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Understanding Genocide in the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic
Genocide is defined by the United Nations as acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. This includes:
The late 19th and early 20th centuries marked a period of significant upheaval in the Ottoman Empire. As the empire weakened and faced territorial losses, nationalist sentiments grew among various ethnic groups. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), which came to power in 1908, adopted policies of "Turkification," aiming to create a homogeneous Turkish state.
This backdrop set the stage for a series of atrocities targeting non-Turkish minorities, including Armenians, Greeks, Assyrians, and Kurds. The most infamous of these was the Armenian Genocide, which began in 1915, but it was part of a broader pattern of ethnic violence and forced displacement that continued into the early years of the Turkish Republic.
The systematic extermination of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
The systematic killing of the Greek population of Asia Minor during World War I and its aftermath.
The mass slaughter of the Assyrian population of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War and subsequent years.
A massacre of the Alevi Zaza Kurds in the Dersim region of eastern Turkey.
Question: How do you think the fall of empires and the rise of nationalism can contribute to ethnic tensions and violence? Are there any parallels you can draw to contemporary global issues?
The genocides and massacres committed by the Ottoman Empire and Turkish Republic had far-reaching consequences: