Denying the Hamidian Massacres: Ottoman Narratives, Armenian Activism, and the Struggle over the Memory in the United States, 1890s
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51442/ijags.0063Keywords:
Denial, Hamidian Massacres, American Armenian community, MemoryAbstract
This article examines the Ottoman Empire’s denial of the Hamidian massacres (1894–1896) in the United States, focusing on the efforts of Ottoman Minister Alexander Mavroyeni Bey and his collaborators. Drawing on primary sources and secondary literature, it analyzes how the Ottoman diplomatic mission in Washington sought to reframe reports of anti-Armenian violence as justified responses to what they called “sedition.” The article suggests that Ottoman denial in the US was not merely a replication of internal propaganda but a distinct transnational strategy tailored to American audiences. Through analogies with Native Americans, appeals to US sovereignty, and collaboration with American Muslim convert Alexander Russell Webb, Mavroyeni Bey worked to delegitimize American Armenian activism, discredit missionaries, and portray the empire as a victim of Western prejudice. The study contributes to the existing scholarship on the denial of the late Ottoman state and collective violence, concentrating on the Hamidian era. It further highlights the role of American Armenians as key targets of this campaign due to their grassroots activism and influence on public opinion and humanitarian mobilization. By situating denial within broader patterns of imperial propaganda, the article offers a new angle for examining the transnational dimensions of memory and denial of late Ottoman violence.
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