By Chad Kirkorian
Staff Writer
On
January 28, 1999, Genocide and human rights scholar Dr. Vahakn Dadrian,
was at Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, in Fresno, to introduce
his new book, Warrant for Genocide: Key Elements of the Turko-Armenian
Conflict. The lecture was co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program
at California State University, Fresno, and the Armenian National Committee
of Fresno.
Dr.
Dadrian is a well known scholar whose field is Genocide studies, and specialization
is the Armenian Genocide. He is the director of the Genocide Study
Project sponsored by the H. F. Guggenheim Foundation. The project's
first major publication was The History of the Armenia Genocide, which
is widely regarded as the seminal work on the Genocide.
Dr.
Dadrian takes an interdisciplinary approach to develop an analytical understanding
of the underlying causes for the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Dadrian has
broken down the Turko-Armenian conflict into four main parts: the conceptual
origin of conflict and Genocide, the heart of the Turko-Armenian conflict
with regards to demographics and power relations, the transition from Armenian
reform to revolution, and the key events which accelerated and intensified
the conflict. During the course of the evening Dr. Dadrian was able
to convey to the gathering all the factors and reasons for why the Genocide
occurred.
According
to Dr. Dadrian, "The Genocide was a violent resolution of a protracted
conflict not solved by peaceful accommodation." The origin of
conflict and Genocide began under the Ottoman social structure which placed
a dominant group with access to power over a minority group. Within
the Ottoman Empire, society was organized by religious belief (millet system),
which created a division between superior and inferior groups and which
invited abuses of power. Christians, according to Islam, were entitled
to protection and tolerance if they remained subservient and paid an exorbitant
amount of taxes. Tax abuse occurred because the Ottoman government,
in order to pay for their costly policy of perpetual war, demanded higher
taxes from their non-Muslim citizens.
At the
heart of the Turko-Armenian conflict was demography and power relations.
In the aftermath of the Crimean war Muslims migrated from the Caucasus
to Anatolia. The Russian Czar pushed the Chechen and the Circassian
tribes into the region allowing them to play an important role in later
massacres. There was also migration of Muslim refugees from the Balkans
into the provinces of Van, Bitlis, and Kharpert, which eventually led to
the worst atrocities committed against the Armenians. These refugees
were filled with rage against the Christians who pushed them out and they
displaced their aggression against the Armenians of Anatolia.
Another
factor leading to the Genocide was Article 61 of the Treaty of Berlin 1878
which stated that reforms were needed in the eastern provinces to protect
the Armenians against harassing Muslims. Sultan Abdul Hamid II knew
that if the Armenians were reduced to a minority then reforms would be
unnecessary. Therefore, Abdul Hamid II instituted a policy of redistributing
populations within the empire. The Sultan rearranged boundaries and
created new provinces. By attaching Muslim regions to major Armenian
population centers he reduced the Armenians to minorities in those areas.
The Sultan knew that if reforms were instituted in the Ottoman Empire,
he would lose the eastern provinces just as he lost Greece, Serbia, and
Bulgaria. Therefore, reforms were at the heart of the conflict because
equality between Christians and Muslims was unacceptable to the Ottoman
government, and Turks feared that the Armenians would take over the eastern
provinces.
To perpetrate
the Genocide, the Ottoman government had to control the power relation
by depriving the Armenians of resources and access to power structures.
The vulnerability factor invited the opportunity to execute violent and
drastic measures. The Armenian minority was exposed to prejudice
and legal discrimination. Armenians were denied access to significant
positions of power. Commerce and trade were left as areas for Armenian
development. This ascendancy to wealth by Armenians in many large
cities was unacceptable to Turks during a period of economic hardship for
most Muslims.
After
the failure of the 1878 reforms, transition from reform to revolution developed
later for the Armenians in relationship to the other Balkan peoples.
While other minorities were rebelling, the Armenians still maintained the
desire for law and order in the provinces instead of autonomy. However,
impressed by the Balkan movement and in desperation and despair the Armenians
started their revolutionary movement from 1885-1890.
The key events which accelerated and intensified the conflict began with
the Young Turk coup in 1913, allowing them to gain access to all aspects
of the Ottoman state institutions. Three sworn enemies of the Armenians
took over the central committee: Dr. Nazim, Dr. Shakir, and Zia Gökalp.
These men put forth a new policy of "Turkey for the Turks," and
attempted to purge all alien elements of society.
Those
in attendance during Dr. Dadrian's lecture were enlightened. Throughout
the course of the evening, he provided an interesting lesson in Armenian
history and shed some new light on the Armenian Genocide. Dr. Dadrian
has provided a fresh new perspective on a subject that has been rigorously
researched and developed.