eradication of the Armenians within what is now known as Turkey. Ottoman authorities arrested deported and eventually murdered Armenian subjects, as well as targeting men, women and Christian ethnic groups (Kévorkian, 2011). World War I was a key factor when looking at the Armenian Genocide; in 1914 the Turks entered the war on the same side of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. Government and military leadership feared the revolt of the Armenians; they
Many contemporaries of that time said that they did not meet a single Armenian who would not know the Turkish language. It just shows how closely the Armenian people were tied to the Ottoman Empire.The Ottoman Empire never renounced the invention of the Great Turan - pan-Turkic state, which was to extend Turkish territories by occupying the Caucasus, North Caucasus, the Crimea, the Volga region, Central Asia up to the Altai and partly Mongolia. The Armenians had always prevented implementation of these plans; in addition, the Armenians had ties with the Russians. Therefore, it was one of the leading aspects to exterminate the Armenians. The plans for the extermination of the Armenian population were developed in October 1911 at a congress of the party "Union and Progress" ( "Ittihad ve Terakki") and took shape in the World War First. In September 1914, at a secret meeting chaired by the Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha was established the leaders of the Young Turks Nazim, Shakir Behaetdin and Sukru. Nazim claimed; “If we remain satisfied with the sort of local massacres which took place in Adana or elsewhere ...if this purge is not general and final, it will inevitably lead to problems. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to eliminate the Armenian people in its entirety, so there is no further Armenian on this earth and the very concept of Armenia is extinguished”.The same attitude had other participants in the
The analysis of the genocides that took place both in Rwanda and Sudan’s Darfur region exhibit some similarities as well as differences. The character of violence was similar in both cases, but in Rwanda the violence was more intense, participatory, and extraordinary. The violence in these two places took place in an environment that had experienced civil wars. It was a period of political transition which was further aggravated by ethnic nationalism and a conflict of ethnic populations that were living in close proximity. However, in the Rwandan genocide, the state is more centralized, compact, and effective. This is what explains the intensity and variation. The international response to these genocides through observers emphasized on
The international community has the obligation of respecting the autonomy of sovereign states. Genocide has occurred all over the place a different time periods throughout history and throughout the world, whatever the case may be it is not right and this can be eliminated. Genocide has been occurring all over the world in different places and time periods. From, Iraq to Canada, and from America to Germany. Involving the United States Government, Christopher Columbus, and Hitler.
The denial of the Armenian genocide and the use of the term “alleged” are insults to those who have agitated over the years in highlighting the genocide and the Armenian people themselves. The pictorial anger and anguish of this painful traumatic experience had left the survivors of this horrific event with deep scars beyond repairs. The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were a dark world for the Armenians who were held helpless and bound at the treacherous hand of the Muslim Turks of the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. The Armenian Genocide includes: the context of power of the Ottoman Empire, the phases of destruction and Turkey’s refusal to acknowledge the genocide and provide support to the Armenians.
Genocide is one of the evillest moral crimes any ruling authority such as a government can commit against its people and it happens more than we think. A general definition of Genocide is the intention to destroy or murder people because of their race, beliefs, or even political and economic status. As we have been taught in this course Raphael Lemkin, created the term ‘Genocide’ 1944. Lemkin combined the ancient Greek word ‘genos’ which means race and the Latin word ‘cide’ which translates to killing. There are many examples of genocide in the world but the most recognizable is that of the Holocaust and how the German powers that be sought and attempted to kill all Jews. A recent example is the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 where the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana caused a violent reaction resulting in mass killings. In efforts to reduce Genocide, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG) was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and was placed in force in 1951. On July 1, 2002 the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into force. The ICC not only accepted the UNCG’s definition of Genocide but expanded it to include crimes against humanity such as enslavement, deportation, torture, rape, enforced disappearance and apartheid. There have been many organizations created throughout the world to defend and prevent genocide and even communities, religions and even colleges are forming organizations and these are just some examples of how
The crime of genocide is one of the most devastating human tragedies throughout the history. And the word genocide refers to an organised destruction to a specific group of people who belongs to the same culture, ethnic, racial, religious, or national group often in a war situation. Similar to mass killing, where anyone who is related to the particular group regardless their age, gender and ethnic background becomes the killing targets, genocide involves in more depth towards destroying people’s identity and it usually consists a fine thorough plan prearranged in order to demolish the unwanted group due to political reasons mostly. While the term genocide had only been created recently in 1943 by Raphael Lemkin, a Polish-Jewish legal
The main goal of these reforms was to move the non-Muslims from an inferior national to a full subject of the Empire. The thought was that if the Sultan gave his minority subjects more rights, per say, than they would not form a separatist movement. Or worse the subjects separatist movement lobby international support; for example, in the Greek national movement in 1821. The Greeks were assisted by France, Romanov Russia, and The United Kingdom. In this way two causes for the Armenian genocide interweave. At the same time as nationalistic centrifugal forces are pulling the Empire apart, Europe is sticking their hands in Ottoman internal affairs. The Tanzimat Reforms were really a failure, and did not promote equal citizenship among citizens. Nor
The deportations and mass murders were not just carried out by random soldiers, they were selected individuals who the CUP felt would do their “job” without hesitation. The Special Organization, a covert special forces unit, is said to have been the primary instrument in the implementation of the plan of extermination. Those deportations were conducted in convoys by train and wagons and then attacked by the Special Organization, this group of people consisted of