Canada’s Lack of Response to the Armenian Genocide of 1915

Armenia is a small and mountainous country located in southwestern Asia. Throughout its long history, it has been the site of numerous battles, annexations and massacres. The most well-known of these massacres, referred to as the Armenian Genocide of 1915, is widely regarded as the first genocide of the twentieth century.

Although the main events of the Genocide occurred during the time of World War I (1914-1918), the roots of it date back to the late 1880’s. At the time, there were approximately 2.5 million Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Many of them were separatists and were promoting territorial autonomy. As a result, the Sultan Abdulhamid began to suppress separatism and promote resentment of Armenians amongst the Kurds.

Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were openly persecuted, and, in 1894, were subject to a drastic tax increase. When Armenians in the town of Sasun refused to pay these unreasonable taxes, Turkish troops and Kurdish tribesmen were sent in. Thousands of Armenians were murdered and their villages were incinerated

In 1896, Armenian Revolutionaries staged a demonstration in Istanbul as a cry for help from the European Powers. Over 50,000 were subsequently slain by Muslim Turks coordinated by government troops.

Things settled down until 1914, when World War I erupted in the East. Armenia then became a battleground for vicious outbreaks between Russia and Turkey. In response, Armenians from the Caucasus region formed volunteer battalions to help the Russian Army fight the Turks. This angered the Turkish government and they responded by ordering the deportation of 1,750,000 Armenians to Syria and Mesopotamia.

Anywhere from 600,000 to 1,000,000 Armenians starved to death or were slaughtered by Turkish soldiers while en route in the desert, and hundreds of thousands more were forced into exile. Women and children that were captured were forced into harems and orphanages, and forced to take on the Muslim religion. Part of the larger aim of the Genocide was not only to annihilate Armenians alone, but also to destroy their culture, heritage, and beliefs.

Despite the vast extent of this tragedy and the heavy losses of innocent lives, the Armenian Genocide was not widely recognized at the time. Armenians received very little international support and the government that had ordered the deportation faced no penalties. With all of this happening during the chaos of WWI, it seemed the Turkish government had chosen the opportune time to begin the destruction of their neighboring race.

So what part did Canada play in aiding Armenia during the massacre? While the United States sent over $110 million in relief funds, and Russia sent out a battalion to fight the Ottoman IIIrd Army, Canada stood by and ignored what was happening. In fact, it is difficult to find any information regarding Canada’s involvement at all. However, it was not Canada alone that ignored the cries of hundreds of thousands of suffering Armenian civilians. Reports were coming in daily to Germany, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Britain, Sweden, and Switzerland, detailing the blatant violations of human rights. Many of these nations were opposed to what was occurring in Armenia, but apparently never had the intention of doing anything about it.