The Armenian Genocide

" I am confident that the whole history of the human race contains no such horrible episode as this. The great massacres and persecutions of the past seem almost insignificant when compared to the sufferings of the Armenian race in 1915."

-Henry Morgenthau, Sr.

The genocide of the 1,500,000 Armenians by the Turks in 1915-1923 demands the attention of the human race specially those who are involved academically for many reasons:

First, it initiated what some experts have termed "The Age of Genocide". In its scope, thoroughness and methods, it compromises a classic case of this hitherto nameless crime. It was an unprecedented case of a modern genocide, involving use of the twentieth century technology for the mass destruction of an entire people, and it served as a precedent of later crimes, such as the Holocaust. (For more information see the following: Melso, Ro bert. Revolution and Genocide: On the Origins of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1993. Kuper, Leo. Genocide: Its Political Use in the Twentieth Century(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1981) Dadrian, V.N. The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus. Providence: Berghahn Books. 1995. Dadrian, V.N.Towards a Theory of Genocide incorporating the Instanceof Holocaust." Holocaust and Genocide Studies 5,2:129-143.1990)

There is in fact a direct connection between the Armenian Genocide and the Genocide Convention, recently ratified by the U.S Senate. The "fatherof the Convention, Raphael Lemk in, was a young student when he was so moved by the realization of the enormity of the crime committed against the Armenians that he ambarked on a life-long mission to outlaw the crime which he later called Genocide.

The genocide of the Armenians demands also the attention because of its comtemporary significant, in that it has current and continuing implications in terms of human rights and social and territorial questions. The Genocide of the Armenians by the Turks cannot be viewed simply as a horrible episode to be recalled simply for moral reasons or for its possible value as a deterrent. It is, in terms of its impact, a contemporary occurence. Its effects are being felt in many ways: Socialy, Politicaly, Economically and Psychologically.

At the core of this indeed live issue is the attitude of the present-day Turkish government which continues to deny and distort the well documented truth that over 1,500,000 Armenians were slaughtered and hundreds of thoushands driven from their homes in a cold-blooded and premediated act designed to trmove them forever from their ancestral homeland. It was an act of genocide in which geopolitical motives and the racist theories of "pan-Turkism" were at work. (See Dadrian V.N. The Documentation of the
World War I Armenian Massacres in the Proceeding of the Turkish Military Tribunal." International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 23, 4:549-576.1991. Dadrian V.N. A Textual Analysis of the Key Indictment of the Turkish Military Tribunal Investigating the Armenian Genocide." Armenian Review 44, 1-173:136.1991. Dadrian V.N .The Role of the Turkish Military inthe Deestruction of Ottoman Armenians: A Study in Historical Continuities." Journal of Political and Military Sociology 20,2:257-286.1992. Dadrian V.N. The Secret Young-Turk Ittihadist Conference and the Deecision fo the World War I Genocide of the Armenians." Holocasut and Genocide Studies 7,2:173-201.1993. Akcam, T. Siyasi Kulturumuzde Zulum ve Iskence (Atrocity and Torture in Our Political Culture). Istanbul, 1992.)

Today, in sharp contrast to the attitudeand the behavior of post-war Germany toward the Jews, a major boulevard in the Turkish capital is named after Talaat Pasha, the chief architect of the mass slaughter, and Istanbul boasts a monument tohim as well. In fact the Turks go as far as to dismiss the Genocide as an "act of war" or to attempt to picturethe victims as the perpetrators. (For the Turkish point of view see Gurun,Kamuran. The Armenian File: The Myth of Innocence Exposed.K.Rustem & Bro.And Weidenfeld Nicolson Ltd. London.1985.)

Finally, the time has come for the world to recognize that the use of genocide as an instrument of national policy-by any nation at any time- is a crime against all Mankind that must be universally condemned. THERE CAN BE NO STATUE OF LIMITATIONS ON GENOCIDE. Turkey must acknowledge its crime and take positive steps toward reconciliation with the Armenian people and the recognition of their right.

ASO Member

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Dear visitor, ASO also provides some useful links on the subject of the Armenian Genocide:

The Armenian National Institute

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide Bibliography

The Armenian Genocide