ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

• Armenians are an ancient people whose traditional homeland by the beginning of the 20^th century was divided between the Russian and the Ottoman empires.
• In the Ottoman Empire, dominated by Muslims, Armenians were a Christian, well-off minority.
• On account of their religion, they faced discrimination, which they had been protesting and demanding a greater say in the government. This led to resentment and attacks against the community.
• A revolution was brought in 1908 by a group called the Young Turks and paved the way for the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) to form the government which wanted the ‘Turkification’ of the empire and was hard on minorities.
• In August 1914, World War I broke out, and the Ottoman Empire joined forces with Germany and Austria-Hungary against Russia, Great Britain, and France.
• The war brought antipathy towards Armenians to a boil, especially as some Armenians were sympathetic to Russia and even willing to help it in the war. Soon, the Armenians as a whole were seen as a threat.
• The crackdown of April 14, 1915, on the community began in earnest with the arrest of prominent citizens in Constantinople, many of whom were executed. The government then ordered the forcible eviction of Armenians.
• In spring 1915 the Ottoman government began the deportation of the Armenian population from its northeastern border regions.

4. Genocide Convention

• The Genocide Convention, also known as the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, is an international treaty that was adopted by the UNGA on December 9, 1948.
• The purpose is to prevent and punish the crime of genocide and requires signatory nations to take action to prevent and punish genocide, including by enacting laws that criminalize the crime of genocide and by cooperating with other nations in the investigation and prosecution of individuals suspected of committing genocide.
• The Convention also establishes the International Court of Justice as the primary judicial body responsible for interpreting and enforcing the Convention.
• It was the first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on 9 December 1948.

5. Recognition of the Armenian ‘genocide’

• As of today, 32 countries, including the US, France, and Germany, recognize the Armenian genocide.
• India does not, nor does the UK. The US joined this group only in 2021, under President Joe Biden, and support from other countries too was slow in coming.
• Turkey’s geopolitical importance has meant that not a lot of governments want to pick issues with it on the Armenian issue.
• Although most countries have condemned the tragedy, the use of ‘genocide’ has been avoided, as the term was coined only in 1944 and because Turkey has always claimed that there is no proof the deaths were planned and targeted. 
• The modern state of 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. 

6. About Armenia

• Armenia is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.
• Armenia is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the Lachin corridor (under a Russian peacekeeping force) and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
• Yerevan is the capital, largest city, and financial center. Armenia is a unitary, multi-party, democratic nation-state with an ancient cultural heritage.