SocietyTop

Swedish Professor: What happened in the Ottoman Empire was genocide, not deportation

On February 19 the Radio Sweden spoke to Sweden’s leading experts in international law, Professor Emeritus Ove Bring, an author of a number of monographs and publications on genocide.

In an interview with Radio Sweden, Professor Bring presented the situation in Ottoman Turkey during the years of the Armenian Genocide. He noted that the Ottoman Government faced the task of assimilating the Armenians and other Christian minorities living on the territory of the Empire, and did it through genocide, availing itself of the opportunity provided by the World War First.

The Professor presented the process of the genocide, noting that first the intellectuals were arrested and killed, after which the other part of the population – mostly women, children and elders – was deported and sent to death.

Ove Bring underlined that what happened in the Ottoman Empire was genocide, not just deportation, as deportation envisages re-settlement of groups of people, provision of necessary conditions and dwelling.

In conclusion the Professor said an estimated 1-1.5 million Armenians died as a result of the genocide. “It’s because of the genocide that Armenians are spread all over the world today,” he concluded.

Show More
Back to top button