THE ARMENIAN QUESTION
‘This study is devoted to the investigation of the nature of the
‘’Armenian Question’’ whic erupted in the Ottoman Empire
during the 19th century.It was possible to approach this subject
from a number of viewpoints However,I decided that the
evalution of this phenomenon from the wiewpoint of international
relations would afford a beter framework for analyzing the complex set of events
which seemed to be interrelated and which were knows as the ‘’Armenian Question’’.
Consequently in the introduction I made a theoretical presentation of the approach to be used.
Then in the first chapter,I made a general analysis of the context in wich the Armenian File was
opened and attempte to place the subject of this study in a wider perspective. It became clear that
approaching this subject solely as an inernal problem of the Ottoman Empire and viewing the
Armenian movement only as a nationalist movement would be inadequate both historically and
theoretically.The analysis of the measures taken by Ottoman rulers and aimed at the internal
structure of the state clearly demonstrated that when the diagnosis is wrong,the proposed solutions
are doomed to remain ineffective.In the course of this study,we saw that the efforts of Ottomans
both towards modernization and towards ‘’becoming a nation’’ proved to be useless in overcoming
the countercultural opposition in the Armenians and in integrating them into the main social
structure.Thus,the Armenian Question emerges not only as a minority problem which concerned the
Ottomans, but as a problem of an international nature that concerned all nations which had
Aspirations and interests in the Middle East. . . ‘ (From the Conclusion to the book)