Armenian Genocide denial

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Denialism

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Not just a river in Egypt

Armenian Genocide denial refers to the denial of the genocide against the Armenians committed by the Ottoman Empire under the rule of the Young Turks from 1915-1918. Turkey denies that the Ottomans were responsible for the systematic killing of Armenians during World War I, arguing that the death toll has been inflated, ethnic violence killed Turks as well, and deportations and death marches were simply "relocation" of Armenians for "security reasons."

Contents

[edit] World War I and aftermath

As early as 1915, Britain, France, and Russia issued a statement that the Armenians were the victims of crimes against humanity and civilization (the term "genocide" didn't exist then).[1] The Treaty of Sevres signed in 1920 created an Armenian state. However, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first then-president of the Great National Assembly, refused to abide by the treaty and occupied the Armenian Republic by the Treaties of Kars and Moskova, signed with the Armenians and the Soviet Russians respectively. The Armenian Republic collapsed and was subsumed by Turkey and the Soviet Union by said treaties, with many more deportations of Armenians taking place in the process. Turkey escaped being held responsible by the international community.

[edit] Recognition

Recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a thorny issue since Turkey occupies a very strategic position in the world. Currently, 43 nations provide some level of recognition of the event. Historically, Turkey has leveraged its position as an important ally in the Middle East to keep the United States from recognizing the genocide. The United States has recently joined the group of nations that recognize what the Ottomans did. Another holdout is Israel, which has only tepidly recognized the genocide. This is largely because the Israelis are in-between a rock and a hard place; Turkey is one of the few predominantly Muslim nations in their region which maintains some level of diplomatic ties.[2]

[edit] Within Turkey

The Turks are probably the most outspoken objecters to the term "genocide". In fact, a Turk, in Turkey, can even be arrested for acknowledging that one took place (a strange inversion of laws that criminalize Holocaust denial). This falls under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which makes it a crime to "insult Turkishness" (regardless of whether it's true). [3] Prosecutors brought such a case in 2005 against writer Orhan Pamuk.[4]

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. France, Great Britain and Russia joint declaration, May 24, 1915
  2. See the Recognition of Armenian Genocide Wikipedia article for a full list.
  3. What you don't know Turkish?!
  4. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/article.php?enewsid=49417
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