Artsvi Bakhchinyan
Iván Gaztañaga is a young Spanish political scientist and PhD in
international law and international relations (University of Granada)
and expert in Middle East Studies (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). The
subject of his research is “The Genocide Against the Armenian People in
Diplomatic and Consular Letters (1914-1925).” His article on the
Armenian Genocide was published in the April 24, 2019 issue of the major
Spanish newspaper El Pais.
We met in 2017, during his first visit to Armenia, during which
he conducted research at the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute as a Lemkin scholarship winner.
Dear Iván, as far as I know you are the first Spanish scholar studying the Armenian Genocide.
To be honest, I don’t really know if I am the first Spanish
scholar researching this topic, but I think I was the first researcher
discovering and analyzing the genocide against the Armenians from this
perspective: diplomatic letters in our national Historical Archives.
Here we have documentary resources dating back to at least 1915 which are witnesses of the massacres from Young Turks.
The Armenian Genocide in Spain has been treated very vaguely, possibly like the aftermath of the Great War or even like regional conflict inside Ottoman and Russia Empires. This is one of the reasons why the Armenian Genocide is not taught in university and is not yet relevant for international relations or international law disciplines here: does not exist. We have excellent literature and research in the Spanish language from Latin America because of the large Armenian Diaspora.
The Armenian Genocide in Spain has been treated very vaguely, possibly like the aftermath of the Great War or even like regional conflict inside Ottoman and Russia Empires. This is one of the reasons why the Armenian Genocide is not taught in university and is not yet relevant for international relations or international law disciplines here: does not exist. We have excellent literature and research in the Spanish language from Latin America because of the large Armenian Diaspora.
The awareness of Spanish society on the Armenian issues is connected to two books by Gonzalo Guarch and José Antonio Gurriarán.
Gonzalo Guarch’s book El Testamento Armenio is a historical novel, not scientific research. He writes it as fiction and it helps the reader a lot to learn and understand the atrocities against the Armenians by the Turks.
José Antonio Gurriarán passed away last year and it was very sad because despite he was a direct victim of the terrorist attack in Madrid done by ASALA in 1979, he wrote an essay about the Armenian Genocide. He paid attention to “why an Armenian terrorist group exploded a bomb in Madrid? What are they objectives and why?” Despite his trauma he went to Armenia and Lebanon to understand why 1.5 million Armenians vanished from the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
There’s another journalist-ethnographer, Virgina Mendoza Benavente, who published a book, Heridas del Viento, about her travels and experiences in Armenia. She writes from the Armenian perspective; she has, for example, a conversation with Armenian Genocide survivors who are not alive anymore.
You study diplomatic and consular letters. Are there many such documents in Spanish archives, if yes, so what kind? In his study “The King of Spain and the Armenian Intellectuals Victims of the Genocide,” Vartan Matiossian has mentioned petitions that some Armenians addressed to Spanish King Alfonso XII, asking for his intervention to save deported Armenian intellectuals.
There are at least 20 documents which describe the gestation, growth and the impact of the Genocide. Already in the beginning of 1915, the Spanish Consul at Jerusalem, Jose A. de la Cierva y Lewita, advised Alfonso XII about the fears inside the Christian and Jewish populations because of the Muslim demonstrations and violence against them. In September, Julian Arroyo, Consul in Constantinople, informed regarding the Tehcir or Temporary Law: the looting and robbery of Armenian properties and the death marches into the desert. Between September 1915 and February 1916 the consul introduced in his letters and “secret” telegrams terms and definitions of crimes that will be then used as defining elements of Genocide: xenophobia, hatred, persecution and elimination of minorities, slaughter and extermination of people. He wrote about the massacre of Adana and also how later two million people succumbed. In the summer, Spain was informed about the new Turkish regulation against the few Armenian and Greek survivors in Anatolia and the hard life they will expect.
Gonzalo Guarch’s book El Testamento Armenio is a historical novel, not scientific research. He writes it as fiction and it helps the reader a lot to learn and understand the atrocities against the Armenians by the Turks.
José Antonio Gurriarán passed away last year and it was very sad because despite he was a direct victim of the terrorist attack in Madrid done by ASALA in 1979, he wrote an essay about the Armenian Genocide. He paid attention to “why an Armenian terrorist group exploded a bomb in Madrid? What are they objectives and why?” Despite his trauma he went to Armenia and Lebanon to understand why 1.5 million Armenians vanished from the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
There’s another journalist-ethnographer, Virgina Mendoza Benavente, who published a book, Heridas del Viento, about her travels and experiences in Armenia. She writes from the Armenian perspective; she has, for example, a conversation with Armenian Genocide survivors who are not alive anymore.
You study diplomatic and consular letters. Are there many such documents in Spanish archives, if yes, so what kind? In his study “The King of Spain and the Armenian Intellectuals Victims of the Genocide,” Vartan Matiossian has mentioned petitions that some Armenians addressed to Spanish King Alfonso XII, asking for his intervention to save deported Armenian intellectuals.
There are at least 20 documents which describe the gestation, growth and the impact of the Genocide. Already in the beginning of 1915, the Spanish Consul at Jerusalem, Jose A. de la Cierva y Lewita, advised Alfonso XII about the fears inside the Christian and Jewish populations because of the Muslim demonstrations and violence against them. In September, Julian Arroyo, Consul in Constantinople, informed regarding the Tehcir or Temporary Law: the looting and robbery of Armenian properties and the death marches into the desert. Between September 1915 and February 1916 the consul introduced in his letters and “secret” telegrams terms and definitions of crimes that will be then used as defining elements of Genocide: xenophobia, hatred, persecution and elimination of minorities, slaughter and extermination of people. He wrote about the massacre of Adana and also how later two million people succumbed. In the summer, Spain was informed about the new Turkish regulation against the few Armenian and Greek survivors in Anatolia and the hard life they will expect.
You told me there are some Spanish documents that mention the name of Gomidas Vartabed.
There’s a special folder with the name “Procedures in favor of
Father Gomidas, 1915.” It contains 8 letters requesting Spanish
protection in Constantinople for the musician and folklorist Gomidas
Vartabed. Julian Arroyo wrote that he personally had an interview with
Gomidas and asked him what Julian could do for him. Julian clearly said
that Gomidas was expelled from Constantinople during the first massacres
and slaughters against the Armenians. Later, he came back because of
United States diplomatic protection. Gomidas said that he needed to go
to Vienna with his books and writings. Julian met the United States
Ambassador and he said that there was nothing more he could do, so,
Julian must request the protection of Gomidas under the Spanish Embassy
in Vienna. Julian met Halil Bey and begged for Gomidas’ life. He could
not wait any longer and directly asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
he said to Julian that Talaat Bey (while smiling) denied Gomidas’s
freedom because “they” want to preserve his music inside Constantinople.
The end is very sad. Julian wrote his opinion telling the truth: “Turks
want intellectual Armenian hostages because if they leave Turkey they
can talk about the horrors and massacres against the Armenians, and at
the end Turks can satiate the hatred against them.”
You live in a country with a strong Turkish lobby. The
Spanish government has not recognized the fact of the Armenian Genocide.
Do you think after the recognition of Genocide by Germany and the US,
recognition by other countries is still important?
Four autonomous regions in Spain (Catalonia, Navarra, Basque
Country and the Balearic) have recognized the Armenian Genocide in their
regional parliaments. The Spanish government, president, the crown or
the parliament has never pronounced any word regarding the Armenian
Genocide. Sometimes this question was on the agenda, proposed by some
political parties, or by singular deputies. But always the proposition
was rejected. I consider no one from the Parliament could show in a map
where Armenia is and what happened with Armenians 100 years ago. Simply,
it is not interesting.
Germany and the US are powerful allies of Turkey in the international
panorama; they recognized the Armenian Genocide and no single
American-Turkish or German-Turkish citizen protested. The same happened
in France. The proofs are irrefutable. Spain must be next among the
states which have recognized the Genocide. Otherwise, it is understood
as a denial. The problem is not the Turkish lobby, but the lack of an
Armenian lobby. During February 3-6, we hosted an international seminar
in Camilo José Cela University in Madrid, titled “Europe Against
Genocide: 1915-2015,” bringing together international experts on six of
the world’s major genocides, particularly the Armenian, Jewish and Gypsy
genocides. We invited some politicians to speak.
Are you in touch with Turkish scholars who study Genocide?
Before beginning to research the Armenian Genocide, I was advised
by Taner Akçam, the Turkish scholar based in the US and one of the most
prominent scholars of the Armenian Genocide. He motivated me and gave me
many indications regarding how to treat and analyze historical
documentation. He is the only one.
Was your stay in Yerevan as a Lemkin scholar productive for your research?
Of course, I was in Armenia in September 2017 because I obtained
this scholarship and also a grant from the National Association for
Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR, in Belmont, US) and the Knights of
Vartan. I worked along with Dr. Robert Tatoyan who gave me a lot of
bibliography, explained Armenian history, and drew a “map” for my
research. I was also in touch with other researchers at the Genocide
Museum. In Yerevan, I enjoyed visiting everywhere. I traveled a lot in
Armenia and I learnt another way to measure the time. I still have
friends who helped me a lot in my research, such as you, Artsvi
Bakhchinyan, or showed me Yerevan’s attractions as Ashot Parsyan. I even
saw again my best Armenian friend who came from Jerusalem, the writer
Anoush Nakashian.
While in Yerevan, you told me about a personal connection to Armenia.
Certainly! My connection with Armenia or with Armenians is
special. I was born in Moscow in 1990 and one year later I went to Spain
and I became the first Soviet child adopted by Spanish parents. In 2014
after more than 10 years of research by myself I found some relatives
in Moscow. Once there, I was told my biological maternal line was Greek,
Jewish and Russias and my paternal line was Armenian. I was looking for
this man some years ago with only a name and surname without success. I
could not find him in Armenia at all. Thanks’ God the last night of
2017 I found a sister, other relatives, and finally a father who I did not
meet in person. My research is a gift for letting me live in 1915 and
in 1990.
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