- Britt Gronmeyer
- May 5, 2022
The 24th of April 2022 marked the 104th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. On this day, Ottoman authorities arrested Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, ultimately leading to the deportation, massacre, and mass extermination of over one million Armenians. Although the Armenian Genocide began over a century ago, ethnic and religious conflicts remain relevant in Turkey and conflict with the Kurds has become a major component of Turkish policy.
The anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was recognized from world leaders including United States President Joe Biden. In a statement released on the White House website, President Biden recognized the event while using it as a forum to discuss the role of obstruction of human rights in modern geopolitics. Although the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide has been recognized by several states on its anniversary, the significance of Turkey’s lack of recognition has not gone unnoticed. It is relevant to note that Turkey as well as its allies such as Israel have not recognized the Armenian Genocide. In Turkey, it is illegal to mention to the genocide as it opposes the nationalist agenda that has been in place since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Republic of Turkey in 1923. While human rights advocates continue to fight for Turkey and her allies to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Turkey continues to be held accountable for controversial obstructions of the rights of minorities.
Numerous human rights concerns within Turkey have emerged in recent years, especially since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s accession to presidency in 2014. These concerns exist within the scope of domestic issues, Turkey’s relationship with the Kurds, and Syrian refugees. Turkish relations with the Kurds have been truculent since the Kurds’ failure to acquire an independent nation in the aftermath of World War II. According to a Study by the Harvard University School of Divinity, the Kurds make up roughly 18% of Turkey, making them a significant minority within Turkey’s population. Less than a week before the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey launched new offensives against Kurds in Iraq and Syria, further condemning the group to the status of a repressed population in the areas they inhabit. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has tracked Turkey’s violations of International Human Rights Law within President Erdoğan’s centralized and authoritarian government in which the HRW recorded restrictions of media, human rights defenders, Kurdish activists, the LGBTQ+ community, and anyone who could be considered a threat or critic of Erdoğan’s government. Furthermore, the treatment of women by the Turkish government has rapidly deteriorated as the country has left the Istanbul Convention, a convention on the prevention of violence against women, despite having been the first country to join this agreement and having previously held a reputation of being progressive in the fight for women’s rights. According to the UN Refugee Agency, the immense population of refugees currently residing in Turkey including 3.7 million Syrians. The number of Syrian refugees in the region opens opportunities for widespread discrimination and poor treatment of minorities which has increased in times of economic hardship. Violence between Turkish communities and refugees has become more frequent and systematic hostility has strengthened.
Widespread recognition of the Armenian Genocide by nations and organizations across the globe is vital in achieving equality and reducing the harm done to minorities in Turkey. If these human rights violations continue to go unnoticed in Turkey it can have monumental consequences on the future of European peoples and refugees as well as signify hypocrisy from those who condemn the Armenian Genocide while allowing the mistreatment of minorities in Turkey to continue.