HISTORY OF THE ARMENIAN QUESTION
Armenian News Network / Groong
February 1, 2010
By Kay Mouradian, EdD
It is only after second half of the 19th century, under pressure of the European countries, whose influence was growing- that the condition of Christians in the capital was improved; those living in the interior were and are still in the same insecure state.
As a result of this oppressive rule, the number of Armenians has greatly decreased.
Massacres: Thousands have been massacred periodically:
In 1896 (reign of Abdul Hamid) 300,000 perished by violent death,
disease, hunger and exposure.
In 1909 (Young Turk Regime) 20,000 were massacred at Adana.
Thousands have been forced to become Moslems, and many have emigrated
to Europe and America.
But the mass of the people have persisted to stay in their country and
maintained, in spite of all persecutions, their national institutions,
racial traditions, language and religion.
European Powers have principally taken interest in the Armenian
Question since the last Russo-Turkish War (1878), when they obligated
Turkey by Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin to introduce reforms in
the Administration of the Armenian provinces.
The demands of the Armenians were most elementary: They wanted rights
of security of life, honor, and property and equality before the
law. They wanted the establishment of a regime of order and justice
under European control, as experience had proved to them that the
Turks would and could do nothing by themselves in the matter of reforms.
These simple rights have been denied them.
On account of political considerations and rivalry, the Great Powers
have never been able To agree to force the Turks to fulfill the
provisions of Article 61 of the Berlin Treaty.
Reasons of Persecution manifold: 1. Political 2. Economic 3. Social
and Religious Political: The Turks have been unable to assimilate the
Armenians. The latter are on a higher plane by their civilization and
culture. On account of the terrible sufferings they have endured, in
spite of their loyalty and services to the State, they, the Armenians,
have naturally turned their eyes to the European Christian Powers for
help and deliverance. Turks have resented this bitterly and in order
to avoid foreign interference-instead of following the wiser course of
reforming their administration and thereby solve the problem at its
roots- they have decided to annihilate the Armenian race and thus
terminate the Armenian Question.
The Turks want Turkey for the Turks alone. Therefore by all imaginable
means they have tried to exterminate the Armenians.
A misconceived, narrow, nationalism-combined with a fanaticism of the
blindest and darkest kind- has been one of the chief causes of these
unprecedented persecutions.
Economic: The Turks have been a warring race. They left the Commercial
field to the Christians and the Jews. They have had the army and the
administration of the country in their control.
There are some merchants, artisans and agriculturists among them, but
the vast majority of the Turks are public officials, soldiers and
laborers.
The non-Moslems have become rich through commerce and industry, while
the Turks, in spite of all the assistance they have received from the
Government have made no progress in that line.
To show you how the Armenians control commerce and industry in
Asia Minor, I will mention the following statistical facts regarding
the province of Sivas, where the Armenian population is not so large
as in some other vilayets.
As the Turks could not overtake the Armenians, the Government would periodically organize massacres and hamper them all the time in order to check their progress.
Social and Religious:
Fanaticism. The masses of the Turkish people are in dense ignorance
and fanaticism. The number of Turkish schools very limited. Armenians
are unquestionably far more advanced in culture. They have their own
schools which they run at their own expense, while the Turkish
government schools are subsidized by the Government.
The Armenians (like all other non-Moslems in the country) pay taxes
for public instruction but receive no support from the Government for
their schools.
The Government does not favor the creation of new schools by the
Christians, on the contrary they raise all sorts of difficulties to
hamper and obstruct.
Just before the deportations there were:
785 Armenian schools in Turkey, with an attendance of 82,000 students,
while there are only 150 Turkish schools, with an attendance of 17,000.
The Kurds do not have a single school.
This ignorance of the Turks, coupled with religious prejudices, has
been another cause of disagreement between the Turks and the
Armenians, and has rendered the masses of the Turks a ready tool of
persecution in the hands of wicked leaders.
A Christian is never regarded by a Moslem as his equal. A Christian is
considered as a raya, a serf, a subject, never a citizen enjoying
equal rights. And when you consider that not only the ordinary people,
but the rulers also think the same way, and that really there is not a
single governor thoroughly prepared for his position, you would
naturally expect nothing else but these lamentable results.
Recent Developments: Present European War and its bearing on the
Armenian Question.
The present party in power; its sympathy for the Germans growing out
of their enmity to Russia.
While they were at war with the European Powers, they wanted to avail
themselves of the opportunity to exterminate the Armenians while
nobody could stop them. Political considerations prevented Germany and
Austria from interfering with the atrocities committed by their
Turkish ally.
The Turks claim that they had to resort to these stringent means for
their safety as the Armenians were not loyal. But even supposing that
the deportations were necessary, nothing can justify, as the Turks
admit it themselves, the atrocious crimes which were committed.
Methods of Extermination:
No provisions made for food or shelter for these unfortunate people,
many of whom are educated, and well-to-do people, who are not allowed
to draw their own money from their bank as the Government had
confiscated it together with their property as `abandoned property'.
They sold their furniture at ridiculously low prices when they were
ordered to leave their homes and start on a trip with an unknown
destination. They sold pianos at $5, cows at $3. Even these moneys
were stolen from them on the way.
There are bishops, doctors, lawyers, professors, journalists among
them, dead, dying...Thousands have died of exhaustion, exposure,
disease, want of food. Corpses of children were seen on roads by
travelers.
Relief Work:
Americans have been the first and most important helpers.
Interest of America purely humanitarian.
Missionaries have been foremost. Their sympathy towards Armenians very
deep their whole work has been among them.
Activities of Embassy, consulates, and Missionaries in distribution of
funds and food among sufferers.
Money goes direct to its object; no expenses, New York philanthropist
is paying expenses himself.
Present rupture of relations between America and Turkey has not
affected work of relief. We have three distinct channels for
transmission of relief funds, and have devoted and reliable workers on
the field there for their distribution.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians need immediate help. Latest
telegrams received from Turkey and the Caucasus make strong appeals
for continued help. No funds on hand, already overdrawn $40,000 to
give the poor people a morsel of bread.
If interested in reading more from Kay Mouradian's historical research, connect through her website.
-- Professor Kay Mouradian is a health and physical education specialist retired from the Los Angeles Community Colleges. Her publications include Reflective Meditation: a Mind Calming Technique, A Guide for Those Teaching Yoga in the Community Colleges, and she has also contributed publications in several magazines and newspapers. Her first novel, "A Gift In The Sunlight: An Armenian Story", now in its second edition, was inspired by her mother's remarkable survival of the Armenian Genocide. http://www.aGiftInTheSunlight.com/
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