Historian unearths solid evidence for the Armenian Genocide

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Letters referring to a decision to "annihilate" all Armenians are the authentic work of Bahaettin Shakir, one of the architects of the Armenian Genocide, according to signature analysis carried out by a leading Turkish historian, published in the Journal of Genocide Research.

Prof. Taner Akçam of Clark University, Massachusetts, who has studied the genocide for decades, says the signatures on the two letters, dated 3 March and 7 April 1915, match those of Shakir on other documents. Prof. Akçam also says he has unearthed new documents from the Ottoman Archives which show initial decisions to exterminate groups of Armenians were taken by a local branch of para-military organization Te?kilat-? Mahsusa (Special Organization) led by provincial governors in 1st December 1914.

The Armenian Genocide, the Ottoman government's systematic extermination of 1.5 million Armenians, was carried out during and after World War I. While present day Turkey accepts that many Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during the war, it continues to contest the 1.5 million figure and denies that the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide. This denial - which continues despite the UN demanding in a recent Joint Allegation Letter that the Turkish government investigate the treatment of Armenians from 1915 to 1923, establish the truth and make reparations - has hinged on the patchy archival record.

The first letter studied by Prof. Akçam states that the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) "has decided to annihilate all of Armenians living within Turkey, not to allow a single one to remain, and has given the government broad authority in this regard". The second letter reiterates this message. Previously, the letters' authenticity was questioned but, according to Prof. Akçam, signature comparison indicates they were authored by Shakir who, as head of the para-military Special Organization, helped to plan and carry out the genocide.

"These letters indicate there was an actual, conscious decision taken to annihilate the empire's Armenian population and that it was taken before 3 March 1915," says Prof. Akçam. "Moreover, there were other related decisions which preceded this final one, as a series of documents we discovered in the Ottoman Archives shows."

These documents suggest that initial decisions to eliminate groups of Armenians were not taken by the Central Committee of the CUP and/or by central government, but by governors in the provinces of Van and Bitlis.

"In their communications - both with Istanbul and with one another - the governors did not see the need to use vague language or euphemisms in referring to the annihilation of the Armenians, but spoke of it openly, even offering a number of tangible ideas regarding how such an extermination could or should be carried out," says Prof. Akçam.

Policy decisions regarding the elimination of Armenians, while initially made at the regional level, would eventually serve to pressure the central government in Istanbul to adopt a more radical overall policy, he concludes.

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dalkon on July 25th, 2019 at 00:24 UTC »

Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughter -- with premeditation and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state. It's a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European civilization will say about me.

I have issued the command -- and I'll have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing squad -- that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines, but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have placed my death-head formations in readiness -- for the present only in the East -- with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum) which we need. Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?

—Hitler, Obersalzberg Speech Aug 22, 1939

eionmac on July 24th, 2019 at 21:36 UTC »

Every culture has to come to terms with what it did wrong in the past. That does not "blame" the present persons or group, but it is much easier to be honest with historical events and the "persons who did it", than 'deny any wrong doing'. History tends to be written by the victors so the defeated (exterminated) rely on later historians to 'tease out the truth'.

OPdoesnotrespond on July 24th, 2019 at 18:10 UTC »

Interesting defense: it’s not genocide because it wasn’t organized.