A perspective on the Armenian Genocide
Opinion piece by Mario Keyrouz, Contributor
May 23rd, 2020
The historical Narrative.
On April 24, 1915, began what is known today as the Armenian Genocide during which it is estimated that between 800,000 and 1.2 million Armenians died in 1915 alone, and another 200,000 were massacred in the Syrian Desert around Deir el-Zor.[1]
Armenians weren’t the only targeted ethnic groups of the massacre. There was also the Assyrian Genocide and the Greek Genocide.
While there is so much that could be said about this Genocide, one often overlooked event that happened during the genocide was the confiscation of Armenian property in Turkey.
As a consequence of such a confiscation by the Ottoman State much wealth has been stolen from the Armenians, thus depriving future generations of potential prosperity.
In the first year of the Genocide, The Ottoman parliament passed the "Temporary Law of Expropriation and Confiscation” on September 13th. This law made “legal” the confiscation of all property, including land, livestock, and homes which were rightfully owned by Armenians.[2] As always, there is bound to be an objection by a representative in parliament, and this time it came from Ahmed Riza who protested:
It is unlawful to designate the Armenian assets as "abandoned goods" for the Armenians, the proprietors, did not abandon their properties voluntarily; they were forcibly, compulsorily removed from their domiciles and exiled. Now the government through its efforts is selling their goods ... If we are a constitutional regime functioning in accordance with constitutional law we can't do this. This is atrocious. Grab my arm, eject me from my village, then sell my goods and properties, such a thing can never be permissible. Neither the conscience of the Ottomans nor the law can allow it.[3]
And like so many other objections in any parliament, it fell on deaf ears.
Confiscated Property.
During the 1919 Paris Peace conference, the Armenian delegation presented a sum of claims for the massacres estimated at $3.7 billion, of which 2.18 billion was of various types of properties.[4]
If we are to consistently compound 3.7 billion at a conservative rate of 2.5 % from 1919 till 2020, today that amount would be worth 44.8 billion.[5] To put things into perspective, Armenia’s GDP for 2019 was $12.4 billion[6].
Intrinsically, what was confiscated was not only the property of the victims of the genocide, but rather the prosperity that rightfully belongs to succeeding generations. Not only has no restitution of confiscated property during the genocide taken place[7] but rather the mass confiscation of Armenian property endowed Turkey with capital that allowed many lower-class Turks to rise to the middle class.[8]
Reflections on Genocide.
The first half of the 20th century is filled with various and many events that can be labeled as ‘mistakes’ and disappointments, and so a question arises: “How can past mistakes be avoided?”
Part of the answer is self-evident: a past mistake cannot simply be avoided without having previous knowledge of it. From thereon it becomes necessary to gaze upon history rather than just throw a glance at it.
The pre-requisite of Genocide, like conquest, lies in having too much power concentrated in the hands of the very few, giving them “right” to send out legions of men to carry out their “unquestionable” orders.
The consequence of having too much power consolidated almost always leads to destruction rather than prosperity and higher standards of living. As if powerful centralized authorities and destruction go hand in hand.
While so many might think that it is the Armenians who have a lesson to learn, in practice it is the Turks who have failed to prevent the repetition of past mistakes. Where does Turkey stand today? While it is true that the Ottoman Empire has fallen, and that Turkey today is no longer a Monarchy, can it be claimed that the Turkish Republic doesn’t suffer from an authority with absolute power?
Although Turkey no longer has a Sultan, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President, does a pretty good job at coming off like one. Erdogan assumed Office as Prime Minister from 2003 till 2014 and has since then been serving as the 12th President of Turkey. He is known to be one of the most influential and powerful Islamic Leaders in the world[9]. It is no secret that Turkey is a regional superpower in the Middle East.
In reality, the influence of Turkey is the manifestation of Erdogan’s ambitions. Leaders fail to learn from the past. Hitler did the same mistake as Napoleon when he attempted to invade the Soviet Union in winter. Erdogan, like most politicians, failed to read the economic history of his country, and so it comes as no surprise seeing him commit the same economic mistakes.
A major factor in the decline of the Ottoman Empire was the disruption of the economy by inflation. As the treasury started losing some of its revenue, it began to meet its obligation by debasing its coinage. Turkey’s annual inflation rate for 2019 was slightly more than expected at about 11.8%.[10]
The more one’s knowledge of history grows, the greater the skepticism he has towards the practices of centralized governments. They always serve to unrightfully endow those on top of the centralized authority with too much power and wealth, and they will never hesitate to act according to their ambition and never according to the best interests of their people.
When will political leaders learn that imperialism and conquest, just like all their other ambitions, is not economically sustainable? When will they understand that the well-being of a Nation is directly tied to the well-being of its currency?
[1] . Forsythe, David P. (11 August 2009). Encyclopedia of human rights. 1. Oxford University Press. p. 98
[2] . Dadrian, Vahakn N. (1995). The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus.
[3] . Bayur, Yusuf Hikmet, Türk İnkılabı Tarihi. Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1983, vol. 3, pt. 3, as cited in Dadrian, History of the Armenian Genocide, page. 223–24.
[4] . Avedian, Vahagn (August 2012). "State Identity, Continuity, and Responsibility: The Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey and the Armenian Genocide" page 811-812.
[5] . 3.7*(1.025)^101 = 44.8
[6] .https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/armenia/overview
[7] . Üngör, Uğur Ümit; Polatel, Mehmet (2011). Confiscation and destruction: The Young Turk Seizure of Armenian Property, page. 59
[8] . Ibid, page 80.
[9] .The 2020 edition of the Muslim 500.
[10]. Turkish inflation rises to 11.8%, window for more rate cuts narrows