Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights
Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights
Domestic Violence in Moldova - The Advocates for Human Rights
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Armenia’s relationship with Turkey has significantly marked its history.Beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the 15 th century, Armenia came under Turkish rule. Although Armenianswere treated relatively well at the height of the Ottoman Empire, they were laterpersecuted by their Turkish rulers, and several massacres of Armenians by OttomanTurks were reported <strong>in</strong> the late 1800s. 22 Armenians who lived <strong>in</strong> rural areas, however,rema<strong>in</strong>ed relatively <strong>in</strong>dependent of Ottoman <strong>in</strong>fluence.In the late Ottoman period of the 19 th century, a nascent fem<strong>in</strong>ist movementemerged <strong>in</strong> urban areas, 23 produc<strong>in</strong>g an Armenian “fem<strong>in</strong>ist manifesto.” This manifesto<strong>in</strong>cluded such basic human rights as freedom to choose an occupation and elim<strong>in</strong>ation ofthe dowry system and other <strong>in</strong>equalities <strong>in</strong> marriage. 24 It was not well received;“resistance to women’s rights arose from the need <strong>for</strong> family solidarity . . . becauseArmenians, as a subject people, had long depended on family networks <strong>for</strong> protection andsurvival.” 25Seek<strong>in</strong>g security from aggression by the Ottoman Turks, some Armenians turned<strong>for</strong> help to the Russian Empire, which had expanded <strong>in</strong>to the Transcaucasion region <strong>in</strong>the early 19 th century. <strong>The</strong> <strong>in</strong>tegration of the Armenian prov<strong>in</strong>ce of the Persian empire<strong>in</strong>to the Tsarist empire perpetuated a longstand<strong>in</strong>g divide between western and easternArmenia. <strong>The</strong> eastern portion fared far better under Tsarist rule than the western portion,which was part of the ail<strong>in</strong>g Ottoman Empire.Armenia’s conflicts with the Ottoman Empire culm<strong>in</strong>ated <strong>in</strong> events that have beencalled the 20 th century’s first genocide. <strong>The</strong>se events cont<strong>in</strong>ue to def<strong>in</strong>e Armenia’srelationship with modern day Turkey. 26 From 1915 to 1918, the govern<strong>in</strong>g “YoungTurks” organized the murder and deportation of at least one million Armenians. 27Speak<strong>in</strong>g of his observations as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1913 to 1916,Henry Morganthau stated, “the Turks never had . . . the idea of reestablish<strong>in</strong>g theArmenians . . . <strong>The</strong>y knew that the great majority would never reach their dest<strong>in</strong>ationand that those who did would either die of thirst and starvation . . . When the Turkishauthorities gave the orders <strong>for</strong> these deportations, they were merely giv<strong>in</strong>g the deathwarrant to a whole race . . . .” 28 Hitler referred to the Armenian genocide and the world’s22 Mel<strong>in</strong>e Karakashian, supra at note 15.23 Lou Ann Matossian, Armenian Women <strong>in</strong> a Chang<strong>in</strong>g World, OFF OUR BACKS 18 (1995).24 Id.25 Id. at 19.26 See, e.g., Diane F. Orentlicher, Genocide, <strong>in</strong> CRIMES OF WAR: WHAT THE PUBLIC SHOULD KNOW156 (R. Gutman & D. Rieff eds., 1999).27 In 1915, the <strong>for</strong>mer British Ambassador to the U.S. reported that as many as 800,000 Armenians hadbeen killed <strong>in</strong> six months as a result of a “deliberate and premeditated policy of the gang now <strong>in</strong> possessionof the Turkish Government.” 800,000 Armenians Counted as Destroyed, <strong>in</strong> NYT, October 7, 1915 at 3-4.28 HENRY MORGENTHAU, AMBASSADOR MORGENTHAU'S STORY 307-309 (1919).M<strong>in</strong>nesota <strong>Advocates</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Human</strong> <strong>Rights</strong>, <strong>Domestic</strong> <strong>Violence</strong> <strong>in</strong> Armenia, December 2000 8