The given assessment will primarily focus on the Armenian genocide of the 20th century, where the Ottoman Empire imposed mass-scale oppression and aggression invoked by a small resistance upon the entire Armenian population. The given historical instance was a controversial and intricate one since it was not as widely recognized as it should have been. It is a case of genocide since it matches the precise definition of the UN.
It is important to note that the term genocide needs to have five major elements in order to be recognized as such. According to Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of the United Nations, genocide is a process of killing members of a religious, racial, ethnic, and national group (UN, 2021). It also involves causing severe mental and bodily damage to the members of a group, intentionally imposing conditions of life, which leads to the destruction of the group, transfer of children, and prevention of the latter’s birth (UN, 2021). The historical events of the Armenian genocide took place in 1915, when the Ottoman Turkish Empire killed at least 1.5 million Armenians (Mangassarian, 2016).
The instance was triggered after the Battle of Sarikamish, where the entire population of Armenia was out under the blame for treason. The majority of the population was destroyed through death marches, and many of these people were old individuals, women, and children.
The majority of the latter two groups were transferred to Muslim families and countries (Alayarian, 2018). One of the main issues of the genocide was the fact that it was not properly recognized immediately, and Turkey is still in denial of the massacre events (Alayarian, 2018). Therefore, the Armenian genocide matches the definition of the crime because a particular group was deliberately killed by imposing conditions of life, which lead to physical destruction. In addition, children were transferred to other Muslim groups, which also showcases the key features of genocide.
I chose the instance of the Armenian genocide because it was widely unrecognized, with Turkey still continuing to do so in the present moment. One should be aware that the case matches almost all definitions of genocide, but only 32 countries recognize the historical events as such, which is why I decided to illuminate the issues by shedding light on the given discussion (Alayarian, 2018). In addition, the Armenian genocide left a major scar on Armenian culture and nation, and its relationship with Turkey is highly complicated due to the latter’s denial. It has both direct and indirect connections to the readings because the cases of historical massacre and oppression need to be recognized by the descendants of the oppressors.
Until now, the main argument of the Turkish Genocide denial package, which Ankara responded to the accusations, is that the Turks allegedly did not have a premeditated genocide program, they deported the Armenians because of their unreliability in relation to the Ottoman Empire at war (Alayarian, 2018). On the way, every rabble attacked the caravans of deported Armenians, as a result of which “accidents” occurred, which, according to official Ankara, cannot be equated with genocide.
In conclusion, the Armenian genocide can be categorized as one of the highly prominent instances of such a crime, but the main issues revolve around the lack of recognition from Turkey as well as other nations. The case matches all direct definitions of genocide because the members of the group were killed, deliberately put under harsh conditions, children were transferred to Muslim households, and the procreation process was halted, which scarred the given population irreparably.
References
Alayarian, A. (2018). Consequences of denial: The Armenian Genocide. Routledge.
Mangassarian, S. L. (2016). 100 years of trauma: The Armenian Genocide and intergenerational cultural trauma. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 25(4), 371-381. Web.
UN. (2021). Genocide. United Nations. Web.