By Armenian Genocide the Ottoman Empire was harming itself, its economy and defense, French Armenian historian Mikaël Nichanian wrote in his book “Destroy Armenians. History of one Genocide.”

The article reads, in part:

“In light of the present denial of the Genocide, the book reminds that the Ottoman Empire was the only country directly responsible for the murder of the two third of civil victims in its territory during the World War I.

Why did the very idea of the Genocide become possible in the minds of the ruling circles of the Ottoman Empire?

Before the World War I, Turkey was also interested in the concept of nation in Germany. In the years of the ruling of Abdul Hamid II, the Armenians - the largest non-Muslim minority - were considered B class citizens. Exactly in those years, the violence against those communities became a usual practice, increasing afterwards. When Turkey lost territories in the Balkans in 1878, fear came about that the following European intervention will cause the Ottoman Empire to collapse.

Nichanian also reveals the justifications of the Ottoman Empire, where the incredible was claimed to be the truth. Thus, the Ottoman regime constantly announced about the inevitable Russian threat, although back in the 1880s Russia actually decided not to advance in the Eastern Anatolian region.

In the following years, the Turkish state legitimized the violence, referring to the internal and external threats as a pretext. The propaganda of double threat assumed that any violence was justified.”