Armenians and the Massacres They Carried Out during the Occupation and Sovietization of Turkistan

Abstract

With the strengthening of the Tsarist Russia, the expansion activities that had started before, especially in the Caucasus and Turkistan geography in the 19th century, officially turned into occupation. Tsarist Russia supported the Armenian revolts that started in Anatolia and settled the Armenians in the occupied Turkistan lands. The Armenians were a useful ally in the Russian occupation of these lands. The expectation of Armenians from Armenian-Russian cooperation was to establish an independent Armenia. At the same time, getting the support of Russia meant obtaining material and spiritual power for Armenians. Armenians gained a great power in Turkistan with Russian support. In this geography, they occupied most of the jobs that would make money, and they were always settled in the fertile lands that were taken from the local people. The settlement, employment and military use of Armenians in this way became an unchanged method in the Bolshevik administration established after the end of the Tsarist rule. These Armenians, most of whom were indigenous Dashnaks, played a major role in the bloody suppression of the National Struggle that emerged in the Turkistan geography together with the Bolsheviks.