ANALYTICS

The "Armenian factor" in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the threat of Russia's disintegration

29.05.23 0:10


The military adventure against Ukraine and the prolongation of Russia's war of aggression are already raising the question of the unity and territorial integrity of Russia itself. There are already approximate "hints" as to how united Russia might disintegrate and into which state formations it might break up. Some entities of the Russian Federation take the historically existing states (Kazan, Astrakhan Khanate, Northern Caucasus Imamate, etc.) as a basis for future state formations while others divide Russia along the borders of currently existing autonomies.

 

It is notable that at such a critical moment in the history of Russian statehood, as at the end of the century before last and at the beginning of the last century representatives of the people that had already played a fatal role in the collapse of one of the most powerful empires of the past - the Ottoman Empire - are in key positions in Russia. We are talking about ethnic Armenians, who today in fact determine both Russian foreign policy (Lavrov-Kalantarov) and propaganda (Simonyan) and many other spheres. Therefore, it will be useful to recall the role played by Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

 

The tragic events of 1915, which Armenian nationalists absolutely groundlessly call "genocide of Armenians" (although many more Muslims were killed by Armenian militants-Dashnaks), have made many people forget that decades before that the representatives of the Armenian community had worked "at the behest" of Western powers for the deliberate destruction of the Ottoman Empire. If we carefully analyse historical events, we can conclude that the Ottoman Empire was unprecedentedly loyal to the Armenian people. Although it was the Armenians who "knocked" Egypt, its most populous and strategically important province, out of the Ottoman Empire. This then predetermined the further collapse and complete disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.

 

Subsequently, the Ottoman Empire, in an attempt to stop the destruction of the empire, facilitated by a Dashnak military rebellion in the rear of the Ottomans, undertook a partial expulsion of the Armenian population from the rebellious regions to prevent this threat (rather than for the purpose of a notorious 'genocide').

 

The strategic importance of Egypt, which had been an integral part of the Ottoman Empire since the early 16th century, was enormous. It was through Egypt that the British dug the Suez Canal, which became the main object of the British Empire's maritime logistics, providing the shortest link between the metropolis and its lands in India and the basins of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, by the early 19th century most Egyptians did not want to think about secession from the Ottoman Empire.

 

The representatives of Egypt's ruling military elite, the Mamluks, were also for the unity of the Ottoman Empire for the most part. It should be recalled that the Mamluks, a unique Muslim military estate, ruled Egypt for many centuries. Initially, in 13-15 centuries, most Mamelukes were Kypchak-Turks, but by the end of the 18th century they were predominantly of Georgian and Circassian origin. Georgian writer Kondrate Davidovich Tatarishvili (pseudonym Uiarago) wrote a story "Mameluk" about fate of Georgian Mamelukes on which a movie with the same name was based. It must be added that not only children who were abducted in the Caucasus (as described in the work), but Georgian Muslim volunteers were also among the Mamelukes. The Mamelukes willingly welcomed them into their midst, unlike the Egyptian Arab peasants (Fellahs), who were considered "not militant enough", and the Bedouins, who lived their own tribal way of life.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte's attempt to bring Egypt under French control failed in due course, and this was facilitated in no small measure by the British, who themselves had their eye on these Ottoman possessions and had situationally supported Turkey against Napoleon. However, by invading Egypt and inflicting an initial defeat on the Mamelukes, Napoleon contributed to the weakening of their position in the country.

 

The fate of the Albanian-led struggle for power in Egypt broke out after the French were driven out, and the Albanian Muhammad Ali eventually won, after which the sultan appointed him governor of Egypt. Although Muhammad Ali was more obedient not to the authorities in Istanbul, but to his "European" advisers, among whom the French eventually began to dominate. It was then that Egyptomania and the study of Egyptian antiquities began. The Egyptians were taught that they were the "most ancient people" and no match for the "nomads from the East". It is with Muhammad Ali that Egypt's separatism was linked, who, in addition to European advisers, began appointing subjects of the Ottoman Empire of Armenian nationality.

 

When Mohammed Ali Pasha became the ruler of Egypt in 1805, he became famous for wiping out the top Mamelukes by inviting them to visit him, and when the Mamelukes were returning home after a feast, they were simply ambushed and shot by Albanians who served under Mohammed Ali. Most of the other Mamelukes were also repressed, dismissed or exiled. There were also many ethnic Georgians among the repressed Mamelukes. Mohammed Ali brought Armenians closer to him in a way no other Muslim ruler in history has ever done!

 

As well as Europeans, Muhammad Ali began appointing Armenians to key positions, linked to Europeans through the same papal throne in Rome. In particular, he appointed Poghos-bey Yusufyan, an Armenian from Turkish Izmir (Smyrna), as vali (minister) in charge of foreign and economic affairs, effectively elevating him to the rank of head of the cabinet. Poghos Bey was trusted by Muhammad Ali Pasha and attracted wealthy Armenian merchants from Istanbul and Smyrna to the Egyptian administrative apparatus.

 

Armenian powerbrokers in Egypt successfully exploited another separatist revolt in the Ottoman Empire - the Greek one. In Egypt, the "struggle for Greek independence" resulted in Mohammed Ali handing over all Greek business to the Armenians. After the Greek bankers emigrated from Egypt, Bogos Bey appointed Armenians to prominent financial positions, such as sarraf-bashi (chief treasurer) - head of the mint. In 1818 the first silk factory was established in Egypt through the efforts of Armenians. Armenians produced 90% of tobacco in the country.

 

The Armenians surrounding Mohammed Ali "ancient people" encouraged him to initiate a separatist rebellion in 1831-33. Moreover, the rebellious Egyptian troops, having conquered Palestine and Syria, very quickly reached Anatolia, where there was a significant Armenian population in the east. That is, if they had been "treated" with nationalist propaganda by that time, the next phase of the revolt would not have been difficult to predict. It is quite possible that they would have started fighting for a "great Armenia" back then.

 

But the thing is that Armenians had no Dashnaks or other nationalist parties at that time, and Echmiadzin had not yet "propagandized" the "antiquity" of Armenia among Armenians (European Freemasons managed to propagandize "antiquity" only among Greeks at that time). ) Moreover, Russia came to the aid of Turkey at that time, which did not profit from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the prospect of the appearance of the British and the French on its "southern flanks". Therefore, the Russian Empire, despite the recent war with Turkey, at a critical moment provided military support to the sultan in his struggle against Muhammad Ali's separatist rebels and sent its fleet and expeditionary corps to the Turkish coast. On June 26 (July 8) 1833 in a place called Ünkyar-Iskelesi (Hünkyar-Iskelesi) near Istanbul was signed the treaty of Ünkyar-Iskelesi - an agreement on peace, friendship and defensive alliance between Russia and Turkey.

 

By relying on the alliance with Russia, Turkey forced the other European powers to withdraw their support for Muhammad Ali and forced him to recognise the authority of Istanbul, taking control of Syria. Mohammed Ali's new attempt to secede from the Ottoman Empire in 1939 led to a new war, in which the separatists were defeated in 1841. But Mohammed Ali, having lost Syria, remained in power in Egypt and under the terms of the peace agreement his power became hereditary.

 

Muhammad Ali's descendants also brought Europeans as well as Armenians, whose influence in Egypt was only growing, and at the same time Egypt was becoming more and more "detached" from the Empire, dealing directly with European powers. Again, it was due to high-ranking Armenians, who had ties with their tribesmen in Istanbul and did their best to prevent the separatist tendencies of the central government. 

 

The role of Nubar Pasha (Nubar Nubarian) deserves a special mention here. His father Mkrtich Nubaryan was married to the sister of that very minister Poghos-bey Yusufyan. Poghos Bey took Nubar in his care. Nubar was sent to study first in Vevey (Switzerland), then to Toulouse (France) at a Jesuit college (i.e. the work of the papal throne to break up the Ottoman Empire through "training of Armenian personnel was already visible to the naked eye). At the age of 17, Nubar returned to Egypt, where Poghos Bey made him his secretary. In 1845 Nubar became personal secretary to Abbas I Hilmi, who had governed Egypt after the death of his grandfather Muhammad Ali. In this capacity, he travelled to London in 1850, where he defended the interests of Muhammad Ali's family. He obtained 'international recognition' that Muhammad Ali's family was entitled to a succession of power in Egypt. Having successfully completed this task, Nubar was given the honour of being called Nubar Bey.

 

Nubar was also assisted by his links to Istanbul's richest Armenian community and was married to the daughter of Gevorg Yeramian, the sarraf basha (chief treasurer) of the Ottoman sultan's court. In June 1867 at Nubar Pasha's insistence and with the help of lobbyists from among the Armenians in Istanbul, Sultan Abdul-Aziz raised Ismail Pasha to the rank of deputy sultan - khedive, the head of the Egyptian khedivat with the right of succession to the throne, which put him above other governors of the Ottoman Empire. The pinnacle of Nubar's career was his appointment as prime minister of Egypt. He held this position three times: from August 28, 1878 to February 23, 1879, from January 10, 1884 to June 9, 1888 and from April 16, 1894 to November 12, 1895. Noubar married his daughter to Tigran de Apro-Bagratouni, who became Egypt's foreign minister in 1881.

 

In fact, the "Armenian clique" surrounding the descendants of Muhammad Ali removed Egypt entirely from Ottoman rule and "brought" it under British occupation in 1882. The Ottoman Empire was dealt a blow from which it never recovered. The interesting thing is that the sultans in Istanbul did not stop trusting Armenian financial and trade tycoons. Even seeing how, step by step, their compatriots were "taking" Egypt out of the Empire.

 

 Moreover, the Armenian top brass were only getting richer when the Empire was weakened by their efforts. After all, listening to Armenian historians tell that the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were just "innocent sufferers" who were subjected to "genocide" all the time is strange, to say the least. 

 

It is useful for Russian politicians to know the sad hysteria of the Ottoman Empire, which had too much trust in the representatives of the "most ancient nation". To learn at least something from others' historical mistakes. After all, if the Armenian lobby leads Russia to disaster and collapse, it will begin a turmoil in its territory, which will affect Armenians who have settled in its best lands (in the Krasnodar region). Then future generations of Armenian historians will accuse Russia in the next "genocide" of its "long-suffering people".

 

 

Aleksandr Zakhariadze

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