How the USSR used the myth of the "Armenian Genocide" for geopolitical purposes

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's attempts to reinsert the national idea of the Armenian people continue. It has been successful in some places, but mostly these attempts are met with mass hysteria, threats and misunderstanding. Because ugly narratives are too deeply embedded in the mentality, and it will be very difficult to erase them from there.

At a meeting with the Armenians of Switzerland during his trip to Davos, Pashinyan took a swing at the "holy of holies" - the notorious "Armenian genocide". Among other things, he stated that it is necessary to return to the history of the "Armenian genocide", to understand what happened, why it happened and why the issue of "genocide" was not on the agenda in 1939, but suddenly appeared in 1950. "Do we need to understand this or not?" - the Armenian Prime minister asked.

Judging by the reaction that followed to these words, there is no desire in Armenian society to understand what really happened in 1915 and why the issue of "genocide" arose out of nowhere and was turned into an Armenian fetish and a beating stick for Turkiye. "Genocide specialists," who outnumber stray cats in Armenia and the Diaspora, immediately crawled out of all the cracks. Pashinyan was accused of illiteracy and called his words dangerous. The Dashnaks hastened to say their word. Dashnaktsutyun called it a "challenge to national security", an "insult to the Armenian statehood" and called on the Diaspora to unite against such a prime minister, who nullified the titanic efforts of the criminal church and several generations of Armenian false historians and falsifiers. Moreover, according to the Dashnaks, Pashinyan spat into the soul of more than 40 countries, from which, thanks to Armenian handouts and political intrigues, he managed to achieve recognition of this fact that had no place in history.

There are also calls to bring Pashinyan to criminal responsibility. There is a funny article in the Armenian Criminal Code that punishes denial of the "genocide," which, according to lawyers, allows Pashinyan to be put on a bunk for five years.

The Armenians were especially infuriated that Pashinyan's words implied that the Soviet Union had created the myth of "genocide." Why be outraged if that was the case? After Turkiye joined NATO in 1952, the USSR began to promote the Armenian factor in defiance of Ankara. Prior to that, the events of 1915 had hardly been discussed. These were events that had already been archived and were of no interest to anyone. It was just one of the minor fragments of the long and bloody First World War.

The Armenians, in order to look "progressive", are trying to assure that in the USSR the topic of "genocide" was banned, and those who raised it were imprisoned. Seriously? But for some reason, the real facts contradict these statements. Due to various insinuations on the eve of the "100th anniversary of the genocide", the Russian media exposed these opinions, proving that just the opposite was true - the Soviet government supported the madness of the nationalists, just tried to keep it a secret for the time being. 

We read in one of the publications: "One of the leaders of the Armenian Communist Party, Karlen Dallakyan, in his memoirs writes about a meeting between Yakov Zarubyan and a public figure from Lebanon, Andranik Tsarukyan, in 1962. Tsarukyan asked whether events will be organized in Armenia on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the "Armenian genocide" in Ottoman Turkiye and whether there are plans to build a monument. To which Zarubyan replied in the affirmative, but added: "All these plans (related to the construction of the monument and commemoration of the Armenian victims) are not yet publicly available. The Center (Moscow) is not opposed in principle, but is careful and tries to find ways not to damage the foreign policy of the USSR.

Two years later, in 1964, Yakov Zarubyan prepared and sent to Moscow a memorandum requesting permission to hold events related to the 50th anniversary of the "Armenian genocide" and a proposal to build in Yerevan a "monument in memory of the Armenians who died in the First World War." In the same month, the State Construction of Armenia announced a competition for the monument project."

In 1965, with the permission of the Kremlin, celebrations were held in Yerevan. They were held at the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theater with the participation of the top party leadership and the Catholicos. Like everything else in Armenia, the event turned into riots when a crowd of thousands stormed into the theater and demanded that Moscow recognize the "genocide" as an official fact. Later, the opening of the memorial was called the result of popular pressure, although in fact it was also a myth - the Soviet government, as evidenced by the facts from the previous paragraph, allowed these falsifications of history even before the anniversary.

On February 21, 1985, at a special meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the issue of "Measures related to the 70th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide" was discussed. The meeting was chaired by Mikhail Gorbachev, who replaced Konstantin Chernenko, the seriously ill General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The Armenian leadership now wished to make "Genocide Day" not just an ordinary event, but a day of pan-Armenian mourning and celebrate it widely. The anti-Turkish hysteria subsided somewhat in the 80s, and the Armenians intended to rekindle this bonfire. The Armenian side framed its desire with terrible demagoguery. Although Gorbachev was ready for anything, such "dinosaurs" as Tikhonov, Gromyko and Grishin opposed Demirchan's initiative. They reasonably pointed out that a decision in favor of "genocide" would help incite national discord at a time when relations between the USSR and Turkiye were just beginning to improve. At that meeting, Gorbachev had to reluctantly agree, but a month later, after becoming Secretary General, he removed these three figures from the Politburo who were objectionable to Armenians and surrounded himself with Aganbekians and Shahnazarians.

Gorbachev's decisions turned into a tragedy for the region, and he himself was eventually awarded the Nobel Prize.

Uruguay, where the Armenian diaspora managed to get recognition of the "genocide" for the first time in May 1965, made the appropriate decision only after the "holiday" was allowed in the USSR. And most of the other countries where the diaspora worked officially recognized the "genocide" only after 1991. And these steps have always been based on political interest. The appearance of such a date in the portfolio of Armenians has opened many doors for Armenians. The "genocide" was necessary for both the Soviet leadership and the world leaders playing on the far-fetched Armenian issue.