The Origins and Consequences of Armenophobia
This article was written a month before the Turkish-Azerbaijani-Terrorist attack on the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabagh) and the Republic of Armenia on Sunday, September 27 started. Therefore some adjustments were made. More about the conflict I and my friend Ani talked in this short video.
Armenian Genocide of 1915 organized by the bloody hands of Ottoman Turks happened long before the word “genocide” by Rafael Lemkin was coined. This was a result of the continuous process of the rise and growth of Armenophobia in the Ottoman Empire that continues even today and not only in Turkey but now, in even a worse manner, in Azerbaijan to the point when hatred towards Armenians is taught to kids starting kindergarten, people with Armenian surnames are prohibited from visiting the country, and even in terms of virtual space visit Azerbaijani president’s webpage and all the other state bodies’ webpages.
The roots of Armenophobia go deep in history starting from the point when Armenians were peacefully residing in their historical homeland, Western Armenia, under the Ottoman governance and the time when Azerbaijan and Azeri nation haven’t emerged and they were calling themselves Caucasian Tatars or Turks (Demoyan, 2016, p. 152).
One thing that the state must do to create an enduring separatist idea of them and us, make one group of people hate the other group of people so much to be able to kill them, is to create a narrative in which the other group is dehumanized and presented as the harmful enemy that stops their development and prosperity. This is basically the ideas of Carl Schmidt, a political scientist and a Nazi party member, who claimed that the state cannot exist without an enemy because it is the existence of the enemy that unites the people and distinguishes them from the others. Therefore, the similarities between today’s Turkey and Azerbaijan with Hitler’s Germany are not a coincidence. Events in Baku of 1990 when there were 200.000 Armenians living and the crowd was chanting “Baku without Armenians” continued in July of 2020 when a “pro-war demonstrations were held in Baku, during which thousands of protestors demanded the Azeri Government fully deploy the army, chanting ‘Death to Armenians’” (Asbarez, 2020). This is a state strategy that proved to be wrong both in the case of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey and the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. However, creating an inner or outside enemy is necessary but not enough. The most important step is to make sure that everyone, at least the majority, believes in your narrative. This is what happened in Ottoman Turkey starting from the 19th century that resulted in the Hamidian massacres and the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The same refers to Azerbaijan, with 1905, 1918 Baku massacres, 1988 Sumgait, 1990 Baku pogroms, and 1992 Marag(h)a massacres. This horrible tradition continues now with the cooperation of terrorists (mainly from Lybia and Syria), Turkey, and Azerbaijan that organized a full-scale offensive along the line of contact with Artsakh targeting civilians from day 1 of that war.
Armenophobia is a growing phenomenon and the latest escalations were during the 2016 April War when civilians were killed, ears cut, and the traces of torture on the dead bodies noticed. The same happened in Marag(h)a, a village port of Martakert, in 1992, and an eyewitness of Azeri cruelty Baroness Caroline Cox said “I saw human bodies, beheaded. And I also have a photograph in front of me of a villager holding an ear of his Armenian friend, which had been cut off by Azeris.” (“Maragha,” 2012). This continues right now in Artsakh when just a few days ago Azeri soldiers entered one of the houses in Hadrut and killed an old woman with her disabled boy and this is one of the examples of multiple atrocities that they did and continue to do.
Thus, before looking at the style of different terroristic groups like ISIS, we should realize that there are whole states that function as a terroristic state in the face of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Stopping Armenophobia could have saved many lives and ended the toxic wave of hatred that these two states started against Armenians. Though, it is already too late considering the Turkish-Azerbaijani-Terroristic attack on Artsakh and Armenia starting September 27, 2020.
Armenia was divided between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, Eastern and Western Armenia accordingly. Empire presupposes diversity of ethnic groups but after the rise of the ideas about nation-states, the end of the monarchy, and the rise of civil society, we started to observe how people start believing that Germany is for Germans, Ottoman Turkey is for Turks, Russian Empire is for Russians or Slovaks. This is a trend that triggered genocides: the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, the Holocaust in Germany, “extreme forms of state violence and ethnic cleansing” in the Russian Empire which didn’t stop with the fall of the czarism but continued by a man-made famine in Ukraine in 1932–1933 known as Holodomor and other horrible events happening in the Soviet Union (Werth, 2010). Ottoman Empire was in the era of its decline. To explain the crisis Ottoman governments started to tie Armenians with the foreigners, blame in treachery and espionage for the enemy (meaning Russia). This was the narrative created by the Ottoman government. This especially started after the Russo-Turkish war, 1877–1878, that the Ottoman Empire lost. Ronald Suny, Professor of History at the University of Michigan, during an interview with Mery Melikian, said “Turks see this as treachery and demobilize hundreds of thousands of Armenian soldiers, take their weapons and uniforms away, turn them into labor battalions, and eventually murder them” (Suny, 2014). This became the start of “a very important process of devaluing and dehumanizing this ethnic minority group” (Siegel, 2015). It became worse when “at a certain point, resentment developed against Armenians who were better off, more closely tied to Europe, and better educated. So eventually this fear, anger, and resentment became hatred” (Suny, 2014).
The brutality started with Hamidian massacres, named after Sultan Abdülhamid II, from 1894 and 1896. These were a “series of atrocities carried out by Ottoman forces and Kurdish irregulars against the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire” (“Hamidian,” 2016). To cover up these atrocities from the eyes of the international public Sultan Abdülhamid corrupted newspaper and magazine editors and certain articles praising the Ottoman government would appear. “Such advertisements of Turkish military commanders were often the result of agreements between the Sultan Abdul Hamid and certain French editors who received large sums for agreeing not to cover the Armenian massacres or for agreeing to obfuscate the truth” (Demoyan, 2016, p. 100). After the 1908 Revolution, Young Turks came to power. Gradually they became increasingly militant and suspicious towards the Christian minorities. The situation worsened after the “humiliating defeat in the First Balkan War (1912–13), resulting in the loss of nearly all its [Ottoman Turkey’s] remaining territory in Europe” (Suny, 2020). Of course, this wasn’t the fault of Young Turks, and the rhetoric about traitorous Armenians of the Hamidian period continued (Suny, 2020). Witch hunt on the Armenians resumed. Things got worse after the humiliating defeat of the Ottoman army led by Enver Pasa at the battle of Sarikamish in January 1915. Just because they lost and it could have not been the fault of the leader, they blamed Armenians and Armenian soldiers were disarmed and killed (Suny, 2020). They were the first victims of the Armenian Genocide that continued up until 1923 and took the lives of more than 1.5 million Armenians. Modern Turkey is no better than its predecessor with its denialist approach and continuous Armenophobia expressed in different manners. Especially it escalated by the assassination of Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of Agos newspaper and prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey, and the case was never investigated. All of these brutalities resulted in the emergence of the Armenian question.
The Armenian question was put on the agenda, not by the Armenians but it was generated by Turks because of their discriminatory behavior towards the Armenians.
What was happening in Eastern Armenia under the Russian Empire in the 20th century was no better. The situation in the Russian Empire after the loss of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 made it worse and the czar’s regime was weakening because of the revolutionary tendencies inside the empire. Hovhannes Tumanyan, a prominent Armenian writer, who lived in Eastern Armenia, in spite of having more of pro-Russian looks was anti-czarist. Tumanyan claimed that after czar Nikolai II’s disgraceful loss during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, revolutionary waves started in the Russian Empire and the czar decided to artificially create conflicts between Caucasian nations so that these revolutionary movements weaken. To somehow shift the attention of the public and to keep the throne, Nikolai II inflicted conflicts including among Caucasus nations: Armenians, Georgians, and Turks («Սովետական գրող»/”Sovetakan Grokh”, 1985).
At that time, Azerbaijan didn’t exist yet and they called themselves either Caucasian Tatars or Turks. This is of no surprise because even after getting independence from the Soviet Union, their first president Abulfaz Elchibeyi elected in 1992 claimed that he sees Azerbaijan’s future with Turkey and he would continuously underline that Azeris are Turks (Վաալ/Waal, 2014, p.134).
So, there was pressure from both sides on Armenians. Now, czar Nikolai II and Sultan Abdul Hamid had a mutual ground for cooperation. French newspaper Assiette au Beurre, in November 1911 published a colored gravure entitled “Two guardian angels of Armenia.” It is a scene when Armenians are being killed and czar Nikolai II and Sultan Abdul Hamid II are following it from the above dressed like angels (Demoyan, 2016, p. 152). On October 29, 1905, French newspaper La Croix Illurtee in an article entitled “In a Country of Oil” wrote “Between 1905–6 in many cities and regions of Transcaucasus — Baku, Nakhichevan, Karabakh, Yerevan, Tiflis, and others clashes between local Caucasian Turks or Tatars (modern Azeris) and Armenians occurred. These clashes were instigated by the Czarist government to prevent any revolutionary activities among Armenians of the Caucasus. Caucasian Turks (now Azeris) received assistance also from the Ottoman Turks” (Demoyan, 2016, p. 152). Especially, the last part is very relevant even now. Azerbaijani side started military clashes on the borders of Armenia, Tavush Region in July 2020, and then started a full-scale war on September 27, 2020, with Artsakh targeting Armenian territories too. Turkey fully supported Azerbaijan for its actions publicly and provided its little brother with military-political assistance, mercenaries, and terrorists. All of this to connect Azerbaijan with Turkey, continue Turkey’s expansionist policy, and reach their pan-Turkish dreams. A special military group called “Yashma,” a terrorist group, that was proved to be fought against the west in Syria is organized in Azerbaijan and trained in Turkey to fight against Armenians (Marukyan, 2020). Whenever the borderline clashes start, this terroristic group gets involved. During the April War of 2016, this group beheaded Armenian soldiers, went into the houses of civilians, and cut one elderly couple’s ears (Marukyan, 2020). All of this happening in the 21st century in front of the international community and all of this is supported by modern Tukey that denies the Armenian Genocide. In the organization of these atrocities not only Turks were involved but also Kurds. “The Kurds today, in the Republic of Turkey, are one major group who recognize the genocide, who have apologized for what they did, who believe they were used by the Turks, and they are trying to make up for that now” (Suny, 2014).
As they call themselves, the brother nation of Turkey, Azerbaijan doesn’t differ in terms of the policy on Armenians and Armenia. The roots of the problem are buried yet in early 20th century clashes when during the 1905 and 1918 Baku events when, as a result of clashes, many Armenians were killed by Caucasian Tatars/Azeris based on their ethnicity. Anti-Armenian sentiments in newborn 1918 Azerbaijan under Soviet rule didn’t stop and when the Soviet Union started to weaken, 1988 Sumgait events happened followed by the 1990 Baku pogroms, 1992 Maragha (village port of Martakert) atrocities that Baroness Caroline Cox said to be “an example of Azeri crimes against humanity” (“Maragha,” 2012). So, the main Soviet ideology of Druzhba Narodov (Friendship between nations) was never an option for Azeris. Baku Armenians said that when the Armenian football team “Ararat” came to Baku, they wouldn’t come out of their houses and when they won the game, it was even worse (Վաալ, 2014).
Following the events around Karabakh and peaceful mass protests in Yerevan and Stepanakert where Armenians were presenting justified claims of uniting largely Armenian populated and historically Armenian and ethically Armenian populated Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenian SSR and making it one united Armenian state, mass protests in Azerbaijan started.
Unlike peaceful Armenian protests, Azeris were far more aggressive and this time there was no one to suppress their Armenophobic views.
After one of the large scale protests on February 28 of 1988 in the Lenin Square, protesters went to march on streets, and some large groups were detached from other protesters with the aim to start a witch hunt against Armenians. They would take off the clothes of women and burn their bodies, hit men with an axe so many times that it became impossible to recognize them, they would rob houses and rape (Վաալ/Waal, 2014). The police didn’t interfere and the response from Moscow was too late and too weak. This fact makes it clear that the pogroms were state-organized.
It was so bad that these groups would stop cars and buses and check whether there are Armenians inside. To recognize Armenians they would ask them to pronounce the word “funduk” because it was believed that Armenians mispronounce it (Վաալ/Waal, 2014, p. 74).
Armenian prominent writer Sero Khanzadyan, in response to the official data claiming that only 32 Armenians were killed in Sumgait, claimed that actually 450 Armenians were killed (Վաալ, 2014, p. 74). After the 1990 Baku pogroms, unlike the Sumgait pogroms, no investigation was done and no one was held responsible for 90 deaths. After December of 1989, Armenians were afraid to go out of their houses.
Bella Sahakova, a Baku Armenian, said that “It was even dangerous to wait for the bus at the bus stop because some young people would approach and smell you like a dog. The atmosphere was so tense that you would unwillingly reveal your Armenian identity” (Վաալ/Waal, 2014, p. 136).
80 people were held responsible for Sumgait pogroms, and only one of them, Ahmed Ahmedov, was executed to death. The committee investigating Sumgait events later posthumously justified Ahmedov and called him a hero. Very similarly, Ramil Safarov, during NATO training in Hungary, approached Armenian lieutenant Gurgen Margaryan who was asleep in his room, attacked him with an axe, and killed him. He was not only justified in Azerbaijan but also very festively welcomed and promoted in his position (Kocharyan, 2020). Thus, Armenophobia in Azerbaijan is not only a common behavior but also a heroic behavior welcomed by the highest-ranked state officials. It is of no surprise because this is what they are being taught in schools from a very young age (Asbarez, 2018). Baroness Caroline Cox, in her response letter to Azerbaijani ambassador to Great Britain, mentioned that “There remains significant dismay at Azerbaijan’s established policy of promoting hatred of the Armenians — including the teaching of hatred in schools and proclaiming Armenia as the ‘Number One Enemy’” (Asbarez, 2020).
Even now Azerbaijani propaganda attempts to rewrite history and present itself as a victim in all the horrible things that they themselves organized against Armenians. For example, not long after the Sumgait massacres, Ziya Buniatov, historian and then the president of Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences, published an article entitled “Why Sumgait?” in which he claims that the Armenian nationals organized the Armenian pogroms and a few hours before Armenians brought in journalists and photographers to better document these horrible events so that later they make “false” accusations towards Azerbaijan (Վաալ/Waal, 2014, p. 76). The cynicism didn’t stop there. An Azeri film director Davud Imanov shot a movie where he presented a conspiracy theory that as if Armenians, Americans, and Russians organized all of these pogroms to discredit Azerbaijan (Վաալ, 2014, p. 76). In the same way, the Azeri propaganda machine functions now. The brightest example is the response to Baroness Caroline Cox to the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Great Britain who tried to persuade that whatever Baroness saw for example in Maragha is not true and Azerbaijan never committed any war crime. Baroness mentions both the case of Ramil Safarov, the historical evidence of Nagorno-Karabakh being an Armenian land, the Nakhichevan case and also comments on July escalations in the Tavush region when the Azeri side targeted civilian infrastructures (e.g. mask factory and kindergarten) and the Defense Ministry’s threat to bomb Metsamor nuclear power plant (Asbarez, 2020). Baroness gave a detailed explanation for all of her points.
State-promoted Armenophobia both in Azerbaijan and Turkey didn’t stop and that is the primary reason why Azerbaijan with the full support of Turkey and its terrorists started a full-scale war against Artsakh. None of these two states hide their genocidal agenda and wish to erase Armenia and Armenians from the world map. After all, Aliev, Erdogan, And Turkish Azerbaijani media propaganda continue to lie and claim that Armenia with a small territory and almost no resources is the aggressor.
The pan-Turkish idea is the one that is in the head of Ilham Aliev and R. T. Erdogan. It is only Armenia and Artsakh with its small territory in the frontline fighting for the civilised world without any substantial support neither from East nor West. Armenia and Artsakh are the only obstacle in between these two states to connect and implement their bloody dreams. Both are dictators and not only an existential threat to Armenians but also to the world. These two new Hitlers of the 21st century should be derived from the opportunity to start a WWIII that will become a disaster for all of us, the human kind.
References
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