К вопросу о политико-правовых основаниях переселения армян восточной анатолии в 1915 году

The article notes that attempts to qualify the relocation of Armenians from Eastern Anatolia in 1915 as a criminal act under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide primarily contradict the fundamental temporal principle of criminal law. Based on an analysis of historical facts, the article further argues that the decision of the Ottoman government to relocate Armenians from areas of active military operations was motivated by considerations of state self-defence. The author emphasizes that this relocation was not intended to constitute genocide against the Armenian population; rather, it was carried out in accordance with laws and governmental instructions aimed at safeguarding the personal and property rights of the relocated population. Individuals found responsible for acts that resulted in the deaths of relocated persons were subsequently subjected to severe punishment within the framework of criminal proceedings. The article also highlights that the historiography of the issue has been significantly politicized over several decades, leading to the formation of one-sided interpretations and deliberate distortions of historical facts. Through a comparative analysis of demographic data, archival materials, and sources of international law, the author demonstrates that the relocation took place amid large-scale armed uprisings, acts of sabotage, and collaboration between Armenian committees and forces hostile to the Ottoman Empire. Furthermore, the article examines the impact of an ideologized approach to the events of 1915 on the formation of collective memory, noting that this has subsequently become a factor in political manipulation and an obstacle to objective scholarly analysis. Keywords: crime, convention, genocide, relocation, deportation, uprising, victim, punishment, international law, Ottoman Empire, 1915, archival documents, state self-defence.