This is a very high level summary of course (and I particularly regret not having the time or space to elaborate on the transformation of the CUP over time – but perhaps I can present more of this at a later date) - I write this up to pass on a bit of understanding of why such a thing as the Armenian Genocide occurred and to put into context and perspective with other massacres that occurred to Armenians and other Christians of the Ottoman Empire during this period and to present an overview of the social and political situation within the last phase of the Ottoman Empire and the revolution that led to the Genocide.
We often see Turks claiming that Armenians were the first to kill Turks and that Turks were only “deporting” Armenians because Armenian “gangs” were somehow a threat to the state and were killing Turks. They claim that these actions were defensive and that there was a civil war and such - putting the burden of blame on Armenians. Of course this is the furthest thing from the truth and is in fact completely the opposite of what occurred. There is ample evidence - and incredible amount of it in fact - entirely from official Ottoman and CUP party records - as well as from accounts (descriptions and explanations of and for meetings, plans and activities) written by Ottoman and CUP members after WWI that details the intentions, plans and methods for cleansing (exterminating) Armenians and other Christians from Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire.
‘’‘Political deterioration and Christian Massacres during the late Ottoman period’’’
Of course we are all aware of the series of large scale massacres committed under the direction of Sultan Abdul Hamid in the late 1800s and the (for over 100 years) almost continuous massacre and repression by Kurds and other nomadic chettes who roamed the Eastern provinces (having been deliberately relocated by the Ottomans into Armenian provinces for the intention of de-Americanizing them) still living off of booty and pillage as they always had done. However the intentions of the CUP directed deportations and massacres were much different (and far more sinister) then these earlier massacres. The goal of Abdul Hamid and the Ottomans was suppression of political and economic expression of the Christian minorities in order that they maintain their place in Ottoman society – as Dhimmi – religious minorities of lesser status then the Muslims of the Empire. Much like the Jews in Germany early in the 20th century the Christians of the Ottoman Empire were prospering and developing a substantial modern urban presence consisting of educated and relatively wealthy individuals. (It should be noted that the majority of the populations of each of these groups remained as they had always been – poor and agricultural – in the Armenian case - and poor and urban [ghettoized] in the Jewish case – however the perceptions among the majority groups - based on a sizable though still small percent of the population - were that these minorities were becoming enriched and more powerful – and in fact this was true as such for a segment of the population). This occurred due to education and the fact that these groups were forced into economic paths that had become lucrative but didn’t fit into the occupations that fit high social status of traditional Ottoman society – government and military service – that Christians were prohibited from joining. As a result these groups began to exercise political aspirations where before there were none. These aspirations were primarily in the form of pressing for “equal rights” – individual and in regards to property (necessary for development of stable business environments) and also included calls for ending repression, massacres and other deprivations against them. While there existed an undercurrent of nationalist sentiment – primarily among the foreign educated student population who became exposed to such concepts in Europe – the political goals of the vast majority of Armenians (those who had them at all) were for greater equality and recognition within the Ottoman system that had always been exclusively dominated by Muslim Turks. During the Tanzimat period (1839-1876) a constitution was adopted that acknowledged these concerns for equality of Ottoman citizens. However these reforms and Christian calls for greater rights were opposed by the Sultan and were only adopted by outside force of the European powers – primarily Russia, Britain and France (and all of these reforms and the constitution itself were ultimately nullified by the Sultan). Sultan Abdul Hamid’s response to Christian situational reforms was to use force and massacre to quiet the Christians and to teach them that their entreaties for help would lead to no good for them (quite the opposite) and that change was not possible. The Sultan and the Ottomans were desperate to maintain the system that legitimized them and their centuries long order and domination.
The European powers were able to force many concessions from the Ottomans – in the political arena – at least on paper – though largely not carried out – but more importantly in the Economic arena. These concessions amounted to capitulations that gave the European powers specific legal and economic powers within the Ottoman Empire itself. These were highly resented by the Ottomans who blamed the Christian minorities for their humiliation. Thus a cycle of Ottoman massacres of minorities, European intervention, and resentment of the Christian minorities began. Additionally, the European powers were annexing Ottoman territories – often through the rational of protecting Christian minorities - and other territories were lost in war – particularly against Russia – who specifically carved a role of defender of their fellow Orthodox Christians (and took advantage of this for her own gain). As the Ottoman Empire’s fortunes waned and territory was lost to (once despised and looked down upon) foreign powers and to Christian minority uprisings (such as in Greece and in the Balkans) supported by the former States – a great resentment began to build against both outside powers and internal minorities. This was exacerbated due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from these lost territories and as a result of various Turkic groups fleeing massacre committed by Russians and the newly freed minority groups themselves who had experienced such at the hand of the Turkish overlords and were seeking revenge. Many Turks were forcibly deported from these areas as well – though most refugees were voluntarily fleeing expected and actual reprisals. The Ottomans settled a great many of these (angry and desperate) exiles into traditional Armenian provinces and areas in part accounting for and adding to the great animosity that had been building on the part of Muslim Turks – already resentful of their Empires and their own falling fortunes (due to the rising Ottoman corruption and economic impact of lost wars and crumbling Empire) and they further resented the perceived prosperity, growing status and special treatment afford the minorities.
‘’‘Young Turks, Pan-Turkism and Revolution’’’
In this environment there rose among educated Ottomans (primarily among the young military and medical fields) a desire to save the Empire and to modernize. There were however many competing and often improvised schools of thought that arose on how to achieve this. Most all on some level appeared to view the (absolute power of the) Sultanate as a relic of the past and wished for political and economic reform to break the Empire form its malaise and inferior (and rapidly falling) status vis-à-vis the European powers. On one hand there were those who aspired to French style democracy and equal rights and responsibilities for all citizens – with the removal of ethnic distinction and restriction – who could imagine an Empire where all ethnicities could contribute and be a part of an integrated whole (still however, it should be added – under ultimate Turkish dominion). On the other hand a small but over time growing contingent of reformers emphasized nationalist Turkish (and Muslim-Turkish) aspirations to the exclusion of the Christian minorities. It is telling that nearly all who advocated this path had their roots in either the Balkans or in by then Russian held territories be it Crimea or the Caucuses and nearly all of the “Turks” were in fact not quite ethnically Turkish (and certainly not Ottoman Turkish) – but were some variant – Tartar, Bulgarian, Azeri or such – and these individuals were raised to manhood in environments where their home territories were lost to foreign Christian powers and to nationalized former Christian minorities – and this is a very key aspect to their development and thinking – particularly in regards to their perceptions concerning the remaining Christian minorities of the Empire (Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians). Eventually those who aspired for reforms were lumped together and considered as “Young Turks” (there were as well Young Ottomans who advocated concepts of reform within the Ottoman structure). All of these Turkic groups however never abandoned the concept of the Turks as the ruling people of the Empire and in fact as Turkish nationalism arose out of the defeats (and obvious bankruptcy of Ottomanism) and loss of outlying territories at the hands of Foreign and minority Christian groups there arose great enthusiasm for the concepts of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Turanism – the later being the extension of the concept of the Turkish “nation” to include all Turkic peoples of the world across Central Asia. These concepts took on greater importance to the Young Turk movement with the ascendancy of the radical wing of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) – the leading Young Turk political party – that adhered to these principals.
The CUP undertook a successful coup of the government in 1908. At this time the liberal faction held sway and they reinstalled the constitution that Abdul Hamid had suspended and invited participation from representatives of the minority communities. The Armenian political parties and populace supported the new regime and were hopeful for reform. However after an Islamic student led counter-coup in 1909 (in large part in protest of this concept of elevating minority rights) led to an ascendancy of the Pan-Turkic/Pan-Islamic CUP faction that quickly passed the Law of Associations forbidding ethnically based political associations (parties) – thus banning the Armenian political parties whom in their pan-Turkic vision had become adversaries. The various CUP actions against the minorities – such as forbidding any language besides Turkish to be taught in schools – prompted protests and even revolts in the minority communities. It was this very issue that prompted the Albanian revolt in 1910 and this further turned the CUP toward a Turkic only platform (as Albanians were Muslim but non-Turkish) and further hardened the CUP against the minorities. It was beginning at this time where CUP Central Committee records and foreign observers at CUP Congresses first mention that the use of violence and force to transform the Empire and specifically against the minorities was given broad recognition within the party and was a policy (secretly) adopted at the highest levels. The Balkan War in 1912 further hardened the CUP/Ottoman elite and convinced them that there was no chance to reform the Ottoman Empire in a multi-ethnic fashion. However it should be noted that all attempts to do so up to this point all were clearly determined to enforce the concept of Turkish dominance and force the minorities to Turkify and it is no surprise that the minority groups – even the Muslim ones – reacted against this.
‘’‘CUP campaign to eradicate Christians from Anatolia’’’
By 1913 when the CUP took full control of the state with the assassination of the Grand Vizer Mahumet Sevket - Turkism was officially adopted as party policy and enactment of this vision was put into effect. Various committees were established such as the National Defense Committee and the Committee of National Independence whose aims were to Turkify the economy by force and extended the power of the party and of trusted pan-Turkist Turkish operatives throughout the Empire. These committees organized boycotts of Armenian and Greek businesses and formed volunteer armed gangs called fedai cheteler (or chettes) who were charged with committing massacres and expulsions of Christians with the explicit aim to thin their populations. What is interesting is that these actions – which began in late 1913/early 1914 occurred prior to the Ottoman’s entering the war and were concentrated in Western Anatolia – in the Aegean region and to a lesser extent in the Black Sea region – where the bulk of the prosperous Greeks resided. It is also interesting that at this time (January 1914) Enver Pasha was appointed Minister of War and under him the Special Organization was reformed with operatives sent both East and West. East to the Caucuses to prepare the Muslims there under the Russian Empire to revolt with the intention of joining the Ottoman Empire and West to massacre Greeks and Armenians along the Aegean coast. Its also interesting that a senior government official from the Tekfurdagi district who was involved in implementing these measures at the time later said that the policy was variously called “emigration” or “deportation” but that the intent was “devastation and annihilation”. As word of these massacres reached the Western powers in Istanbul a commission of Inquiry was established but by then the damage had been done – hundreds of thousands of Greeks and Armenians had been slaughtered and an estimated 500,000 ethnic Greeks were forced to flee to Greece. Later, after the bulk of the Armenian Genocide had occurred (in both 1916 and again in 1918) these massacres and expulsions resumed. The head of the Special Organization – Kushchubasi Eshref Bey - later admitted that in 1914 alone the number of Greeks and Armenians affected by his “purifying conquest operations” was 1,150,000 – with an estimate 500,000 killed! These massacres and expulsions occurred over one year prior to the more commonly known Armenian “deportations” and Genocide and they began well prior to the outbreak of World War I and there was no violence or charges of sedition to prompt them. The lack of any repercussions from these massacres must have further emboldened the CUP central committee as they contemplated their plan to eliminate the Armenians who stood between them and their Turkish brethren to the East.
During this same period of time Ottoman military operatives and special organization members were scouring various Armenian localities charged with disarming the population (on pretext of measures being taken against violent Armenian “secret” political parties and gangs – who were outlawed and seen by the CUP as potential threats). Armenian communities that had successfully resisted massacres in the 1890s were specifically targeted and their inhabitants harassed. Additionally, even prior to the April 1915 round up of Armenian leaders and intelligencia in Istanbul and other Armenian towns there were selected arrests and murders of Armenian political and religious leaders, and various massacres were conducted throughout Anatolia designed in part to provoke the Armenian population to revolt (which they by and large did not do) and any counteraction was used as an excuse for further repressive measures. In August of 1914 all Armenian men between the ages of 20 and 45 were subject to being drafted and resistance to this was used as an excuse to harass Armenian communities. Additionally, the Ottomans forced Armenians from all the provinces to pay enormous war contributions. All of these events occurred prior to the Ottoman Empire entering World War I and during this period all reports form the Armenian provinces suggest that there was no revolt and no significant activity whatsoever. Shortly after the Ottomans joined World War I and attacked Russia the CUP began to circulate charges of Armenian sedition and Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman Army were disarmed and converted into labor battalions. Incidents of massacre and attacks on Armenians increase significantly throughout Anatolia. Charges of sedition became particularly strident after Enver’s disastrous defeat at Sarakamish in the Caucuses in January of 1915 where additional charges against Armenians to excuse the defeat – yet Enver himself actually praised the valor of Armenian units that had saved his life. However, it was when the Allies invaded and attacked the Dardenelles in March 1915 and Istanbul itself was threatened that the “final solution” to the “Armenian Question” was put into effect. These CUP central committee decisions are well documented. In April 1915 Armenian community, political and artistic leaders from Istanbul and major Armenian towns throughout Anatolia are rounded up and taken away – most will be killed. And following the successful resistance to massacre by the Armenians of Van the CUP enact the Temporary Law of Deportations – that acts as the cover for the extermination and cleansing of Armenians from Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire. The Law of Abandoned Properties was further used to seize Armenian economic assets and complete the CUP plan to nationalize the economy and Turkify the nation. Within a year nearly all Armenians are gone from Anatolia – with more the half killed (estimated at over 1 million individuals) and most of the rest of the survivors in death camps in the Syrian desert (where nearly ½ million more would die), with a percentage escaping into Russian controlled Caucuses or elsewhere. In the years following the vast majority of the Armenians, Greeks and Assyrians – the last remaining Christian communities of the Empire – are either killed or expelled. These actions against the Christian minorities continued throughout World War I and recommenced with the advent of the Nationalist Turkish War for liberation in 1919 with actions taken against remaining Armenians in Anatolia as well as in the Armenian Caucuses where up to an additional 400,000 Armenians may have been massacred and killed. The final stage of the Turkish Genocide of its Christian communities can be said to have occurred in 1922 and 1923 with the burning of the predominantly Greek and Armenian city of Smyrna and the forced expulsion (that became a population exchange) of the remaining Greek and Christian elements of Turkey save for a small community that remained in Istanbul and a very few isolated Armenian villages that somehow escaped or who converted to Islam and were left be. However even converting to Islam did not save many of the Empires Christians as even these too were directed to be “deported” (massacred)…and today there are only a small handful of Armenians and Christians left in Turkey – again mostly concentrated in Istanbul itself.
