Ugly History: The Armenian Genocide - Ümit Kurt

翻译人员: Jing Quan 校对人员: Manlin Fang

In the 19th century,

19世纪，

Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire lived as second-class citizens.

奥斯曼帝国的亚美尼亚基督徒生活得像二等公民。

They were taxed disproportionately,

他们被征收不合理的税款，

forbidden from giving testimony in Ottoman courts,

禁止在奥斯曼帝国的法庭作证，

and frequently attacked by local Kurdish tribes.

并经常遭受当地库尔德部落的袭击。

In 1878, Armenian activists negotiated a treaty to enact reforms,

1878年，亚美尼亚的激进分子谈判达成一项条约，以实施改革，

but Sultan Abdul Hamid II refused to make good on these promises.

但苏丹阿卜杜勒哈米德二世拒绝兑现这些承诺。

And when an Armenian resistance movement began to form,

当亚美尼亚抵抗运动开始形成时，

the sultan took decisive action.

苏丹采取了果断行动。

From 1894 to 1896, he led the Hamidian Massacres—

从1894年到1896年，他领导了哈米迪安大屠杀——

a relentless campaign of violence that took the lives of over 150,000 Armenians.

一场无情的暴力行动，夺走了超过15万亚美尼亚人的生命。

These massacres were the culmination of centuries of Armenian oppression.

这些大屠杀是几个世纪以来亚美尼亚人受迫害的最高峰。

Yet they were only the beginning of an even greater tragedy—

然而，这只是更大悲剧的开始

a genocide hidden under the guise of World War I

——以第一次世界大战为幌子的种族灭绝，

that would include the deportation, forced Islamization,

包括驱逐、强制伊斯兰化，

and mass murder of nearly 1 million Armenians.

和对近百万亚美尼亚人的大规模屠杀。

As some of the most ancient inhabitants of this region,

作为当地最古老的居民之一，

the Armenian people were originally a collective of tribes

亚美尼亚人原本是居住在

living in the mountains of Western Asia.

西亚山区的一个部落。

By the 6th century BCE, these tribes were living in one nation

到了公元前6世纪，这些部落形成一个民族

called Armenia,

叫做亚美尼亚。

which, over the following 2,000 years,

他们在随后的两千年里，

was controlled by various local and invading leaders.

先后被各种当地和入侵者统领。

But whoever ruled their homeland,

但无论是谁统治他们的国家，

a devotion to Christianity became a vital part of their ethnic identity,

对基督教的虔诚都成为他们民族认同感的重要部分，

even as their neighbors increasingly adopted Islam.

即使是周边越来越多人加入伊斯兰教。

In what’s currently eastern Turkey,

在现在的土耳其东部，

Christian Armenians shared the area with Muslim Kurds for centuries,

几个世纪以来，基督教亚美尼亚人与穆斯林库尔德人共享这片土地，

until Turkic-speaking peoples invaded the region.

直到突厥语民族入侵该地。

Four centuries later, Ottoman Turks claimed these communities

四个世纪后，奥斯曼土耳其人宣称该地区

as part of the vast Ottoman Empire.

是庞大的奥斯曼帝国的一部分。

While the empire’s systematic preference towards Muslims

但奥斯曼帝国对穆斯林的系统性偏爱

made life difficult for Armenians, Greeks, and Jews,

让亚美尼亚人、希腊人和犹太人的生活变得艰难

by the late 19th century,

19世纪晚期，

well-educated Armenian elites were able to attain prominent positions

受过良好教育的亚美尼亚精英能够

in banking, commerce, and government.

在银行、商业和政府领域获得显赫职位。

However, this rise in influence became a source of resentment,

但这种上升的影响力却成为怨恨之源。

and many Muslim Ottomans believed Armenians

许多穆斯林奥斯曼人认为亚美尼亚人

would eventually betray the empire to form their own independent state.

最后会背叛王国，独立称王。

This belief is partly what led Abdul Hamid to begin the Hamidian Massacres.

这种信念是导致阿卜杜勒·哈米德发动哈米迪安大屠杀的部分原因。

Thankfully, the Ottoman Armenians fighting the sultan’s forces weren’t alone.

还好，奥斯曼亚美尼亚人并不是孤军奋战，

Armenians from neighboring Russia

他们的邻居俄罗斯

had recently founded two resistance organizations

最近成立了两个抵抗组织，

which offered a haven for refugees and supplied arms to villages under siege.

为难民提供避难所，并向被围困的村庄提供武器。

Finally, in April 1909,

最后，在1909年四月，

the sultan was deposed following the Young Turk Revolution.

青年土耳其革命后，苏丹被废黜。

But despite initial promises,

但尽管做了最初的承诺，

this new government also failed to pass meaningful reforms.

新政府也未能做出有意义的改革。

A second wave of massacres ravaged the Armenian population,

第二波大屠杀蹂躏了亚美尼亚民族，

and the era of international warfare to come would only make things worse.

即将到来的国际战争只会让情况更糟。

During the First Balkan War,

第一次巴尔干战争期间，

thousands of Muslim refugees were sent to the Armenian stronghold of Anatolia,

数以千计的穆斯林难民被送往亚美尼亚据点安纳托利亚，

further increasing tensions between Christian and Muslim Ottomans.

奥斯曼基督徒和穆斯林之间更是剑拔弩张。

And in the first winter of World War I,

在一站的第一个冬天，

Ottoman general Enver Pasha attempted to flank opposing Russian forces

奥斯曼帝国将军恩维尔帕夏派遣他的军队

by sending his troops through the frigid Sarıkamış mountains.

穿越寒冷的萨勒卡默什山脉， 试图从侧翼进攻俄罗斯军队。

When their unit froze to death.

结果他们的部队冻死了。

Enver Pasha blamed the disaster on “Armenian treachery,”

恩维尔帕夏将这场灾难归咎于“亚美尼亚人的背叛”，

and ordered the immediate disarming of all non-Muslims—

并且下令解除所有非穆斯林人员的武装——

a decision which moved many Armenians from the front lines of an external war

这一决定让许多亚美尼亚人 退出了外战前线

to the trenches of an internal one.

转而走向了内战的战壕。

By 1915, the Ottomans were enacting more violence

1915年，奥斯曼人对亚美尼亚公民

on their own Armenian citizens than any foreign enemy.

比外国敌人实施了更多的暴力。

At this time, Turkish nationalist Talaat Pasha

此时，土耳其民族主义者塔拉特帕夏

had become the de facto leader of the Ottoman Empire,

是奥斯曼帝国的实际掌权者，

and he ordered the deportation of all Armenians in eastern Anatolia

他下令驱逐所有居住在东安纳托利亚的亚美尼亚人，

on the grounds of national security.

理由是维护国家安全。

Talaat’s new legislation

塔拉特的新法规

allowed Armenian property and businesses to be seized as wartime necessities,

允许没收亚美尼亚人的财产和企业作为战时必需品，

and able-bodied Armenian men were routinely killed

并且经常杀害亚美尼亚强壮的男人

to lower the likelihood of resistance.

以降低他们抵抗的可能性。

Most Armenians were marched to concentration camps in the Syrian desert,

大多亚美尼亚人被押送到叙利亚沙漠的集中营，

where they regularly suffered robbery, abduction, and rape.

他们在那里常遭受抢劫、绑架和强奸

The few women and children who escaped deportation

少数逃脱驱逐的妇女儿童

were forcibly converted to Islam.

被强制皈依伊斯兰教。

The ruling Turks saw Muslim identity

统治期间土耳其人视穆斯林身份

as the cornerstone of their vision for the empire,

为帝国愿景的基石，

so escaped Armenian youths were placed in orphanages

所以逃离的亚美尼亚青年 被安置在孤儿院

to indoctrinate them with Muslim culture and traditions.

并被灌输穆斯林文化和传统。

Children who resisted were subjected to violence and torture.

孩童若是反抗就会遭受暴力和折磨。

When the majority of these killings ended in 1916,

当杀戮在1916年停止时，

it was estimated that the population of Ottoman Armenians

奥斯曼亚美尼亚人的人口

had dropped from 1.5 million to roughly 500,000.

已经从150万下降到50万人左右了。

In the decades that followed,

在接下来几十年里，

many of the remaining Armenians dispersed across the globe.

幸存的亚美尼亚人流浪在全球各地。

Families who immigrated to eastern Russia

移居到东俄罗斯的家庭

may have eventually been incorporated into the modern nation of Armenia,

可能最终被并入到1991年宣布独立的

which received its independence in 1991.

现代亚美尼亚国家，

But to this day the Turkish government denies this genocide occurred.

但如今土耳其政府 否认种族灭绝的存在。

Official government language acknowledges the violence

官方虽然承认暴力的存在，

but defines the Ottoman’s actions as “necessary measures,”

但宣称这是 奥斯曼行动的“必要措施”，

and Armenian deaths as unfortunate consequences of war.

亚美尼亚人的死亡是战争的恶果。

In recent years, some Turkish historians have refuted this stance

近年来，一些土耳其历史学家 驳斥了这种立场。

and begun writing about this period with less fear of retribution.

他们开始撰写这一时期的历史， 并且不再那么担心会被报复。

In the pursuit of justice,

为了追求正义，

many Armenians and Armenian-led non-profit organizations

许多亚美尼亚人 和其领导的非盈利组织

work tirelessly to advocate for the recognition of this genocide,

不懈地呼吁人们承认这场种族灭绝，

and accountability for those responsible.

并进行追责。