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Why can't Turkey exist as a purely Islamic state? What do the Armenians add that is vital?

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The General Condition of Armenians at the beginning of 1916

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The General Condition of Armenians at the beginning of 1916

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The Armenians were reduced by nearly 90%. The remaining few were oppressed and feared for their lives. The Turkish government had nearly succeeded in their goal of exterminating the Armenians. Balakian has the view that by attempting to exterminate Armenians from Turkey, Turkey is killing off a vital part of the country, and hurting themselves overall. He cites times in the past when Turkish leaders had wanted to exterminate Armenians in order to make an Islamic empire, but had stopped after realizing their mistake.

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The way in which they killed Armenians was brutal and merciless, and it was justified in the name of religion. This seems like a common justification for evil in the world, for example Isis and other terrorist groups often use Islam as justification, and the KKK use Christianity. Another thing that I noticed is that many officials are sympathetic to Armenians, but they are easily overruled by those ranking above them.

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The Armenians of Chankiri: The Days of Horror

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The Armenians of Chankiri: The Days of Horror

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By the end of 1915 2/3 of Armenians in Turkey were extinct. Chairman's governor was sympathetic to Armenians, so he was replaced. The new governor confiscated all weapons, and planted many in Armenian's houses. The planted weapons were photographed and used as evidence that Armenians were dangerous. The Armenian population in Chankiri were soon ordered to leave, which would mean death for most of them. With help from the wealthier and more influential Armenians, they raised a bribe, and were able to be sent to the city of Smyrna, were they would be safe for at east seven months. After that time, they again began to be arrested again.

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The government had chetes do it because they did not want to take responsibility with/get involved with their own actions.
The Turks wanted to distance themselves from their decision. They wanted to either avoid blame for the crime or simply not dirty their own hands with the murders. As a result, the killings were especially cruel and brutal, due to the nature of some of the criminals. At this point it was nearly impossible for Armenians to travel because of how unsafe the roads were.

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Armenians were slaughtered by groups of pardoned criminals called "chetes."
They were tied of and led along the road to places were they would be ambushed and killed.

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this seems very similer to Germany targeting Jews. The Ittihadists unfairly wanted to blame the Armenian people for all of Turkey's problems

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It seems strange and inconsistent that they were let out. Maybe it saved resourced for the government

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The did not want to think about the hardships that they faced even though their lives were in danger.
People don't want to admit the danger they are in to themselves/they want to continue normally

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Plan for the Extinction of the Armenians of Turkey

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Plan for the Extinction of the Armenians of Turkey

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New martial laws forbid Armenians in Turkey from traveling. More influential Armenians would  be arrested
Armenians kept being disarmeed.
More Armenians were deported

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Pattererns

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Struggles
Class
misconception/misunderstanding:historical differences; limited information/empathy; ignorance

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Loss
Childhood
relationships
character growth
religion

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They relaxed and played poker in the village, acting as though on vacation. Many of them wrote letters to the Interior Minister demanding justice for Armenians. The American ambassador was able return five exiled friends to Constantinople. Sunday of Vartevar, 1915: Each day, the Armenians had been ordered to sign in at the courthouse. One day, the police chief asked all of the exiles to meet in front of the courthouse for "official business." A new blacklist was read out, and those named were sent away in carriages.

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Life in Chankiri Armory: The Names of the Deportees in Chankiri

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Life in Chankiri Armory: The Names of the Deportees in Chankiri

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They were confined in underground cells for many days, and it fell to Balakian to comfort the other prisoners, because of his priestly status. He was able to use connections in Chankiri to obtain blankets to sleep on and money to earn favor with the guards. Two weeks later they were allowed out, and were able to settle in the nearby city.

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Toward a Place of Exile: The Names of the Exiles in Ayash

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Toward a Place of Exile: The Names of the Exiles in Ayash

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A  train headed toward Ankara filled with Armenians. There were some non arrested Armenian supervisors, who Balakian remembers kindly, because they bought the prisoners food and water and did their best to make them comfortable. When the train arrived, over 60 prisoners were separated and sent to Ayash (near Ankara) were they would later be killed. The remaining Armenians were put on carriages and carted into the country. They eventually arrived at a stone armory near the town of Chankiri.

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The Armenian holocaust seems very similar to the German one, although the German one was on a much larger scale. Both were targeting a specific group of people who are blamed for a countries faults. The account in this book is very similar to ones that I have read from those targeted by the Nazis.

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12/25   1915
Warden read the blacklist: those who would be killed
Took all personal belongings off of the prisoners. Loaded on to buses to be taken to the shore, and loaded onto a steamship. Many believed they were going to be drowned.

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11/24 1915
Groups of Armenians were arrested on secret orders, because they were on a blacklist. The Author was arrested as well. New prisoners, all prominent Armenian figures arrived all night.

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Loss
Suppression
Silence
Following
Patriotism
Abuse of power

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The First Bad News from Cilicia: The Secret Messenger

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The First Bad News from Cilicia: The Secret Messenger

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Armenians were some of the most patriotic and supportive of the war. Wealthy/influental ones wouldn't say negative things about Turkey because of fear. Some of them were warned to leave because of how soon and abrupt the attack would be. April 24, 1915 was the night when many political leader sin Constantinople were arrested, but this was not widely known.

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Why the Ittihadists wanted to eliminate the Armenians

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Why the Ittihadists wanted to eliminate the Armenians

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Ittahadists: Young Turks
Had dream of creating an empire from the Ottoman territories in Egypt, Transcaucasia, up to India
They saw that the Ottoman state was in danger of being broken apart by Russia. They feared that Armenians would further weaken Turkey.
Plan: a)Conscript Armenian youth and adult males to fight in the war, depriving Armenians of a work force or defense. They soon disarmed the drafted Armenians and sent them to Asia Minor to "build roads" They were starved and denied necessities until the survivors were killed by Turkish soldiers.
b)arrest all famous Armenian intellectuals and activists to prevent a way to organize/rebel
c)Disarm remaining population and deported those who they feared.

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The General Condition of Armenians at the Beginning of 1915

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The General Condition of Armenians at the Beginning of 1915

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Armenians blindly rushed into anti-Turnkey war. Every other people/country was subtle and reluctant to choose a side. Armenians outside of Turkey did not think about how their actions would endanger Armenians in Turkey.

Artom Megerdichian and Kamer Shirinian were the two most dangerous of the Armenian traitors, and the authors of the blacklist.

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Everyone was scared of Russia. Armenians wanted to fight against Turkey with Germany, even though they had been tricked in the past.
Balakian left for Budapest in order to be useful there, in his hometown. He won over Turkish officials because they were fond of Germany. He also sensed a tension between Turks and Armenians.

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Propaganda was spread by the press, mostly false.
People prayed for victory in churches. Balakian thinks that many of the young soldiers are doomed. There was also anger against England and France
Goods became more expensive, nationalism and xenophobia increased.
An agreement was reached so illegal Armenians would not be persued.

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July 1914
War was beginning to break out between Serbia and Austria, and Germany was on the fence on attacking Russia. Many citizens didn't want to wage war, as they felt is was pointless and they were being exploited by the upper class. The Kaiser made the decision to attack Russia

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1876-1934
One of the 250 prominent cultural figures who were targeted by the Turkish government. Minister of the Armenian Apostolic Church