Young Tajik scholar Shavkat Kasymov it is necessary once again raise the issue of guilt and responsibility for Armenian genocide orchestrated by the government of the Ottoman Empire.

His article “The example of the Armenian genocide and the role of the millet system in its execution” was published in Social Identities magazine. He is one of the winners of Tashir award on genocide studies and Facebook “We Demand Increase of Science Funding” ahead of the 100th anniversary.

Asked why he decided to write a paper on the Armenian genocide, the scholar of the University of Notre Dame (Indiana, U.S.) said he though it important to honor the victims of those tragic events now that we are approaching a centennial anniversary in 2015.

However, the key point is “once again we need to raise the issue of guilt and responsibility, since according to many analyses, including mine, the Armenian genocide was orchestrated by the government of the Ottoman Empire and aimed at the elimination of the its Christian populations, primarily the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians.”

“The article engages with two theoretical approaches in the field of genocide studies, and it discusses how one of these approaches is superior to another, particularly through the lens of the case of the Armenian genocide. One of these approaches suggests that genocide occurs as a result of significant structural changes, such as wars, revolutions, economic and political crises. While it is an important contribution to Genocide Studies, this approach does not reveal the leading driving force behind mass killing. The other approach maintains that mass killing originates in the policies of political elites.

My article suggests that the Armenian genocide was part of the political and strategic goals of the political elites in the Ottoman Empire, who sought to transform the empire into a homogenous nation-state through the deportation and extermination of the Armenian minority as an example of the Final Solution. The Armenian minority was seen by the Young Turks as an obstacle to the ideology of Pan-Turkism, which eventually led to the creation of modern Turkey. I draw on empirical evidence, secondary sources, and theory to support my argument,” he said in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The young scholar plans to write more articles on the Armenian genocide in the future especially when he finds credible primary materials and empirical evidence.

“However, I believe that we have to look at the Armenian genocide not only from an historical perspective, but also from the standpoint of Genocide Studies, in order to bring the analyses to a completely new and higher level, and develop and implement adequate policies that would eliminate the potential for such atrocities occurring again in the future,” he said.