Armenian History and the Question of Genocide

209 Pages·2011·3.14 MB·English

by  Michael M. Gunter

Armenian History and the
Question of Genocide
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd ii 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iiii 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
Armenian History and the
Question of Genocide
Michael M. Gunter
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iiiiii 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
armenian history and the question of genocide
Copyright © Michael M. Gunter, 2011.
All rights reserved.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States – a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this
is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered
in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire
RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and
has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN: 978–0–230–11059–5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gunter, Michael M.
Armenian history and the question of genocide / Michael M. Gunter.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–230–11059–5 (alk. paper)
1. Armenian massacres, 1915–1923. 2. Armenian massacres, 1915–1923—
Historiography. 3. Armenians—Turkey—History. 4. Armenian question.
5. Turkey—Ethnic relations. 6. Genocide—Turkey. I. Title.
DS195.5.G85 2010
956.6'20154—dc22
2010043764
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by MPS Limited, A Macmillan Company
First edition: May 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iivv 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
Dedicated to the memory of
Lynx Gunter (1999–2010):
a peacemaker
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vv 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vvii 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
Contents
Foreword ix
1 T he Historical Origins of the Turkish-Armenian Animosity 1
2 What Is Genocide? 27
3 Armenian Terrorism in the Twentieth Century 57
4 Politicizing History 75
5 Turkish Counterterror and Harassment? 99
6 Rapprochement? 119
Notes 139
Selected Bibliography 173
Index 187
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vviiii 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd vviiiiii 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM
Foreword
I was a senior Fulbright Lecturer in International Relations at the Middle East
Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, during the 1978–79 academic year.
The experience changed my academic life and I have been interested in mat-
ters dealing with Turkey ever since. As everybody knows, Turkey has long had
serious problems regarding its relations with various minority groups includ-
ing the Armenians and Kurds. For the most part, opinions hostile to Turkey
are frequently heard in the West given various reasons that will become clear
in this book. Without whitewashing what happened to the Armenians, I have
long wanted to present an objective analysis of the Turkish point of view on
this subject. Given recent attempts between Turkey and Armenia to reach an
accommodation, such a study has become all the more relevant.
Thus, my book presents the Turkish position regarding the Armenian
claims of genocide during World War I and the continuing debate over this
issue. Nevertheless, I offer an equal examination of each side’s historical posi-
tion in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 asks what is genocide? Here I illustrate that
although this is a useful concept to describe such evil events as the Jewish
Holocaust in World War II and Rwanda in the 1990s, the term has also been
overused, misused, and therefore trivialized by many different groups seeking
to demonize their antagonists and win sympathetic approbation for them. I
include the Armenians in this category because, although as many as 600,000
of them died during World War I, it was neither a premeditated policy per-
petrated by the Ottoman Turkish government nor an event unilaterally
implemented without cause. Of course, in no way does this excuse the hor-
rible excesses committed by the Turks.
To illustrate my point, I use the recent work of the noted French scholar
Jacques Semelin, and such long-suppressed Armenian personalities as
Hovhannes Katchaznouni (the fi rst Prime Minister of Armenia after World
War I) and K. S. Papazian (an historian), among others. I also illustrate how
today Armenians have sought to politicize and legislate their version of history
99778800223300111100559955__0011__pprreexxiiii..iinndddd iixx 33//2288//22001111 44::4444::3333 PPMM