Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.5613/pol.27.1.1
OTTOMAN GENOCIDE AGAINST THE ARMENIANS: HIDDEN and CONTESTED CRIME
Mirjana Kasapović
Sažetak
The genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman authorities during the First World War was for a long time the most hushed up major crime of the 20th century. Western historiography broke its silence at the end of the 1960s, and in Croatia it has remained so to this day. In the past hundred years, Croatian Ottomanologists and Turkologists have not written a single book or comprehensive scientific study about it, although there were also authentic reasons to write about the suffering of the Armenians, such as Dubrovnik’s long-standing religious, cultural and historical ties with that nation, where the Armenian bishop of St. Vlaho has been celebrated for centuries as the patron saint and symbol of the city. Vlaho has been celebrated as the patron saint and symbol of the city. This relationship is partly due to the legacy of communist Yugoslavia, where the government did not allow any writings about the Armenian genocide in order to preserve good political relations with Turkey, especially after the assassination of the Turkish ambassador in Belgrade in 1983. In the text, the author focuses on the presentation of historical sources (diplomatic and political documents, newspaper reports and articles, photographic material, memoirs, etc.), on the basis of which the world-renowned Armenian Genocide is analysed.), on the basis of which the world’s most respected researchers of political violence characterise the Ottoman crimes against the Armenians as one of the three “classic” genocides of the 20th century - the other two being the genocides against the Jews in the Second World War (Holocaust) and against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The history, causes, actors, forms and dynamics of the violence of the Ottoman state against the Armenians, such as the “Hamidian massacres” at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, which culminated in genocide, were only lightly touched upon. Finally, the most important reasons for the long-term silence and denial of this genocide will be shown. Nevertheless, most EU member states have formally recognised it to this day.
Ključne riječi
genocide; Ottoman Empire; Armenians; historical source; denial
Hrčak ID:
320794
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.2.2025.
Posjeta: 443 *