Armenia Marks Genocide Anniversary

Hundreds of thousands of people silently marched to the hilltop genocide memorial in Yerevan on Thursday to pay their respects to more than one million Armenians massacred in Ottoman Turkey from 1915-1918.

An incessant stream of people of different ages walked up to the Tsitsernakabert hill overlooking the city and laid flowers around its eternal fire throughout the day. It marked the 93rd anniversary of the arrests of hundreds of Armenian intellectuals in Constantinople that were followed by the mass killings and deportations of Armenians from eastern regions of the crumbling Ottoman Empire.

Many historians consider the massacres the first genocide of the 20th century. Modern-day Turkey insists, however, that they did not constitute genocide, saying that Armenians died in smaller number and not as a result of a premeditated government policy.

As always, the annual remembrance of genocide victims began at Tsitsernakabert with a prayer service led by the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Garegin II. The ceremony was broadcast live by national television and attended by President Serzh Sarkisian and other top state officials.

In a written statement, Sarkisian called the mass killings and deportations of Ottoman Armenians a “crime against humanity” that must be recognized and condemned by the entire world. He said Armenia’s government will campaign for that alongside the worldwide Armenian Diaspora.

“There is hardly a family [in Armenia] that was not affected by those tragic events,” Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian told reporters after laying a wreathe at the memorial. “That tragedy directly or indirectly knocked on the doors of every Armenian family. We must learn lessons from history.”

“May God give us the wisdom to learn those lessons and prevent a repeat of such tragedies in the future,” he said.

Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian also spoke of the need to draw such lessons. “Everything must be done to ensure that our country and our people are protected,” he said. “That requires planned steps and hard work.”

“We are duly remembering genocide victims,” said Eduard Sedrakian, rector of the National Academy of Fine Arts. “I hope we will work, build and create things with the same diligence. As they say, the only way to fight against death is to live.”

The April 24 commemoration was also used by opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian and his allies for rallying more than 10,000 supporters in downtown Yerevan despite heavy police presence in and around Liberty Square, the scene of massive opposition demonstrations staged in the wake of the recent presidential election. Ignoring police orders to keep to the sidewalks and chanting anti-government slogans, crowd marched to the Tsitsernakabert hill where it was joined by Ter-Petrosian. Although the latter headed to his nearby house after laying flowers at the genocide memorial, most of the opposition supporters did not disperse and walked back to the city center.

Late Ottoman genocides: the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Young Turkish population and extermination policies

By Dominik J. Schaller, Jürgen Zimmerer

From 1899 to 1922, the Swiss deacon Jakob Künzler (1871-1949) headed a missionary hospital in Ourfa, an old city in South-Eastern Anatolia. During his time in the Eastern Provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Künzler became an important eyewitness to the Young Turks' project of large-scale ethnic cleansing and genocide. In October 1915, Künzler had to witness the destruction of the Armenian community in Ourfa when the desperate Armenian resistance against the deportation orders was bloodily suppressed by the Ottoman army. Even before this event, the Swiss deacon was well aware of the Young Turks' policy of extermination. Since Ourfa was a significant regional crossroad, many convoys of Armenian deportees on their way to the Syrian desert passed the city. Künzler tried to relieve as much as possible the distress and pain of the Armenian deportees, who were in a deplorable condition. Furthermore, he made sure their fate was not forgotten. In his book In the Land of Blood and Tears, published in 1921 in Germany, Künzler described vividly his horrible experiences in Ourfa during World War I.

As a missionary, Jakob Künzler was very much indebted emotionally to his Armenian coreligionists and felt open sympathy for them. Nevertheless, he understood that the fate of the Armenians was only part and parcel of a wider strategy of population policy by the Young Turkish government. In his above-mentioned report, Künzler stated: "The Young Turks did not only include Armenians and Kurds but also Arabs in their plan of extermination."3 This is a remarkable statement in two respects. First of all, Künzler talks about a policy of extermination and not only about resettlement, as some groups wanted to make the world believe then and now. Second, he did not turn a blind eye to the fate of Muslims like the Arabs and Kurds, but identified them as fellow victims of Christian groups such as the Armenians. In particular, the deportation of Kurds from Erzerum and Bitlis in the winter of 1916 made quite an impression on him, as the following report about these deportations and their consequences shows:

No European newspaper has reported that the same Young Turks, who wanted to exterminate the Armenians, drove the Kurds who had been living in Upper Armenia from their house and home. Like the Armenians, the Kurds were accused of being unconfident elements that would join sides with the Russians. The deportation of the Kurds from the regions of Djabachdjur, Palu, Musch and from the Vilajets of Erzerum and Bitlis was carried out in the winter of 1916. About 300,000 Kurds had to wander southwards. First they were placed in Upper Mesopotamia, especially in the region of Ourfa, but also westward from Aintab and Marasch. Then in the summer of 1917, the transport of the Kurds to the Konya Plateau began. The most horrible thing was that the deportations were carried out in the middle of the winter. When the deportees reached a Turkish village in the evening, the inhabitants were afraid and closed the doors of their homes. Thus, the poor Kurds had to stay outside in the rain and snow. The next morning, the villagers had to dig mass graves for those frozen to death. The suffering of the surviving Kurds who finally reached Mesopotamia was far from being over. The winter of 1917/18 brought new hardship. Despite a good harvest, almost all of the deported Kurds fell victim to a terrible famine.

"State of Israel has Jewish obligation to recognize Armenian Genocide"

The Knesset has recently regained its honor by retracting its old stance and deciding that the recognition of the Armenian genocide must be discussed by parliament. About a year ago, the Knesset plenum rejected a proposal to discuss the same forgotten genocide, which took place during World War I and during which nearly a third of the Armenian people were murdered by the Turks.

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The Jewish nation has produced the national-Zionist movement, which has no match in terms of moral leadership in recent centuries. How can we, of all nations, forget the catastrophes that have befallen, and that still befall, other nations?

The State of Israel is an eternal memorial for "Thou shalt not forget." The terrible holocaust that has been inflicted on us has etched onto our identity - alongside the national tragedy - the sympathy, sensitivity and cry against the disasters of other people, even when this involves national embarrassment or a certain diplomatic price.

With regards to the Armenian holocaust – the discussion in the Knesset on the question of recognizing it as genocide conveys sympathy and solidarity with the ethnic tragedy, more than an accusation. The Knesset does not wish to condemn modern Turkey, but to act as Jews who are subjected to the judgment of history. We cannot, in the name of political or diplomatic wisdom, suppress such fundamental human values, which touch on the roots of our tragic existence.