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Ninety Years Later: The Armenian Genocide Continues
By Amir Hassanpour
Special to CTV.ca
Canadians scored a victory last year when our parliament recognized
the Armenian genocide. The motion approved in the House of Commons
declared: ...this House acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915 and
condemns this act as a crime against humanity."
However, the struggle of the Armenian people for justice, in Canada
and elsewhere, is far from ending.
Ten years ago, on the 80th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, some
citizens in Montr al decided to build a public memorial at the
Marcellin-Wilson Park in the citys north end. In order to prevent the
building of the memorial, the Turkish embassy and consulate threatened
the government of Qu bec with retaliation against two Montreal firms,
which had major operations in Turkey [1]. This was no less than
intervening in the internal affairs of Canada and at the same time,
violating the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens.
The institution of the state is a major perpetrator of
genocide. States, including Canada, continue to ignore, deny, and
gamble on the Armenian genocide. Prime Minister Paul Martin and his
Foreign Affairs minister tried to defeat the motion in the House of
Commons, and failing to do so, rejected the decision of the highest
organ of Canadian democracy, the parliament. Canadas national
interest, i.e., its economic, political, and military ties to this
NATO ally, prevailed over the cause of justice.
In what sense is the Armenian genocide a Canadian issue? The Armenian
case, like other genocides, is an international crime. This implies
that perpetrators have committed crime against humanity, and they can
be prosecuted beyond their national borders, and under international
jurisdiction. Canada has ratified the 1948 UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and is also a state
party to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes
perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Genocides do not end. Although there is an exact date, April 24, 1915,
for the beginning of the Armenian genocide, this crime was launched by
Ottoman Turkey in late nineteenth century, and led to the elimination
of the Armenian people in their ancient homeland by the time the
Turkish Republic replaced the Ottoman state in 1923.
Ninety years later, the genocide lives not only in the memory of the
few survivors, their descendants, and the rest of the Armenian people,
but also continues in its denial by the Turkish state. Its denial by
other states, including Israel [2] and the United States, also
contributes to the perpetuation of the crime.
The genocide also goes on in the policy of the Turkish state to
eliminate any trace of Armenian life in a continuing project of ethnic
cleansing of the Armenian homeland, its toponymy, monuments,
buildings, music, dance, and art, and in archives, libraries, and
museums. The genocide continues, in its harshest form, in the museums
of Turkish cities such as Van and Kars, where the victims,
i.e. Armenians, are depicted as perpetrators of a genocide of the
Turkish people [3 ].
The Turkish governments threat of retaliation against the government
of Qu bec must also be considered as the extension of the genocide
beyond the borders of Turkey and into the end of the twentieth
century.
If the Turkish Republic perpetuates the genocide in Turkey and
throughout the world, the struggle against this crime must also be
worldwide. We in Canada have a responsibility to ensure that the
cabinet endorses the decision of the House of Commons. The burden of
this struggle should not be on the shoulders of
Armenian-Canadians. All Canadians, especially those of Turkish origin,
have a special responsibility to recognize the genocide, and call for
justice.
It is known that some Kurds participated in the genocide as
accomplices of the Ottoman state. As a Canadian citizen of Kurdish
origins, I strongly denounce, without hesitation, all Kurds who
participated in this crime as well as the genocide of the Assyrians,
which happened in the same period, 1915-1923. Had the accomplices been
alive, I would have called for their trial and punishment.
Mark Levene, a historian of genocide, has noted that the Ottoman state
turned Eastern Anatolia, which comprises parts of Armenia and
Kurdistan, into a modern zone of genocide from 1878 to 1923 [4]. The
Armenian and Assyrian peoples were wiped out, and the Kurds were
deported in hundreds of thousands beginning in 1917, and then
subjected to a genocidal campaign in 1937-38.
Genocide has continued in the region and elsewhere in the world, and
appeared in its most open and brutal form in the Nazi Holocaust of
1933-45. All states and even non-state entities are capable of
committing the crime.
Here in Canada, we should not feel assured that it will never happen
again. The indigenous peoples of Canada have experienced genocide, and
Canadians of Japanese and Italian origin were rounded up during WWI
and incarcerated in camps. The charter of rights, the constitution,
and legislation against hate and advocacy of genocide are important
legal tools, but they do not guarantee the end of racism, national
chauvinism, fascism, and genocide. Only citizen awareness and their
action can prevent new disasters. Mass murders have occurred
frequently in the past, but genocide is distinguished by its ties to
nationalism, which is itself a product of modernity, its politics and
culture.
I have seen much progress, within the last decade, in the struggle
against the Armenian genocide. Some Turkish intellectuals and
political activists, in and out of Turkey, have already recognized the
genocide. The Turkish people must be seen as allies of the Armenian
people in this struggle for justice, if justice can ever be
achieved. The crime was planned by the government not by the Turkish
people.
The last phase of the genocide, 1915-23, was planned by a small group
of Turkish nationalists who shared power with the Ottoman sultan in
the wake of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution. It would be a serious
error to treat all Turks, i.e. the Turkish people, as perpetrators of
the crime. In fact, many Turks and Kurds risked their lives by saving
some Armenian victims.
While we should persist in revealing the atrocities committed by
Turkeys armed forces and civilians, it is equally important to
celebrate the resistance against it by Turks and Kurds while the crime
was being committed. A world free of genocide is possible only when we
build and promote these traditions of solidarity. Twenty years ago,
Yilmaz G genocide now and in future, and take the first step in this
direction by recognizing the Armenian genocide. We should contribute
to this struggle here in Canada.
Amir Hassanpour is Associate Professor at the Department of Near and
Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto
[1] Alexander Norris, Armenians fear city bowing to pressure, The
Gazette [Montreal], March 2, 1996, pp. A1, A15
[2] Yair Auron, The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian
Genocide. New Brunswick (USA), Transaction Publishers, 2000.
[3] Azmi Suslu et al, Armenians in the History of Turks: Basic Text
Book. Kars, Rectorate of the Kafkas University. Printed in Ankara
1995.
[4] Mark Levene, Creating a modern zone of genocide: The impact of
nation- and state-formation on Eastern Anatolia, 1878-1923, Holocaust
and Genocide Studies, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1998, pp. 393-433.
[5] Retrouver notre honneur: Un interview de Ragib Zarakolu,
France-Arm nie, Mai 1998.
Ninety Years Later: The Armenian Genocide Continues
By Amir Hassanpour
Special to CTV.ca
Canadians scored a victory last year when our parliament recognized
the Armenian genocide. The motion approved in the House of Commons
declared: ...this House acknowledges the Armenian genocide of 1915 and
condemns this act as a crime against humanity."
However, the struggle of the Armenian people for justice, in Canada
and elsewhere, is far from ending.
Ten years ago, on the 80th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, some
citizens in Montr al decided to build a public memorial at the
Marcellin-Wilson Park in the citys north end. In order to prevent the
building of the memorial, the Turkish embassy and consulate threatened
the government of Qu bec with retaliation against two Montreal firms,
which had major operations in Turkey [1]. This was no less than
intervening in the internal affairs of Canada and at the same time,
violating the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens.
The institution of the state is a major perpetrator of
genocide. States, including Canada, continue to ignore, deny, and
gamble on the Armenian genocide. Prime Minister Paul Martin and his
Foreign Affairs minister tried to defeat the motion in the House of
Commons, and failing to do so, rejected the decision of the highest
organ of Canadian democracy, the parliament. Canadas national
interest, i.e., its economic, political, and military ties to this
NATO ally, prevailed over the cause of justice.
In what sense is the Armenian genocide a Canadian issue? The Armenian
case, like other genocides, is an international crime. This implies
that perpetrators have committed crime against humanity, and they can
be prosecuted beyond their national borders, and under international
jurisdiction. Canada has ratified the 1948 UN Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and is also a state
party to the International Criminal Court, which prosecutes
perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Genocides do not end. Although there is an exact date, April 24, 1915,
for the beginning of the Armenian genocide, this crime was launched by
Ottoman Turkey in late nineteenth century, and led to the elimination
of the Armenian people in their ancient homeland by the time the
Turkish Republic replaced the Ottoman state in 1923.
Ninety years later, the genocide lives not only in the memory of the
few survivors, their descendants, and the rest of the Armenian people,
but also continues in its denial by the Turkish state. Its denial by
other states, including Israel [2] and the United States, also
contributes to the perpetuation of the crime.
The genocide also goes on in the policy of the Turkish state to
eliminate any trace of Armenian life in a continuing project of ethnic
cleansing of the Armenian homeland, its toponymy, monuments,
buildings, music, dance, and art, and in archives, libraries, and
museums. The genocide continues, in its harshest form, in the museums
of Turkish cities such as Van and Kars, where the victims,
i.e. Armenians, are depicted as perpetrators of a genocide of the
Turkish people [3 ].
The Turkish governments threat of retaliation against the government
of Qu bec must also be considered as the extension of the genocide
beyond the borders of Turkey and into the end of the twentieth
century.
If the Turkish Republic perpetuates the genocide in Turkey and
throughout the world, the struggle against this crime must also be
worldwide. We in Canada have a responsibility to ensure that the
cabinet endorses the decision of the House of Commons. The burden of
this struggle should not be on the shoulders of
Armenian-Canadians. All Canadians, especially those of Turkish origin,
have a special responsibility to recognize the genocide, and call for
justice.
It is known that some Kurds participated in the genocide as
accomplices of the Ottoman state. As a Canadian citizen of Kurdish
origins, I strongly denounce, without hesitation, all Kurds who
participated in this crime as well as the genocide of the Assyrians,
which happened in the same period, 1915-1923. Had the accomplices been
alive, I would have called for their trial and punishment.
Mark Levene, a historian of genocide, has noted that the Ottoman state
turned Eastern Anatolia, which comprises parts of Armenia and
Kurdistan, into a modern zone of genocide from 1878 to 1923 [4]. The
Armenian and Assyrian peoples were wiped out, and the Kurds were
deported in hundreds of thousands beginning in 1917, and then
subjected to a genocidal campaign in 1937-38.
Genocide has continued in the region and elsewhere in the world, and
appeared in its most open and brutal form in the Nazi Holocaust of
1933-45. All states and even non-state entities are capable of
committing the crime.
Here in Canada, we should not feel assured that it will never happen
again. The indigenous peoples of Canada have experienced genocide, and
Canadians of Japanese and Italian origin were rounded up during WWI
and incarcerated in camps. The charter of rights, the constitution,
and legislation against hate and advocacy of genocide are important
legal tools, but they do not guarantee the end of racism, national
chauvinism, fascism, and genocide. Only citizen awareness and their
action can prevent new disasters. Mass murders have occurred
frequently in the past, but genocide is distinguished by its ties to
nationalism, which is itself a product of modernity, its politics and
culture.
I have seen much progress, within the last decade, in the struggle
against the Armenian genocide. Some Turkish intellectuals and
political activists, in and out of Turkey, have already recognized the
genocide. The Turkish people must be seen as allies of the Armenian
people in this struggle for justice, if justice can ever be
achieved. The crime was planned by the government not by the Turkish
people.
The last phase of the genocide, 1915-23, was planned by a small group
of Turkish nationalists who shared power with the Ottoman sultan in
the wake of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution. It would be a serious
error to treat all Turks, i.e. the Turkish people, as perpetrators of
the crime. In fact, many Turks and Kurds risked their lives by saving
some Armenian victims.
While we should persist in revealing the atrocities committed by
Turkeys armed forces and civilians, it is equally important to
celebrate the resistance against it by Turks and Kurds while the crime
was being committed. A world free of genocide is possible only when we
build and promote these traditions of solidarity. Twenty years ago,
Yilmaz G genocide now and in future, and take the first step in this
direction by recognizing the Armenian genocide. We should contribute
to this struggle here in Canada.
Amir Hassanpour is Associate Professor at the Department of Near and
Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto
[1] Alexander Norris, Armenians fear city bowing to pressure, The
Gazette [Montreal], March 2, 1996, pp. A1, A15
[2] Yair Auron, The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian
Genocide. New Brunswick (USA), Transaction Publishers, 2000.
[3] Azmi Suslu et al, Armenians in the History of Turks: Basic Text
Book. Kars, Rectorate of the Kafkas University. Printed in Ankara
1995.
[4] Mark Levene, Creating a modern zone of genocide: The impact of
nation- and state-formation on Eastern Anatolia, 1878-1923, Holocaust
and Genocide Studies, Vol. 12, No. 3, 1998, pp. 393-433.
[5] Retrouver notre honneur: Un interview de Ragib Zarakolu,
France-Arm nie, Mai 1998.