Entry 2: Organizers and Leaders

The main leaders of the Armenian genocide consists of Mehmet Talaat, Ishmail Enver, and Ahmed Jemal (Adalian, “Armenian Genocide”). Those three men and several other leading figures were part of the Young Turks or the western name Turkish Political party Committee of Union and Progress. This committee consisted mostly of military officers, military doctors, nationalist politicians (“Frequently Asked Questions-Background). The Young Turks rose to power due to the fact that they had connections to the military and their leaders. The military leaders helped because they were disturbed by the continuous decline of the Ottoman Power and attributed to the crisis (Adalian, “Armenian Genocide”).

 

The Armenian Genocide was considered the first modern genocide because of its scale and government planning (Frey,73). The three main factors of this genocide were a widespread sense of humiliation who wanted to modernize Turkey, the impact of the World War I, and the position of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire (Frey,74).

 

To begin the Armenian genocide or the 1915 genocide the main motivation of the Young Turks was to finally come to the sense of the issue of contingency and the political ambitions of the Young Turks (Catherwood). Another motivation of theirs was to Turkify the Ottoman Empire and rid of the Armenian race ( “Frequently Asked Questions-Background).

 

The leaders of the genocide were removed from power because they later fled to try and escape from the punishments that they soon had to face. As consequences for the Young Turk who didn’t flee the country attended trial and were either sentenced to death or received long prison terms for their war crimes committed against the Armenian population. While the other Young Turk leading figures who did flee the country were sentenced to death in Absentia due to committing their unlawful actions and escaping the country (“Frequently Asked Questions- Background).

 

“Religion may or may not be a source of hatred but it certainly provides an emotionally satisfying expression of hatred” (Frey,76). By using the Armenian race and their religion the Young Turks found a way to get rid of the Armenians. The Young Turks were prejudiced against the Armenians knowing that they were Christians and not Muslims (Frey,77).