Feature – Piyush Kumar Banerjee

The creation of hatred between the Armenian Christian minority and Turk Muslim majority and its role in the Armenian genocide

The systematic mass murder and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Armenians at the hands of the Young Turk authorities of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 came to be known as the Armenian Genocide. The scale of killings that took place can only be imagined by looking at the fact that about ninety percent of the total Armenian population living in the Anatolia had vanished by the end of 1922. According to Ronald G. Suny, this unplanned genocide happened after the removal of Armenians from the Eastern Anatolia was decided by the Young Turk government. This decision was taken to fulfil the Young Turk fantasy of creating ‘a pan-Turkic empire that would extend from Anatolia through the Caucasus to central Asia.’ In the Ottoman society, there was an existing hatred between the Muslim Turks and Kurds and Christian Armenians, where the former was supposed to be the unchallenged ruler and the latter a serving subject. The Armenians were viewed as ‘an existential threat’ by the Young Turk government which came to power in 1908. This perception of the Armenians as ‘an alien people, as disloyal, subversive, separatist, and a threat to the unity of the empire’ along with existing hatred between the Armenians and Muslims contributed to the mass killings and deportations of the Armenians. This paper aims to look into the several reasons which led to the creation of hatred between these two ethno-religious groups in the Ottoman Empire over the years and also how this hate played a part in the Armenian genocide of 1915.

The creation of hatred between the Armenian Christian minority and Turk Muslim majority

The Armenians faced discrimination in the Ottoman Empire for centuries. These inferior Christians could never reach an equal status as that of the superior Muslims despite being productive and useful citizens of the empire. There were several discriminatory laws against the Armenians which required them to wear separate clothing and barred them from buying and owning arms. Before the Young Turks revolution of 1908, the state officials and courts often discriminated against the Armenians and supported the Muslims who migrated to Anatolia in various land claim cases. Religion had always played a major role in the Ottoman Empire as the millets, which were indirectly controlled by the state were headed by religious leaders.  Religion was also an important factor during the genocide as many Armenians were saved from deportation and were not killed if they converted to Islam. The Armenian community sent their children abroad to pursue higher studies and enjoyed a better living style compared to the majority Muslims. They also enjoyed formal ties and protection from several foreign states. The Turkish patriots viewed the Armenians as being sympathetic towards the Europeans because of their religious affinity. All of these factors contributed to the growing resentment over the years among the dominant Muslim community against the Armenians. The Armenians had now become an alien community living in a Muslim empire. The Muslim citizens of the Ottoman Empire felt a loss and reversal of status for decades and in 1915, under the protection and encouragement of the Young Turk authorities, they gave the Armenian Christians the punishment they deserved. Not only the ordinary Kurds and Turks but even the Young Turk leadership saw the Armenians as disloyal subjects and a threat to their empire mainly because of their ties with the Christian Europe, Russia and Greece. The shift in the Young Turk policy from liberal Ottomanist to a more radical Islamic and Turkic also contributed in their changed perception of the Armenian citizens of the empire.

The role of the existing hatred between Armenians and Turks and Kurds in the genocide

1915 was not the first time when the Ottoman Empire saw the conflict between the politically and demographically dominant Muslims and the minority Armenian Christians which led to a huge number of deaths of the latter. In 1894-96, large-scale killings were carried out by the local Kurds under the direction of the then ruler Abdul Hamid. It should be understood that the Young Turks were not religious fanatics who wanted to wage jihad against the infidels and therefore ordered the mass deportations and murders of the Armenians in 1915. The main reason behind their decision was a calculated step to continue their rule on the empire and keep it intact and safe from the treacherous Armenians. At the same time, it should be mentioned that the ordinary Turks and Kurds who participated in the genocide were religiously motivated and were fighting a holy war against their Christian neighbours. The hatred between the Muslim Turks and Kurds and the Armenian Christian definitely had a role to play in the genocide as it encouraged ordinary citizens to take part in the killings. Though this hate was not a major reason behind the Young Turk government’s decision to deport and murder hundreds of thousands of Armenians, it led to a large number of common Turks and Kurds to take part in the genocide and murder innocent human beings on such a large scale.