Great Catastrophe: Armenians and Turks in the Shadow of Genocide by Thomas de Waal (PDF)

Description

The destruction of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-16 was the greatest atrocity of World War I. Around one million Armenians were killed, and the survivors were scattered across the world. Although it is now a century old, the issue of what most of the world calls the Armenian Genocide of 1915 is still a live and divisive issue that mobilizes Armenians across the world, shapes the identity and politics of modern Turkey, and has consumed the attention of U.S. politicians for years. In Great Catastrophe, the eminent scholar and reporter Thomas de Waal looks at the aftermath and politics of the Armenian Genocide and tells the story of recent efforts by courageous Armenians, Kurds, and Turks to come to terms with the disaster as Turkey enters a new post-Kemalist era. The story of what happened to the Armenians in 1915-16 is well-known. Here we are told the “history of the history” and the lesser-known story of what happened to Armenians, Kurds, and Turks in the century that followed. De Waal relates how different generations tackled the issue of the “Great Catastrophe” from the 1920s until the failure of the Protocols signed by independent Armenia and Turkey in 2010. Quarrels between diaspora Armenians supporting and opposing the Soviet Union broke into violence and culminated with the murder of an archbishop in 1933. The devising of the word “genocide,” the growth of modern identity politics, and the 50th anniversary of the massacres re-energized a new generationof Armenians. In Turkey the issue was initially forgotten, only to return to the political agenda in the context of the Cold War and an outbreak of Armenian terrorism. More recently, Turkey has started to confront its taboos. In an astonishing revival of oral history, the descendants of tens of thousands of “Islamized Armenians,” who have been in the shadows since 1915, have begun to reemerge and reclaim their identities.Drawing on archival sources, reportage and moving personal stories, de Waal tells the full story of Armenian-Turkish relations since the Genocide in all its extraordinary twists and turns. He looks behind the propaganda to examine the realities of a terrible historical crime and the divisive “politics of genocide” it produced. The book throws light not only on our understanding of Armenian-Turkish relations but also of how mass atrocities and historical tragedies shape contemporary politics.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review “This magnificent book is the ideal introduction to a difficult subject. Historically rigorous but also full of compassion, it will educate the expert as well as the curious beginner. Highly recommended for Turks, Armenians, and everyone else.”–Stephen Kinzer, author of Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds “Finely researched and elegantly written, Tom de Waal’s historical travelogue is an empathetic guide to how Armenians and Turks can ease the century of pain and conflict that succeeded the genocidal Ottoman destruction of the Armenian presence in Anatolia in 1915.”–Hugh Pope, author of Turkey Unveiled: a History of Modern Turkey “Great Catastrophe is a frank, honest, humane effort to understand the events surrounding the Armenian Genocide and its aftermath. Thomas de Waal writes with empathy and respect for the various contending narratives while avoiding an equivocating ‘balance’ that dishonors the events and the victims themselves. Meticulously researched and scrupulously fair, it attempts to comprehend and recount for a broad audience the complexity and pain of the MedZ Yeghern in the hope that average Turks and Armenians might continue the process of recognition, repentance and reconciliation that will allow them both to heal and be redeemed.”–Michael Lemmon, Former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia About the Author Thomas de Waal is a writer and scholar on the Caucasus and Black Sea region and currently Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is the author of three books, including The Caucasus: An Introduction. Previously, de Waal worked as a newspaper and radio journalist in London and Moscow.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐The latest work by Thomas De Wall comes right in time for the great tragedy’s 100th anniversary and is unique in both its perspective and coverage.Interestingly, the main title of the book may sound misleading, since only the first couple of chapters are devoted to the actual Crime that happened between 1915 and 1923. This leads me to believe that by ‘Great Catastrophe’, the author refers to the aftermath of the Genocide as an essential part of the tragedy itself. Therein lies the great value of the book; unlike vast majority of published works covering the Genocide in detail, De Wall focuses on what happened after it, providing critical chronology and context for the events spanning the last 100 years.Indeed, by meticulously collecting data from a variety of sources and documenting the most significant developments – together with the larger context in which they were occurring – the author reveals how Turkish-Armenian ‘bad blood’ (rooted in Armenia’s centuries-long occupation and oppression) had been manipulated by the world powers (and different forces within those powers) to pursue various political agendas of the day and to exert pressure on respective Turkish governments – all the way to modern day dramatic events surrounding the latest push for Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and its spectacular failure. The results are catastrophic; for Armenians who lost vast majorities of the population, lands and property; for Turks tainted by the stigma of Genocide perpetuators for generations; and ultimately the entire region haunted by deep division lines that cripple its development.The book documents the cynicism with which Armenians were effectively betrayed over and over again, helped with exceptionally bad luck and the absurdity of internal divisions (some descending into bloody feud!) within their own. It tells very revealing stories such as the Armenian terrorist acts in 70s/80s which, while staining the cause with innocent blood, were nevertheless the major factor bringing the Genocide back to the World’s agenda. It provides a detailed chronology on developments revolving around the treaties of Sevres and Lausanne, post-World War II repatriation and the 1965 awakening. Finally, it depicts modern international politics as seemingly fixated around the ‘G-word’. In short, the book presents a lot of invaluable information backed by in-depth and solid research which I personally found fascinating.Having said that, the book suffers from several serious – and one fundamental – shortcomings.The book clearly falls short of stressing the epic scale of the events. Wiping out an entire 3000+ year-old civilization in a matter of months is a true crime against humanity, with significance going well beyond the Armenian nation’s interests. Instead, in an apparent attempt to seem impartial, the author devotes disproportionally large real estate describing ‘Armenian reprisals’ – such as those on territories briefly governed by then ally Russian Empire in 1917. Maybe this is not the point of the book, but clearly stating the enormity of the consequences of this crime would certainly help explain the events which followed.Another crucial yet almost completely overlooked aspect of the Armenian Genocide is its legal and financial aspects, even though they are directly relevant to its aftermath. When talking about the lost property of Armenians, De Waal mentions only the belongings of common citizens which were marauded by ordinary Turks and Kurds. However, Armenians were among the most affluent Ottoman citizens – owning factories, mines, swaths of land and real estate – all of which were expropriated by the Young Turks government and served as a financial foundation of the new Turkish Republic. Nor did he mention the controversy surrounding the recent lawsuits against German, French and American life insurance companies by descendants of Genocide victims.The book’s biggest flaw, however, is not in what was not mentioned, but in what appears to be one of the central messages it tries to convey – literally de-linking the 1915-1923 Genocide perpetuated by Turks from the ‘parallel’ conflict with Azeris which culminated in the recent war of 1988-1993 in Karabakh. The author emphasizes that unlike Turkish destruction of the Armenian population, Armenians and Azeris were engaged in mutual ‘symmetric’ massacres fighting over land, hinting that Turks had little to do with them and that these massacres didn’t pose an existential threat to Armenians. While trying to convince the reader, De Waal deplorably turns to tricks. For instance, he chooses to forget certain facts – such as critical role Turkey played in pushing the Soviet government to assign both Karabakh and Nakhichevan to Azerbaijan SSR , thereby sowing the seeds of Armenian extermination in the former and the 1988 war of independence in the latter. When describing the Karabakh Army’s military victories at the end of the independence war, he talks about ‘militaristic fervor’ and mentions that Karabakh Armenians’ ‘…goal was to defeat Azerbaijan by any means on the battlefield’ – without elaborating why, and leaving the reader with the impression of an out-of-control, belligerent army establishment. When talking about the post-war negotiations, the author mentions ‘intransigence’ and lack of political will to compromise by the Armenians. Occasionally, De Waal even resorts to obviously false statements – such as Shushi (Karabakh) being a majority Azeri town before the Armenian population of the city was massacred in 1923 (only then becoming so).Unfortunately, the Genocide and the ongoing conflict with Azeris have the same roots. The Azeris have enjoyed unconditional Turkish support from the 1920s to the present day, and still refer to themselves as ‘one nation, two countries’. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev is way ‘more Catholic than the Pope’ when it comes to the aggressive denial of the Armenian Genocide – be it through lavish funding of propaganda supporting the Turkish official denialist version of events, or through the creation of ‘counter-genocide’ narratives to essentially bastardize the entire notion. He launched an unprecedented anti-Armenian hate campaign in Azerbaijan (e.g. no matter what country of which you are a citizen, you cannot enter Azerbaijan if your last name sounds Armenian!), which strikingly resembles the tactics used by the Ottomans and Young Turks before and during the Genocide. Be it the elevation to the status of a national hero of an axe-murderer who killed his Armenian victim while he was asleep, or the regular statements (and, yes, tweets) by Aliyev about Armenia being a ‘historically Azeri land’ which will be inhabited by Azeris ‘very soon’, such acts makes the ‘shadows’ of the Genocide very real and relevant.Indeed, Karabakh Armenians were fighting so ferociously knowing that had they lost the battle, they’d be sharing the same fate with Eastern Anatolian or Nakhichevan Armenians: total destruction, expulsion and wiping out of all traces of Armenian civilization (by Turks and Azeris, respectively). In other words, another Genocide. It’s best summarized by the famous human rights defender, academician and one of the greatest minds of 20th century, Andrei Sakharov: ‘Karabakh is a matter of honor to Azeris, but matter of survival for Armenians’.As for the Karabakh Army’s victories by the end of the war – I am sure De Waal knows that they were, if fact, the main factor that pushed the reckless nationalistic government in Baku to sign the ceasefire agreement. Moreover, it is absolutely clear (also according to reputable military sources like ‘Jane’s report’) that the ceasefire largely holds for the last 20+ years (despite oil-rich Azerbaijan increasing its military spending by whooping 250%!) exactly thanks to the security belt making the current Karabakh-Azerbaijan border optimal for defense, hence Karabakh Armenians knowing exactly where to stop. It is at best naïve to fault the creation of the very tangible security belt protecting Karabakh Armenians till today for putting at risk the elusive and largely theoretical normalization of Armenian-Turkish ties.There are arguably more shortcomings worth mentioning, but I don’t want to sound overly negative about the book. Even with all the faults, the book is a great contribution to understanding of the modern history between the Armenians and the Turks (and by extension Azeris) and I certainly learned a lot from it myself.De Waal’s far-reaching idea promoted throughout many of his books is the vision of Armenians, Turks and Azeris co-existing peacefully – a vision which is hard not to subscribe to. Alas, in perpetuating this idea he sometimes bends the truth – occasionally beyond the breaking point – which may be more of an obstacle than a catalyst towards building a common future. Having said that, ‘Great Catastrophe’ is an essential step towards understanding the context of the complex relationships between the nations in the region. I am certainly happy to be a witness of Thomas De Waal’s continuous personal development and involvement in Caucasus – where truly independent and professional voices like his are so rare – and looking forward to both enjoying and criticizing his new publications.

⭐This is a great book to read as we approach the Centennial of the Armenian Genecide. Much has been written about the events of 1915, but this book is more about what has happened since then, over the last hundred years. It sheds light on the changing dynamics between Armenians and Turks and also on the dynamics between Eastern, Western and Diaspora Armenians. It is a very timely read by an author who is very familiar with the Caucasus Region. A number of years ago I read a book by him on Chechnya, just after the first Chechen War with Russia (1994-6). He definitely knows the region.

⭐Thomas De Waal is a superb and fair-minded writer who is able to engage the reader’s attention on a very complicated and emotionally charged subject, especially this year, 2015, the centennial of the horrific “Armenian genocide.” This book will be worth the effort the author put into it if it helps to bring about a just peace, especially for the million plus Armenian victims of the “ethnic cleansing” campaign of the Ottoman Turks.

⭐xlnt book that details many of the details leading up to WWI and the eventual deportations/murders of over a million Armenians; the author is not an Armenian or a Turk so he is not emotionally biased by a sad history when the end of the Ottoman Empire brought about a government sponsored/directed elimination of a cultural with +3000 year history/presence in Anatolia

⭐A fascinating read that shows the reader all too clearly how an event’s history and histories can shape the event itself, long after it has taken place. Impeccably researched, sensible and wise. A must-read for anyone trying to understand the terrible events of 1915, and the region today.

⭐Surely there are more detailed books on this topic. But if you never read anything about it, it is a very good starting point!

⭐It is great introduction into the new topic of a huge historical importance. You get a brief review of the history of the region and advise on what to read to research more.

⭐Got it and am loving the book. den

⭐I really enjoyed this book; it is very well researched and written and provides a good comprehensive overview of what has become a century long tragedy. It is written in an engaging manner (consistent with his other books) and leads the reader through the complex political and social landscape of Armenian and Turkish relationships in a balanced and unbiased manner. He makes effective use of personal testimonies to present the on-going human side of this situation.

⭐As a distant half Armenian living in UK, this was thoughtful and enlightening. Would recommend it to those of whatever persuasion to read it.

⭐Prompt delivery. Good condition.

⭐l’autore descrive la situazione benissimo, conosce colpe e trasgressioni dei due lati.Libro che raccomando vivamente. Chiarisce e descrive anche avvenimenti non menzionati in altri resocontiIt is an excellent book. As usual Thomas de Waal packs a lot of knowledge and keen analyses on the subject.Barry Barkev Khojajian

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