108 years of Armenian ‘genocide’: What happened, and the debate around what to call it

Source: The post is based on the article “108 years of Armenian ‘genocide’: What happened, and the debate around what to call it” published in Indian Express on 25th April 2023

What is the News?

April 24, 1915 marks the beginning of what came to be known as the Armenian genocide. 

What is Genocide?

The word ‘genocide’ was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe.

As per the UN, Genocide is a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part.

The crime of genocide includes two main elements:

– Mental Element: The intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

– Physical Element: It includes the following five acts enumerated exhaustively: 1) Killing members of the group, 2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, 3) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, 4) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group and 5) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

What is the Armenian Genocide?

The Armenian Genocide is often called the first genocide of the twentieth century.

It refers to the systematic annihilation of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire between 1915 and 1917 i.e. during the First World War.

According to estimates, approximately 1.5 million Armenians died. This is due to genocide, either massacre and killings or from ill-treatment, abuse and starvation.

The Armenian diaspora marks April 24 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day.

About the recognition of Armenian Genocide

The Armenian genocide has been recognized so by 32 countries as of now, including the US, France, and Germany.

India and UK do not recognize the Armenian Genocide. India’s stand can be attributed to its wider foreign policy decisions and geo-political interests in the region.

Turkey does not recognize the Armenian massacre as genocide and has always claimed that there is no proof the deaths were planned and targeted.

How are the current relations between Armenia and Turkey?

Armenia has in the past sought better ties with Turkey, although the two are now locked in a tussle over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, an Armenian-dominated part of Azerbaijan where Turkey supports Azerbaijan