Difference between revisions of "Armenia"
(→Genocide: copyedit) |
(→References) |
||
| Line 63: | Line 63: | ||
[[Category:Asian Countries]] | [[Category:Asian Countries]] | ||
[[Category:Former Soviet Countries]] | [[Category:Former Soviet Countries]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Landlocked Countries]] | ||
Revision as of 14:40, April 16, 2008
| Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani Hanrapetowt’yown | |
|---|---|
 | |
 |
 |
| Flag | Coat of Arms |
| Capital | Yerevan |
| Government | Unitary republic |
| Language | Armenian (official) |
| President | Robert Kocharyan |
| Prime minister | Serzh Sargsyan |
| Area | 11,506 sq mi |
| Population | 3,215,800 (2005) |
| GDP per capita | $4,270 (2005) |
| Currency | Dram |
Armenia is a landlocked nation in Asia which gained its independence as part of the breakup of the former Soviet Union. It has been an enclave of Christianity for over 1700 years and suffered one of the first great holocausts against its people in modern times.
History
Armenia was traditionally a "hotspot" that was kept independent by the Roman Empire against frequent Parthian and later Persian invasions. It served as a buffer state between the empires. Armenia was the first nation to convert to Christianity, in 301 before Christianity was even legal in Rome. Armenia then flourished and its capital Ani was called the "city of a thousand and one churches."
But Muslim Ottoman Turks invaded in the 11th century, forcing Armenians to become second-class dhimmis. The Muslims enacted a system called "devshirme" that would take boys for service in the Muslim army and for ultimate conversion of their children into Islam. Administrators known as "janissaries" managed this system.
In the 1800s, the Ottoman Empire declined. Ethnic groups on the fringes of the empire (Greeks, Romanians and Serbs) won independence, but the more central position of Armenia kept them under Ottoman control. Between 1894 and 1896, under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, over 100,000 Armenians were killed.
Genocide
A coup d'état by mainly secular "Young Turks" (including many Armenians) overthrew Abdul Hamid in 1908. However, a countercoup of Hamidian loyalists and Islamic theological students was staged in April 1909. Although aimed at the Young Turk government it also developed into pogroms against Armenians in Adana province. Somewhere between 15,000 and 30,000 Armenians were killed in what was known as the "Adana Massacre".
With the advent of World War I the situation became much worse. As Christians in an Empire of Muslims that was now at war with Christian nations, the Armenians were viewed as a threat. The Ottomans first disarmed the Armenian population, and then sought to destroy them starting in 1915. A massive genocide occurred, consisting of the murder of a 1 million to 1.5 million Armenian men, women and children - a genocide that only ended with the Ottoman defeat and the dismantling of their empire, leaving only modern day Turkey. Turkey has never admitted this genocide ever took place, and the topic is generally not discussed in Turkey. [1] It should be noted that Hitler made reference to the Armenian genocide when planning his own final solution. He noted how the world seemed to quickly forget, a condition that he may have thought would apply to his own designs.
After World War I, Armenians unsuccessfully sought to become an independent nation at the Paris Peace Conference.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk next expelled Armenians from Turkey, and Muslim Turks destroyed Armenian culture, including the cities of Kharpert, Van and Ani.
President Woodrow Wilson reported to Congress on May 24, 1920:
"The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has clearly establishedthe truth of the reported massacres and other atrocities from which
the Armenian people have suffered .... Sympathy for Armenia among our people has sprung from untainted consciences, pure Christian faith and an earnest desire to see Christian people everywhere succored in their time of suffering."
In October of 2007, president George W. Bush lobbied against a house resolution that would condemn the killings as a genocide. Bush feared offending the Turks would hurt the U.S. position in the war on terror.[2]
Independence
Armenia was not given its independence until the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Even then it was a mere shell of the size of the land that it had historically occupied. A war broke out with the Muslim nation of Azerbaijan over disputed boundaries, a war that Armenia won. Even today Armenia is surrounded by Muslim nations that have openly hostile policies, including Turkey. If they won't attack Armenia militarily, they'll still see that it is economically strangled through trading sanctions.[3]
