ANALYSIS OF THE TURKISH PROGRAM OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Genocide is not only a historical phenomenon or a scientific abstraction, but a severe reality of our days, the gravest crime against humanity, which prevention can save millions of human lives. From this perspective, all scientific research, examining the regularities of the genesis of genocide or genocidal programs, can contribute to the choice and application of more effective means of prevention. One of the most important and, perhaps, least researched aspects of genocide is the conceptual explication of realization of the role of a state power. Among these problems, the study of the process of preparation of genocide by the supreme state bodies stands out. This process results in a state program, stating the criminal intent to commit genocide, and the means to realize it. The program comprised three documents. In all three, both the intent to commit genocide and the means to commit it are present. The analysis of these three documents reveals the fact that they are nothing but a program for committing Armenian Genocide - a program, adopted by the Ottoman government and ratified by the sultan, thus appearing in law. Investigation of the Turkish materials enabled us to find out the source of the “tradition” of falsification, adopted by contemporary Turkish historians. It began back in 1916, at the time when the Armenian Genocide was still in progress. Thus, the principal organizers of the Armenian Genocide, fully conscious of their own guilt, in the first phase of carnages were already exerting themselves to avoid responsibility. Preparation and implementation of the crime of genocide constituted a significant segment of the functions of state power in the Ottoman Empire. Certain elements of such modus operandi passed via the Kemalists to republican Turkey.
Downloadpdf (0.19 MB)
