The Concept of Genocide: Armenians, Jews, Tutsis and others.
On April 24, 2021 President Biden used the word “genocide” to describe what happened to the Armenians of Turkey. Whether to use this word had been a matter of debate since the 1970s. In 1915 the Ottoman government, fearing that the Armenians in eastern Turkey would align with the Russians, decided to evacuate the whole Armenian population of Eastern Turkey by marching them across the desert to the Arab provinces of Lebanon and Syria. They also massacred Armenians in other parts of Turkey. Many young women were forced to marry Turks, and there were many forced conversions.
No one is certain how many people were lost, through murder or death or forced absorption. Was it half a million or a million or a million and a half? Most scholars use a number close to a million.
The Biden announcement had a softening provision, but two provocations. Biden referred to events during Ottoman times, the previous, discredited regime. This seems to spare the Turkish Republic direct responsibility. But a State Department press release referred to the capital of Turkey as Constantinople, a name that goes back to Christian times and has not been used since 1453. The State Department also used the highest estimate of losses, a million and a half.
The controversy over the use of the word genocide has to do with the official definition of the term. It requires intent. The Turks insist that while there were massive losses among the Armenians, there was no “intent” to exterminate the Armenians as a people or to commit mass murder. They also say the word draws a comparison with the Holocaust. The Armenian deaths were a by-product of war, they insist, a war in which not only Armenians died but Turks and Kurds and others.
Two points about the Armenian genocide are worth noting. First, after the war, the Turks put several officials on trial for war crimes. (The word genocide did not exist at the time). Many observers were curious about why the current leaders do not say, “we disagree with the word genocide but agree that some of those leaders committed crimes against some of our people, as we showed by putting them on trial and finding them guilty.” But those trials are controversial and were carried out by the old regime, which is not seen as legitimate today. Second, the national hero of Turkey, Mustapha Kemal Ataturk, was fighting the British at the time and was not involved in these events.
Back in 2020 I prepared a lecture on this topic. In the age of pandemic, the lecture was recorded and shared with students. I just listened to it and found it informative and nuanced. It was done on my computer rather than with the fancy microphone that I now use, but the sound is ok.
I wish I could provide you with the written definitions of genocide that I made available to students. You should listen carefully as I read definitions or as I discuss the model to predict future genocides.
Three points. First, the situation of the Albanian refugees from Kosovo was terrible but stating that 90% of the population were displaced may have been an over-statement by some world leaders for whatever reason. Second, Leo Kuper in his valuable book Genocide uses the term “genocidal massacre” to describe targeted killings short of a full genocide. An example might be killing a whole village or widespread massacres to intimidate a targeted population. Third, regarding “war crimes,” there is a concept of “disproportionate response.” It consists of “extensive destruction not justified by military necessity.” Massive bombing in response to a homemade missile might be an example. Bad as it may be, this is not genocide.
I will soon post a talk on the Holocaust.