Turkey — defying the sentiment of many nations — still refuses to recognize the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks as a “genocide.”
But, in a gesture that some scholars believe may ease longstanding tensions over the issue between Turks and Armenians, the Turkish government has begun returning churches confiscated long ago from Armenian Christians residing in and around Istanbul.
The return of the houses of worship was a key element discussed at a two day conference at Clark University that examined the issues of restitution and reparation to individuals and groups affected by the decimation of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire around the time of World War I.
The conference was sponsored by Clark’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research and Eric Weitz, the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Professor at the University of Minnesota.
The opening address Thursday night by John Torpey, a professor of sociology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, drew a number of Central Massachusetts residents of Armenian descent.
The Worcester area is home to one of the largest Armenian communities in the nation.
Mr. Torpey, the author of “Making Whole What Has Been Smashed: On Reparations Politics,” compared past reparation and restitution efforts, including Germany’s efforts to salve the wounds created by the Holocaust and the American government’s attempts to right wrongs committed against American Indians and African-American slaves.
Mr. Torpey said recognition of the genocide has been a long-time goal of Armenian communities around the world.
While genocide recognition does not appear to be in the offing, he said, initiatives “to pursue justice” through financial and other compensation are making strides. For example, lawsuits addressing the theft of artifacts, properties and bank accounts have been filed against the Turkish government and Turkish companies in a number of countries, including the United States.
The attempt to obliterate the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire began April 24, 1915, when Armenian leaders, intellectuals, writers and professionals were rounded up. Thousands were subsequently abducted, tortured, deported or executed.
For decades, Armenians around the world have demanded that Turkey, one of the empire’s successor states, step up and take responsibility for the massacre.
In addition to economic compensation, Mr. Torpey said reparations and restitution range from simple apologies to the construction of memorials and museums. They also include the return of seized property and goods, guarantees of no further reprisals, formal recognition of certain groups and allowing victims to return home.
In addition to churches, the Turkish government has also begun returning schools, cemeteries and orphanages.
Though returned to Armenians, these properties are formally being given back on the basis of religious, rather than ethnic or nationalistic, concerns.