NO:                 DATE OF DOCUMENT              SUBJECT

----------------

1)   9.7.1914 Order of 3rd Army Commander on measures to counter Russian provocations through Caucasian Armenians.

2)  30.7.1914 Identifications of Armenians serving as 3rd Lt. in the Turkish Army.

3)  6.9.1914 Interior Ministry instruction on Zeytun gang.

4)  6.9.1914 Letter of Ambassador in Teheran on links Between Russians and Iranian and Caucasian Armenians.

5)  13.9.1914 Letter of Erzurum Provincial authority on Armenians provoked by Russians.

6)  8.10.1914 Report by Trabzon Governor on information related to organizing of Armenian armed raiders by Russian Government

7)  11.10.1914 Report by 3rd Army Command on arming of Armenians by Russians.

8)  24.10.1914 Report by 2nd Cavalry Division Commander on Kagizman incidents.

9)  29.11.1914 Coded message from Kazim Bey on Van rebels

10) 4.12.1914 Report by Gendarmerie Commander Kazim Bey (Ozalp) on Van Rebellion.

11) 20.12.1914 Proposal by Erzurum Governor Tahsin Bey to Acting Commander-in-Chief Enver Pasha related to Van rebellion.

12) 21.2.1915 Report by Acting 11th Army Corps Commander on Armenian military deserters in the Mus region.

13) 28.2.1915 Coded message by 11th Army Corps Command on assassination of one lieutenant and four Gendarmerie enlisted men by Armenians during the search of Arak Monastery.

14) 11.3.1915 Instruction on method for securing public order

15) 15.3.1915 List of Turks murdered by Armenian gangs.

16) 18.3.1915 Coded message from Bronzar Pasha on Zeytun incidents

17) 19.3.1915 Letter from Van Gendarmerie Division Command on Armenian attacks on Gendarmerie outposts and men.

18) 24.3.1915 Report on Armenian aggressions on Moslem villages and on gendarmeries in Van and Bitlis regions.

19) 8.4.1915 Coded message from 4th Army Commander Cemal Pasha on the link of the Patriarch with Zeytun incidents.

20 7.4.1915 Respond of Acting Supreme Command to the Armenian Patriarch on justice.

21) 16.4.1915 Letter from Van Gendarmerie Division Command on measures to counter Armenian attacks on Gendarmerie outposts.

22) 20.4.1915 Report from Van Governor Cevdet Bey on Van rebellion.

23) 20.4.1915 Coded message from Governor of Van on expansion of the rebellion.

24)23.10.1918 Report from 9th Army Corps Command on aggressions and plundering by Armenians in Moslem villages

25) 26.4.1915 Order by the Supreme Command on closing down Hunchak and Dashnak and similar committees and their branches

26) 2.5.1915 Instruction of the Acting Supreme Command on rooting out of Armenian rebel sources in Lake Van region

27) 21.5.1915 Coded message from Supreme Command informing participation of Armenian Gang leader Antranik with his men in the Russian Division of Chernoroyod.

28). 10.6.1915 Regulation on the administration of assets and properties of Armenians to be transferred to other locations in view of the war and the extraordinary political circumstances.

29) 15.6.1915 Report from Acting 10 th Army Corps Commander Pertev Bey on the clash with Armenians on the old fortress of Karahisar

30) 18,6.1916 Report by Sivas Governor Muammer Bey that Armenian rebels in Karahisar are put under control.

31)   23.7.1915 5th Army Corps Command letter on aggressions of Armenians in Moslem villages in Bogazliyan

32)  29.7.1915 4th Army Command Report on the development of the clash between 400 Armenian rebels in Findicik village of Maras and the 132th Regiment.

33)  18.8.1915 Report from the Communications Inspectorate on the attacks of Armenian enlisted men of the Urfa Workers Battalion on Moslem soldiers.

34)  23.8.1915 Coded message from 3 rd Army Command on Armenian rebels in Karahisar.

35)  24.8.1915 Defence Ministry order on actions to suppress Armenian aggressions in the Yalova region.

36)  14.9.1915 Coded message from 4th Army Command on Mount Musa incidents

37)  22.9.1915 French Statement on Mount Musa incidents

38)  9.10.1915 War telegraph from 4th Army Command on suppressing Armenian rebellion in Urfa.

39)  15.10.1915 4th Army Command coded message on confrontation in Urfa

40) 12.4.1916 Report by Military Attache in Bucharest on Armenian volunteers Organization in the Caucasus.

41) 17.12.1916 Interior Ministry announcement on migration.

42) 4.10.1917 3rd Army Command report related to Armenian massacres

43) 18.10.1917 Report on trade by Greek, Armenian and Jewish traders in Istanbul buying food and gold from German army personnel in Istanbul.

44) 5.12.1917 Cease-fire agreement between the Ottoman and the Russian armies in the Caucasus front.

45) 22.1.1918 3rd Army Command report on Armenian cruelties and atrocities in Erzincan.

46) 22.1.1918 Armenian cruelties in Erzincan.

47) 29.1.1918 Letter from Ottoman Caucasian/ Armies Commander Vehip Pasha to Russian Caucasian Armies Commander-in-Chief General Perjovalski.

48) 30.1.1918 Reports by 1st Caucasian Army. Corps Commander Kazim Karabekir on Armenian cruelties.

49) 2.2.1918 Cruelties by a 2000 men gang made by Armenians, Georgians and Greeks in the Polathane region. 2nd Caucasian Army Corps Command report on details of atrocities.

50) 3.2.1918 Situation in Erzincan and Armenian atrocities.

51) 6.2.1918 Letter of South Caucasian Assembly Speaker Kekechkori on peace

52) 6.2.1918 3rd Army Command order on measures to protect Turks from Armenian cruelties in regions behind withdrawing Russian positions.

53) 6.2.1918 Report of General Odishelidje on searches by Russian soldiers of Moslem homes in Erzincan under the pretext of a Moslem revolution.

54) 21.2.1918 Reply from General Odishelidje to Vehip Pasha.

55) 10.2.1918 Views of 3rd Army Command on advancing of the 1st Caucasian Army Corps towards Erzincan.

56) 10.2.1918 Proposal of the Supreme Command related to the report of General Odishelidje.

57) 13.2.1918 1st Caucasian Army Corps report on the entering of the 108th Regiment in Erzincan, against Armenian gangs resistance.

58) 20.2.1918 2nd Caucasian Army Corps Command Report on Georgian and Armenian committees in Trabzon to deliver their arms. and goods to Turks, and on murdering of over 200 Moslems by Armenian gang led by Arshak before leaving Bayburt in the direction of Erzurum.

59) 21.2.1918 3rd Army Command report on liberating Bayburt and cruelties of Armenian gangs.

60) 23.2.1918 Report on Armenian cruelties in Adilcevaz and Mamahatun.

61) 23.2.1918 3rd Army Command letter of Sansa passage incident.

62)  27.2.1918 Report wf General Kazim Karabekir on Armenian cruelties

63)  2.3,1918 Report of 3rd Army Command on Armenian cruelties.

64)  13.3.1918 Letter by Istanbul and Izmir deputies to the International Socialist Conference in Stockholm.

65)  21.3.1918 Report of the 3rd Army Command on the situation in Erzincan and Erzurum.

66)  25.3.1918 Army Command order on just treatment to the people during the advance deployment of the 3rd Army.

67)  29.3.1918 Report of Armenian Forces Commander in Erzurum General Antranik as published in the Caucasian newspaper Kabasluv.

68)  29.3.1918 Message by General Kazim Karabekir to the Armenian community of Kars.

69)  1.4.1918 Report Stating that number of Turks murdered by Armenians in Erzurum alone was 2,127 according to corpses recovered.

70) 20.4.1918 Letter of 3rd Army Command ordering equal and just treatment to everybody with no religious discrimination.

71) 1.5.1918 Cable describing Armenian cruelties and massacres in the region from Trabzon to Erzincan.

72) 2.5.1918 Cable exposing Armenian cruelties in Erzincan.

73) 3.5.1918 Letter from Caucasian Front Ottoman Armies Command to the Russian Commander-in-Chief of Caucasian Armies related to leaving to the mercy of Armenians the people in places, evacuated by Russians

74) 5.5.1918 Document related to marriage of a member of the Sultan’s family with an Armenian woman named Vartanus.

75) 16.5.1918 Report by Group Commander Brig. General Sevki to the 3rd Army Command on Armenian cruelties.

76) 23.5.1918 27.5.1918 Turkish translation of the Cable of author Dr. Stephan Eshnanie on Armenian cruelties.

77) Translation from Russian the memories of Russian Officer Toverdahleiov, prisoner of war, on Armenian atrocities and cruelties against Turks in Erzurum and the region, from the beginning of the Russian Revolution until 27.2.1918.

78) 20.6.1918 Letter of General Kazim Karabekir to Armenian Army Corps Commander Nazarbehov on massacre of Moslem population in the Armenian Republic by Armenian gangs.

79) 27.6.1918 Letter by Russian Army Corps to the Independent Armenian Commission in Gumru requesting that the Turkish Command is informed of the atrocities by Armenian gangs led by Antranik in Nahcivan region.

80) 2.7.1918 Letter by Vehip Pasha to the Armenian National Assembly Speaker in Batum on cruelties suffered by Turkish people of Baku and Azerbaidjan.

81) 2.7.1918 Report by Eastern Armies Group Commander Esat Pasha on murder of 200 Moslems in Islam villages by Armenians.

82) 10.7.1918 Report by Esat Pasha on murder of 7,000 Moslems in Dilman and 1000 Moslems in Rumiye by Armenians, indiscriminately, women, children, old and alike.

83) 24.7.1918 Letter of Eastern Armies Group Commander Halil Pasha urging deployment of troops to prevent the annihilation of Moslems by Armenians in Karabag.

84) 25.8.1918 Report disclosing activities of Armenians under false names.

85) 28.8.1918 Interior Ministry statement announcing the results of the investigation by District Governor of Yusufeli on Armenian cruelties.

86) 5.9.1918 Border demarcation according to Batum Peace Agreement.

87) 3.10.1918 9th Army Corps Command Report on Armenian attacks on Moslem villages of the Gokcegol region.

88) 24.10.1918 9th Army Command report on cruelties and massacres by Armenians on Moslem population of Erivan, Karabag and Nahcivan regions.

This book compiles documents from Turkish Military History Archives. The original facsimile copies of the documents in their Ottoman dialect together with their present day Turkish transcriptions were first published in the December 1982 (No. 81) issue of the Turkish Military History Documents Periodical. Now, the English translation of the documents is being presented for general readers and researchers alike.

The documents herein are concerned with the 1914-1918 period of Turco-Armenian history. The period in question, coinciding with the First World War, is the most controversial era of the history of the Ottoman Armenians. Much has been said and much published abroad about this period. But Turkish documents were very rarely referred to in these publications. Publications were based in one-sided, biased sources. and in general reflected twisted and falsified versions of what really happened. It is hoped that the collection of the documents from Turkish Military History Archives, will shed light on that controversial period of the history and will also contribute to the work of researchers.

For a better evaluation of the documents in their true place in history, it will be proper briefly to summarise the pre-First World War period of the history of the Ottoman Armenian minority. Until the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, there never existed any such thing as an 'Armenian Question". No international treaty, agreement or convention, ever referred to the term 'Armenian' until that date. The Armenian minority had peacefully co-existed with the Turkish majority for nearly eight hundred years.

As a matter of fact, the position and living conditions of the Armenians were better than those of many Turks. While Turks had compulsary military service, Armenians were exempted from this obligation, and so could devote themselves to trade, agriculture, and craftsmanship. constantly raising their level of wealth and prosperity. The Turks bore all the burden of the Ottoman Empire, while the Armenian minority only enjoyed the benefits of the Empire, and even economically exploited the Moslem Turkish majority.

The 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, initiated a new era in the: history of the Ottoman Armenian Minority. The Treaty of San Stefano which the Russians dictated to the Ottoman capital at the end of this war, added a provision envisaging "reforms" for the Armenians. It was the first time in history that the term 'Armenian' was ever included in an international treaty. The Berlin Peace Convention of 1878 which later replaced the San Stefano Treaty, also inserted an article on "reforms" benefiting the Ottoman Armenians. This provision opened the way for interference in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire by foreign countries, led by Russia and Britain, on behalf of the Armenian minority. As a consequence. Anatolia became an arena for the power games of the imperialist states. In this struggle, the Ottoman Armenian minority was exploited as a tool of international interests.

Feeling and enjoying the support of foreign states behind them, the Ottoman Armenians began to harbour dissatisfaction with their position. and to demand an autonomous region, even an independent state in Eastern Anatolia, where they lived only as a very small minority. When these ambitions were not realised, they adopted revolutionary methods. The so-called Hunchak and the Dashnak committees founded outside Ottoman territories in 1887 and 1890, chose the Ottoman Armenians as targets for exploitation. At the provocations of these committees, bloody incidents and rebellions were initiated in Eastern Anatolia from the 1890's. Influenced by Russian Nihilists, the Hunchak militia utilised propaganda, agitation and terrorist methods, causing escalating bloodshed in Anatolian territories. This was followed by their collaboration with the Dashnak committee, waging numerous rebellions in Anatolia. Hostile feelings against the Moslem Turkish majority was constantly incited, making peaceful co-existence between the two communities more and more difficult with every passing day.

It was in such circumstances that the period of the First World War began. The manifesto of the Hunchak Committee openly stated that "the most favourable time for an overall rebellion of Ottoman Armenians, is the time when the Ottoman State is at war". The First World War was therefore the opportune time the Armenian committees had been seeking for a quarter of a century. On the outbreak of the War, in June 1914. Armenian committees convened a congress in Erzurum, resolving to continue the struggle against the Ottoman State.

For Russia, on the other hand. the First World War was also the opportunity she was awaiting to invade Eastern Anatolia. The Russians resolved to exploit and make use of Armenians against the Turks as far as was possible. Agreement was reached-between the Echmiazin Catholicate and the Russian Caucasus Governor General under which Armenians would provide unconditional support for the Russians. The Catholicate was later received by the Russian Tsar. In audience, he told the Tsar "the emancipation of the Anatolian Armenians was only possible through secession from Turkish sovereignty, the establishment of an autonomous Armenia under the protection of Russia". This was a kind of alliance between the Russians and the Armenians against Turkey.

The bloody struggle waged by Armenians against Turks from then on can be followed from the documents in this book. Before the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War, Armenian gangs armed and equipped in Russia, infiltrated Eastern Anatolia. This was followed by the arming of Armenians in Eastern Anatolia with Russian weapons. With the declaration of war by Russia on the Ottoman Empire, both Russian Armenians and Anatolian Armenians moved against the Turks. Russians disarmed Moslems in places they occupied in Eastern Anatolia, arming the Armenians with the weapons confiscated from Moslems, paving the way for aggressions by Armenians on a disarmed and innocent Moslem population.

Armenian gangs perpetrated acts of sabotage, destroyed telephone cables, blew up bridges, blocked passes, set up ambushes, attacked security stations and small Turkish outposts behind the Ottoman Army lines on the one hand, and on the other ruthlessly attacked Turkish villages, slaughtering the Turkish population indiscriminately, women, children, old and young alike. Innocent people were one by one cruelly bayoneted to death, or killed with axes and swords, or else shut up in mosques or in schools and then burnt alive.

Widespread Armenian revolts broke out in the regions of Van, Sivas and Maras. The Ottoman Army, while fighting to prevent the Russian invasion, also had to deal with Armenian gangs who hit from behind. The Ottoman Government issued a sharp warning to the Armenian Patriarch in Istanbul and called on him to prevent these Armenian aggressions. But to no avail. Bloody Armenian aggressions spread to all parts of Eastern Anatolia. The Ottoman authorities were compelled to take other measures. The Acting Supreme Command of the Ottoman Empire, in an instruction to the Ministry of Interior dated 2 May 1915, pointed out the need to remove the Armenian population in certain centres of constant rebellion to other places close to Russia or in other parts of the Ottoman territory. (Document No. 26 ). As an inevitable result of the war and the emergency political conditions, some of the Armenians in Anatolia were transferred from the war zone to other regions of the Ottoman Empire.

A detailed Regulation was drawn up on the administration of immovable assets left over by those Armenians transferred to other places. (Document No. 28). Thus, the Armenian rebellions and massacres carried out by them could be terminated.

Starting from late 1917, however, Armenians again committed widespread massacres in Eastern Anatolia. A Cease-fire agreement was concluded in the Ottoman-Caucasus front between Ottoman and Russian Armies upon the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. (Document No 44). Russians laid down their arms. The arena was now left to the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia. Almost every Turkish town and village from Erzincan up to Azerbaidjan suffered large scale attacks and massacres by Armenians.

The Ottoman Army, liberating Trabzon, Bayburt, Erzincan, Erzururn. Kars and other regions from the Russians, saw that the cities and their villages had been destroyed and burnt, people slaughtered, massacred. The massacres conducted by Armenians, which became a black stain for humanity, shocked and disgusted even the Russian authorities. (Document No. 76).

Almost half of the documents in this book are related to this second wave of Armenian massacres and cruelties. The inhuman treatment, cruelties, atrocities, massacres by Armenian gangs perpetrated against innocent Moslem Turkish people, are sufficiently reflected in these documents. Even today over sixty years later, the terrifying screams of the victims of these cruelties can be heard.

This book covers only a selection of innumerable documents in the Turkish archives on Armenian atrocities and massacres. Documents to be published in the near future will be complementary to this book. By placing these and following documents in their correct historical context, we are now able to see this important and controversial period in Turco- Armenian relations in a true and revealing perspective.

We are confident that objective researchers and readers will justly evaluate these documents. We hope that the book will serve for their enlightenment.

Bilal N. Simsir
Member of The Turkish History Society

Identifications of non-Moslem cadets graduated from First Senior
Class as Third Lieutenant on 17 July 330 (1 August 1914) :

9th Army Corps, 12th Regiment, 1st Battalion, 2nd Company,
Third Lieutenant Baruter, son of Artin from Trabzon at Eyvasil District Trabzon 1307 (1891)

11th Army Corps, Third Lieutenant Antuvan, son of Fetullah, average height, grey-blue eyes, well-built, from No: 16, of Sevkulgazel District of Bagdad. Bagdad 1310 (1894)

9th Army Corps, 13th Regiment, 2 Battalion, 2nd Cpmpany Heavy Artillery. Third Lieutenant Zisis, average height, grey-blue eyes, well -built, son of Samus from No: 384,Kadibayir, lzmit. Kumkapi- 1308 (1892)

3rd Army Corps, Telegraph Company Mr. Ilia, average height, dark complexion with light brown hair and grey-blue eyes, son of Merchant Yasep[ar] Kurbanlik District of Balat Balat - 1309 (1893)

9th Army Corps Cavalry Third Lieutenant Ganbus, son.of Yorgo from Erdek, Eregli origin Beyoglu - 1309 (1893)

9th Army Corps Cavalry Third Lieutenant Kirkor, average height grey-blue eyes, well-built, son of Karabet from Yenimahalle of Erzincan. Erzincan - 1309 (1893)

Archive No 1/1920
Cabin No 204
Drawer No 3
File No 4608
Section No 6
Contents No 19-6

Office of Governor of Erzurum Correspondence Department

No: General 254221
Special 651
To: 3rd Army Command

Dear Sir,

Enclosed please find a copy of the report drawn up by civilian police, specially dispatched to investigate the condition of inhabitants of Bozveren village of Pasinler District and of other Armenian villages. The same has been passed on to the District Governor concerned for action. For your consideration and orders.

31 August 1330 (14 September 1914)
Acting Governor
Cemal
Revenue Officer

No: 414 / 2 September 330
No:

During my stay in Russia, I was told officially and unofficially that the Russian Government has been placing maximum reliance on Armenians in solving the eastern provincial problems and in minor problems in the Caucasus, and that the Russian Government aims to win the support of the Armenians so as to provoke a revolt or upheaval in Eastern Anatolia any time it chooses, and exploit this in order to interfere in our internal affairs and use this as a pretext for pressure on our Government.

I have further learnt recently during my stay in Petersburg that the Russians are sparing no costs in order to win the sympathy and support of Armenians and that this same feeling of support for Russia is widespread among Armenians on our territories. I am therefore considering the police reports regarding the position of Armenians in the Pasinler district very interesting, and I must indicate that a great number of Armenians in the Eastem provinces share the same feelings.

Info. Copy to 1st Section.
M. Muhtar

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 160
Drawer No 5
Rite No 2811
Section No 26
Contents No 24-1

Holdwater: The Russian government gave Ottoman-Armenians the equivalent of $13 million in today's currency by February 1915, for the initial cost of of arms and preparing the Turkish Armenians to start riots within the country during the war.

TO: Command - in - Chief

28.7.330(1.10.1914)

According to information received, the Russians have established guerillas by arming Russian and Turkish Armenians in the Caucasus and Greeks, and anticipate expanding these guerilla organizations by sending them into Turkish land. These reports, are gradually being confirmed, and realised, and Armenian deserters from military units are increasing.

I had submitted the required measures in my letter No: 347 of10/11 September 1330 (23/24 September 1914). Further measures are required for families of deserters and traitors, to include punishment for villages which shelter and protect the gangs and the dispersing of such villages. These measures should be announced so that everybody will know about them. A definite and general decision is absolutely vital.

Signature

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 160
Drawer No 5
File No 2811
Section No 26
Contents No 15-1

 

No:950

Decoding of Cable message of 21/22 November. 330 4/5-12.1914.
by Van Mobile, Gendarmerie Division Commander Kazim at Hosab:

An enemy force comprising 4,000 infantry, ,1.000 cavalry, two field and two mountain artillery guns is in the vicinity of Saray. Reconnaisance units today arrived at Molla Hasan village between Muslihan and Saray and Ercek. A 500-strong enemy unit supported by two mountain artillery guns from its forces in Dir occupied Baskale. The remaining part of the units remained in the vicinity of Dir. Tribe leaders went south without any resistance against Russians. We are now around Akgol, north of Hasob with a 2,000 strong force which was deployed from Hosab yesterday. Other units are still at their positions from yesterday.

The enemy is seizing the weapons from local people in places which it has occupied, using these weapons, to arm Armenians and form units. There are some Iranian tribes among enemy units. As we were forced to disarm Armenian enlisted men, due to our losses and deserters, our forces are limited. The units which moved from Ravandiz have not yet joined our forces at Somay. Their two mountain guns were returned to Ravandiz, according to information from Musul.

2nd Section, 22 November 330 (5.12.1914)

Archive No 4-3671
Cabin No 160
Drawer No 5
File No 2818
Section No 59
Contents No 2-55


Holdwater: The Ottomans, short of manpower, were counting on their Armenian soldiers; this is why Armenian men were drafted and trained, and some had graduated from military schools, as you have already read in Document No. 2, above.  Armenian propaganda tells us these Armenian soldiers were disarmed because a "genocide" was underway. Isn't that the most ridiculous and illogical contention? As we can see from this internal report, they were being disarmed because of their treachery.

Ministry of Defence
Department of Correspondence
Coding Section

Coded Message from Elazig to the Ministry of Defence

A group of 40-50 Armenian army deserters with arms at Sironik village 2.5 hours from Mus, attacked the Gendarmerie Cavalrymen and police who went to the village to capture them. The clash lasted for two hours. A 200-strong detachment led by Ismail Efendi and, the Gendarmerie Commander was dispatched to the scene. Nine of those who resisted were killed. The detachment is still in the village. This is submitted from the Acting Commander of Mus division.

8 February 330 (21 February 1915)

Acting Commander 11th Army Corps
Hakki

Copy submitted to Headquarters

Same as the former Bitlis incident. Let us keep the same in a separate envelope (file). 9 February 330 (22 February 1915)

Archive No 1/131.
Cabin No 101/149
Drawer No 14-4
File No 2287
Section No 32/12
contents No 6-4

Holdwater: Contemporary Armenian historians such as Hacobian justified Armenian desertions, for one, by reminding us there were Turkish deserters as well. Yes, but there was a crucial difference (aside from the fact that Turks who deserted did so mainly as the war dragged on), as this internal report reminds us: Turks did not desert in order to join their nation's enemies, and to bear arms against their nation.

 

"List of male inhabitants of Mergehu Village murdered or annihilated with the utmost savagery by local Armenians who joined Armenian gangs strengthening the Russian Forces:

Names Method of Annihilation

---------------------------

Haci Ibrahim, son of Abdi Bullets and bayonet
Abdi, son of Haci Ibrahim Bullets and bayonet
Reso, son of Abdi Beaten and cut into pieces
Sado, son of Omer Beaten and cut into pieces
Aso, son of Reso Beaten and cut into pieces
Kulu, son of Canko Stabbed in the eye with a bayonet
Musa, son of Canko Bayonet in his eye
Emin, son of Molla Hamit Bayonet in his eye
Molla Abdullah, son of Hamit Bayonet in his eye
Ibo, son of Haci Bayonet in his eye
Sado, son of Haci Bayonet in his eye
Abdullah, son of Canko Slaughtered
Ibo, son of Ahmet Abdomen ripped open
Ismail, son of Ibo Burnt in fire
Musto, son of Ozu Bullets
Mahmut, son of Seyyo Slaughtered
Kocak, son of Birro Bullets
Musto, son of Husnu Bullets
Uso, son of Alo Bullets
Maksut, son of Peri Bullets
Haci, son of Peri Bullets
Mehmet, son of Hasanali Bayonet
Ibo, son of Hasanali Bayonet
Abdo, son of Mehmed Bayonet
Molla Suleyman Burnt in oven
Mazgi, son of Abdullah Stabbed in abdomen by bayonet
Sulis, son of Hasan Bullets
Mahmo, son of Mehmet Stabbed with a dagger
Murat, son of Hasan Stabbed with a dagger
Uso, son of Avci Blinded with a bayonet
Lesko, son of Mehmet Stabbed with a dagger
Abdullah, son of Kasim Bullets
Coban Abdullah Bullets
Seymo, son of Mumin Bullets
Muammer, son of Reso Bullets
Paso, son of Merzi Bullets
Gulu, son of Bitor Bullets
Murat, son of Yusuf Bullets and bayonet
Cedo, son of Haci Ibrahim Bullets and bayonet
Faki Mehmet Bullets and bayonet
Silo, son of Abdulcebbar Bullets and bayonet

List of massacred females from the same village:

Kasi, daughter of Huso and wife of Haci Ibrahim Bullets
Fati, daughter of Isa, wife of Aduz Bullets
Zeresan, daughter of Amat, wife of Reso Bayonet
Gullu, daughter of Iyso Cutting off her breasts
Sulnu, daughter of Sulo, Ripping open her abdomen and burning
wife of Ibo her baby in oven
Fatma, daughter of Ibo Slaughtered and burnt in oven
Fidan hatun Burnt in oven
Gulfizar, daughter of Hacihan, wife of Musto Slaughtered
Rahime, daughter of Mehmet, wife of Halil Bullets
Binefs, daughter of Haci Kerim, wife of Suleyman Burnt in oven
Mahiye, daughter of Ali, wife of Sivno Slaughtered
Hati, daughter of Haci, wife of Ahmet Slaughtered
Hacer, daughter of Meho Bullet and bayonet

List of Females of the same village raped and murdered:

Nadire, daughter of Haci, wife of Suvis
Hani, daughter of Kulu, wife of Zerko
Zaliha, daughter of Telli, wife of Silo
Arap, daughter of Sami, wife of Hilo

Wounded males and females of the same village:

Beki, daughter of Hamit, wife of Arno Bullet wound
Hassan, son of Haci Bullet wound
Zeyni, daughter of Abbasa, wife of Canko Bullet wound
Alo, son of Hasan Bayonet wounds in arms and in abdomen
Ebu, daughter of Fatih (virgin) Bullet wound

List of massacred males and females at Istuci village:

Mikail, son of Alo Bullets
Musto, son of Ismail Bullets
Dervis, son of Maksut Bullets
Ali, son of Nimet Bayonet
Esat, son of Kelo Bayonet and bullets
Isa, son of Nebi Bayonet and bullets
Cevher, son of Gani Beaten by rifle butt
Ziro, daughter of Hasan Died from injuries
Hazal, daughter of Ali, wife of Acem Died from injuries
Hamsa, daughter of Huseyin, wife of Huseyin Died from injuries

List of raped women at Istuci village in life:

Sabo, daughter of Maho Virgin
Miri, other daughter of Maho Virgin
Emine, daughter of Meho, wife of Sofi Salih
Sahap, daughter of Ali, wife of Nevruz
Gullu, daughter of Mahi Virgin

List of persons attacked by Armenian gangs:

19 Feb 330 (4 March 1915)
Copied from Original Investigation Book

District Governor
Kemal

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No 113
Drawer No 3
File No 520
Section No 2024
Contents No 11, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3

2nd List

List of persons attacked by Armenian gangs:

Names Kinds of cruelty

Molla Mehmet Efendi, Brother of Professor Molla Yusuf

Subject to ill-treatment only because he dealt in Islamic science. Minor maltreatment. Taken away. His whereabouts unknown.

Haci Molla Sait at Kavlik

Forced to slaughter his own daughter. His body dismembered when he rejected their orders.

FACE OF A CRIMINAL Antranik: The Armenian "hero" raped an innocent Hanim Hatun before very likely getting her killed.

Second Lieutenand Isa at Heretil, his friends Omer, Ali, Mehmet (Shot dead.)
Ahmo, maid of Cindi Aga at Serefhane (Burned in oven together with her baby.)
Fato, wife of Misinha at Yaman Bordo (Slaughtered together with three children.)
Ayse, wife of Mehmet Abdi at Bilecik. (Killed after her arms cut off.)
Hanim Hatun, daughter of Meho at Bilecik (Raped by gang leader named Antranik then taken away.)
Merchant Mehmet Efendi, brother of Regiment Clerk Mustafa Efendi in Erzurum. (Robbed of 200 Liras. Murdered by bayonet.)

Mosques of Saray and Esedcu turned into stables. Many religious students forced to become Christians. Following the liberation they all reverted to their faith of Islam.

Nezo Hatun at Perkal
Went mad after watching the murder of the parents of her grandchildren who. refused to eat the baked flesh of their children at gunpoint

(Certified true copy based on actual investigation.)
2 March 331 (15 March 1915)
District Governor of Mahmudin
Kemal

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No 113
Drawer No 3
File No 520
Section No 2024
Contents No 11, 11-1, 11-2, 11-3

Holdwater: as a personal note, the only indication of "Documents" put up on the Internet by the apathetic Turks, to my knowledge, was this section; the one responsible was the infamous "Serdar Argic," in a long-forgotten Google newsgroup ("soc.culture.turkish," countering that tireless "professional patriot," David Davidian. This was all the way back in April, 1993.) Serdar Argic appeared to be a one-man army in those days, and it was thanks to his contribution that the contents of this document already had made it to TAT.

Branch : 1
Section : 2
Hasankale
6 March 31 (19 March 1915)

TO: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Code-Cable
According to the cable of 3/4 March 331 (16/17.3.1915) from the Gendarmerie Division Command in Van, Armenians at the Sitak district of Van Province attacked the Gendarmerie and the Gendarmerie posts and have destroyed telegraph cables.

Punishment units were dispatched to the region and the detachment proceeding toward Sitak was confronted with Armenian gangs and clashes started. The matter is being investigated in Van province and further results will be submitted. .

Provincial Authority of Van

Code-Cable

According to the coded cable of 3/4 March 331 (16/17.3.1915) of Gendarmerie Command in Van Armenians in Sitak district attacked Gendarmerie posts and clashes started between the detachment sent for the case and Armenians. No information has yet been received from your provincial authority. Report the incident in detail and henceforth report such cases directly immediately.

Signature

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 160
Drawer No 5
File No 2818
Section No 9
Contents No 1-15

 

Office of the Acting Supreme Commander of the Ottaman Army
Branch: 1

Private
(26 March 331) 7.4.1915

To His Highness, the Armenian Patriarch

Dear Sir,

The Patriarch Zaven: His information did not conform to the facts. What a surprise.

Your detailed explanations and the information you gave to us do not conform with the existing documents. Nevertheless, the commanders have been ordered to make investigations into the incidents that you described. I declare here once again that the Government's policy, as indicated in previous correspondence, is to treat the people kindly and with absolute justice.

I wholeheartedly trust and attach the utmost value to the friendship and loyalty of the protected Armenian nation to the Ottoman country. I have not changed my mind about this for I have always maintained an unswerving and unreserved confidence. However, I am sure you would also accept as an able person promoted to one of the highest echelons of our country, that unfortunately there are some stupid people being misled by foreigners. It is obvious that these people are resorting to brute force for the realization of their dreams. It is most unfortunate that the Government is sometimes compelled to take harsh measures to discipline them with the sole objective of protecting Ottoman land. I am unable to describe the pain we feel when such a compulsion become unavoidable.

It is a fact that unrest can be quelled without assuming grave dimensions, if the leading figures of the nation heed our advice, deplore foreign provocateurs and make efforts for the Government investigations to deal only with such persons.

The services and activities of Your Highness are of great value for consolidating friendship and unity among the citizens and showing them the right path to follow as well as helping them to come to their senses. I present my best regards to Your Highness with the firm, belief that the afore-mentioned services will be carried out. Thank you.

Archive No 1/1
Cabin No 101
Drawer No
File No 13
Section No 63
Contents No 4-2, 4-3

Third Army Command
Very urgent
No: Tel-168

The coded message (7 April 331) 20 April 1915, received from
Mr. Cevdet, the Governor of Van

1. The rebels opened fire on the security stations and houses in the vicinity of the Armenian quarters of the city. Fire was returned and the area defended.

2. As a result of clashes between the bandits near the village of Atalan, considerable number of rebels were killed by last night and Atalan and Peltensi villages as well as the Akkilise Monastery, fortified as a stronghold, were burned down and destroyed.

3. Gevas telegraph line. has been repaired and communication resumed.

4. Today, Baskale-HavaSor-Mirmurtal-Resat telegraph line was cut. Repair of this line is under way.

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 5
File No 2947
Section No 628
Contents No 3-4

Office of the Acting Supreme Commander of the Ottoman Army

Istanbul
26 April 1915 (13 April 1331)

First Section
No:
Top Secret

To the Office of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Defence

Enver Pasha: would the arrest of treacherous ringleaders constitute a "genocide" in any other country?

Since the Government has decided that the branches of Hinchak, Dashnak and similar committees both in the capital and provinces will be closed down immediately; that the documents and papers at these branches will be confiscated without being destroyed; that the presidents of these committees, their leaders, active members known by the Government as well as influential and malicious Armenians will be arrested immediately; that those whose stay in their places of residence is regarded harmful will be made to stay in more suitable places and measures taken to prevent their escape; that searches for weapons will be conducted in suspicious places; that the suspect will be brought before courts martial; cooperation with administrative officials and civil servants as well as immediate response to their calls for help are hereby demanded as a priority.

Acting Supreme Commander
Enver

This order has been conveyed to the:

First Army Command
Second Army Command
Third Army Command
Fourth Army Command
Fifth Army Command
Deputy Command of Iraq and Environs
Fourth Army Corps Command
Bosphorus Command
Dardanelles Command
Headquarters in Istanbul
Deputy 12th Army Corps Command in Mousoul
Office of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of National Defence
Army Department
Defence Department
Directorate of Judiciary
Security


Security Section
13 April 31 (26 April 1915)

To be preserved
16 April 31 (29 April 1915)

Archive No 1/131
Cabin No 101/149
Drawer No 14-4
File No 2287
Section No 32-12
Contents No 12-1

 

The Regulations Concerning the Management of the Land and Properties Belonging to Armenians who Have Been Sent Elsewhere As a Result of the State of War and the Extraordinary Political Situation.

Article 1 - the management of the land and properties belonging to Armenians who had been moved elsewhere, will be carried out in compliance with these regulations by specially formed commissions and assigned officials whose .authorities are indicated in the following articles:

Article 2 - Following the evacuation of a village or district, all buildings with furniture and other objects belonging to the Armenians who have been sent elsewhere will immediately be sealed by the special council or a civil servant appointed by the administrative commission, and taken under protection.

Article 3 - The type, amount, value, and the name of the owners of the goods taken under protection will be registered in a detailed way. Later on, these goods will be sent to convenient storage places such as churches, schools, and, houses. Care will be taken to catalogue the goods under the names of their owners. Furthermore, the type and amount of goods, the name of their owners, where they are found and protected will be included in registration records, the original copy of which will be preserved at the local government and a ratified copy at the Commission for Abandoned Properties.

Article 4 - The movables whose owners are unknown, will be registered in the name of the villages where they are found and they will be preserved in the name of the village.

Article 5 - Of movable goods, the ones that can become spoiled and the animals will be sold at an auction by a council to be appointed by the Commission. The money received as a result of the sale will be preserved in the name of the owner. If the name of the owner is not known, the money will be delivered to the financial office for preservation at the village or district trust where the sold property belongs. A document showing the type, amount, value and the owner's name of the auctioned goods will be prepared and registered in a special book, and the bottom of the document will be ratified by the council conducting the auction. Furthermore, an explanatory record will be arranged, the original copy of which will be preserved at the local government and a ratified copy at the Commission for Abandoned Properties.

Article 6 -- Care will be taken to preserve the goods, pictures and holy books found at the churches in their original places after they are registered and listed. Later on, the local governments will send these belongings to the places where the population is resettled.

Article 7 - The type, quantity or number and value of goods and land deserted by the population will be registered in a book and the lists of abandoned properties and land will be drawn up for every village and district and they will be delivered to the administrative c commission.

Article 8- In the case of a crop to be harvested from an abandoned field, it will be sold at an auction by a council consisting of members appointed by the commission. The money received as a result of the sale will be preserved at the financial office in the name of the previous owner. A record will be prepared and its original copy will be preserved at the local government and a ratified copy given to the administrative commission.

Article 9 - If no one wishes to buy the crop, it can be sold to anyone by underbidding provided that the payment is made immediately; The money received from such sales or lease will be delivered to the financial office in the name of the original owner.

Article 10 -Representation documents for using the movable and immovable properties of the population who had been moved elsewhere are not valid if they are drawn up after the departure of the original owner.

Article 11 -Migrants will be resettled tn evacuated villages and the existing houses and the land will be distributed to the migrants through temporary documents by taking into consideration the capacity of work and demands of the migrant families.

Article 12-The places of origin, settlement date, and resettlement places of the migrants will be registered in detail on the basis of their birth registers and by the houses they move into. Furthermore, the houses as well as the type, .amount, and value, of the land given to them will separately be registered and/the migrants will be given a document showing the quantity of land and property given to them.

Article 13 -Since the migrants resettled in villages are responsible for protecting and preserving the houses and the fruit trees in the case of damage, the villagers will collectively pay for the loss no matter who is responsible. Those who repeat damaging things will be moved away from the village and. their rights as a migrant will cease to exist.

Article 14 -Following the resettlement of the migrants, the nomads will be resettled in the remaining villages in the region and the procedures related to the resettlement of the nomads will be similar to those applied for the migrants.

Article 15-Care will be taken to resettle the migrants from urban areas to the evacuated houses in the towns and districts and they will be given enough land in line with their financial and economic situation in the past as well as their productive power.

Article 16 - Income providing buildings such as shops, inns, factories, and depots as well as the ones which are not suitable for the resettlement of the migrants and the ones remaining vacant following the resettlement of all the migrants and the properties and land falling outside the scope of activities and expertise of the migrants as laid down in Article 18 may be offered for sale by the administrative commission or councils consisting of local administrative and financial officials under the supervision of the commission.

Article 17 -A book showing the type, quantity and value of the land distributed to the migrants as well as their names will be kept as a basis for identity registration.

Article 18 -Vineyards, orchards, olive groves and similar places in towns and villages may be distributed to those migrants in line with their needs and success. However, they must prove that they have the necessary experience, knowledge and energy and they must make immediate payments for these places. After the quantity of land and property distributed as well as the names of the new owners are registered in a special book, the migrants enjoying this right will be given a document explaining the situation. The land which is not distributed to the migrants will be sold by public auction as indicated in Article 16.

Article 19-With the exception of the migrants sent from other provinces with a special warrant upon orders from the Ministry of Interior or with the permission and approval of local governments in the provinces, those who arrive in evacuated villages and districts as migrants and demand resettlement by submitting petitions, must produce official documents proving that they are migrants, that they have not been sent to any other place or resettled elsewhere, or that they had to migrate and were sent to these places by a special order.

Article 20 - The land property that no-one wants to buy, may be leased for a maximum period of two years provided that the tenant assumes responsibility for the protection and maintenance and compensation of any sort of damages and pays a pledge.

Article21 -Detailed lists will be prepared in order to show the type, quantity, place, rent, and the names of the tenants or new owners, of both the sold or leased property and land by underbidding.

Article 22 -The sum received as a result of the sale will be trusted to the financial offices in the name of the original owners and it will be paid to the owner according to the information to be given later.

Article 23 - The Administrative Commissions for Abandoned Properties are responsible for the conduct of the administration of all the abandoned properties in evacuated villages and districts in line with the articles of this regulations.

Article 24 - Regarding the administration of the abandoned properties, administrative commissions will be directly dependent on the Ministry of Interior and they must act within the confines of the orders issued by the Ministry of Interior. The commissions must also inform the local governments about their decisions and practices.

Article 25-The applicable decrees of the regulations are subject to permission from the Ministry of Interior regarding the formation of the councils and commissions which would administer and protect the abandoned properties. It is up to the administrative commissions for abandoned properties to appoint civil servants on salary with permission from the Ministry of Interior and to issue directives within the framework of these regulations. Copies of the directives thus issued will be given to the provincial governments.

Article 26 - Even though the commissions and officers for migrants are assigned the task of sending migrants for resettlement in evacuated places, speeding up and arranging the process of resettlement at such places, supervising the resettlement activities in general, as well as making decisions in agreement with local governments and implementing them are among the tasks of and they fall within the scope of the authorities of the commissions for abandoned properties.

Article 27 -The commission is obliged to briefly inform the ministry and the provincial government about its researches, final views, and activities every 15 days.

Article 28-The administration of the properties by the administrative commissions for abandoned properties will be conducted within the framework of the decrees of these regulations and the local civil servants will be responsible for correspondence.

Article 29 -The members of the administrative commissions for abandoned properties are collectively responsible for the administration and protection of such properties and land in the region as well as for the financial procedures.

Article 30 -The administrative commissions for abandoned properties consist of a specially assigned chairman and two members, one from the financial and the other from the administrative offices.

Article 31 -Communications and correspondence are conducted by the chairman himself or by in the name of the chairman a member elected by the chairman.

Article 32 - If he deems it necessary, the chairman of the commission for abandoned properties can assign one of the members to search for, supervise, or conduct anything included in these regulations.

Article 33 -The chairman of the commission of abandoned properties receives one and a half liras and members one lira each per day from the allocation for the migrants. They can also receive provision for journey when traveling in the line of duty.

Article 34 -The local governments are entitled to put the decrees of these regulations into practice in the provinces for which no commission is assigned or sent.

28 May 1331 (June 10, 1915)

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No 109
Drawer No 4
File No 361
Section No 1445
Contents No 1-3

Holdwater: Obviously, the rules above would be misused at times, depending on the whims and corruption of the local officials. But they prove that the Ottoman government had its heart in the right place, and this document serves as the antithesis to "genocide."

Office of the Acting Supreme Commander of the Ottoman Army

Section
No:5832

The Coded Message from Ankara to the Office of the Acting Supreme Commander

C 33
Secret

District governors and section directors reported that about 300 armed Armenians from the villages in the vicinity of Bogazliyan attacked and burned down Islamic villages near Bogazliyan of the Maden District and that some other Armenians also attempted to attack the Islamic villages in Bogazliyan, killing the Muslim population and pillaging the villages. This situation has been reported to the 15th Division Command in Kayseri and the deployment of the entire Gendarmerie Battalion in Yozgat and the necessary number of Gendarmerie forces from other provinces in the afore-mentioned area in order to put down the attackers immediately and by harsh measures if necessary without causing any harm to the population loyal to the government. What will be done and the results will be communicated. 23 July 1915 (10 July 1331)

Acting-Commander of the 5th
Army Corps
Colonel
Halil Recai

Archive No 1-1
Cabin No 106
Drawer No 1
File No 152
Section No 384 (680)
Contents No 27-2

Date 24.7 Fourth Section
To be preserved
24 July 1915 Lutfu

Holdwater: Doesn't Armenian propaganda tell us all of the Armenian men were killed by this time? (Peter Balakian, for example, will vouch for their mostly having been done away with by early 1915.) Yet, not only were Armenian men alive and kicking, some were committing heinous crimes against defenseless villagers, with the "Turkish" menfolk away to fight the war.

No: 6738

The coded message from Aleppo to the General Headquarters

1. It has been reported that Armenians in one of the companies of the Urfa Worker Battalion killed their Captains as well as some of the Moslem conscripts and wounded other Moslem soldiers and escaped following an attack with pickaxes and shovels.

2. More than three quarters of the men forming the communication and transportation units, worker battalions, as well as porter and construction companies are Armenians. Even though there has not been yet any indication of testing their loyalty, they are probably not trustworthy. If it is necessary to keep them in such jobs and employ them, the remaining 600 out of 800 rifles which were demanded with the code dated 10 August 1915 with the objective of protecting the communication units and deterring such incidents, must be sent immediately. The 200 rifles received so far are not adequate for this job.

3. A big majority of the great number of Armenians working in Intelli and Ayran Tunnels, company jobs, timbering, and on communication lines are committee members and physically strong men. For this reason, I ask for the assignment and detachment of some 40 men from regular forces in the face of probable action by Armenian bandits or by above-mentioned Armenians. 28 August 1915 (15 August! 331)

Communication Commander
Major General
Veli

Arrival: 16
First, Section
4874

To the Sixth Section
The original copy of this telegraph was submitted to the Sixth Section. The Operations Section to be informed of further procedure. 24.8

On behalf of the Director
Lutfu

Second copy 1054
Archive No 1-1
Cabin No 108
File No 13
Section No 63
Contents No 8

Ministry of Defence
Army Department
Army Section
No: M/1950-31-0-1

Istanbul
(11 August 331) 24 August 1915

Very Urgent

To the Central Headquarters

1. It is necessary to send by this evening a 100-men detachment under the command of one or two capable officers along with the requisite spare ammunition and food sufficient for three days for the purpose of eliminating the incidents of robbery perpetrated by Armenians in the Yalova Region.

If this detachment can be formed from the battalion on the other side (Asiatic side), application should be forwarded to the Haydarpasa Lines Commissioner and it should proceed to Yalova via Gebze. If the detachment is to be formed at this side (European side), contact should be established with Docks and Ports Command for crossing the Strait.

2. The Maltepe Communications Post Commander will be responsible for the food supply of the detachment force. Major Refet, the Commander of the Izmit Gendarmerie Battalion will command the detachment. Following the termination of the mission, the detachment will re-join its regiment upon the order of the afore-mentioned major.

3. The hour of departure of the detachment will be reported to the Chief of Staff of the First Army.

On behalf of the Minister of Defence
Signature

Archive No 5/1920
Cabin No 204
Drawer No 3
File No 4708
Section No 2
Contents No 9-9

Office of the Acting Supreme Commander of the Ottoman Army

French Statement dated 22 September 1915

French cruisers have taken five thousand Armenian refugees, who had been resisting since the end of July on Mount Musa, north of Antiyuh Port and who recently ran short of ammunition and food, and transported them to Port Said.

The original document was given to the Second Section on 11-7
To be preserved/ 11-7

Archive No 1-1
Cabin No 10
Drawer No 2
File No 13
Section No 63
Contents No 16

The copy of the second article of the code no: 7664 and dated 3 0ctpber, which was sent by the Fourth Army Command

2- The confrontation in Urfa ended today with the conquest and destruction of the bandits' hide-out and the elimination of the rebels. The need for artillery support and the strong and reinforced refuge of the rebels which was made of stone were the major cause of the failure to solve this question beforehand.

Casualties from the gendarmerie forces and the people include 20 dead and 50 wounded.

M
10193
Second Section
18139

Archive No 1-2
Cabin No 109
Drawer No 4
File No 361
Section No 1445
Contents No 11-11

To the Office of the Prime Minister

The people who took refuge in interior regions by escaping from the war zone at the end of the military operations have been sent to new settlement places, resettled, fed, and given medical aid as well as clothes by our Directorate within the framework of the special organisation and arrangements given below in detail. The number of such refugees reached 702,900 by the end of October., Even though the people who took refuge and resettled through their own means without Government assistance are not included in the above-mentioned figure, they, too, are given financial aid when they request it.

Since the beginning of 1915 when the migration started, those who took refuge in cities and towns near the war zone such as Giresun, Samsun, Sivas, Elazig, Diyarbakir, and Mousoul were not kept in small squares or areas to prevent spreading contagious diseases. The refugees were also sent to places providing better sanitary conditions as well as food and resettlement possibilities. Transportation vehicles were provided for the women, children, and the sick to eliminate difficulties during transportation and care was taken to effect distribution and detachment in an orderly manner. Furthermore, health stations were set up and the refugees had vaccinations against smallpox, typhoid, typhus, and cholera.

Their nutritional needs were met during their journey and they were given hot meals in certain places. The rules and regulations concerning the administrative advice and practices to be put into effect by administrative directors and migration officials in connection with such assistance and basic protection principles have been prepared and submitted to Your Highness as Document No: 1. It has been regarded appropriate to take the utmost care in implementing these rules and regulations and to inform you briefly of the general results as follows:

The original residential places of the refugees as well as the regions selected as resettlement areas have been categorized in four groups with regard to climatic conditions, food resources, geographical resources and the general condition of transportation facilities.

"1" The refugees coming from Eastern Erzurum and the Trabzon coast have been transported to Ordu, Giresun, Unye,. Samsun, Bafra, and Kastamonu via both land and sea.

"2" The refugees corning from Western and Southern Erzurum and Southern Trabzon have been transported to Ankara and neighbouring regions via the Sivas-Tokat way or to Kayseri and Nigde via Sivas-Kayseri way.

"3" The refugees coming from the southern and southeastern part of Erzurum have been transported to Elazig, Malatya, and Maras via Kemah.

"4" The refugees coming from Van and Bitlis have been transported to Diyarbakir and neighbouring regions, Urfa, Gaziantep, and partially to Adana via the Diyarbakir route.

Since the transportation, resettlement, and food supplies of the refugees, the protection, feeding, and care of the widows and the orphans, and the treatment of and medical supply to the sick as well as the organization and facilities for such needs are provided and carried out in line with the local characteristics and requirements of every region, it has been regarded compulsory and appropriate to gather detailed information for every region separately.

1. The people living in Trabzon and the neighbouring coastal areas have been sent to Ordu, Giresun, and Samsun in small boats. Although this is the shortest and safest way of transportation at times of lessening enemy pressure, it could not be carried out as desired owing to the small number of boats. However, the number of people who took refuge and received government aid by this way reached twenty thousand. Even though some people have been transported by land via Karahisar and Sivas, or Niksar, Erbaa, and Amasya, the inadequate number of transportation vehicles could not bring the state of comfort and relaxation of the refugees to the desired level. Those coming from Ordu and Giresun by their own means and resettled in Terme and Carsamba, have been affected by malaria. Since further stay in this region is considered hazardous, most of them have been sent to Amasya and Merzifon and the remaining ones to those villages in the area unaffected by malaria and resettled there. Even though some of the refugees in Samsun have been affected by malaria, the distribution of quinine has lessened the effects of the disease and there have been no deaths. Some of the refugees, particularly the villagers, have been sent to Corum via Kavak, Havza, and Merzifon, and some of them to the Sinop- Kastamonu region via Bafra. The remaining group of refugees are being sent to the south within the scope of the possibilities available.

Today, the number of people who took refuge in the region is 79,100. 18,000 of these people are in Samsun, 18,000 in districts affiliated with Samsun, 4,000 are ready for transportation in Bafra, another 18,000 people are in Carsamba, 1,600 in Terme, 7,000 in districts affiliated with Terme, 18,000 in Unye and 5,500 in Fatsa.

Medical examination centres and food stores have been opened in Fatsa, Unye, Terme, and Carsamba for the medical treatment and feeding of the refugees going to the sub-province by land. Refugees are given hot meals and vaccinated in these places. Furthermore, the sick are undergiong medical treatment at special hospitals opened in Samsun, Carsamba, and Unye. In the meantime, the military communications hospitals set up in Fatsa, Unye, Terme, and Carsamba are also providing assistance to the refugees in case of need. Moreover, food stores have been opened at every four hours' walking distance on the roads for meeting the nutritional needs of the group of refugees traveling from the sub-province to Sinop via Bafra or those sent to Corum via Kavak-Havza road. An orphans house and a milk centre have been opened in Samsun and all refugees are given financial aid, adults being paid 30 paras a day and the children 60 paras. Porridge, boiled and pounded wheat with meat and rice are distributed once a day to the poor and rice are distributed once a day to the poor and the physically weak refugees.

2. The refugees coming from Erzurum and its environs to Sivas are taking the Susehri and Zara-Kochisar route to Sivas. The refugees to be sent to Corum via Tokat have been sent to Tokat via Susehri-Koyulhisar- Niksar route. Since the refugees coming to Karahisar via Alucra are to be sent to Kayseri, Refahiye route and Corum..... are transported via Mesudiye-Resadiye-Niksar route. With the help of the medical examination and food supply centres as well as health institutions set up by the military, the process of transportation has taken place in an orderly and continuous way. Particularly the number of people vaccinated as a precaution against a variety of diseases reached 150.000. Even though the sub-provinces of Tokat and Amasya of the Province of Sivas are included in the resettlement regions, since the number of refugees arriving in Sivas exceeded 300,000 and their food supply and resettlement needs could not be provided to the full at the inner provinces which constitute the operations area of the Third Army, 144,964 people have been sent to the directions of Corum, Yozgat, Kayseri, Nigde, Kirsehir and Konya in various intervals and the remaining refugees were distributed houses for resettlement in the region within the boundaries of the province of Sivas. So far, a total of 8,637 houses have been distributed and 2,154 houses previously rented were also given to the refugees by abolishing rents.

The widows and orphans among the refugees have been resettled in poorhouses and vocational schools previously established in many places and extended afterwards by the provincial governments. At such places, the women and the girls are taught carpet weaving, cloth making, and sewing and the boys are trained as blacksmiths, carpenters, tailors and similar professions. Our ministry is also giving financial aid to such institutions.. Milk centres, refugee hospitals and refugee kitchens have been set up in Sivas, Yenihan, Tokat, Amasya, Merzifon, and Zile, and the distribution of hot meals and meat to the poor and infirm refugees have been taken under guarantee.

3. Those who took refuge in eastern and southern regions of Erzurum and the western region of Van are proceeding into the interior regions of the province of Elazig via Kemah or Divrigi and Kangal, or Patoguzinhan routes. Although the requisite food supply and health institutions have been hampered by the adverse physical conditions of the roads and the lack of transportation has been hampered by the adverse physical conditions of the roads and the lack of transportation vehicles.

Those who arrive in the province of Elazig are being resettled in the central sub-province, Malatya sub-province, and the districts of Adiyaman and Besni. So far approximately eighty thousand people have taken refuge in this province. Of all these refugees, 4,500 people have been resettled in the districts of Adiyaman and Besni of the central district of Malatya. Some of the remaining refugees have been sent to Diyarbakir, and the others to Maras and Gaziantep via Malatya. Regarding the food resources and accommodation facilities, this province is thought appropriate for receiving more refugees. Therefore, it has been decided to make detachments from Sivas to this province in case of need. On the road from Malatya to Elazig, beginning from Sivas, food supply centres have been set up in Deliktas, Ulus, Kangal, Alacahan, Hasan-Celebi, Hekimhan, Hasanbadrik and in the centres of Malatya-Izoli-Kadikoy and Elazig. Refugees were given hot meals in these centres. The refugees also went through medical examinations at the health centres in Kangal and Deliktas and they received medical treatment at the Kangal Communications Hospital. A hospital, orphans' house, milk centre and refugee kitchens have been set up in Harput, Elazig, and Malatya.

4. The refugees who arrived in the province of Diyarbakir from the region of Van, Bitlis, and Mus, used the Palu-Guzinhan-Ergani or Siirt- Lice or Siirt-Silvan routes. Since the population increase in the province was over 200,000 people, it was decided to send some of the refugees to Siverek and Urfa affiliates via Siverek and the others to their pre-determined places of destination either via Mardin, Telermis, and Resulayn route or by railway with the objective of decreasing the number of people in Diyarbakir, included in the operations area of the Second Army. Following the establishment of the necessary food supply and medical centres along the Siverek road the transportation of the refugees by railway has started. However, upon the orders given by the Second and Fourth Army commands, it is seen that the refugees to be resettled in the western region of the Taurus mountains will spend the winter in Urfa and.the detachments to Islahiye by railway have been discontinued, with ceasing of transportation in Telebyaz Arab, that is Resitpinari, and detachments resumed towards Urfa. The number of people who took refugee in Diyarbakir is 16,901 at the central district and 16,162 at.the district of Mardin., So far, 40,000 refugees have been sent to Urfa. The detachment is taking place in orderly groups, the refugees are fed at the food supply centres set up along the road arid the groups are vaccinated to prevent contagious diseases.

A hospital and rest houses have been .specially set up for the refugees in Diyarbakir. Furthermore, about 10,500 children were brought to the kindergartens set up in Diyarbakir, Mardin, Siverek and Urfa. Detachments to Gaziantep and Maras have not exceeded 15,000 people at present and it is planned to send only 10,000 people to the province of Adana. However; the necessary arrangements on this route have been made and a refugee station has been set up in Pozanti as a precaution..

All sorts of administrative means necessary for the accommodation and feeding of the refugees until they are sent to their resettlement areas have been utiliized. Administrative Chiefs and Refugee Officials have been assigned with the duty of enforcing the decisions made in the Capital. A supervisor has been appointed for every region. However, as a result of the inefficiency of the branches of the Directorate General of Refugees specially set up for the accommodation of the Muslim population coming from outside and of the nomadic tribes, local government officials were also assigned to deal with the problems of the refugees and the employment of officials on a daily wage basis has begun in the necessary regions. Even though the problems of the refugees gathering together in operations areas such as Samsun, Sivas-Harput, and Diyarbakir initially until they are sent to their resettlement regions have been carefully dealt with and they are given financial aid on a daily basis, their movement and nutritional needs could not be met at the desired level owing to the difficulties encountered in providing the food supply and transportation vehicles as well as the climatic conditions and the poor road conditions. Despite these difficulties, however, a food supply was found at the Communications Depots of the Second, Third and Fourth Army commands and distributed to the refugees, furthermore, particularly the health councils of these armies provided much appreciated assistance in examining and treating the refugees.

The arrangements and facilities regarding transportation, nourishment, and accommodation are under the responsibility of the General Directorate of Refugees and Tribes of our Department and the Civil Service Control Boards have been appointed with the task of supervising the carrying out of these activities. Tackling health problems is being done through the mediation of special supervisors in harmony with the Ministry of Health. It is intended to leave the administration of the milk centres set up so far to the provincial governments. Since the extension of the scope of provincial governments is outside the authority of our Ministry, we ask the opinion of your highness about handing over the kindergartens to the Ministry of National Education afterwards.

No one should have the right to claim expertise in administering an exodus of about 800,000 people escaping from the difficulties created by the war, particularly in the face of the well-known internal situation of the country, climatic conditions and the fact that the elderly, women and children form the majority of the refugees.

However, establishment of medical examination centres along the roads, vaccination of the refugees, nourishment of the refugees at times of departure, provision of transportation vehicles to the elderly and the children, serving hot meals to those people at resting places during travelling, the partial, meeting of the clothing needs of the refugees, taking care of the people disturbed by such long journeys, the meeting of the basic needs of the refugees such as accommodation and nourishment, protection of the sick, the infirm, widows and the children at special facilities and their resettlement by providing houses and land have been conducted at a satisfactory level. That is, the question of refugees is being tackled by the Prime Ministry in an admirable manner in spite of all the difficulties arising from this situation.

The total amount of money spent for the refugees reached 25 million kurus in the last year of 331. The amount of money spent by the end of October, of the current year totalled 80 million kurus and approval has been given to spend at least 100 million kurus by the end of this year in order to meet only the nourishment needs of the refugees.

A schematic sketch of the institutions set up in the resettlement regions where the refugees have been and are to be transported, such as medical examination centres, hospitals, kindergartens, and workshops has been presented to the Office of the Prime Minister as document No: 2.

4 December 1916

Archive No : l .-.2
Cabin No :
Drawer No :
File No : 361
Section No : 1445
Contents No: 15 -- 22, 15 - 23

Holdwater: This document sheds light on the other side of the coin: the Muslim and other Ottomans who were getting resettled, no less against their will than the resettled Armenians. They were starving, getting sick, and suffering no less than the Armenians, yet no one ever spends a breath on them. Why is this? Were they no less valuable as human beings?

 

To the office of the Military Police

My wish,

Recently, some Greek, Jewish, and Armenian tradesmen asked the officials of the German Army in Istanbul whether they had any foodstuffs, gold, money, shoes/dresses, etc. and proposed very high prices in return. With the help of the Turkish police, the German patrols acquired the names of a few such tradesmen in Kadikoy and Moda and reported this information to us. A Greek named Kooperatif at the British store, a Greek tailor named Matezakis, and an Armenian wine and Liquor trader named Karabet who works at the Munyakit Han in Kadikoy are among the tradesmen known for such activities.

In the meantime, a Jew in Beyoglu named Isaac Levi, as indicated in the list attached to this petition, attempted to trade money with officials from the German Army.

I respectfully ask you to punish these mean tradesmen through legal channels and to prevent the repetition of such acts:

21-12- 1917
Senior Officer of the German
Military Police
Major
Signature

Archive No 5/1920
Cabin No 204
Drawer No 3
File No 4608
Section No 6
Contents No 13

To the Arbitration Section/ Date 9
Arbitration Section 33
Documents 22936

Coded Message No. 3804 from the 3rd Army to the Supreme Command

A summary of the statement of three persons who were sent from the Kemah Front to Erzincan a week ago, who have now returned is hereby, submitted :

1. The Headquarters of the 1st Caucasian Army Corps and of the 4th Turkestan Division have moved on 13.1.34 (26.1.1918) from Erzincan to Erzurum. Some 150 Russian soldiers have remained in Erzincan to guard certain depots and stores which have not yet been transferred to Erzurum. Some 1,000 Armenian volunteers old and young, in uniforms or in civilian [dressed] have been observed in Erzincan. They are led by Murad, one of the Dashnak leaders.

There are no Georgians among the Armenians in Erzincan. It is not clear whether Armenians have a regular organization or not. Three mountain artillery guns were seen in the Church square in Erzincan. The Moslem population is being secretly murdered by Armenians while plundering and rape cases are widespread. Armenians are also spreading information to the effect that very soon 20,000 infantry volunteers as well as banknotes printed on behalf of the Armenian Government will soon reach Erzincan. A former Armenian building, used by Russian Forces as a hospital, was burnt down by the Russians during their evacuation.

The Russians further started to move their troops from Erzurum to the Caucasus.

2. An Armenian gang raided the Koska Moslem village some three Km.s south-west of Ardase, burning the houses, plundering their properties and raping women. Inhabitants of Zekginc Village, 18 Km.s. south-east of Erzincan, suffered similar Armenian raids.

3. Please be advised that I have already written to General Odisalidje, Commander of Russian Caucasus Army and to General Benzavaliski, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Caucasian Armies, to prevent the cruelties underlined in Articles 1 and 2 above and to punish perpetrators.

22-1.34
Commander 3rd Army
Vehip

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No 113
Drawer No 3
File No 525
Section No 2046
Contents No 6-2, 6-3

Ottoman Armies Caucasian Front Command
No.738
Headquarters of the Armies
29.1.34 (29.1.1918)

To General Perjovalski
Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Caucasian Armies

Honourable General,

I am sorry to have the obligation of informing you, with deep regret, how terrible and painful are the uninterrupted cruelties and abuses by Armenians on the Moslem population of the Ottoman-land under Russian occupation, as is apparent once again with incidents recently reported. I am sure this situation is absolutely contrary to the noble feelings of the Russian Command and of the free Russian Army and that an absolute inevitable necessity for humanity and civilization prevails and I am also sure beyond any hesitation and doubt that you cherish the same feelings as your friends:

1. Son of Karamehmet and his four brothers from Zazalar Village now residing in Erzincan were cruelly hacked to-death by Armenians at the opium poppy mill.

2. Kurt Mehmet Aga in Demirciler of Erzincan was attacked while a Moslem women was kidnapped by Armenians.

3. Former Municipall clerk of Erzincan Mehmet Efendi was kidnapped by Armenians while his mother, his wife and his four year old child was brutally murdered and their bodies dismembered.

4. Armenians attempted to abduct the wife of Veysi, son of Gulbahar from Arus, and Veysi was murdered as he resisted.

5. Armenians murdered Dursun, son of Saso Huseyin from Mezraa Village at his home.

6. Ismail, son of.Mehmet from Pacenc was murdered by Armenians.

7.On 12 January 334 (12 January 1918) Armenians raided Keleras Village, shooting dead seven Moslems after tying their hands.

8. On 7 January 1334 (7 January 1918), a group of Armenians in Russian uniforms kidnapped some 50 men and women from the Ful district on the Black Sea coast, and took them in the direction of Trabzon. The corpse of Huseyin Cavus from Sahmelek Village four Km.s southwest of Sarli Pazari, who was among those kidnapped, was later found in the Ful river.

9. Two Moslems from Kizilagac, seven Km.s south of Sarli Pazari were found dead, apparently stabbed by bayonets, hands and legs tied.

10. An officer of Greek origin from Kar, provoked a few Armenian and Greek enlisted men, climbing on the minaret of Ful mosque, firing arms from the minaret; killing four Moslems who happened to be in the vicinity.

11. Vasil and Kosti from Cemberliogullari, from the village of Erikli of Yurul, now settled in Gorele in cooperation with Greek and Armenian soldiers, began a massacre against the Moslem inhabitants of the villages in the area, and unfortunately, Russian soldiers took part in a number of actions, during which women were subjected to inhuman and immoral attacks and humiliations.

12. For a month, Greek and Armenian gangs in Russian military uniforms have murdered the Moslem inhabitants of Nefsi Sarli, Akkilise and Inesil villages west of Sarli Pazari, plundering their properties and raping them.

13. On 5 January 1334 (5 January 1918) Armenian gangs raided the Islamic village Aralikos between Filteroglu and Gokeli east of Gorele and the Kirikli village seven and half Km.s east of Cavuslu, plundering the villages.

14. An Armenian gang of 50 men, raided Ardase district centre, plundering properties and burning the market street.

The above incidents are based on concrete evidence and documents, and I would like to point out that I have omitted incidents without clear proof and it is also possible that there are many incidents of which no information has yet reached us.

I wholeheartedly hope that measures and immediate action will be taken and that these measures will be urgently implemented. Please accept my deepest respects.
Certified Copy
Husrev

Commander, Caucasian Front
Ottoman Armies
General
Vehip Mehmet

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 162
Drawer No 2
File No 2905
Section No 433
Contents No 6-33, 6-34

War Documents File
No.

From Aluora
2.2.34 (2.2.1918)

COPY
To the Third Army Command

375 Special

Confidential

Captain Ibrahim efendi who was dispatched to the enemy area as reported in our Code No. 89 of 13.1.34 (13.1.1918) has written three reports at Duzlu village 3-4 Km.s southeast of Vakfibekir on 28 and 29.1.34 (1918). One of the reports is related to the surrender to the Russians of 3rd Lieutenant Sevket (Reserve) from the 5th Caucasian Division, 13th Regiment, 4th Battalion, who was sent to the enemy side for espionage. Necessary action will be done when the letter reaches the headquarters. Contents of the other two reports are briefly as follows :

1. Russians are from time to time using artillery and machine gun fire on Turkish guerrillas east of Kalederesi river. east of Polathane.

One Russian torpedo boat fired 40 rounds on 27.1.34 (1918) on the people at the region where the Iskefiye river meets the Black Sea southwest of Cape Yeros. The same Torpedo boat returned to Trabzon after machine gun fire on the western banks of the same stream.

2. The Greeks have completely withdrawn to Trabzon from Akcaabat district and from the villages of this district. Many diseases are widespread in Trabzon, people being vulnerable to many dangers.

While the Greeks of the region are gathered in Trabzon, the Moslem population of the town has withdrawn to the mountain villages.

3: A 2000-strong gang comprising Georgians, Armenians and Greeks, captured the town of Polathane on 27.1.34 (1918), erected tents in the region and carried out massacres against the Moslem inhabitants.

Moslem women were beheaded, faces slashed, and the mutilated bodies of Moslem men and women were exhibited in a shameless way.

4. On 28/29.134 (1918) Orus village 16 Km. southeast of Polathane was raided by an Armenian-Greek gang, and the whole Moslem population was massacred.

2nd Caucasian Army Corps Commander
Major General
Sevki

Certified True copy

Archive No 4-3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 1
File No 2697
Section No 440
Contents No 11-1, 11-2

War Documents File No.

Army Headquarters
6.2.34 (6:2.1918)

COPY

To the Supreme Command

Very Important and Confidential

In reply to your coded confidential message No. 1347 of 7.1.1918 and annex to our coded reply of 9.1.1918.

Translation of the Cable of General Liyotnan Odishelidje, Commander of the Russian Caucasian Army, on orders from the Southern Caucasian Government and signed by Parliament Speaker Kekochori, is submitted below.

Operations - 829.6,2.1918

COPY

Honourable General,

The Southern Caucasian Government, upon being informed from the cable of Geneal Odishelidje, of the instructions issued by Acting Supreme Commander H.O. General Enver, considers it a primary duty to extend its regrets for the delay, caused by reasons beyond its capacity. As to the proposal of General Enver extended by your esteemed self the Caucasian Government fully shares the humanitarian wishes of General Enver on the establishment of peaceful relations desired by both sides.

But Honourable General : The Caucasian Government cannot hide from your esteemed self, its obligation to unify its moves on the peace treaty with moves of other independent governments similarly involved in connection with the territorial integrity of the Russian Republic on terminating the war. The Caucasian Government has already taken necessary steps in order to learn the views of other governments on the issue. They will inform me of their views so I will submit it to your esteemed self to be passed on to the Supreme Command. Of course it will take some time and I hope that it will not be a trouble for you to wait for some three weeks.

Please accept my deepest respects.

On behalf of the Southern Caucasian Government

Assembly Speaker
Kekechkori

Coded on 7.2.1918

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 163
File No 2907
Section No 440
Contents No 12-18

 

War Documents File No:

Translation from Russian
Wireless Message

6.2.34 (6.2.1918)
DTG 3, 15 hrs.

Copy

Honourable General Vehip Mehmet
Commander, Ottoman Caucasian Armies

I deem it a duty to express my regrets for the following deplorable incidents:

Soldiers stationed in Erzincan, on speculations originated by provocateurs alleging that Moslems would carry out a revolution, have on their own, without orders, resorted to searches at homes of the Moslem population, and upon the wounding of a soldier by Moslems, arms were used against Moslems who opposed searching and there were casualties with unknown numbers on both sides. The intervention of officers stopped bloodshed and prevented the spreading of the clashes.

I hereby express my deep regret for the incident and have the honour to inform your esteemed self that I have taken strong measures against those who disturb security and those who resort to provocations against the Moslem population and that those responsible will be most severely punished.

Odishelidje

No:15132 January 1918
Received after 2.30 hrs on 6 February 34
by Susehri Telegraphic Centre.

Archive No 4-3671
Cabin No 163
File No 2907
Section No 440
Contents No 12-14

Telephone Confirmation
Confidential
10.2.34 (10.2.1918)

TO: 1st Caucasian Army Corps Command
Reply 10.2.34 (10.2.1918) Operations -31

1. As the ship from Istanbul, God willing, is inspected in Giresun by the evening of 12.2.34 (12.2.1918) to unload its cargo between 12/13.2.34 (1918), the advance operation will begin on 13 3 34. (1918) and the situation will be promptly circulated by an order.

2. The Kiranhan outpost is approximately 11 Km.s from llgarcayir, Yaverbey Tackle is 22 Km.s from the outpost and Yalnizbaglar is 8 Km.s from Yaverbey.

As has been informed, deployment from llgarcayir will start by the evening and at least Yaverbey will be reached. For, because of snow, and difficulty in movement of mounted units and carts, and as there will be night conditions, it does not seem probable to cover a 30 km. distance in one night and carry out an efficient operation in a possible assault the next day with sufficient and efficient forces.

It is therefore requested by Operations Order no 904 of 9.2.34 (1918) that the positions on slopes opposite the Erzincan Plateau (Eastern entry of Kemah Passage - Yalnizbaglar Northern Line) by the evening 12.2.34 (1918), in other words in two days, as the deployment will begin on 11.2.34 (1918). In the first day of the advance, powerful units with light gear will occupy the positions dominating the Erzincan Plateau, and in this way arrange the security of the forces.

As movement towards Kemah-Erzincan is more favourable and since. the Kemah passage is already occupied by the detachments, your views in this regard are requested.

3. Despite, this, however, you have full freedom in the arrangement of the operation. You can perform the arrangement the way you will consider it p oper. 10.2.1918 Operations.

Nazmi

Dictated to Captain Talat (GS) at 1st Arny Corps, via officers in intermediary telephone switchboards.

10.2.34 (1918)
22.45 hrs

Captain (GS)
(Signature)

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 1
File No 2908
Section No 444
Contents No 32/1

1,3.2.34 (1918)

To The 3rd Army Command

1. Despite the resistance of Armenian gangs in the Western outskirts of the city, the 2nd Battalion of the 108th Regiment, entered Erzincan after street-fighting, at.05.30. Clashes of a minor nature continue in the city.

2. Here is an account of today's developments:

a. A 100-strong detachment made up of 100 enlisted men from the 36th Division, made a surprise attack on the Armenian gang at Kurdish Birashikin. Two of the Armenian gangs were killed, the rest escaped. Meanwhile, before escaping they murdered ten people from the villages whom they kept as prisoners at Birashikin. Two of our men were slightly wounded.

b. Following this, the Operations Detachment of the 36th Division, occupied the slopes dominating the Erzincan pleteau.

c. Fighting broke out between troops from -the 9 th Division approaching Yalnizbag and Armenian cavalrymen. One Armenian was killed, the other escaped. Some 80 Armenian cavalry and 100 infantry were seen at Cukurkaya and Kirklartepesi respectively.

d. In the afternoon, the 2nd Battalion of the 108th Regiment was dispatched towards Erzincan for reconnaissance. This battalion broke the resistance of some 150 Armenian gangs firing from around the buildings at 03.00 and as indicated in paragraph one above, entered Erzincan.

3. No news has yet been heard from troops at West Dersim.

4. Forces occupying Erzincan have been strengthened. On the night of 13/14, the Western outskirts of Erzincan will be occupied. A strong detachment from the 9th Division, will be present in Horan for reconnaissance and observation in the Kirklartepesi - Sercebogazi direction.

5. I can see fire in one location in Erzincan and in two locations in the direction of the barracks.

6. The Army Corps Headquarters will spend the 13/14 night at Kurdish Birashikin.

7. This report was dictated to the telephone switchboard centre from Birashikin at 07.30 hrs on 13.2.34 to be written to the 3rd Army, 2nd Caucasian Army Corps, 4th Army Corps, 9th Division, 10th Division commands.

Dictated by phone 13.2

1st Caucasian Army Corps
Commander
Colonel
Kazirm Karabekir

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 1
File No 2908,
Section No 444
Contents No 42,42-1,

Ottoman Army
Acting Supreme Command
Section
No: B.C.
99

21:2.34 (1918)
Received

From the 3rd Army Command to the Acting Supreme Command Coded Message No: 51

1. In the 4th Army Corps 5th Division Front, the pier of Fikirbuh has been occupied by our troops.

2. There is no change in the position of the 1st Caucasian Army Corps. No report has yet been received on the arrival to the Ketur village of the Detachment, which as indicated in Report No: 50 reached Sansa village.

3. According to information received from the reconnaissance column in Bayburt, an Armenian gang of 250 infantry and 100 cavalry, left Bayburt and withdrew to Erzurum over Sandik inns. Before leaving Bayburt, the gang treacherously murdered and burned over 200 people.

4. The 5th Caucasian Division of the 2nd Caucasian Army Corps, occupied Bayburt with a strong advance column. The attached units of the Division are on Gelengec (453A) Kanta (53T) line with the main troops at Kanta -Hardis-Sonur-Ugrak line. The advance units of the 11th Caucasian Division are on the Vavok Mountain, Kazmaca, Ahzarya, Kolat inns, Zigana line. The 37th Caucasian Division is between the. immediate West of Trabzon and Polathane.

5. This report was delivered to the Susehri Telegraph office at 20.30 hrs on 20.2.34 (1918) to be transmitted to the Supreme Command, to the Thunderbolt, 6th Army and to the 4th Army Corps Commands.

20.2.34,0918) Checked.

Commander, 3rd Army
Vehip Mehmet

Archive No 1/1
Cabin No 105
Drawer No 1
File No 153
Section No 682
Contents No 45

Third Army Command
Chief of Staff

Section 1
Part 1 No : Coded

Army Headquarters

To the Supreme Command

According to a report of the 2nd Army Command of 6.2.34 (1918), a Russian car going past Sansa was destroyed by the Dersim militia and an officer and an enlisted man in the automobile were killed, and their documents seized. The documents were translated into Turkish at the 4th Army Corps Headquarters. Among documents, in a cable dated 5 January 34 (1918) to Colonel Morel signed by First Caucasion Army Chief of Staff Vishinski, it was stated that the 1st Armenian Snipers Regiment arrived in Erzurum, though, in a weak condition, urging good relations with the Kurds. Another document confirms Colonel Morelas Commander of the Erzincan detachment. Copies of the documents will be submitted when reach the Army Headquarters.

23.2.34 (1918) Operations 1240

3rd Army Commander
General
Vehip Mehmet

Coded 23.2.34 (1918)
M. Kamil

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 1
File No 2908
Section No 444
Contents No 16-2

 

 
3rd Ottoman Army Command

2.3.34 (1918)
Army Headquarters

Section 1
Part 1

No
Code:

TO: Supreme Command
Thunderbolt Group Command
6th Army Command
4th Army Command

1. No report has yet been received from the 5th Division of the 4th Army Corps front, and there is no change in the situation in the Mus region.

2. The Armenian gang reported by No. 60 in the 1st Caucasian Army Corps on Tilkitepesi - Karabiyik Inns - Karagol line were attacked by our advance units on the nights of 28/1 - 2 and 3 - and 3 - 34 (28/2 and 1-2/3-1918), gangs were dispersed and the line was retaken by our troops.

The Strength of the fighting Armenians was 400 infantry , 100 cavalry. reinforced by two mountain artillery guns. Before their retreat, Armenian gangs murdered some 30 women, children and men from the inhabitants of Tazegul. They partly burned the village before leaving, also burning Oreni village before withdrawing in the Erzurum direction. Cavalry reconnaissance columns followed them in the direction of Alaca 43 A.

3. A strong reconnaissance company from the 2nd Caucasian Army Corps was dispatched from Bayburt to Ispir, while troops advancing from the coastal line captured Rize. Reconnaissance columns proceeded from Rize in the direction of Atina.

There are only one torpedo boat and four ships in the harbour of Trabzon. Almost all of the Russian soldiers have been transported in the direction of Batum.

4. The weather is clear and cold.

5. This report was delivered to Susehri Telegraphic Office at 20.00 hrs to be transmitted to the Acting Supreme Command, Thunderbolt Group Command, 4th and 6th Army Commands, 2; 3. 34 (1918)

Operation (61) Husnu Lutfi

Commander, 3rd Army
General
Vehib Mehmet

Coded
2.3.34 (1918)

Archive No : 4/3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 6
File No : 2947
Section No : A-629
Contents No . 3-2, 3-3

Erzurum

21 . 3. 34 ( 1918)

Chief of Staff
of 3rd Army
Coded.

To Acting Supreme Command

Reply : Para. 2 of Code Operation 1156 dated 13/14. 3. 34 (1918)

The Situation in the cities of Erzincan and Erzurum which we have recently taken over is given below:

These two beautiful cities of our country which are alike in the calamities and .destruction which they Suffered, have been destroyed, as the specially designed and built public and private buildings of these cities were deliberately burnt by Armenians apart from the destruction guttered during the two-year Russian occupation, when the Russian army was lodged in the buildings Both cities have to be rebuilt as both are in a miserable condition.

At barracks buildings of Erzincan, the cavalry barracks in Erzurum, the Government building and Army Corps Headquarters are among those burnt. In short, both cities are burnt destroyed and trees cut down.

As to the people of these cities :

All people old enough to use weapons were rounded up, taken to the Sarikamis direction for road-building and were slaughtered. The remaining people were subject to. cruelties and murder by Armenians following the withdrawal of Russians and were partly annihilated: the corpses thrown into wells, burnt in houses, mutilated by bayonets, their abdomens ripped open in slaughterhouses, their lungs and livers torn out, girls and women hung up by their hair, after all kinds of devilish acts. The few people who were able to survive these cruelties, worse than those of the "Spanish Inquisition," are in poverty more dead then alive, horrified, some driven insane, about 1500 in. Erzincan and 30,000 in Erzurum. The people are hungry and in poverty, for whatever they had has been taken away from them, their lands left uncultivated.

The people have just been able to exist with some provisions found in stores left over from the Russians. The villages round Erzincan and Ezurum are in the worst condition. Some villages on the road have been levelled to the ground, leaving no stone on stone, the people completely massacred.

Villages far from the Armenian region maintain their existence, but every day groups are taking shelter with the armed forces because of famine. Let me submit to your information with deep grief and regret that history has never before witnessed cruelties of such dimensions. I would like to bring again to your attention, as I have also presented to the Ministry of Interior, the urgent need of the measures necessary to keep these people alive. The operation has been going on now for 40 days, and I would like to point out that the Moslem fighters saved from the Armenian cruelties are now facing the calamity of famine.

Operation
23 March 34 (1918)
Lutfi
Commander, 3 rd Army
General

Coded
March 34 (1918)
Hakki

Archive No : 4/3671
Cabin No : 163
Drawer No 5
File No 2947
Section No 628
Contents No : 3-1, 3-3

Holdwater: Horrifying, isn't it? Worse than the "Spanish Inquisition"..! History has rarely seen such inhumanity, save for the stories the Armenians made up with Turks as perpetrators, which evidently did not take much imagination.

 

3rd Army Command
Army Headquarters
29.3.34 (1918)
Section 1

Group Command

Contents of the report by the Armenian Forces Commander in Erzurum General Antranik written to the Caucasian Army Commissioner General Odishelidje from Koprukoy on February 27 at 22.0 hrs. upon the fall of Erzurum, and as published in the Caucasian newspaper Kabasluv, are summarised below:

1. The fleeing of Caucasian Armenian soldiers to their homes, and lack of officers and organization of Turkey's Armenians, has led to the fall of Erzurum in an unexpectedly short time. Our 3.000 infantry in Erzurum, rushed to train cars and fled to Sarikamis, disobeying the orders of their officers. Armenians in Hinis and its vicinity are ordered to withdraw to Karaurgan and prepare for positions there. The position of our men in Erzurum and their fleeing to Sankamis gives the impression that defence was not possible. In the last part of the Report, Antranik says he had informed me by radio message that peace talks have started in Trabzon and that he had ordered his men to withdraw from the border, and that he had applied to me expecting that Turkish soldiers would not cross the border pending the result of the talks, but such an application has not been made to me.

2. In a later issue of the same newspaper, it was reported that General Antranik has submitted his resignation to the Special British-American Council dealing with the Armenian Organization in Tiflis.

3.. The papers also refer to the Georgian Army Corps Commander General Gabayev as Georgian Commander-in-Chief.

4. In its issue of 8.3.34 (1918) the newspaper Kabasluv reports that the 4th Georgian Regiment has been sent to Kobotesli east to Curuksu, without completing its organization and arrangements for its provisions to protect the railroad, and that the Regiment Commander remained in Batum.

29.3.34(1918)
Operation
Nazmi

Commander, 3rd Army
General
Vehip Mehrnet

Archive No : 4/3671
Cabin No . 163
Drawer No : 5
File No . 2948
Section No : 632
Contents No : 6-2, 6-3

1.4.34 (1918)

To the 4th Army Command

Code.
Reply to code 3/34

Please be advised that from the date of the liberation of Erzurum 12 March 34 (1918) until 20 March 34, in the city of Erzurum alone the corpses of 2,127 Moslem males murdered by Armenians were found. Searches continue and your command will be further informed about any others found.

Lutfi

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No : 163
Drawer No : 5
File No 2947
Section No 628
Contents No : 3-4

752/4/5

URGENT TELEGRAPH

To Mr. Seyfi
Chief of Section at General Headquarters in Istanbul

Origin : Erzincan
No : 4626
Words : 100
Received : 1 May 34 (1918)
Location :
Hour : 0900
Signature : (Not clear)

Originated
334 0900
(1 May 34) (1918)

All villages from Trabzon up to Erzincan are piles of debris. A great percentage of. the villages were burnt to the ground by Armenians during the Russian evacuation. Villagers are suffering more from the non- Moslem population than the Russians. Cemeteries were turned into theatres by Russians. Mosques are full of fertilizers, obscene pictures painted on their walls. Fruit trees on the Trabzon-Erzincan road are cut down, homes destroyed, hungry women are begging on the roads. Christian villages have been protected. Erzincan is a scene of tragedy. Wells are full of the corpses of Moslems. Dismembered bodies, hands, legs, heads are still spread all over the gardens of the homes. The gates of the most decorated Armenian houses are covered with blood. A great part of the Moslem population was locked in the houses by Armenians and slaughtered in the entrances. The city is destroyed.

General Headquarters, Head of 2nd Section
Captain
Ahmet Refik

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No 109
Drawer No 4
File No 359
Section No 1023 (1435)
Contents No 3-36

File of War Documents

COPY

To General Perjovalsky, Commander in Chief
of the Russian-Caucasian Army

Dear General,

The withdrawal of the Russian troops from the territories behind the Russian intermediary front, resulted in the deliverance of the Turkish population of the region into the hands of the cruel Armenians, and the total disruption of peace and order within the region.

The incidents of murder and inhuman acts committed by the Armenians on various dates have been increasing day by day and according to the information I have received, the regions of Erzincan, Ardase, Gumushane, Vakfikebir. and Polathane are now turning into centres of massacre.

I have learnt with a great sorrow that the city of Erzincan witnessed a great number of terrifying events on the night of 15-16 January, from the message delivered via telephone, bearing the signature of Captain Chaplikiri, and which had been sent by the Commander of the Erzincan Military Units Colonel (GS) Morel to the Russian members of the Refahiye Armistice Commission. This letter justifies the allegations that the incidents were caused by the wounding of a soldier by a (so-called Moslem), during the search of a house believed to contain hidden weapons and the sudden anger aroused among the enlisted men, resulted in the murder of more than one hundred Moslems (which were innocent people) and the burning down of a house.

Though the Russian troops are no longer in Erzincan, and though the Armenian renegade Murat (from Sivas),(who has violated the peace in the provinces of Erzurum, Van and especially Bitlis, with acts and of brigandry and of slaughter, so has been convicted to death in his absence by the Ottoman courts) had taken over the administration with his gang, though Colonel Morel did not have the authority to ban activities of this sort, though this incident is only the continuation of the series of incidents described earlier in my letters dated 24.12.33, 22.1.34, 39.1.34, 2.2.34, and numbered 7312, 632, 738,816, and reflected the Armenian schemes, carefully planned, that plotted the annihilation of the Ottoman Turkish population through arson, murder, pillage; and rape; and though I wholeheartedly believe in the goodwill of the High Commanders of the Russian Army, it is proved and justified that .these acts of anarchy cannot be controlled for unavoidable reasons. It is also a fact that similar incidents are increasing day by day.

The telegram sent by Colonel Morel to Captain Chaplikin carried the following sentence. "I am obliged to adopt some punitive measures by burning down the villages of those who support Kurdish brigand gangs, who are continuously attacking the soldiers, transport vehicles and stores situated on the road between Erzurum and Erzincan." This effectively silences the complaints against the measures implemented by the necessity of the military circumstances.

Since the burning of the villages does not comply with the military circumstances, and as I have explained before, though I hold the belief that these acts of arson were mainly committed by the Armenians and were intended to be seen as unpremeditated acts, I personally am convinced that in a period of a strong reapproachment between the Ottomans and the Russians, at a time of an establishment of a mutual confidence between the two nations. Such acts of murder and pillage, committed by the Armenian renegades, might be rumoured to be the work of the Russian soldiers, and this damaging and undesirable situation might result in the dissolution of the existing confidence and positive relations between the two countries. Thus, I kindly beg his Excellency, to justify my conviction that the allegations concerning this mistaken belief must be avoided through the implementation of all necessary measures.

The telegram which I have received from the Turkish and Russian members of the joint Armistice Commission in Kelkit indicates that the Commanders of the Army Corps and troops left Kelkit on 4.2.1918 and that their presence had been more grievous than the oppression and mistreatment suffered by the Islamic population from the Armenians; it also emphasizes that as no Russian soldiers are left in Kelkit, the Commission members have requested the conveyance of some Ottoman troops for the protection of the goods left in the stores in and around Kelkit. This request was prepared by the members of the Armistrice Commission and is signed by the members.

The telegram, sent: by Colonel Morel to Captain Chaplikin. and the above-mentioned document prepared by the Armistice Commission members have been enclosed in this letter and it is realised that the territories evacuated by the Russian soldiers must be improved by the implementation of urgent measures and decisions on behalf of the whole of humanity and civilisation.

I hereby announce that I am urged to send some troops of the two armies under my command, solely for the protection of the security of life and property of the Ottoman citizens who are unfortunately suffering from great oppression and mistreatment, in spite of the goodwill and sincerity of the Russian Supreme Command Commission, and for the establishment of order within the zones evacuated by the Russian troops. I would like to emphasize that my decision must not be interpreted as an act of enmity or hostility towards the Russian Army, and that I have given strict orders to my commanders concerning the avoidance of clash of any sort with the troops of the Russian Army and to act with full friendship and sincerity whenever encountered by Russian soldiers.

On this occasion, I would like to explain, in the words of a soldier, that all the articles of the Erzincan Agreement save those that have lost their validity, upon the withdrawal of the Russian troops, are considered as valid, and I would like to emphasize once more, that this operation is regarded as a necessity ,based upon wholly civilized and humane sentiments and that it carries no other aims than what I have just explained. With my deepest respect, esteemed General.

Commander of the Ottoman Armies of the Caucasian Front
General
Mehmet Vehip

Archive No 4/3671
Cabin No 163
Drawer No 3
File No 2927
Section No 535
Contents No 27, 27-1

Ottoman Army
Acting Supreme Command
Section
No

To the Third Army Command
(Copy)

In reply to Letter Operations 1031 of 13 May 34 (1918) :

1. Following the occupation by Armenians after the Russian evacuation, Armenians have burned and destroyed all Moslem villages and massacred the people. This horrible deed, was not committed only West of Border 93 (The border at the time of 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War) but also East of the border in Erivan, Gumru, Kars, Kagizman, Sankamis and partly in Ardahan and Ahilek in all the villages. The massacres are confirmed by documentary proof and evidence.

2. In order to carry out a detailed report of the cruelties and massacres by Armenians, investigations have to be carried out in all villages and regions so that all incidents are verified. Military troops in operations do not generally have the time and opportunity for such an investigation in detail and they have had no opportunity to investigate the massacres outside the operation areas.

3. Part of the incidents and occurrences investigated by military troops in the operation-regions are outlined below:

a. On 29 april 34 (1918), 3000 Moslems sent to Ahilek from Gumru on 500 carts, were completely massacred by Armenians.

b. Villages of Zarudsad (Arpacay) district and of Melik were burnt and inhabitants were massacred.

c. Again early in April, 67 villages of Suragil district were razed to the ground.

d. An Armenian force, 1000 strong, equipped with machine guns and two artillery guns in Kulp and vicinity, destroyed all villages in Kulp and Erivan region, East of Kagizman.

e. On 1 May 34 (1918), a 100-strong Armenian cavalry gang murdered over 60 women, children and men in Sibes, Tepe, Duzkent and region. On 25 April 34 (1918) 570 Moslems from Subusan village East of Kars were massacred by axes and knives and the corpses burnt. In Magisto and Alaca villages, over 100 women, children and men were murdered with the same brutality. All the inhabitants of Tekneli, Haci Halil, Kalul, Harabe, Dagor, Milanli, Ketak, Alaca and llham village were massacred by Armenians.

f. On 1 May 34 (1918) the inhabitants of Dangal, Acarca, Mulabi, Morcahit, Badigna, Havur, Koros villages around Ahilkeiek were massacred by Armenians and the villages burnt. Villages around Samran Northeast of Erivan and around Boguylu North of Kinefski over Arpacay were burnt and the inhabitants massacred. Many of our soldiers were prisoners of war at Kars and many in Gumru were bayoneted to death by Armenians in the presence of other Turkish soldiers.

g. In short, the majority of the Moslem villages of Kars, Sarikamis Erivan, Ahilkelek, and Kagizman have been destroyed by Armenians.

h. The above are only a small part of the crimes of Armenians in the region. But these can be viewed as examples of the overall scene. Further investigations are being conducted as far as possible. Other details will be submitted when available.

16.5.34 (1918)
Group Commander
Brig. Gen.
Sevki

Archive No 1 - 65
Cabin No : 149
Drawer No: 4
File No : 1847
Section No : 61 (89)
Contents No : 7-14, 7-15

Written by Toverdohieyov

REPORT

This document concerns the attitudes of the Armenians towards the Turks living in the city of Erzurum and the surrounding villages from the date of the beginning of the Russian Revolution, to the liberation of Erzurum by the Ottoman Army, on February 27, 1918.

Although this report is intended to be a supplement to the history of the Second Artillery Divison of the Russian Army, it can be considered and treated as a document !h itself.

May 27 1918, Batum
Translated from the Russian by Cavalry Major
Mehmet Hulusi, from Intelligence-Department of Central Headquartes

The enmity between the Turks and Armenians, which has been well known in Russia and Europe for a long time, was not expected to have manifested itself once again, during the First World War. It was already acknowledged that the Armenians hated the Turks. Furthermore, the Armenians had always attempted to present themselves as an oppressed and tortured community, and had always succeeded in creating the impression of a community, cruelly oppressed by the Turks, because of the specific character of their racial and religious enmity towards those people not of their religion.

The Russians, who have had considerable relations with the Armenians, hold a somewhat different opinion about the Armenians. The Armenians are in fact a despicable community, without any significant value. These people can only continue their survival by exploiting others. Moreover, the Russian peasants have their own opinions about the Armenians.

I have frequently heard it said among Russian soldiers that the Armenians are as rough as bears. The Turks did well in dealing with them and have given them what they have long deserved. However, the Turks did not do enough!. The Turks should have slaughtered them completely. Among the Russian troops, the Armenians had always been considered as inferior. Those people prefer to do anything rather than go to the front to fight. The attempts at desertion among the Armenians and self-inflicted wounds to avoid going to the war have justified this opinion. The things I have heard and seen during the two months, until the liberation of Erzurum by the Turks, have surpassed all the allegations concerning the vicious, degenerate characteristic of the Armenians. During the Russian occupation of Erzurum in 1916, no Armenian was permitted to approach the city and its environs.

While the Commander of the First Army Corps, General Kaltiyin remained in power, troops including Armenian enlisted men, were not sent to the area. When the security measures were lifted after the Revolution, the Armenians began to attack Erzurum and its surroundings. Following the attacks came the plundering of the houses in the city and the villages and the murder of the owners of these houses. The presence of the Russian soldiers had prevented the Armenians from killing, so the killing was then committed secretly.

The Executive Committee of the Revolution, which was established in 1917 by the amalgamation of the enlisted men in Erzurum, began to search everywhere on the pretext of collecting weapons. Since these searches were not made in an organized manner, they quickly degenerated into plundering. Plundering was widely committed by the soldiers, This plunder was mainly committed by Armenian soldiers who had remained in the rear during the war.

One day, while passing through the streets on horseback, a group of soldiers including an Armenian soldier began to drag two old men of seventy years in a certain direction. The roads were covered with mud, and these people were dragging the two helpless Turks through the mud and dirt.

I tried to do my best to save those two old men. I told them to treat these helpless people like human beings. The. Armenian soldier, leading the group approached me with a whip in his hand and asked: "Are you defending those creatures? The Turks slaughter us everywhere. They cut us to pieces and you now defend them . Is that so?" The remaining Armenian soldiers took his side. During those times, the Russian soldiers were so demoralised that they had acquired the habit of beating and even murdering the officers. Thus, I was in a very difficult situation. However, when a troop appeared under the command of an officer, the Armenians quickly disappeared. The troop sent the old Turks away, without hurting them. Following the withdrawal of the Russian troops, panic became widespread, for people were afraid that the Armenians who remained in the area, or who came after the withdrawal of the Russian soldiers, would terrorise the Turkish peasants. The leading Armenians guaranteed that such a situation would not arise. Furthermore, they were claiming that an agreement would be signed between the Turks and the Armenians and they were doing all they could for the drawing up of such an agreement.

During the night, one tended to believe that a period of peace and quiet would be settled. At first, people almost believed in the guarantee given by the leaders of the Armenian community. For example, the mosques, which had become virtual barracks for the soldiers, were evacuated. Furthermore, the mosques were no longer to be used for such purposes. A (gendarmerie) depot was being established, consisting of Turks and Armenians, and the Armenians themselves were remanding the establishment of courts for the crimes of murder and theft.

It was understood later that all these were nothing but tricks and traps. The Turks who joined the gendarmerie soon. changed their minds and withdrew. The reason was that most of the Turks who were on night patrol did not return, and no one knew what had happened to them. The Turks who had been sent outside the city for labor began to disappear also. Finally, the Court Martial which had been established for the trials of murderers and plunderers, began to liquidate itself for fear that they themselves would be punished. The incidents of murder and rape, which had decreased, began to occur more frequently.

Sometime in January and February, a leading Turkish citizen Haci Bekir Efendi from Erzurum, was killed one night at his home. The Commander-in-Chief (Odiselidge) gave orders to find murderers within three days. The Commander-in-Chief has bitterly reminded the Armenian intellectuals that disobedience among the Armenian enlisted men had reached its highest point, that they had insulted and robbed the people and that half of the Turks sent outside the city had not returned. He told the Armenian intellectuals that they should prove their honesty and morality and do what is necessary, and put an end to the tarnishing of the name of the entire Armenian community if they wanted the region to be under their control.

Furthermore, he also said that at that period when the First World War had still not yet reached a decisive point and the agreement envisaging the ceding of the region to the Armenians had not yet been signed, it was necessary for the Armenians to convince world public opinion about their strict obedience of the laws and their commitment to the concept of liberty.

The commanders of the Armenian troops and the representatives of the Armenian community have emphasized that the violent acts committed by Armenian renegades were in fact tarnishing the honour of the entire Armenian community, that a group of fugitive Armenians were attempting to take revenge for the past incidents, but that certain Armenian intellectuals were strictly opposed to these acts and that they were attempting to implement certain measures to avoid further violence committed by such outlaws.

A while later, rumours concerning the slaughter of Armenians by Turks in Erzincan began to spread. We learnt the details of this incident from Commander-in-Chief Odishelidje. They were as follows:

The killings were organized by the doctors and the employers, and the act of killing was committed solely by the Armenian renegades. I am unable to give the names of the two Armenians, since I cannot remember them. More than eight hundred unarmed and defenceless Turks have been killed in Erzincan. Large holes were dug and the defenceless Turks were slaughtered like animals next to the holes. Later, the murdered Turks were thrown into the holes. The Armenian who stood near the hole would say when the hole was filled with the corpses: "Seventy dead bodies, well, this hole can take ten more". Thus, ten more Turks would be cut into pieces, thrown into the hole, and when the hole was full, it would be covered over with soil.

The Armenian responsible for the act of murdering would frequently fill a house with eighty Turks, and cut their heads off one by one. Following the Erzincan massacre, the Armenians began to withdraw towards Erzurum. A Russian officer, who wanted to protect the transport line from the attacks of the Kurds, had once attempted to get some of the Armenian troops inside the transport line. However, since the Armenians did not like the idea of entering an organized war, they attempted to burn the houses of the Russian officers while the officers were sleeping. The Russian officers extinguished the fire with great difficulty and most of their properties were lost in the fire. The Armenian renegades among those who withdrew to Erzurum from Erzincan raided the Moslem villages on the road, and destroyed the entire population, together with the villages.

During the transportation of the cannons, ammunition and the carriages that were outside the war area, certain people were hired among the unarmed Kurdish population to conduct the horse carriages. While the travellers were passing through Erzurum, the Armenians took advantage of the time when the Russian soldiers were in their dwellings and began to kill the Kurds they had hired. When the Russian soldiers heard the cries of the dying Kurds, they attempted to help them. However, the Armenians threatened the Russian soldiers by vowing that they would have the same fate if they intervened, and thus prevented them from acting. All these terrifying acts of slaughter were committed with hatred and loathing.

Lieutenant Medivani from the Russian Army described an incident that he witnessed in Erzurum as follows: An Armenian had shot a Kurd. The Kurd fell down but did not die. The Armenian attempted to force the stick in his hand, into the mouth of the dying Kurd. However, since the Kurd had firmly closed his jaws in his agony, the Armenian failed in his attempt. Having seen this, the Armenian ripped open the abdomen of the Kurd, disemboweled him, and finally killed him by stamping him with the iron heel of his boot.

Odishelidje himself told us that all the Turks who could not escape from the village of Ilica were killed. Their heads had been cut off by axes. He also told us that he had seen thousands of murdered children. Lieutenant Colo!nel Gryaznov, who passed through the village of Ilica, three weeks after the massacre, told the following:

There were thousands of dead bodies hacked to pieces, on the roads. Every Armenian who happened to pass through these roads, cursed and spat on the corpses. In the courtyard of a mosque which was about 25x30 metre square, dead bodies were piled to a height of 140 centimetres. Among these corpses were men and women of every age, children and old people. The women's bodies had obvious marks of rape. The genitals of many girls were filled with gun-powder.

A few educated Armenian girls, who worked as telephone operators for the Armenian troops, were called by Lieutenant Colonel Gryaznov to the courtyard of the mosque and he bitterly told them to be proud of what the Armenians had done. To the lieutenant colonel's disgusted amazement, the Armenian girls started to laugh and giggle, instead of being horrified. The lieutenant colonel had severely reprimanded the girls for their indecent behaviour. When he told the girls that the Armenians, including their women, were generally more licentious than even the wildest animals, and that their indecent and shameful laughter was the most obvious evidence ot their inhumanity and barbarity, before a scene that appalled even veteran soldiers, the Armenian girls finally remembered their sense of shame and claimed they had laughed because they were nervous.

An. Armenian contractor at the Alaca Communication zone command narrated the following incident which took place on February 20:

The Armenians had nailed a Turkish woman to the wall. They had cut out the woman's heart and placed the heart on top of her head. The great massacre in Erzurum began on February 7. According to the present rumours, the enlisted men of the artillery division caught and stripped 270 people. Then they took these people into the bath to satisfy their lusts. 100 people among this group were able to save their lives as the result of my decisive attempts. The others, the Armenians claimed, were released when they learnt that I understood what was going on. Among those who organized this treacherous act was the envoy to the Armenian officers, Karagodaviev. Today, some Turks were murdered on the streets.

On February 12, some Armenians have shot more than ten innocent Moslems. The Russian soldiers who attempted to save these people were threatened with death. Meanwhile I imprisoned an Armenian for murdering an innocent Turk. The Commander-in-Chief sent orders for the establishment of a court martial. According to the old laws, those who have committed murder must be executed.

When an Armenian officer told an Armenian murderer that he would be hanged for his crime, the killer shouted furiously: "How dare you hang an Armenian for killing a Turk?" In Erzurum, the Armenians burned down the Turkish market. On February 17, I heard that the entire population of Tepekoy village, situated within the artillery area, had been totally annihilated. On the same day when Antranik entered Erzurum, I reported the massacre to him, and asked him to track down the perpetrators of this horrible act. However no result was achieved.

At the club of the artillery officers, Antranik promised in front of everyone that discipline would be established. However, this promise was never fully kept. When Antranik and Doctor Zaverliev were sent by the Caucasian government to Erzurum to restore discipline within the region, the turbulence in the city somewhat decreased. In the villages whose inhabitants had been massacred, there was a natural silence. When the Turks proceeded towards Ilica, the arrests of the Turkish population by the Armenians began once again. Especially on 25 and 26 February, the number of arrests were considerable. On the night of 26/27 February, the Armenians deceived the Russians, perpetrated a massacre and escaped for fear of the Turkish soldiers. Later, it was understood that this massacre had been based upon a method organized and planned in a circular. The population had been herded in a certain place and then killed one by one. The number of murders committed on that night reached three thousand. It was the Armenians who bragged to about the details of the massacre. The Armenians fighting against the Turkish soldiers were so few in number and so cowardly that they could not even withstand the Turkish soldiers who consisted of only five hundred people and two cannons, for one night, and ran away. The leading Armenians of the community could have prevented this massacre. However, the Armenian intellectuals had shared the same ideas with the renegades in this massacre, just as in all the others. The lower classes within the Armenian community have always obeyed the orders of the leading Armenian figures and commanders. All the officers of my troops were Russians. However, all the enlisted men were Armenians, though they always obeyed our orders, although we had no Russian soldiers to oppose them, in case any rebellion occurred. Those Armenian enlisted men never attempted any murder. Even on the night of the massacre, although only one Russian officer was on guard at the barracks where the transportation vehicles were kept, none of the Turks in charge of the horses were murdered. It should be emphasized that there were only about 40 unarmed Turks in charge of the horses, whereas the surrounding Armenian artillerymen ran into hundreds.

I do not like to give the impression that all Armenian intellectuals were accessories to these murders, No, for there were people who opposed the Armenians for such actions, since they understood that it would yield no result. However, such people were only a minority. Furthermore, such people were considered as traitors to the Armenian cause. Some have seemingly opposed the Armenian murders but have supported the massacres secretly. Some, on the other hand, preferred to remain silent. There were certain others, who, when accused by the Russians of infamy, would say the following: "You are Russians. You can never understand the Armenian cause." The Armenians had a conscience. They would commit massacres and then would flee in fear of the Turkish soldiers.

Human conscience is created without a flaw, just like a precious jewel. It has to remain flawless. The Armenians answered all the claims of infamy and rebukes for the murderings of Turks as follows: "Did not the Turks do the same thing to destroy the Armenians? Our deeds are nothing but the revenge for what took place in the past."

The incidents that occurred only recently clearly manifest the real nature of the Armenian ideology. Nothing which is already done can be undone. The Armenians have sowed the seeds of havoc, but they have forgotten that they will ultimately reap the whirlwind."

April 16.1918, Erzurum

Acting Commander of Erzurum and
Deveboynu regions and Commander of
the Second Erzurum Artillery Regiment Prisoner of War,
Lieutenant Colonel Toverdodleyov.

Archive No 1-2
Cabin No 10
Drawer No 4
File No 410
Section No 1578
Contents No 1-12, 1-18

Holdwater: The above is actually the report of Lt.-Col. Twerdokhleboff. Another translation appeared in the memoirs of Jemal Pasha. More on the Russian officer.

30 June 1918
45

To His Honour the Chairman of the Turkish Commission
Kazim Karabekir

A copy of the wireless message sent to me on June 27 by General Nazarbekov, but which did not reach me is submitted hereby.

Chairman of the Commission
Brig. Gen.
Trakopov

Secretary : Bektashev

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No : 15/110
Drawer No : 11 - 4
File No- 401 '
Section No 1578
Contents, No : 3 - 1

No 1008
27 June 1918

To the Chairman of the Independent Armenian Commission in Gumru

Please inform the Turkish Commander that Antranik and his entire detachments, which did not obey my orders and which have been dismissed from the Army Corps, are indeed carrying out very cruel actions on the people in the Nahdjuvan region.

Naturally the Turkish Commander knows that the Culfa Railroad area south of Kamerli has been long since under the control of Moslem guerillas. I intended to disperse them but I failed. I myself and the Government are doing everything possible to disperse the Armenian and Islamic gangs terrorising the people. I have already informed Turkish Army Corps Commander Kazim Karabekir of the situation. I wish for the same measures to be taken by them in the border region. Please also inform the Turkish Commander of the clash between Armenian, Turkish and Tartar detachments near Kobalsara and Eymanshalo villages. The clashes possibly started by a mistake. I also request to be informed of the time and location as well as the size of troops and purpose of the movement, in order to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents. I can assure you that such incidents will not then recur.

Commander Army Corps
Nazarbekov

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No: 15/110
Drawer No : 11 -4
File No 401
Section No 1578
Contents No : 3 - 1

Ottoman Army
Acting Supreme Command
Section No:

Coded message No : 2271 received by the Supreme Command.
From Batum

To the Thunderbolt Armies Group Command

1. The daily report of the 6th Army has not yet been received.

2. Armenians had murdered some 200 Moslems in the villages around Culfa on the 9th Army Front up to 20.6.34 (1918), and an Armenian force of 2.000 infantry men and 600 cavalry men, surrounded the town of Orduabad on the Aras river 70 km.s, southeast of Nahcivan, according to a document received from the people of that village.

3. This report No: 6 was delivered to the Batum Telegraph Office at 23.30 hours on 2 July 334 (1918) to be transmitted to the Acting Supreme Command on to the Thunderbolt Armies Group Command.

2 July 1334 (1918)
Commander Eastern Armies Group ,
Esat

Checked: 7/3 3/5.7.34 (1918)

Archive No 1/2
Cabin No 113
Drawer No 4
File No 528
Section No 1050 (2063)
Contents No 1 -14

 

Ottoman Army Acting Supreme Command

Section :
No :
Confidential

Coded Message No: 763 from Gumru to Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command

In a cable I received from the Caucasian Islamic Army Command, it is stated that in recent days Armenians have murdered over 100 Moslems in Karabag and blocked the way for 300,000 Moslems in the region, murdering women and children of Moslems who want to return thus necessitating a joint operation from Azerbaidjan to the Southwest and from Nahcivan Region to the Northeast for the protection of the Moslems population.

As the problem of the Armenia-Azerbaidjan boundary is not yet solved, it is certain that Armenians will annihilate the total Moslem population of Karabag in order to claim the extension of their boundaries. Therefore, dispatching of forces to Karabag is imperative in order to protect the lives of the Moslem population. Although it is not possible to carry out such an operation with sufficient forces before a solution is found to the Baku problem, it will be proper if the 9th Army dispatches one regiment for the protection of the lives of the Moslem population for the time being. Militia to be dispatched under the protection of regular forces from the Islamic Army may also be effective in the Karabag region.

Pending for your orders. 24 August 34 (1918)
To Mr Seyfi
Eastern Armies Group Commander
Halil

Archive No : 1/2
Cabin No : 113
Drawer No 3
File N0° : 527 :
Section > :No : 7.1,5 (2056)
Contents ..No : 10

Holdwater: Interesting that the Turks were considering sending their army to protect the Azeris, a move that politically would have been too dangerous in 1992. Then, too, the Armenians massacred Karabakh residents and affected the lives of over double the 300,000 spoken of here.

Ministry of Defence
Department of Public Order
No 16077

Copy of the Letter No : 97 dated 28 August 34 From the
Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Defence

An investigation and survey carried by the District Governor of Yusufeli regarding the cruel and brutal acts by Armenians towards the Islamic population resulted in the following information: Vahan from Sedins district of Hodicor Village, accompanied by his gang of 30 armed men, have cruelly murdered 36 people from Yusufeli, and 150 people from Ispir. Later, in clashes with the people of the region, 40 people were killed and 15 wounded. After raping many women from Demnurkot, Vasis, Netmah, Tuhki and other villages in the region he and his gang have fled to Batum and according to a letter received from the Erzurum Provincial authority today, they are still there. It is requested that 20 copies of his photograph should be sent and measures taken to capture him. Please notify us of the result

Certified true copy
23 September 34 (1918)

Archive No 4 - 6520
Cabin No 170
Drawer No 2
File No 3190
Section No 64
Contents No 3-24

Eastern Armies Group Command
No:
Gumru
3.10.34 (1918)

Copy

To the Eastern Armies Group Command

The Moslem population withdrawing near Cermanos, 65 Km. north of Sahbahti, in the Gokcegol region, following attacks from Armenians, comprises of 500 families. They gave the following information:

Bapon, the new Gokcegol Region Commander of the Armenian Government, carried out a surprise attack on Kizilharabe village south of Gokcegol with a 1000 strong infantry unit reinforced by four machine guns and two artillery guns, and after a one and half day clash inhabitants of the village escaped, their goods and provisions plundered by Armenians. An urgent solution is required, particularly for the needs of these people.

9th Army Commander
Brig. General
Sevki

Political and Military Representation in Erivan

A copy of the report from the 9th Army Command is herewith submitted. Such applications are following one another every day. Representation is requested in the Armenian Government for establishing relief among Moslem people and for. return of their properties and goods.

Commander, Eastern Armies Group
General

Archive No 4/6520
Cabin No 170
Drawer No 2
File No 3191
Section No 69
Contents No 1-13

See also:

Documents On Ottoman-Armenians, Volume II

Documents On Ottoman-Armenians, Volume III

Armenians in Ottoman Documents (1915-1920)