Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (also known as the Armenian Holocaust or the Armenian Massacre) is a term which refer to the forced mass evacuation and related deaths of hundreds of thousands or over a million Armenians, during the government of Young Turks from 1915 to 1917 in Ottoman Empire. Several facts in connection with the genocide are a matter of ongoing dispute between parts of the international community and Turkey. Although it is generally agreed that events said to comprise the Armenian Genocide did occur, the Turkish government rejects that it was genocide, on the alleged basis that the deaths among the Armenians, were not a result of a state-sponsored plan of mass extermination, but from the result of inter-ethnic strife, disease and famine during the turmoil of World War I.

Turkish Intellectuals Who Support The Theses Of Genocide

There are a number of Turkish intellectuals who support theses of genocide, including Ragip Zarakolu and Ali Ertem, as well as Taner Akçam and Halil Berktay, despite being protested strongly by some Turkish nationalists. Orhan Pamuk, a famous Turkish novelist, has also recently told the Swiss press that he believes that one million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds were killed in Turkey.

Related Topics:
Ragip Zarakolu - Ali Ertem - Taner Akçam - Halil Berktay - Orhan Pamuk

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The reason why some Turkish intellectuals accept theses of genocide seems to lie behind three important factors. First, the fact that the organization members were criminals, and that those criminals were specifically sent to escort the Armenians, for them is enough evidence of a government criminal intention. Second, the fact that not only the Armenians living in the war zone were removed, according to them this plays against the theses of military necessity vehiculed by the Ottoman government. Thirdly, according to them, the thesis of simple relocation does not make sense, because there were no dispositions taken suggesting a ?resettlement,? which could mean that the government did not expect that Armenians would survive. Dr. Taner Akçam, a Turkish specialist, writes about this point: ?The fact that neither at the start of the deportations, nor en route, and nor at the locations, which were declared to be their initial halting places, were there any single arrangement, required for the organization of a people's migration, is sufficient proof of the existence of this plan of annihilation.?

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Those Turkish intellectuals believe that 800,000 or more Armenians lost their lives during the events.

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