Can we not resume the assessment of the incidents that occurred during the deportation of the Armenians from where it was left off in 1919?

"There is no such genocide in our history. It is impossible for us to acknowledge it." This statement was reiterated by the Turkish prime minister in the wake of the French Parliament's approval of the Armenian bill. This official stand suggests on the one hand: "Let us open all the archives and have historians decide," and on the other, "This has never happened."

The notion of genocide did not exist in 1915. As against this, the term "crime against humanity" was used for the first time in the world in 1915. On 24 May 1915, France, Britain, and Russia that were at war against the Ottoman Empire issued a joint declaration:

"For about a month now, the Turkish and Kurdish populations of Armenia have been massacring the Armenians together with and often with the assistance of the Ottoman Government's officials. Such massacres took place towards mid-April in Erzurum, Tercan, Egin, Bitlis, Muş, Sason, Zeytun, and throughout Cilicia. The entire population of some 100 villages around Van was murdered. The Armenian quarter in Van is besieged by Kurds. Furthermore, the Ottoman Government has mistreated the inoffensive Armenian population in Istanbul. In view of those new crimes that Turkey committed against humanity and civilization, the Allied States publicly declare to the Sublime Porte [Bâb-i Alî] that all the members of the Ottoman Government and the officials who were involved in those massacres will be held personally responsible for these crimes."

As against this, on 27 May, the Union and Progress party [Ittihat ve Terakki] government passed the Dispatchment and Settlement Law [Sevk ve Iskân Kanunu], and on 4 June issued a response to the declaration. The response claimed that "the measures were in no way against the Armenians, that the Armenians did nothing that broke the public order, and that the Armenians were not subjected to general measures of any kind!" In other words, the Union and Progress government did not say on 4 June that "the Armenians stabbed us in the back." It did, however, start to take a close interest in abandoned property following the protocol of 30 May of the Ottoman Council of Ministers [Meclis-i Vükelâ] and the ordinance of 30 May.

The deportation law against the Ottoman Armenians, in other words, the decision that the Ottoman Government adopted against its own citizens and implemented in a bloody manner brought about the use of the notion "crime against humanity" for the first time. Prior to that, the Hague Convention that was ratified in 1907 used the term "war crime." Later on, the term "crime against humanity" was defined first in the foundation statutes of the Nuremberg Trials as massacring, annihilation, enslavement, deportation... and afterwards they were defined again in detail in Article 7 of the Rome Statute which established the International Criminal Court.

In December 1918 war tribunals [Divan-i Harb-i Örfî] started to be established in the Ottoman Empire in order to investigate the Armenian genocide crimes directly. Certain protocols and decisions of these tribunals had appeared in the period's newspapers. These were recently compiled and published by Vahakn Dadrian and Taner Akçam (Deportations and Killings: Minutes of the War Tribunals, Bilgi University Publications, 2008). The evaluations of the prosecutors in the main tribunal case that was filed against the Union and Progress leaders do not enable the use of the argument "such incidents never took place in our history."

In the main case, the incidents are described as follows: "Massacre, property and money plundering, burning buildings and bodies, rape, torture, and indecent harassment..." The same assessment appears in many decisions: "As it is the primary duty of all state officials, the teachings of Holy I slam and the Ottoman laws and decrees stipulate that the honour and the persons of citizens of all nations without discrimination have to be protected, and their property safeguarded, and the public law has to be protected against all threats and violations..."

For instance, the accusation against the Bogazliyan District Governor Kemal is very clear: "In breach of personal law, stripping of their money and valuables all the people that made up the convoys of Armenians who were forced to emigrate, including helpless women and little boys and girls, disregarding the exceptions in the official orders..." and "allowing the perpetration of atrocities planned and implemented by tying the hands of the men in order to deprive them of their right to self-defence." The Yozgat tribunal rules that the witness testimonies and documents confirm beyond doubt that "he caused looting and plundering, and killings which do not conform to the values of humanity or civilization and that are considered major crimes before the laws of Islam." In addition, the ruling says: it is established that the accused deems it natural and necessary that all Muslims carry out massacres against the Armenian nation.

The Bogazliyan district governor who was executed for these crimes was later declared a national hero!

Can we not resume the assessment of the law of deportation of the Armenians and the incidents that occurred during the deportations, from where it was left off in 1919? Did this never take place in our history either?

Source: Radikal website, Istanbul