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MARTYRED

ARMENIA

BY

FA'IZ EL-GHUSEIN

BEDOUIN NOTABLE OF DAMASCUS

Translated from the Original Arabic

All Rights of Translation Reserved

NEW YORK

GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY

MCMXVIII

FOREWORD

I am a Bedouin, a son of one of the Heads of the tribe of El-Sulut, who

dwell in El-Lejat, in the Hauran territory. Like other sons of tribal

Chiefs, I entered the Tribal School at Constantinople, and subsequently

the Royal College. On the completion of my education, I was attached to

the staff of the Vali of Syria (or Damascus), on which I remained for a

long while. I was then Kaimakam of Mamouret-el-Aziz (Kharpout), holding

this post for three and a half years, after which I practised as a

lawyer at Damascus, my partners being Shukri Bey El-Asli and

Abdul-Wahhab Bey El-Inglizi. I next became a member of the General

Assembly at that place, representing Hauran, and later a member of the

Committee of that Assembly. On the outbreak of the war, I was ordered to

resume my previous career, that is, the duties of Kaimakam, but I did

not comply, as I found the practice of the law more advantageous in many

ways and more tranquil.

I was denounced by an informer as being a delegate of a Society

constituted in the Lebanon with the object of achieving the independence

of the Arab people, under the protection of England and France, and of

inciting the tribes against the Turkish Government. On receipt of this

denunciation, I was arrested by the Government, thrown into prison, and

subsequently sent in chains, with a company of police and gendarmes, to

Aaliya, where persons accused of political offences were tried. I was

acquitted, but as the Government disregarded the decisions given in such

cases, and was resolved on the removal and destruction of all

enlightened Arabs--whatever the circumstances might be--it was thought

necessary that I should be despatched to Erzeroum, and Jemal Pasha sent

me thither with an officer and five of the regular troops. When I

reached Diarbekir, Hasan Kaleh, at Erzeroum, was being pressed by the

Russians, and the Vali of Diarbekir was ordered to detain me at that

place.

After twenty-two days' confinement in prison for no reason, I was

released; I hired a house and remained at Diarbekir for six and a half

months, seeing and hearing from the most reliable sources all that took

place in regard to the Armenians, the majority of my informants being

superior officers and officials, or Notables of Diarbekir and its

dependencies, as well as others from Van, Bitlis, Mamouret-el-Aziz,

Aleppo and Erzeroum. The people of Van had been in Diarbekir since the

occupation of their territory by the Russians, whilst the people and

officials of Bitlis had recently emigrated thither. Many of the Erzeroum

officers came to Diarbekir on military or private business, whilst

Mamouret-el-Aziz was near by, and many people came to us from thence. As

I had formerly been a Kaimakam in that Vilayet, I had a large

acquaintance there and heard all the news. More especially, the time

which I passed in prison with the heads of the tribes in Diarbekir

enabled me to study the movement in its smallest details. The war must

needs come to an end after a while, and it will then be plain to

readers of this book that all I have written is the truth, and that it

contains only a small part of the atrocities committed by the Turks

against the hapless Armenian people.

After passing this time at Diarbekir I fled, both to escape from

captivity and from fear induced by what had befallen me from some of the

fanatical Turks. After great sufferings, during which I was often

exposed to death and slaughter, I reached Basra, and conceived the idea

of publishing this book, as a service to the cause of truth and of a

people oppressed by the Turks, and also, as I have stated at the close,

to defend the faith of Islam against the charge of fanaticism which will

be brought against it by Europeans. May God guide us in the right way.

_I have written this preface at Bombay, on the 1st of September, 1916._

FA'IZ EL-GHUSEIN.

MARTYRED ARMENIA

THE NARRATIVE

OUTLINE OF ARMENIAN HISTORY.--In past ages the Armenian race was, like

other nations, not possessed of an autonomous government, until God

bestowed upon them a man, named Haig, a bold leader, who united the

Armenians and formed them into an independent state. This took place

before the Christian era. The nation preserved their independence for a

considerable time, reaching the highest point of their glory and

prosperity under their king Dikran, who constituted the city of

Dikranokerta--Diarbekir--the capital of his Government. Armenia remained

independent in the time of the Romans, extending her rule over a part of

Asia Minor and Syria, and a portion of Persia, but, in consequence of

the protection afforded by the Armenians to certain kings who were

hostile to Rome, the Romans declared war against her, their troops

entered her capital, and from that time Armenian independence was lost.

The country remained tossing on the waves of despotism, now independent,

now subjected to foreign rule, until its conquest by the Arabs and

subsequently by the Ottoman power.

THE ARMENIAN POPULATION.--The number of the Armenians in Ottoman

territory does not exceed 1,900,000 souls. I have borrowed this figure

from a book by a Turkish writer, who states that it is the official

computation made by the Government previous to the Balkan war; he

estimates the Armenians residing in Roumelia at 400,000, those in

Ottoman Asia at 1,500,000. The Armenians in Russia and Persia are said

not to exceed 3,000,000, thus bringing the total number of Armenians in

the world to over four and a half millions.

THE VILAYETS INHABITED BY ARMENIANS.--The Vilayets inhabited by

Armenians are Diarbekir, Van, Bitlis, Erzeroum, Mamouret-el-Aziz, Sivas,

Adana, Aleppo, Trebizond, Broussa, and Constantinople. The numbers in

Van, Bitlis, Adana, Diarbekir, Erzeroum, and Kharpout were greater than

those in the other Vilayets, but in all cases they were fewer than the

Turks and Kurds, with the exception of Van and Bitlis, where they were

equal or superior in number. In the province of Moush (Vilayet of

Bitlis) they were more numerous than the Kurds; all industry and

commerce in those parts was in Armenian hands; their agriculture was

more prosperous; they were much more advanced than the Turks and Kurds

in those Vilayets; and the large number of their schools, contrasted

with the few schools of their alien fellow countrymen, is a proof of

their progress and of the decline of the other races.

ARMENIAN SOCIETIES.--The Armenians possess learned and political

Societies, the most important of which are the "Tashnagtzian" and the

"Hunchak." The programme of these two Societies is to make every effort

and adopt every means to attain that end from which no Armenian ever

swerves, namely, administrative independence under the supervision of

the Great Powers of Europe. I have enquired of many Armenians whom I

have met, but I have not found one who said that he desired political

independence, the reason being that in most of the Vilayets which they

inhabit the Armenians are less numerous than the Kurds, and if they

became independent the advantage to the Kurds would be greater than to

themselves. Hitherto, the Kurds have been in a very degraded state of

ignorance; disorder is supreme in their territory, and the cities are in

ruins. The Armenians, therefore, prefer to remain under Turkish rule, on

condition that the administration is carried on under the supervision of

the Great European Powers, as they place no confidence in the promises

of the Turks, who take back to-day what they bestowed yesterday. These

two Societies thus earnestly labour for the propagation of this view

amongst the Armenians, and for the attainment of their object by every

means. I have been told by an Armenian officer that one of these

Societies proposes to attain its end by means of internal revolts, but

the policy of the second is to do so by peaceful means only.

The above is a brief summary of the policy of these Societies. It is

said, however, that the programme of one of them aims at Armenian

political independence.

Any who desire further details as to Armenian history or societies

should refer to their historical books.

THE ARMENIAN MASSACRES.--History does not record that the Kurds,

fellow-countrymen of the Armenians in the Vilayets inhabited by both

peoples, rose in conflict with the latter, or that the Kurds plundered

the property of the Armenians, or outraged their women, until the year

1888, when they rose by order of the Turkish Government and slaughtered

Armenians in Van, Kharpout, Erzeroum, and Moush. Again, in the time of

Abdul-Hamid II., in 1896, when the Armenians rose and entered the

Ottoman Bank at Constantinople, with the object of frightening the

Sultan and compelling him to proclaim the Constitution, he ordered a

massacre at Constantinople and in the Vilayets. But hitherto there has

been no instance of the people of Turkey proceeding to the slaughter of

Armenians on a general scale unless incited and constrained to do so by

the Government. In the massacre of 1896, 15,000 were killed in

Constantinople itself, and 300,000 in the Vilayets.

Armenians were also killed in the Vilayet of Adana, some months after

the proclamation of the Constitution, but this slaughter did not extend

beyond the two Vilayets of Adana and Aleppo, where the influence of

Abdul-Hamid was paramount till the year 1909. I do not, however, find

any detailed account of this massacre, or any information as to the

numbers killed.

The goods and cattle of the Armenians were plundered, and their houses

wrecked, more especially in the slaughter of 1896, but many of their

countrymen[A] protected them and concealed them in their houses from the

officials of the Government.

The Government consistently inflamed the Moslem Kurds and Turks against

them, making use of the Faith of Islam as a means to attain their object

in view of the ignorance of the Mohammedans as to the true laws of their

religion.

[Footnote A: Presumably amongst the Turks and Kurds.--TRANSLATOR.]

DECLARATION OF THE OTTOMAN GOVERNMENT.--"Inasmuch as the Armenians are

committing acts opposed to the laws and taking advantage of all

occasions to disturb the Government; as they have been found in

possession of prohibited arms, bombs, and explosive materials, prepared

with the object of internal revolt; as they have killed Moslems in Van,

and have aided the Russian armies at a time when the Government is in a

state of war with England, France, and Russia; and in the apprehension

that the Armenians may, as is their habit, lend themselves to seditious

tumult and revolt; the Government have decreed that all the Armenians

shall be collected and despatched to the Vilayets of Mosul, Syria, and

Deir-el-Zur, their persons, goods and honour being safeguarded. The

necessary orders have been given for ensuring their comfort, and for

their residence in those territories until the termination of the war."

Such is the official declaration of the Ottoman Government in regard to

the Armenians. But the secret resolution was that companies of militia

should be formed to assist the gendarmes in the slaughter of the

Armenians, that these should be killed to the last man, and that the

work of murder and destruction should take place under the supervision

of trusty agents of the Unionists, who were known for their brutality.

Reshid Bey was appointed to the Vilayet of Diarbekir and invested with

extensive powers, having at his disposal a gang of notorious murderers,

such as Ahmed Bey El-Serzi, Rushdi Bey, Khalil Bey, and others of this

description.

The reason for this decision, as it was alleged, was that the Armenians

residing in Europe and in Egypt had sent twenty of their devoted

partisans to kill Talaat, Enver, and others of the Unionist leaders; the

attempt had failed, as a certain Armenian, a traitor to his nation and a

friend of Bedri Bey, the Chief of the Public Security at Constantinople

(or according to others, Azmi Bey), divulged the matter and indicated

the Armenian agents, who had arrived at Constantinople. The latter were

arrested and executed, but secretly, in order that it might not be said

that there were men attempting to kill the heads of the Unionist

Society.

Another alleged reason also was that certain Armenians, whom the

Government had collected from the Vilayets of Aleppo and Adrianople and

had sent off to complete their military service, fled, with their arms,

to Zeitoun, where they assembled, to the number of sixty young men, and

commenced to resist the Government and to attack wayfarers. The

Government despatched a military force under Fakhry Pasha, who proceeded

to the spot, destroyed a part of Zeitoun, and killed men, women and

children, without encountering opposition on the part of the Armenians.

He collected the men and women and sent them off with parties of troops,

who killed many of the men, whilst as for the women, do not ask what was

their fate. They were delivered over to the Ottoman soldiery; the

children died of hunger and thirst; not a man or woman reached Syria

except the halt and blind, who were unable to keep themselves alive;

the young men were all slaughtered; and the good-looking women fell into

the hands of the Turkish youths.

Emigrants from Roumelia were conveyed to Zeitoun and established there,

the name of that place being changed to "Reshadiya," so that nothing

should remain to remind the Turks of the Armenian name. During our

journey from Hamah we saw many Armenian men and women, sitting under

small tents which they had constructed from sheets, rugs, etc. Their

condition was most pitiable, and how could it be otherwise? Many of

these had been used to sit only on easy chairs [lit., rocking-chairs],

amid luxurious furniture, in houses built in the best style, well

arranged and splendidly furnished. I saw, as others saw also, many

Armenian men and women in goods-wagons on the railway between Aleppo and

Hamah, herded together in a way which moved compassion.

After my arrival at Aleppo, and two days' stay there, we took the train

to a place called Ser-Arab-Pounari. I was accompanied by five Armenians,

closely guarded, and despatched to Diarbekir. We walked on our feet

thence to Seruj, where we stopped at a _khan_ [rest-house] filled with

Armenian women and children, with a few sick men. These women were in a

deplorable state, as they had done the journey from Erzeroum on foot,

taking a long while to arrive at Seruj. I talked with them in Turkish,

and they told me that the gendarmes with them had brought them to places

where there was no water, refusing to tell them where water was to be

found until they had received money as the price. Some of them, who were

pregnant, had given birth on the way, and had abandoned their infants

in the uninhabited wastes. Most of these women had left their children

behind, either in despair, or owing to illness or weakness which made

them unable to carry them, so they threw them on the ground; some from

natural affection could not do this and so perished in the desert, not

parted from their infants. They told me that there were some among them

who had not been used to walk for a single hour, having been brought up

in luxury, with men to wait on them and women to attend them. These had

fallen into the hands of the Kurds, who recognize no divine law, and who

live on lofty mountains and in dense forests like beasts of prey; their

honour was outraged and they died by brutal violence, many of them

killing themselves rather than sacrifice their virtue to these ravening

wolves.

We then proceeded in carts from Seruj to El-Raha (Urfa). On the way I

saw crowds going on foot, whom from a distance I took for troops

marching to the field of battle. On approaching, I found they were

Armenian women, walking barefoot and weary, placed in ranks like the

gendarmes who preceded and followed them. Whenever one of them lagged

behind, a gendarme would beat her with the butt of his rifle, throwing

her on her face, till she rose terrified and rejoined her companions.

But if one lagged from sickness, she was either abandoned, alone in the

wilderness, without help or comfort, to be a prey to wild beasts, or a

gendarme ended her life by a bullet.

On arrival at Urfa, we learned that the Government had sent a force of

gendarmes and police to the Armenian quarters of the town to collect

their arms, subsequently dealing with these people as with others. As

they were aware of what had happened to their kinsmen--the _khans_ at

Urfa being full of women and children--they did not give up their arms,

but showed armed resistance, killing one man of the police and three

gendarmes. The authorities of Urfa applied for a force from Aleppo, and

by order of Jemal Pasha--the executioner of Syria--Fakhry Pasha came

with cannon. He turned the Armenian quarters into a waste place, killing

the men and the children, and great numbers of the women, except such as

yielded themselves to share the fate of their sisters--expulsion on foot

to Deir-el-Zur, after the Pasha and his officers had selected the

prettiest amongst them. Disease was raging among them; they were

outraged by the Turks and Kurds; and hunger and thirst completed their

extermination.

After leaving Urfa, we again saw throngs of women, exhausted by fatigue

and misery, dying of hunger and thirst, and we saw the bodies of the

dead lying by the roadside.

On our arrival at a place near a village called Kara Jevren, about six

hours distant from Urfa, we stopped at a spring to breakfast and drink.

I went a little apart, towards the source, and came upon a most

appalling spectacle. A woman, partly unclothed, was lying prone, her

chemise disordered and red with blood, with four bullet-wounds in her

breast. I could not restrain myself, but wept bitterly. As I drew out a

handkerchief to wipe away my tears, and looked round to see whether any

of my companions had observed me, I saw a child not more than eight

years old, lying on his face, his head cloven by an axe. This made my

grief the more vehement, but my companions cut short my lamentations,

for I heard the officer, Aarif Effendi, calling to the priest Isaac, and

saying, "Come here at once," and I knew that he had seen something which

had startled him. I went towards him, and what did I behold? Three

children lying in the water, in terror of their lives from the Kurds,

who had stripped them of their clothes and tortured them in various

ways, their mother near by, moaning with pain and hunger. She told us

her story, saying that she was from Erzeroum, and had been brought by

the troops to this place with many other women after a journey of many

days. After they had been plundered of money and clothing, and the

prettiest women had been picked out and handed over to the Kurds, they

reached this place, where Kurdish men and women collected and robbed

them of all the clothes that remained on them. She herself had stayed

here, as she was sick and her children would not leave her. The Kurds

came upon them again and left them naked. The children had lain in the

water in their terror, and she was at the point of death. The priest

collected some articles of clothing and gave them to the woman and the

children; the officer sent a man to the post of gendarmes which was near

by, and ordered the gendarme whom the man brought with him to send on

the woman and children to Urfa, and to bury the bodies which were near

the guardhouse. The sick woman told me that the dead woman refused to

yield herself to outrage, so they killed her and she died nobly, chaste

and pure from defilement; to induce her to yield they killed her son

beside her, but she was firm in her resolve and died heart-broken.

In the afternoon we went on towards Kara Jevren, and one of the drivers

pointed out to us some high mounds, surrounded by stones and rocks,

saying that here Zohrab and Vartakis had been killed, they having been

leading Notables among the Armenians, and their Deputies.

KRIKOR ZOHRAB AND VARTAKIS.--No one is ignorant of who and what was

Zohrab, the Armenian Deputy for Constantinople, his name and repute

being celebrated after the institution of the Chamber. He used to speak

with learning and reflection, refuting objections by powerful arguments

and convincing proofs. His speeches in the Chamber were mostly

conclusive. He was learned in all subjects, but especially in the

science of law, as he was a graduate of universities and had practised

at the Bar for many years. He was endowed with eloquence and great

powers of exposition; he was courageous, not to be turned from his

purpose or intimidated from pursuing his national aims. When the

Unionists realised that they were deficient in knowledge, understanding

nothing about polity or administration, and not aware of the meaning of

liberty or constitutional government, they resolved to return to the

system of their Tartar forefathers, the devastation of cities and the

slaughter of innocent men, as it was in that direction that their powers

lay. They sent Zohrab and his colleague Vartakis away from

Constantinople, with orders that they should be killed on the way, and

it was announced that they had been murdered by a band of brigands. They

killed them in order that it might not be said that Armenians were more

powerful, more learned, and more intelligent than Turks. Why should such

bands murder none but Armenians? The falsity of the statement is

obvious.

Zohrab and Vartakis fell victims to their own courage and firmness of

purpose; they were killed out of envy of their learning and their love

for their own people, and for their tenacity in pursuing their own path.

They were killed by that villain, Ahmed El-Serzi, one of the sworn men

of the Unionists, he who murdered Zeki Bey; his story in the Ottoman

upheaval is well known, and how the Unionists saved him from his fitting

punishment and even from prison. A Kurd told me that Vartakis was one of

the boldest and most courageous men who ever lived; he was chief of the

Armenian bands in the time of Abdul-Hamid; he was wounded in the foot by

a cannon-ball whilst the Turkish troops were pursuing these bands, and

was imprisoned either at Erzeroum or at Maaden, in the Vilayet of

Diarbekir. The Sultan Abdul-Hamid, through his officials, charged him to

modify his attitude and acknowledge that he had been in error, when he

should be pardoned and appointed to any post he might choose. He

rejected this offer, saying, "I will not sell my conscience for a post,

or say that the Government of Abdul-Hamid is just, whilst I see its

tyranny with my eyes and touch it with my hand."

It is said that the Unionists ordered that all the Armenian Deputies

should be put to death, and the greater number of them were thus dealt

with. It is reported also that Dikran Gilikian, the well-known writer,

who was an adherent of the Committee of Union and Progress, was killed

in return for his learning, capacity, and devotion to their cause. Such

was the recompense of his services to the Unionists.

In the evening we arrived at Kara Jevren, and slept there till morning.

At sunrise we went on towards Sivrek, and half-way on the road we saw a

terrible spectacle. The corpses of the killed were lying in great

numbers on both sides of the road; here we saw a woman outstretched on

the ground, her body half veiled by her long hair; there, women lying on

their faces, the dried blood blackening their delicate forms; there

again, the corpses of men, parched to the semblance of charcoal by the

heat of the sun. As we approached Sivrek, the corpses became more

numerous, the bodies of children being in a great majority. As we

arrived at Sivrek and left our carts, we saw one of the servants of the

_khan_ carrying a little infant with hair as yellow as gold, whom he

threw behind the house. We asked him about it, and he said that there

were three sick Armenian women in the house, who had lagged behind their

companions, that one of them had given birth to this infant, but could

not nourish it, owing to her illness. So it had died and been thrown

out, as one might throw out a mouse.

DEMAND FOR RANSOM.--Whilst we were at Sivrek, Aarif Effendi told

me--after he had been at the Government offices--that the Commandant of

Gendarmerie and the Chief of Police of that place had requested him to

hand over to them the five Armenians who were with him, and that on his

refusal they had insisted, saying that, if they were to reach Diarbekir

in safety, they must pay a ransom of fifty liras for themselves. We went

to the _khan_, where the officer summoned the priest Isaac and told him

how matters stood. After speaking to his companions, the priest replied

that they could pay only ten liras altogether, as they had no more in

their possession. When convinced by his words, the officer took the ten

liras and undertook to satisfy the others.

This officer had a dispute with the Commandant of Gendarmerie at Aleppo,

the latter desiring to take these five men on the grounds that they had

been sent with a gendarme for delivery to his office. Ahmed Bey, the

Chief of the Irregular band at Urfa, also desired to take them, but the

officer refused to give them up to him--he being a member of the

Committee of Union and Progress--and brought them in safety to

Diarbekir.

After passing the night at Sivrek we left early in the morning. As we

approached Diarbekir the corpses became more numerous, and on our route

we met companies of women going to Sivrek under guard of gendarmes,

weary and wretched, the traces of tears and misery plain on their

faces--a plight to bring tears of blood from stones, and move the

compassion of beasts of prey.

What, in God's name, had these women done? Had they made war on the

Turks, or killed even one of them? What was the crime of these hapless

creatures, whose sole offence was that they were Armenians, skilled in

the management of their homes and the training of their children, with

no thought beyond the comfort of their husbands and sons, and the

fulfilment of their duties towards them.

I ask you, O Moslems--is this to be counted as a crime? Think for a

moment. What was the fault of these poor women? Was it in their being

superior to the Turkish women in every respect? Even assuming that their

men had merited such treatment, is it right that these women should be

dealt with in a manner from which wild beasts would recoil? God has said

in the Koran: "Do not load one with another's burthens," that is, Let

not one be punished for another.

What had these weak women done, and what had their infants done? Can the

men of the Turkish Government bring forward even a feeble proof to

justify their action and to convince the people of Islam, who hold that

action for unlawful and reject it? No; they can find no word to say

before a people whose usages are founded on justice, and their laws on

wisdom and reason.

Is it right that these imposters, who pretend to be the supports of

Islam and the _Khilafat_, the protectors of the Moslems, should

transgress the command of God, transgress the Koran, the Traditions of

the Prophet, and humanity? Truly, they have committed an act at which

Islam is revolted, as well as all Moslems and all the peoples of the

earth, be they Moslems, Christians, Jews, or idolators. As God lives, it

is a shameful deed, the like of which has not been done by any people

counting themselves as civilised.

THE INFANT IN THE WASTE.--After we had gone a considerable distance we

saw a child of not more than four years old, with a fair complexion,

blue eyes, and golden hair, with all the indications of luxury and

pampering, standing in the sun, motionless and speechless. The officer

told the driver to stop the cart, got out alone, and questioned the

child, who made no reply, and did not utter a word. The officer said:

"If we take this child with us to Diarbekir, the authorities will take

him from us, and he will share the fate of his people in being killed.

It is best that we leave him. Perhaps God will move one of the Kurds to

compassion, that he take him and bring him up." None of us could say

anything to him; he entered the cart and we drove on, leaving the child

as we found him, without speech, tears, or movement. Who knows of what

rich man or Notable of the Armenians he was the son? He had hardly seen

the light when he was orphaned by the slaughter of his parents and

kinsmen. Those who should have carried him were weary of him--for the

women were unable to carry even themselves--so they had abandoned him in

the waste, far from human habitation. Man, who shows kindness to beasts,

and forms societies for their protection, can be merciless to his own

kind, more especially to infants who can utter no complaint; he leaves

them under the heat of the sun, thirsty and famishing, to be devoured by

wild creatures.

Leaving the boy, our hearts burning within us, and full of grief and

anguish, we arrived before sunset at a _khan_ some hours distant from

Diarbekir. There we passed the night, and in the morning we went on amid

the mangled forms of the slain. The same sight met our view on every

side; a man lying, his breast pierced by a bullet; a woman torn open by

lead; a child sleeping his last sleep beside his mother; a girl in the

flower of her age, in a posture which told its own story. Such was our

journey until we arrived at a canal, called Kara Pounar, near

Diarbekir, and here we found a change in the method of murder and

savagery.

We saw here bodies burned to ashes. God, from whom no secrets are hid,

knows how many young men and fair girls, who should have led happy lives

together, had been consumed by fire in this ill-omened place.

We had expected not to find corpses of the killed near to the walls of

Diarbekir, but we were mistaken, for we journeyed among the bodies until

we entered the city gate. As I was informed by some Europeans who

returned from Armenia after the massacres, the Government ordered the

burial of all the bodies from the roadside when the matter had become

the subject of comment in European newspapers.

IN PRISON.--On our arrival at Diarbekir the officer handed us over to

the authorities and we were thrown into prison, where I remained for

twenty-two days. During this time I obtained full information about the

movement from one of the prisoners, who was a Moslem of Diarbekir, and

who related to me what had happened to the Armenians there. I asked him

what was the reason of the affair, why the Government had treated them

in this way, and whether they had committed any act calling for their

complete extermination. He said that, after the declaration of war, the

Armenians, especially the younger men, had failed to comply with the

orders of the Government, that most of them had evaded military service

by flight, and had formed companies which they called "Roof Companies."

These took money from the wealthy Armenians for the purchase of arms,

which they did not deliver to the authorities, but sent to their

companies, until the leading Armenians and Notables assembled, went to

the Government offices, and requested that these men should be punished

as they were displeased at their proceedings.

I asked whether the Armenians had killed any Government official, or any

Turks or Kurds in Diarbekir. He replied that they had killed no one, but

that a few days after the arrival of the Vali, Reshid Bey, and the

Commandant of Gendarmerie, Rushdi Bey, prohibited arms had been found in

some Armenian houses, and also in the church. On the discovery of these

arms, the Government summoned some of the principal Armenians and flung

them into prison; the spiritual authorities made repeated

representations, asking for the release of these men, but the

Government, far from complying with the request, imprisoned the

ecclesiastics also, the number of Notables thus imprisoned amounting to

nearly seven hundred. One day the Commandant of Gendarmerie came and

informed them that an Imperial Order had been issued for their

banishment to Mosul, where they were to remain until the end of the war.

They were rejoiced at this, procured all they required in the way of

money, clothes, and furniture, and embarked on the _keleks_ (wooden

rafts resting on inflated skins, used by the inhabitants of that region

for travelling on the Euphrates and Tigris) to proceed to Mosul. After a

while it was understood that they had all been drowned in the Tigris,

and that none of them had reached Mosul. The authorities continued to

send off and kill the Armenians, family by family, men, women and

children, the first families sent from Diarbekir being those of

Kazazian, Tirpanjian, Minassian, and Kechijian, who were the wealthiest

families in the place. Among the 700 individuals was a bishop named--as

far as I recollect--Homandrias; he was the Armenian Catholic Bishop, a

venerable and learned old man of about eighty; they showed no respect to

his white beard, but drowned him in the Tigris.

Megerditch, the Bishop-delegate of Diarbekir, was also among the 700

imprisoned. When he saw what was happening to his people he could not

endure the disgrace and shame of prison, so he poured petroleum over

himself and set it on fire. A Moslem, who was imprisoned for having

written a letter to this bishop three years before the events, told me

that he was a man of great courage and learning, devoted to his people,

with no fear of death, but unable to submit to oppression and

humiliation.

Some of the imprisoned Kurds attacked the Armenians in the gaol itself,

and killed two or three of them out of greed for their money and

clothing, but nothing was done to bring them to account. The Government

left only a very small number of Armenians in Diarbekir, these being

such as were skilled in making boots and similar articles for the army.

Nineteen individuals had remained in the prison, where I saw and talked

with them; these, according to the pretence of the authorities, were

Armenian bravoes.

The last family deported from Diarbekir was that of Dunjian, about

November, 1915. This family was protected by certain Notables of the

place, from desire for their money, or the beauty of some of their

women.

DIKRAN.--This man was a member of the central committee of the

Tashnagtzian Society in Diarbekir. An official of that place, who

belonged to the Society of Union and Progress, told me that the

authorities seized Dikran and demanded from him the names of his

associates. He refused, and said that he could not give the names until

the committee had met and decided whether or not it was proper to

furnish this information to the Government. He was subjected to

varieties of torture, such as putting his feet in irons till they

swelled and he could not walk, plucking out his nails and eyelashes with

a cruel instrument, etc., but he would not say a word, nor give the name

of one of his associates. He was deported with the others and died nobly

out of love for his nation, preferring death to the betrayal of the

secrets of his brave people to the Government.

AGHOB KAITANJIAN.--Aghob Kaitanjian was one of the Armenians imprisoned

on the charge of being bravoes of the Armenian Society in Diarbekir, and

in whose possession explosive material had been found. I often talked to

him, and I asked him to tell me his story. He said that one day, whilst

he was sitting in his house, a police agent knocked at the door and told

him that the Chief of Police wished to see him at his office. He went

there, and some of the police asked him about the Armenian Society and

its bravoes. He replied that he knew nothing of either societies or

bravoes. He was then bastinadoed and tortured in various ways for

several days till he despaired of life, preferring death to a

continuance of degradation. He had a knife with him, and when they

aggravated the torture so that he could endure it no longer, he asked

them to let him go to the latrine and on his return he would tell them

all he knew about the Armenian matter. With the help of the police he

went, and cut the arteries of his wrists ... with the object of

committing suicide. The blood gushed out freely; he got to the door of

the police-office and there fainted. They poured water on his face and

he recovered consciousness; he was brought before the officer and the

interrogatory was renewed. ... The Chief of Police was confounded at

this proceeding and sent him to the hospital until he was cured. I saw

the wounds on his hands, and they were completely healed. This was the

story as he told it to me himself. He desired me to publish it in an

Armenian newspaper called _Haeyrenik_ (Fatherland), which appears in

America, in order that it may be read by his brother Garabet, now in

that country, who had been convinced that the Government would leave

none of them alive.

I associated freely with the young Armenians who were imprisoned, and we

talked much of these acts, the like of which, as happening to a nation

such as theirs, have never been heard of, nor recorded in the history of

past ages. These youths were sent for trial by the court-martial at

Kharpout, and I heard that they arrived there safely and asked

permission to embrace the Moslem faith. This was to escape from

contemptuous treatment by the Kurds, and not from the fear of death, as

their conversion would not save them from the penalty if they were shown

to deserve it. Before their departure they asked me what I had heard

about them, and whether the authorities purposed to kill them on the

way or not. After enquiring about this, and ascertaining that they would

not be killed in this way, I informed them accordingly; they were

rejoiced, saying that all they desired was to remain alive to see the

results of the war. They said that the Armenians deserved the treatment

which they had received, as they would never see the necessity for

taking precautions against the Turks, believing that the constitutional

Turkish Government would never proceed to measures of this kind without

valid reason. The Government has perpetrated these deeds although no

official, Kurd, Turk, or Moslem, has been killed by an Armenian, and we

know not what the weighty reasons may have been which impelled them to

so unprecedented a measure. And if the Armenians should not be

reproached with a negligence for which they have paid dearly, yet a

people who do not take full precautions are liable to be taxed justly

with blameworthy carelessness.

[Footnote B: Episodes in the original are here omitted.--TRANSLATOR.]

MY TRAVELLING-COMPANIONS.--From time to time I visited the men who had

been in my company during the journey, but after my release the director

of the prison would not permit me to go to them. I used, therefore, to

ask for one of them and talk with him outside the prison in which the

Armenians were confined. After a while I enquired for them and was told

that they had been sent to execution, like others before them, and at

this I cried out in dismay. One day I saw a gendarme who had been

imprisoned with us for a short time on the charge of having stolen

articles from the effects of dead Armenians, and as he knew my

companions I asked him about them. He said that he had killed the

priest Isaac with his own hand, and that the gendarmes had laid wagers

in firing at his clerical headdress. "I made the best shooting, hit the

hat and knocked it off his head, finishing him with a second ball." My

answer was silence. The man firmly believed that these murders were

necessary, the Sultan having so ordered.

THE SALE OF LETTERS.--When the Government first commenced the

deportation of the 700 men, the officials were instructed to prepare

letters, signed with the names of the former, and to send them to the

families of the banished individuals in order to mislead them, as it was

feared that the Armenians might take some action which would defeat the

plan and divulge the secret to the other Armenians, thus rendering their

extermination impracticable. The unhappy families gave large sums to

those who brought them letters from their Head. The Government appointed

a Kurd, a noted brigand, as officer of the Militia, ordering him to

slaughter the Armenians and deliver the letters at their destination.

When the Government was secure as to the Armenians, a man was despatched

to kill the Kurd, whose name was Aami Hassi, or Hassi Aami.

SLAUGHTER OF THE PROTESTANT, CHALDEAN, AND SYRIAC COMMUNITIES.--The

slaughter was general throughout these communities, not a single

protestant remaining in Diarbekir. Eighty families of the Syriac

Community were exterminated, with a part of the Chaldeans, in Diarbekir,

and in its dependencies, none escaped save those in Madiat and Mardin.

When latterly orders were given that only Armenians were to be killed,

and that those belonging to other communities should not be touched,

the Government held their hand from the destruction of the latter.

THE SYRIACS.--But the Syriacs in the province of Madiat were brave men,

braver than all the other tribes in these regions. When they heard what

had fallen upon their brethren at Diarbekir and the vicinity they

assembled, fortified themselves in three villages near Madiat, and made

a heroic resistance, showing a courage beyond description. The

Government sent against them two companies of regulars, besides a

company of gendarmes which had been despatched thither previously; the

Kurdish tribes assembled against them, but without result, and thus they

protected their lives, honour, and possessions from the tyranny of this

oppressive Government. An Imperial Iradeh was issued, granting them

pardon, but they placed no reliance on it and did not surrender, for

past experience had shown them that this is the most false Government on

the face of the earth, taking back to-day what it gave yesterday, and

punishing to-day with most cruel penalties him whom it had previously

pardoned.

CONVERSATION between a postal contractor from Bitlis and a friend of

mine, as we were sitting at a cafe in Diarbekir:

Contractor: I see many Armenians in Diarbekir. How comes it that they

are still here?

My Friend: These are not Armenians, but Syriacs and Chaldeans.

Contractor: The Government of Bitlis has not left a single Christian in

that Vilayet, nor in the district of Moush. If a doctor told a sick man

that the remedy for his disease was the heart of a Christian he would

not find one though he searched through the whole Vilayet.

PROTECTION AFFORDED BY KURDS TO ARMENIANS ON PAYMENT.--The Armenians

were confined in the main ward of the prison at Diarbekir, and from time

to time I visited them. One day, on waking from sleep, I went to see

them in their ward and found them collecting rice, flour and moneys. I

asked them the reason of this, and they said: "What are we to do? If we

do not collect a quantity every week and give it to the Kurds, they

insult and beat us, so we give these things to some of them so that they

may protect us from the outrages of their fellows." I exclaimed, "There

is no power nor might but in God," and went back grieving over their

lot.

DESPATCH OF THE ARMENIANS TO THE SLAUGHTER.--This was a most shocking

proceeding, appalling in its atrocity. One of the gendarmes in Diarbekir

related to me how it was done. He said that, when orders were given for

the removal and destruction of a family, an official went to the house,

counted the members of the family, and delivered them to the Commandant

of Militia or one of the officers of Gendarmerie. Men were posted to

keep guard over the house and its occupants during the night until 8

o'clock, thereby giving notice to the wretched family that they must

prepare for death. The women shrieked and wailed, anguish and despair

showed on the faces of all, and they died even before death came upon

them.[C] ... After 8 o'clock waggons arrived and conveyed the families

to a place near by, where they were killed by rifle fire, or massacred

like sheep with knives, daggers, and axes.

[Footnote C: A few sentences of immaterial description are here

omitted.--TRANSLATOR.]

SALE OF ARMENIAN EFFECTS, AND REMOVAL OF CROSSES FROM THE

CHURCHES.--After the Armenians had been destroyed, all the furniture of

their houses, their linen, effects, and implements of all kinds, as well

as all the contents of their shops and storehouses, were collected in

the churches or other large buildings. The authorities appointed

committees for the sale of these goods, which were disposed of at the

lowest price, as might be the case with the effects of those who died a

natural death, but with this difference, that the money realised went to

the Treasury of the Turkish Government, instead of to the heirs of the

deceased.

You might see a carpet, worth thirty pounds, sold for five, a man's

costume, worth four pounds, sold for two medjidies, and so on with the

rest of the articles, this being especially the case with musical

instruments, such as pianos, etc., which had no value at all. All money

and valuables were collected by the Commandant of Gendarmerie and the

Vali, Reshid Bey, the latter taking them with him when he went to

Constantinople, and delivering them to Talaat Bey.[D] ...

The mind is confounded by the reflection that this people of Armenia,

this brave race who astonished the world by their courage, resolution,

progress and knowledge, who yesterday were the most powerful and most

highly cultivated of the Ottoman peoples, have become merely a memory,

as though they had never flourished. Their learned books are waste

paper, used to wrap up cheese or dates, and I was told that one high

official had bought thirty volumes of French literature for 50 piastres.

Their schools are closed, after being thronged with pupils. Such is the

evil end of the Armenian race: let it be a warning to those peoples who

are striving for freedom, and let them understand that freedom is not to

be achieved but by the shedding of blood, and that words are the

stock-in-trade of the weak alone.

I observed that the crosses had been removed from the lofty steeples of

the churches, which are used as storehouses and markets for the keeping

and sale of the effects of the dead.

[Footnote D: Some remarks in this connection are omitted.--TRANSLATOR.]

METHODS OF SLAUGHTER.--These were of various kinds. An officer told me

that in the Vilayet of Bitlis the authorities collected the Armenians in

barns full of straw (or chaff), piling up straw in front of the door and

setting it on fire, so that the Armenians inside perished in the smoke.

He said that sometimes hundreds were put together in one barn. Other

modes of killing were also employed (at Bitlis). He told me, to my deep

sorrow, how he had seen a girl hold her lover in her embrace, and so

enter the barn to meet her death without a tremor.

At Moush, a part were killed in straw-barns, but the greater number by

shooting or stabbing with knives, the Government hiring butchers, who

received a Turkish pound each day as wages. A doctor, named Aziz Bey,

told me that when he was at Marzifun, in the Vilayet of Sivas, he heard

that a caravan of Armenians was being sent to execution. He went to the

Kaimakam and said to him: "You know I am a doctor, and there is no

difference between doctors and butchers, as doctors are mostly occupied

in cutting up mankind. And as the duties of a Kaimakam at this time are

also like our own--cutting up human bodies--I beg you to let me see this

surgical operation myself." Permission was given, and the doctor went.

He found four butchers, each with a long knife; the gendarmes divided

the Armenians into parties of ten, and sent them up to the butchers one

by one. The butcher told the Armenian to stretch out his neck; he did

so, and was slaughtered like a sheep. The doctor was amazed at their

steadfastness in presence of death, not saying a word, or showing any

sign of fear.

The gendarmes used also to bind the women and children and throw them

down from a very lofty eminence, so that they reached the ground

shattered to pieces. This place is said to be between Diarbekir and

Mardin, and the bones of the slain are there in heaps to this day.

Another informant told me that the Diarbekir authorities had killed the

Armenians either by shooting, by the butchers, or at times by putting

numbers of them in wells and caves, which were blocked up so that they

perished. Also they threw them into the Tigris and the Euphrates, and

the bodies caused an epidemic of typhus fever. Two thousand Armenians

were slaughtered at a place outside the walls of Diarbekir, between the

Castle of Sultan Murad and the Tigris, and at not more than half an

hour's distance from the city.

BRUTALITY OF THE GENDARMES AND KURDISH TRIBES.--There is no doubt that

what is related as to the proceedings of the gendarmes and the Kurdish

tribes actually took place. On receiving a caravan of Armenians the

gendarmes searched them one by one, men and women, taking any money they

might find, and stripping them of the better portions of their clothing.

When they were satisfied that there remained no money, good clothes, or

other things of value, they sold the Armenians in thousands to the

Kurds, on the stipulation that none should be left alive. The price was

in accordance with the number of the party; I was told by a reliable

informant of cases where the price had varied between 2,000 and 200

liras.

After purchasing the caravans, the Kurds stripped all the Armenians, men

and women, of their clothes, so that they remained entirely naked. They

then shot them down, every one, after which they cut open their stomachs

to search for money amongst the entrails, also cutting up the clothing,

boots, etc., with the same object.

Such were the dealings of the official gendarmerie and the Kurds with

their fellow-creatures. The reason of the sale of the parties by the

gendarmes was to save themselves trouble, and to obtain delivery of

further parties to plunder of their money.

Woe to him who had teeth of gold, or gold-plated. The gendarmes and

Kurds used to violently draw out his teeth before arriving at the place

of execution, thus inflicting tortures before actual death.

A KURDISH AGHA SLAUGHTERS 50,000 ARMENIANS.--A Kurd told me that the

authorities of Kharpout handed over to one of the Kurdish Aghas in that

Vilayet, in three batches, more than 50,000 Armenians from Erzeroum,

Trebizond, Sivas, and Constantinople, with orders to kill them and to

divide with themselves the property which he might take from them. He

killed them all and took from them their money and other belongings. He

hired 600 mules for the women, to convey them to Urfa, at the rate of

three liras a head. After receiving the price, he collected mules

belonging to his tribe, mounted the women on them, and brought them to a

place between Malatiya and Urfa, where he killed them in the most

barbarous way, taking all their money, clothes, and valuables.

THE VIOLATION OF WOMEN BEFORE OR AFTER DEATH.--[E] ...

[Footnote E: I refrain from particulars. The gendarmes and Kurds are

stated to have been the perpetrators of these acts.--TRANSLATOR.]

INCIDENT OF THE SHEIKH AND THE GIRL.--I said above that the Armenian

women were sent off in batches under guard of gendarmes. Whenever they

passed by a village the inhabitants would come and choose any they

desired, taking them away and giving a small sum to the gendarmes. At

one place a Kurd of over 60 picked out a beautiful girl of 16. She

refused to have anything to do with him, but said she was ready to

embrace Islam and marry a youth of her own age. This the Kurds would not

allow, but gave her the choice between death and the Sheikh; she still

refused, and was killed.

BARSOUM AGHA.--Whilst I was Kaimakam of the district of Kiakhta, in the

Vilayet of Kharpout, I was acquainted with an Armenian Notable of that

place, named Barsoum Agha. He was a worthy and courageous man, dealing

well with Kurds, Turks, and Armenians, without distinction; he also

showed much kindness to officials who were dismissed from their posts in

the district. All the Kurdish Aghas thereabouts kept close watch over

him, hating him because he was their rival in the supremacy of the

place. When, after my banishment, I arrived at Sivrek and heard what had

befallen the Armenians, I enquired about him and his family. I was told

that when the Government disposed of the Armenians of Kiakhta he was

summoned and ordered to produce the records of moneys owing to him

(Kurds and Armenians in that district owed him a sum of 10,000 liras);

he replied that he had torn up the records and released his debtors from

their obligations. He was taken away with the other Armenians, and on

arrival at the Euphrates he asked permission to drown himself. This was

granted, and he endeavoured to do so, but failed, as he could not master

himself. So he said to the gendarmes, "Life is dear and I cannot kill

myself, so do as you have been ordered," whereupon one of them shot him

and then killed the rest of the family.

NARRATIVE OF A YOUNG TURK.--This youth, who had come to Diarbekir as a

schoolmaster, told me that the Government had informed the Armenians of

Broussa that their deportation had been decided, and that they were to

leave for Mosul, Syria, or El-Deir three days after receiving the order.

After selling what they could, they hired carts and carriages for the

transport of their goods and themselves and started--as they

thought--for their destination. On their arrival at a very rugged and

barren place, far distant from any villages, the drivers, in conformity

with their instructions, broke up the conveyances and left the people in

the waste, returning in the night to plunder them. Many died there of

hunger and terror; a great part were killed on the road; and only a few

reached Syria or El-Deir.

CHILDREN PERISHING OF HUNGER AND THIRST.--An Arab of El-Jezira, who

accompanied me on my flight from Diarbekir, told me that he had gone

with a Sheikh of his tribe, men and camels, to buy grain from the sons

of Ibrahim Pasha El-Mellili. On their way they saw 17 children, the

eldest not more than 13 years old, dying of hunger and thirst. The Arab

said: "We had with us a small water-skin and a little food. When the

Sheikh saw them he wept with pity, and gave them food and water with his

own hands; but what good could this small supply do to them? We

reflected that if we took them with us to the Pasha, they would be

killed, as the Kurds were killing all Armenians by order of the

authorities; and our Arabs were at five days' distance from the place.

So we had no choice but to leave them to the mercy of God, and on our

return, a week later, we found them all dead."

NARRATIVE OF A PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR.--We were talking of the courage and

good qualities of the Armenians, and the Governor of the place, who was

with us, told us a singular story. He said: "According to orders, I

collected all the remaining Armenians, consisting of 17 women and some

children, amongst whom was a child of 3 years old, diseased, who had

never been able to walk. When the butchers began slaughtering the women

and the turn of the child's mother came, he rose up on his feet and ran

for a space, then falling down. We were astonished at this, and at his

understanding that his mother was to be killed. A gendarme went and took

hold of him, and laid him dead on his dead mother." He also said that

he had seen one of these women eating a piece of bread as she went up to

the butcher, another smoking a cigarette, and that it was as though they

cared nothing for death.

NARRATIVE OF SHEVKET BEY.--Shevket Bey, one of the officials charged

with the extermination of the Armenians, told me, in company with

others, the following story: "I was proceeding with a party, and when we

had arrived outside the walls of Diarbekir and were beginning to shoot

down the Armenians, a Kurd came up to me, kissed my hand, and begged me

to give him a girl of about ten years old. I stopped the firing and sent

a gendarme to bring the girl to me. When she came I pointed out a spot

to her and said, 'Sit there. I have given you to this man, and you will

be saved from death.' After a while, I saw that she had thrown herself

amongst the dead Armenians, so I ordered the gendarmes to cease firing

and bring her up. I said to her, 'I have had pity on you and brought you

out from among the others to spare your life. Why do you throw yourself

with them? Go with this man and he will bring you up like a daughter.'

She said: 'I am the daughter of an Armenian; my parents and kinsfolk are

killed among these; I will have no others in their place, and I do not

wish to live any longer without them.' Then she cried and lamented; I

tried hard to persuade her, but she would not listen, so I let her go

her way. She left me joyfully, put herself between her father and

mother, who were at the last gasp, and she was killed there." And he

added: "If such was the behaviour of the children, what was that of

their elders?"

PRICE OF ARMENIAN WOMEN.--A reliable informant from Deir-el-Zur told me

that one of the officials of that place had bought from the gendarmes

three girls for a quarter of a medjidie dollar each. Another man told me

that he had bought a very beautiful girl for one lira, and I heard that

among the tribes Armenian women were sold like pieces of old furniture,

at low prices, varying from one to ten liras, or from one to five

sheep.[F] ...

[Footnote F: An unimportant anecdote omitted.--TRANSLATOR.]

THE MUTESARRIF AND THE ARMENIAN GIRL.--On the arrival of a batch of

Armenians at Deir-el-Zur from Ras-el-Ain, the Mutesarrif desired to

choose a servant-girl from amongst the women. His eye fell on a handsome

girl, and he went up to her, but on his approach she turned white and

was about to fall. He told her not to be afraid, and ordered his servant

to take her to his house. On returning thither he asked the reason for

her terror of him, and she told him that she and her mother had been

sent from Ras-el-Ain in charge of a Circassian gendarme, many other

Armenian women being with them. On the way, the gendarme called her

mother, and told her to give him her money, or he would kill her; she

said she had none, so he tortured her till she gave him six liras.[G]

... He said to her: "You liar! You [Armenians] never cease lying. You

have seen what has befallen, and will befall, all Armenians, but you

will not take warning, so I shall make you an example to all who see

you." Then he cut off her hands with his dagger, one after the other,

then both her feet, all in sight of her daughter, whom he then took

aside and violated, whilst her mother, in a dying state, witnessed the

act. "And when I saw you approach me, I remembered my mother's fate and

dreaded you, thinking that you would treat me as the gendarme treated my

mother and myself, before each other's eyes."[H] ...

[Footnote G: Unfit for reproduction.--TRANSLATOR.]

[Footnote H: Unimportant anecdote omitted.--TRANSLATOR.]

"THE REWARD OF HARD LABOUR."--The Turks had collected all those of

military age and dispersed amongst the battalion

[Гость Джанбазеан]

Crypto Armenians: Silent Survivors of Genocide

Today, many Diasporan-Armenians travel to Turkey and visit the historic cities of western Armenia with the hopes of seeing the ruins of cities and monuments as well as gaining a better understanding of their ethnic roots. Along with the photographs of churches, and fortresses, many people return with the experience of being approached by individuals who initially identify themselves as Muslim Turks but later quietly reveal their identities as ethnic Armenians, often with secret Christian names. While these stories seem like isolated incidents of a handful of ethnic Armenians in the faraway regions of Turkey, the reality today is that the number of ethnic Armenians in Turkey is far greater than most people, and governments, realize.

Ethnic Armenians in Turkey are divided into three general categories ranging from Armenians who publicly acknowledge their identity to those who deliberately hide their family origins.

Turks Holding Up Signs Saying "We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenians." More than just a catchy slogan?

The first category of Armenians are those who publicly identify themselves as Armenian and maintain contacts with the community in Istanbul. There are approximately ten thousand "official" Armenians living in the eastern provinces of Turkey. Similar to other Christian minorities, reports indicate that they are often subjected to harassment and threats of physical harm due to their religious beliefs and ethnic origins. Compared to other categories, it is easier to monitor the status and population of this group of "official" Armenians.

The second category are the "Islamized" Armenians consisting mostly of Pontian and Hamshen-ian people who converted to Sunni, Islam in the 17th and 18th centuries. While the Pontian and Hamshen communities are fairly large and themselves diverse, there are vast discrepancies in the exact number of people within these communities that have Armenian origins. Many estimate that there are tens of thousands to over a million Pontian and Hamshen Armenians in Turkey. The growing research on these communities suggests that they have strong ties to Armenian culture and language. For example, the Hamshen Turkish dialect borrows many words from Armenian such as khaghog (grapes), khentzor (apple) and hatz (bread); there are also reports that some Hamshen families have incorporated into their Hamshen culture the religious feasts of Vartevar and Verapokhoum. In recent years, the Hamshen communities have begun to identify themselves as a distinct cultural group within Turkey.

The third category of people with Armenian origins are the "Crypto-Armenians" who converted to Islam under the threat of physical extermination during the massacres prior to and during the Armenian Genocide. These crypto-Armenians are often considered the children and grandchildren of Armenian orphans that were taken in by Kurdish and Turkish families during the Armenian Genocide. According to documents found in the United States archives, in 1921, there were over 95,000 Armenian orphans living throughout the cities of Anatolia. Today, these Armenians live throughout the cities and villages of central and western Turkey, in historic western Armenia, but hide their ethnic identities among the local Kurdish and Turkish population. It is difficult to assess the number of "crypto-Armenians" due to their unrecognizable ethnic transformation that is outwardly Turkish or Kurdish and inwardly Armenian. The most conservative estimate of the number of "crypto-Armenians" begins at thirty to forty thousand and the more liberal estimates reach several hundred thousand.

The crypto-Armenians are the most noteworthy group because they have changed their religion and ethnicity publicly but remain Armenian Christians internally amongst their families. Within their homes it is possible to find a lost religious heirloom from their Armenian Christian heritage as well as practices of Armenian customs. Similarly, they have maintained some knowledge of the Armenian language, including, in some cases, their local village dialect of Armenian (par-par). In the 1990s, during Kenan Evrens military rule, there are many reports that the Turkish army attacked and devastated 729 Kurdish and Christian villages; while the ethnic origin of the Christian villages is unspecified, it is likely that this number includes "crypto-Armenian" communities.

The enduring existence of crypto-Armenians is further strengthened by public discussions taking place in the field of literature. In recent years, a number of Turkish authors have published memoirs portraying their family histories that include Armenian relatives. While these books do not address the truth of the Armenian Genocide, they do point towards the existence and survival of crypto-Armenians both in the villages of Anatolia as well as in the urban centers of Istanbul and Ankara. In several interviews, the late Hrant Dink, editor of the Agos newspaper, often remarked that he often received requests from people seeking to find their Armenian roots and their family histories. This growing discovery of Armenian roots in the urban centers and the continued expressions of identity in the Anatolian countryside undeniably point toward the existence of a large and underground Armenian population in Turkey.

This existence and growing information about the crypto-Armenian population means that the remnants of the Armenian Genocide are more than ancient Armenian churches, monuments, and lost cities the historic lands of western Armenia include a vast Armenian population that continues to survive. Within their hidden knowledge of family histories, local village dialects and customs lies the indigenous culture of western Armenia. This population struggles to maintain and conceal their national roots; however, their existence is continuously at risk of further assimilation and absorption into Turkish society.

The growing right wing extremism and the simultaneous erosion of secularism in the modern Turkish Republic create risks for the entire Armenian population in Turkey. The murder of Hrant Dink in the streets of Istanbul, the harassment of Christians and the continued expression of anti-Armenian sentiments in Anatolia signal that the Turkish society is intolerant and threatening towards religious and ethnic minorities. During a recent memorial service for Hrant Dink in Istanbul, gun shots were fired near the courtyard church, perhaps as a warning to all Armenians. Today, particularly after the murder of Hrant Dink, Armenians that live in the most progressive cities of Turkey live with a silent fear.

With these factors in mind, the Diaspora must recognize that its efforts for recognition of the Armenian Genocide are also a campaign to establish the basic civil and human rights of the Armenian population in Turkey, including the crypto-Armenians. By demanding recognition and justice from the Turkish government, the Armenian Genocide issue serves as a catalyst to free the Armenians throughout Turkey from fear of retaliation for expressing their ethnic identity. The only way to end ethnic and religious intolerance is for the government of Turkey, as well as the overall Turkish society, to come to terms with its history and recognize that a large segment of its population are the children of Genocide survivors.

By calling for Genocide recognition, the Diaspora sends a strong message to all Armenians throughout Turkey, that while they struggle to maintain their identities, we will continue to advocate on their behalf.

Shant Armenian Student Association

[Гость Джанбазеан]

Бывало и так:

The general state of the country under Caliph al-Hāfiz was rather confused and full of conflicts. Nevertheless, the church enjoyed an undisturbed period of security and independence when the vizierate of al-Hāfiz fell to an Armenian Christian named Bahrām, who had previously come to Egypt in the entourage of another famous Islamized Armenian, Badr al-Jamālī. During Bahrām's rule, the Christians, including both Armenians and Copts, fared extremely well. The Armenians held numerous governorships of the provinces, and the Copts monopolized the highest posts in the administration, notably the offices of both finances and taxation In fact, there was a complete reversal of the formal policies of Coptic persecution that had existed during the harsh reign of al-Hākim (996-1021). In fact, some authorities began to fear that Islamized Copts might be tempted to abjure their new faith and return wholesale to their Coptic Christian beliefs. This, indeed, may have been one of the factors that precipitated the rebellion of Hasan, al-Hāfiz's son, against his father, which led to the temporary deposition of the caliph and the application of restrictive measures on the Copts. It was during this interlude that Hasan arrested and incarcerated Gabriel. Gabriel was released after paying an impost of a thousand dinars that had been raised by the Coptic archons and rich merchants.

The gravity of the internal situation within the country was intensified by conflicts between the Sudanese and the Turkish batallions within the military forces of the caliphate. This led to the ousting of Hasan and the return of al-Hāfiz to his throne. A new leader by the name of Rudwān ibn Walkhasī seized ministerial power. Under these circumstances, Bahrām became uneasy and, with his Armenians, decided to withdraw completely from Egypt. Rudwān reversed the former lenient policy toward all Christians, Armenians and Copts alike. Legislation was enacted to forbid the employment of Christians in the administration, although this rule was not literally applied to the Copts for practical reasons. The History of the Patriarchs (Vol. 3, pt. 1, p. 31) records the appointment of Abū Zikrī ibn Yahyā ibn Būlus, the Copt, as chief scribe together with twelve other Christian assistant scribes, while there were only two Muslims in the government administrations at a later date. Nevertheless, Christian institutions in Cairo and al-Khandaq were exposed to mob violence, and the Armenian monastery of al-Zuhrī was destroyed. Vestment restrictions on Christians were renewed, and they were prohibited from riding horses. What probably was worse was the doubling of the poll tax (jizyah) on all Christians and Jews, without exception.

Muslims all over the country became more aggressive and some fanatical mobs attacked the churches, although the caliph himself regarded their actions with disfavor. The History of the Patriarchs records that a Muslim mob attacked a church that had been restored by the bishop of Sahrajt in the city of Minyat-Ziftā and turned it into a mosque. The bishop complained to the administration authorities, and a writ was issued promptly for its restoration as a church and an explicit order was given for its preservation and security.

In the realm of foreign policy, Gabriel II watched over the interest of the church in his relations with Ethiopia. The Ethiopian emperor wanted the patriarch to consecrate numerous bishops for his country, but Gabriel insisted on the preservation of old established traditions of nominating the usual Coptic ABUN. The Abyssinian emperor wrote to the caliph to bring pressure to bear upon the patriarch to respond favorably to his request. Gabriel explained to the caliph that such a measure might lead the Ethiopians to consecrate their own Catholicus, or patriarch, and become separated from the mother church in Egypt, which would also be a loss of Egyptian influence over the Abyssinian Muslims. Apparently this argument convinced the caliph and the matter was closed.

In the literary field, Gabriel distinguished himself, not merely as a highly skilled copyist of biblical and other religious texts but also as a compiler and translator of works by the fathers of the church. Apparently he commanded considerable knowledge of Coptic, although it is doubtful whether he knew Greek. On the practical side of his career, he is known to have compiled three important series of canons (Graf, 1947, p. 325) and two liturgical books and a Nomocanon in seventy-four chapters. This was long thought to have been lost, but according to Simaykah's catalogue (1939-1942, cf. no. 570), it was recently rediscovered in the library of the patriarchate in Cairo though incomplete. Some of his collection of canons, however, has been preserved in the important Nomocanon left by Mīkhā'īl, bishop of Damietta, during the patriarchate of Mark III (1167-1189).

On the whole, the patriarchate of Gabriel II proved to be relatively peaceful and, if we overlook a number of occasional incidents and the interlude of the oppressive rules of Hasan, son of al-Hāfiz, and Rudwān ibn Walkhasī, the Copts lived in relative security and enjoyed considerable collaboration with the late Fatimid administration of the country. Gabriel II concluded his reign peacefully in 1145.

[hracher]

Мне кажется во всей Армении религиозные изменения проходили везде по разному, это зависело от того где они жили (равнина горы) и конечно от истории каждого региона. надо запомнить что у армян не было централизиванного управления и каждый принимал решение от создавшихся условий и в меру своих знаний и возможностей. Конечно уйти из родных мест все наверное могли и при этом сохранить религию и может быть язык... можно было и умереть на месте ... в общем не просто всё это было но надо всё узнать.

[hracher]

А в Малации были и кварталы армянских католиков и кварталы григорянцев (про протестантов не слышал).Мне кажется католики были побогаче и имели больше возможностей наверное ПАП их как то защищял.

[kaivaz]

АрмИнфо. http://www.arminfo.info

2008-05-30 14:38:00 Уроженец Турции обратился в суд с просьбой вернуть ему настоящую армянскую фамилию

Гражданин Турции обратился в суд восточной провинции Малатия с просьбой изменить свою фамилию, утверждая, что он в действительности является этническим армянином.

Как сообщает Turkish daily news, уроженец Турции Казэм Акенчи - музыкант, который зарабатывает деньги, продавая альбомы со своими записями. Он сообщил, что его семья скрывала факт своего армянского происхождения, но решила раскрыть правду о своей этнической принадлежности после того, как в прошлом году был убит турецкий журналист-армянин Грант Динк. Казэм Акенчи обратился в суд провинции Малатия, чтобы поменять имя на Саркис Нерсесян, а также изменить в своей идентификационной карте религию с мусульманской на христианскую.

В интервью информационному агентству Doрan Кэзэм Акенчи, вновь явившийся миру, как армянин по имени Саркис Нерсесян, отметил: <Я живу в Малатии и ни у меня, ни у моего окружения нет проблем с тем, что я являюсь армянином. Моя семья скрывала этот факт в течение долгих лет из-за безосновательного страха>. Он добавил, что горечь, испытанная им из-за убийства Гранта Динка, подтолкнула его к решению раскрыть правду, рассказав о том, что он является этническим армянином. <Я зарабатываю на жизнь с продажи своих альбомов, и люди любят меня не потому, что я Казем или Саркис. У меня нет причины для страха или утаивания>, - отметил он.

Тем не менее, газета напоминает, что в Малатии в прошлом году пятеро крайних националистов совершили нападение на здание редакции местной газеты, убив двоих обращенных христиан и одного немца.

Напомним, Г. Динк - редактор армяно-турецкой газеты <Агос> - был застрелен 19 января 2007 года радикальным турецким националистом перед офисом своей редакции. Грант Динк преследовался судом по статье 301 УК <за оскорбление турецкой идентичности> из- за признания Геноцида армян.

[Grig]

сделать бы этот процесс массовым...

хотя все начинается с единичного случая...