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The following is the English
translation of a Turkish history book's chapter exploring the "ethnic
cleansing" crimes of the Armenians, utilizing archival evidence. The
reader should bear in mind that most of these records were prepared
internally, and cannot be construed as "Turkish propaganda."
Part II may be accessed here.
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As if The Graves Spurt Out the Dead Bodies
“Sanki Mezarliklar Ölülerini Disari Firlatmislardi” [As if the Graves Spurt Out the
Dead Bodies] is the title for Chapter 13 of “Arsiv Belgeleriyle Tehcir - Ermeni
İddialari ve Gerçekler
[Armenian Allegations and the Truth – With Archival Documents]”
Necdet Sevinç, Avrasya Bir Yayın, (Ankara, 2003).
Translated by: Hüseyin Avsaroglu – Kayseri, August 2007.
A cauldron was set up in the town center
Babies were boiled
Ladies who had not seen the light of day
Were forced to dance at the tip of the sword
This verse which was written to describe the Armenian atrocities in the Salimbeyli
district of Adana (old Cilicia), summarizes the endless catastrophe facing the Turkish
people after the central government collapsed due to the Great War 1 (1914-1918).
Gaining courage from the French occupation forces Armenians started killing their
neighbors of 900 years one morning, in order to invade the lands they wanted and declare
their autonomy. Women and young girls were forcibly brought by armed men and stuffed into
the Government Hall. Children and babies were taken from their mothers’ arms, boiled in
cauldrons, and served to their mothers on trays. The above verse is part of a poem chanted
by an unfortunate Melek Hatun after her late daughter Afife.[1]
An eye witness from the same village described to accomplished researcher Cezmi Yurtsever,
how Kurdish Genco was killed; “They caught Sergeant Major Genco and brought him to the
Government Hall. They nailed him upside down to the nearby plane-tree from his hands and
feet. They killed him by skinning him alive.[2]
Similar incredible scenes of atrocities sending chills through the spine of reasonable men
were witnessed by the French, British and Russian soldiers in most cities all over
Anatolia while it was under their invasion. We mean to say those who claim they suffered
genocide by the Turks and those who passed resolutions in line with such outrageous claims
are guilty of attempt to perform genocide on the Turks.
Russians in the East, British and the French in the South collected old broken down rifles
from the Turkish villagers after invading their land. Later they armed the Armenians and
sent them to destroy whatever was left over; mostly women, children and the elderly from
their enemy, the Turks. After approving Greek atrocities in the West, the British armed
the Nestorian population[3] of Mosul in addition to the
Armenians in an effort to wipe out the Turks. They also provoked the Kurds. Mr. Marlin
informed Sir Edward Grey on Sep, 3 1912; “Not only the Balkans and Europe, but the
Arabs, Armenians, Kurds and all different races must be severed off from the Ottoman
Empire”[4], Lord Curzon was not embarrassed to write
to Wardrop on 11 March 1920; “Boghos Nubar and Mr. Aharonian paid a visit to me. I
scolded them for their stupid actions. I explained to them the stupidity of using on the
Azerbaijanis the armament that we gave them to kill the Turks.”[5]
It is interesting to note that the weapons were given to the Armenians not to defend
themselves, but to attack the Turks.
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Arshavir
Shirakian |
The same unfair attitude prevailed in the
French, Italian and even the German rows. Arshavir Shiraciyan, who killed the
Ottoman Prime Minister Sait Halim Pasha in Rome, the well known İttihat and
Terakki (CUP) Party foreman Bahaattin Şakir in Berlin, and the Trabzon (Trebizond)
Mayor Cemal Azmi Bey also in Berlin, wrote in his memoirs translated into Turkish as
“Bir Ermeni Teroristin Itiraflari [An Armenian Terrorist’s Confessions]”: how
the Armenians hid the enemy soldiers, how they armed themselves, and how he
benefited from the Italian and German police.[6]
Almost all of the soldiers of the French Battalion who took over the city of Marash
from the British soldiers were Armenian.[7] The
number of Armenian soldiers among the French was reported as 3,000 by the Darende
Lieutenant Governor to the ministry of Internal Affairs (dated 11 Tesrini sani
1315).[8]
In a small city where there are no young men or ammunition to defend civilians, and
a collapsed central government, such large number of enemy soldiers causes big
threat. The belligerent Armenians of Zeitun who were already committing serial
murders must be added to this number of invading enemy soldiers. In such a situation
it must be noted that the French used the Armenians to commit genocide in South East
Anatolia, as well as Adana and Mersin.
Russians also did partake in the Armenian atrocities. Not only did they send them
ammunition to strike the Turkish Army from behind prior to the war, they also
encouraged the Armenians to annihilate the Turks in the cities they occupied.
A Russian Red Crescent Nurse, Tatiana Karameli who was also a student at the Moscow
Medical School, penned her memoirs including the time that she spent in Bayburt. She
mentioned that the Russian Commander Popov invited the Armenians aged 18-45 and
distributed weapons to them from the Russian Army’s stocks in Bayburt. This
Russian girl who said the murders of the region were organized by Arshak and
Antranik’s bandit forces also mentioned that all the Turks detained in Bayburt
were killed. Also, some of the 150 Turkish children that the Armenians took as
hostage with them on their retreat were killed en route.[9]
An Armenian state was planned to be founded east of the line drawn from Trabzon on
the Black Sea coast to Iskenderun on the Mediterranean, so genocide was committed to
the Turks living in that area, especially those living in and around Kars, Erzurum,
Erzincan, Bitlis and Van.
Genocide means intentional annihilation, with a plan, of people belonging to a
certain ethnicity, race, or religion,. As soon as World War I erupted, Armenians
started to exterminate the population of Eastern Anatolia because they were Moslem
or Turkish. Their method of destruction is comparable only to that of the Greeks in
Western Anatolia. By archive documents, it will be proven how this genocide took
place against the very same people who are unfairly portrayed as the guilty party.
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Armenians Performing Genocide in Erzurum
Torturing of Muslims by Armenians as told by a Russian lieutenant was reported by the 3rd
Army headquarters to the Chief Commander’s Assistant in a letter dated October 4, 1917
document number 939. Lieutenant Nikolas of the 136th Regiment who sought refuge at the
36th Caucasus Division on September 2 1917, revealed the following among other things; “I
wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said only 100-200 girls remained unmolested. The event
that I will never forget is the one which happened in the Southern suburbs of Erzurum. In
a house they entered, the Armenians tied a young mother in one post and her husband in
another. Then, they pegged their one year old baby at a stake they posted in the center of
the hall. I saw the baby’s mutilated body with my own eyes. Its mother went insane. She
was running around the town unconsciously.” Nikolas described another torture that he
witnessed as; “I have to explain with disgust the event which is a black mark on
humanity. In the Eastern part of the town, on our way to the Hasankale fort with our
regiment, I saw this ugly scene; a pretty Turkish girl was lying on the road with a pile
staked at her genitals.” “We carried the dead body far away from the road to make it
less visible.”[10]
Similar atrocities are described in different reports and told by other people as well.
Another report dated May 21, 1918 sent to the Chief Commander’s Assistant from the 3rd
Army headquarters reveals that young men of Erzurum and Erzincan who were old enough to
carry weapons were sent off to Sarikamish region by the Russians with the pretext of road
construction, but killed en-masse on the road. As a result the Muslim civilians were left
defenseless. The atrocities carried out by the Armenians on these Muslims who were left
defenseless is further reported as; “Most of the defenseless Muslim civilians were
exterminated by the Armenians upon the Russian army’s withdrawal. Some were thrown into
water wells; others locked in houses and burned down or put to the sword. In the locations
used as butcher houses by the Armenians, mutilated women’s and young girls’ bodies
were found with their abdomen cut open, their livers exposed, and eventually hang from
their hairs.”[11]
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Torkom: one fancy dan |
When the city of Erzurum fell to the Russian Army, its central
command was given to Colonel Torkum who was
of Armenian origin and later he was replaced by General Antranik. Thus, the city’s
control was completely left to the Armenians.
During the preparation period and following the Russian invasion, the murders took the
form of genocide of Muslims in the hands of Armenians under the leadership of these two
Armenian commanders. Antranik was the leader of a brigand unit. Some specific events to
mention are;
According to a report dated October 19 1920, 3,845 Turks were massacred in Erzurum’s
districts of Gürcükapisi, Tebrizkapisi, Gülahmet, Mahallebashi, and Erzincanbashi. All
of these people were mutilated by their heads cut-off, ears sliced, eyes carved out or
bodies skinned.[12] On their way to the city, 4,644
other Turks also fell victim to the Armenians while they were trying to escape the carnage
at the villages.[13]
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The year Erzurum fell to the enemies Armenians, who arrived at the Pekeriç Township
along with the Russian forces, grabbed the children of Karaçaylı Emrah and
Mahmut aged 6 - 7 and dragged them to the Church gates where they were strangled.
The genocide of the Pekeriç village is described by the report signed by Ilica
district manager Sükrü and the city’s Chief Justice Kemal as; “Fettaoglu Ahmet,
Mirim Ahmet Efendi, Ahmet’s son Halim, Corporal Akoglu Kaya, Mullah Mehmet
Mahyioglu of Jeddah, Corporal Mehmet with his son, Sudaga, Hafizoglu Halil,
Dellaloglu Sabri with his 7 year old son Hakki, Mevlut’s mom from Altintash,
Sheikh Beshir’s15 year old daughter Fatma, 8 year old daughter Naime of Bahri from
Kars, his other daughter- 4 year old Esmer were killed by Armenians in the most
terrible methods. The 150 women who took refuge in Mehmet Bey’s house in Pekeriç,
along with his family members, as well as 10 and 15 year old daughters of Mustafa
Efendi from Mamahatun, one of the daughters of Selim from Karaçay, 7 year old
daughter of village Chief (equivalent of Sherriff) Mullah Sükrü were raped by an
Armenian force of over 500 men. A 30 year old woman named İzzet Hatun and four
other women were strangled by Armenians before they were thrown into the well. In
order to take a gold ring, they cut off İzzet Hatun’s one year old daughter’s
finger.”[14]
Another report signed by Policeman Sefik and Commissioner Seyyit reveals that
Muslims of Hayk village and Pekeriç sub district were murdered by Armenians who
took pleasure from the screams of their victims and their children who were watching
the raping of the chief Islamic clerk along with over 100 Muslim women. In a
kangaroo court held in Pekeriç, over 400 Turks were condemned to death.
In the report explaining the genocide in the Peneskeral, Evrek, Çulakir, Ogudabap,
Haysos, Kamish, and Keban villages of the townships of Sivri and Narman, the
following is included at the end; “In the Perintek village of Oltu, the Muslim
population has been completely killed by Armenian bandits, small children were
thrown alive into the ditches along with the dead bodies.[15]
The Armenians killed 53 Turks in Pasinler[16],
6,787 in the villages of Pasinler[17], and
1,215 in the villages of Erzurum [18].
According to reports signed by Commissioner İsmail and Gendarme Battalion
Commander Mehmet, Armenians took over 500 old and disabled Muslims in a convoy to
the valley named Arapderesi and killed them there with their swords and raining
bullets.[19]
Over 1,400 Muslims (Turks, Kurds, and Circassians) were killed in Hasankale and some
of its villages, most of them by torching.[20]
In a telegram sent from the City of Erzurum Municipality to the Ministry of Internal
Affairs - Security Office on May 24, 1916, it is written that the Armenians killed
most of the 2,000 Muslims they took from the village of Hasankale. It also mentions
that they hanged 9 people to death in Erzurum city center, while sending off to
unknown places the population below 14 years of age; they killed by hanging 300-400
people due to a court held in the Pekeriç township; exterminated by machine gun all
the villagers of Hot located on the border of Narman; and burned down the villages
of Ergani, Cinis, Pezentan, and Semersheyh with all their inhabitants.[21]
In the same report they also complain that no Muslims were left alive around the
townships of Ashkale, Tercan, Ilaca, Tavuskert, and Artvin.[22]
Eight hundred and ninety three Moslems were killed in the township of Ashkale and
its villages Nardiban, Persor, Karabasan, Yeniköy, Topalçavush, and Ergemansur.[23]
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From a document dated October 26, 1920, it is discovered that 10,693 Muslims were killed
in the Kosor, Bardiz, Lisbik, Olur, Sarıkamısh, and Göle districts of the Oltu
provincial subdivision.[24] Following these
atrocities which were committed within a year period [25]
from 1919-1920, head of the Bardız township, Mehmet Dervis wrote in a letter he sent
to Oltu Chiftain on December 4 1920 that 651 Muslims were gunned down, and 261 were burned
alive in the 16 villages of the Bardız township.[26]
We learn from a letter written by the District Governor of Oltu to the Governor of Oltu on
December 5 1920[27] that 1,424 Muslims were killed by
machine gun, 705 by setting on fire, and 703 were stabbed to death by axes and daggers The
number of Muslims killed in the Peneskirt township of Olur District was 7,366.[28]
The Armenians, who burned down 682 people after collecting them from 16 villages of Hinis,
sent a torched bull on the women and children they collected in a house in Söylemez.[29] The 300 horsemen who raided the village of Sekman
first killed most men and then tore limb to limb around 100 women and children they could
gather on a roof top.[30] Only 69 of the 360 Muslims
of Todaviran could escape.[31] In 8 villages of
Haramivarton township, 138 people were killed with terrible methods.[32]
A different kind of drama took carnage at the Alishik village. The Armenians who first
ruthlessly raped village’s religious clergy Mollah Sükrü Efendi’s 8 year old
daughter Fatma, Major Sakir’s 8 year old daughter Nigar, Ali Mustafa of Sılıg’s
7 year old daughter Münevver, later sliced off Ali’s son Süleyman and trampled
Küçükömeroglu’s son Ahmet under their feet.[33]
Three people were killed by torching and 129 by axing in the villages of Köprüköy,
Epsemce, Sos, Kivank, Timar, and Haskale.[34] Number
of people set on fire in the village of Badıcı was 240.[35]
From Çögenler, Sos, Kivank, Timar, and Hasankale a total of 2,500 Muslims were
exterminated. In Köprüköy they were assaulted with axes, and majority were machine
gunned in the barracks they were gathered.[36]
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Kazım Karabekir |
It is understood that genocide of Turks continued until Erzurum was
saved by the Turkish armed forces. Their Commander Kazim Karabekir wrote that Turkish
detatchments buried 2,127 male corpses inside the city center, and 250 outside the
Kumkapısı. According to Karabekir, the number of total dead in the city center
of Erzurum was 8,000.[37]
Kazim Karabekir notes that upon setting his headquarters in the Alaca village, he saw the
elderly and the women were filled into barns and burned to death, while the young were
maimed with axes, and all children were bayoneted. He had seen body parts like hearts and
livers hanging on nails. He describes the carnage he found in Erzurum in his book “Erzincan
ve Erzurum’un Kurtulusu [Freedom of Erzincan and Erzurum]” with these words;
“… We saw such deplorable scenes, that even the thought that humans could sink to such
low levels was nauseating. People were running here and there in tears, some recognized
their sons’, their dads’, or their wives’ bayoneted or burned body. Most streets
were devoid of life. Armenians had boasted to the Russians that they tore off 3,000
Muslims, on the night of, March 11-12, 1918, alone.
“Lieutenant Colonel Twerdo (Twerdokhleboff)
also stated these events in his memoirs. At the railway station it was as if the graves
had spurt out the dead bodies. We passed through the corpses and saw a terrible massacre
of Turks. People were filled and then torched in buildings one across the other — especially the scene at Resul Bey’s residence was enough to send one
trembling.”
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Ahmet Refik’s Impressions
A commission to examine the Armenian atrocities on location was established in the
last years of World War I. Ahmet Refik was assigned to this commission as the
Turkish representative, while German Dr. Weiss and Austrian Dr. Stein were others in the
commission. Ahmet Refik compiled his observations as an unbiased academician upon
arriving in Erzurum, 55 days after the Turkish Armed Forces entered the city, in his
book “İki Komite İki Kita [Two Committees, Two Continents]” * which
was published in Istanbul in 1919. Some excerpts from his book;
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Ahmet Refik (Altinay) |
“Erzurum. May 6, 1918. I am in the midst of a
fire scene. This famous historical Turkish City is in ruins. Streets, mosques,
schools have all been demolished. Houses are full of human corpses. When the charred
remains of small houses are scratched even with a small stroke of a toe, various
body parts, pieces of arms, legs, feet, blackened human heads with grinning teeth,
children’s heads, appear. (…) While the Russians were pulling out of the city,
Armenians were getting ready to massacre. A Russian soldier wrote to his commander;
‘Armenians massacred 800 people, the city is left in ruins.’ Since the Russians
delayed the advance of the Turkish Army with political ploys, the Armenians had a
chance to raise the level of their cruelties.
“Armenians were resisting the Turkish Armed forces on the outskirts of the city.
Inside the city, they were killing Muslims after gathering them into barracks and
homes. Sometimes they were smashing their victims’ heads on chopped wood,
sometimes stuffing their bodies into water wells. The advancement of the Turkish
Army was increasing their hopelessness and the level of their cruelty. Once losing
their hope, the Armenian bandits turned into furious beasts. They were demolishing
the houses, burning buildings, and smashing religious shrines. They were leaving the
Turks in a pool of blood with their bayonets or bullets. Erzurum had become the most
fearsome scene of this bloody cruelty. Screams and weeping rose up into the fiery
and smoke filled skies of Erzurum; from time to time mosques, schools, old Turkish
forts became visible as white silhouettes among the flames. Hellish dreadful
catastrophe had descended on Erzurum. Beyond the enraged fire, victims whose
abdomens were cut open, livers removed were lying over snowy spots. Armenians
withdrawal from Erzurum was so brutal that hundreds of men were amassed in houses
before they were doused with gasoline and set on fire.
(…) Thousands of Turks’ corpses were collected along the streets. Two of the
houses in the Muslim district had been converted into murder locations. One of the
houses belonged to Mürsel Efendi and the other one to Haci Osman Efendi of Erzirmik.
These two houses were on the same street facing each other. While walking uphill,
the house on the right hand side appeared devastated with the top half burnt. Upon
entering the building , a huge hole became visible on the wall. The Armenians had
filled hundreds of Turks into this house and set it on fire with gasoline. Few of
the victims were able to escape from this hole on the wall. Turkish people’s
corpses remained under the debris of walls. Upon scratching the ground with a little
effort, one human arm was appearing. Upon further prodding, the head and the body
became visible with all its ferocity; the corpses were so damaged that the skulls
were leaking, grinning jaws were crumbling, greasy - black charred - squashed human
bones were mixed in the ground. When the garb was removed, the bodies were revealed
with all their vulnerability. The house across this house exposed the same murder
scene. Poor people were running around frantically searching for their moms, dads,
next of kin. Erzurum had turned into a blazing inferno.”
Mr. Ahmet Refik wrote in a cable that he sent to Karargah-i Umumi 2. Sube Müdürü
Seyfi Bey [Chief Armed Forces 2nd District Manager Mr. Seyfi] on May 8 1918 that the
Armenians had gathered 300 Muslims into an estate home and burned them alive one day
before they left the city and many other buildings were also burned after filling
them with Muslims. He reported that the atrocities were organized by Antranik and
French Colonel Morin. ** “He wrote the number of corpses collected so far is
4,000. The number of men, women and children that the Armenians killed is almost
2,000 in the Ilicalar District alone. Besides gathering people in houses and burning
them alive, Armenians also sent some men outside the city with the excuse of
building roads to murder them there.”[38]
Holdwater, notes:
* This book is "İki Komite İki Kital," and Kital has been
translated as 'Massacres';
** "French Colonel Morin" is probably Col. Morel, who was a Russian of
French origin. Morel is mentioned various times in Ottoman military documents, as this one.
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Atrocities Committed by Armenian in Erzincan
Similar to Erzurum, Erzincan was another city where Armenians found a chance to apply
their persecution.
Besides his military reports that were mentioned above, the Commander of the 2nd Artillery
Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Toverdo Khlebedov’s (Twerdokhleboff) personal memoirs are also among the important
documents describing the genocide applied to the Turks. The fact that the Armenians’
atrocities against the Turks is written by a military commander of an army which was
invading Turkey in collaboration with the Armenians makes these memoirs important
documents. This Lieutenant Colonel who was also the assistant commander in chief of the
Erzurum and Deveboynu Districts[39], published his
memoirs in Batum on May 27, 1918. They were translated from Russian into Turkish by
Communication Department Cavalry Major Mehmet Hulusi Bey of the Turkish Armed Forces
General.
Lieutenant Colonel Khlebov repeats the things he heard first hand from General Odishelidze
as; “Over 800 unarmed innocent civilian Turks were killed in Erzincan. Large ditches
were dug out and helpless Turks were cut up like sacrificial goats beside these ditches
before being thrown in en masse. If the Armenian who was guarding one of these ditches
said, ‘only 70 corpses have been thrown; this ditch can take 10 more’, they would
slice the throats of 10 more people to fill up the ditch completely before covering the
top with dirt. The Armenian who took this assignment would gather 80 people into a house
for enjoyment and smash their heads one by one as they were leaving through the door.”
The Russian Lieutenant Colonel says the villages on the way from Erzincan to Erzurum were
destroyed with the people living in them, and continues: “Odishelize himself said that
the Turks who could not run away from the town of Ilica were all killed and that he saw
many children whose necks were sliced from behind. Lieutenant Colonel Giryasnov retold on
February 26 the things he had seen while passing by Ilica three weeks after the Turkish
genocide there. On the roads to the villages, he had seen many corpses whose organs were
cut up. Every Armenian spit, swore and kicked around these corpses as they came across
them. A 25 by 30 meter mosque garden was filled with 140 cm deep pile of corpses of women,
children and elderly.
It was evident that the female victims were raped in worst circumstances. Rifle bullets
were inserted in many child aged girls’ genitals.”
Khlebov described that many people were nailed to the walls with their hearts removed from
their chests and placed over their heads. He says: “On the night of 26-27 February,
Armenians gave false information to the Russian soldiers and went to commit genocide on
the Turks, and later they ran away fearing the Turkish soldiers’ arrival. It was
understood that the genocide was performed with deliberate intention. People had been
gathered in one location ahead of time and then killed one at a time. The number of dead
had reached 3,00 that night”.[40]
Another carnage took place at Vahit Bey’s estate home. Suşehri Ottoman officials in
a letter sent to General Odishelidze on February 11, 1918 (with document number 967) wrote
that the Armenian patrol guards collected Muslim populations from their homes and first
stuffed them into the post office and later into Vahit Bey’s estate, and at 3:00 am set
the house on fire with all 1,500 people inside. The people who could throw themselves out
of the windows were gunned down or bayoneted by the Armenian riflemen stationed outside.
Women and children were burned the same night after being filled in fortress barracks and
three rooms, 1,000 homes were burnt, precaution was requested to avoid similar events.[41]
In Erzincan, Armenians were bombing or burning with kerosene the doors that they could not
break down.[42] When close by, they grinded the
people in the mill. In a cipher code message signed by Sükrü, the temporary replacement
of the Caucasus First Regiment Commander and addressed to the 3rd Army Commander, it is
reported that: “Municipality scribbler Mehmet Efendi who actually belonged to the Zazas
(a Kurdish clan) was grinded in the mill, his wife, mother and 4 year old child were taken
to an unknown destination and were also chrushed.[43]
The commander of the unit that reached Erzincan sent a report dated February 16, 1918 to
the Ottoman Army’s Commander in Chief, saying: “All villages located from Çardaklı
Strait down towards Erzincan were burned down without a single house or hut standing in
tact. ... For three days we have been collecting corpses of Muslims scattered around.
Among the victims, nursing babies, 90 year old folks, and torn apart women corpses exist.”
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Muslim children from Erzincan,
massacred by Armenians; from p. 62 of
Karabekir's book, "Armenian Cruelties from Erzincan to Erivan, 1917-1920"
("1917-1920 arası Erzincan'dan Erivan'a Ermeni Mezalimi")
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The fact that a large unit spent three days to collect the corpses shows the
dimension of the genocide perpetrated by the Armenians on the Turks. Since most of
them were burned en-masse, it was impossible to count the dead. We can learn from
Kazim Karabekir’s report that after the Russians pulled back, Armenians set on
fire the Turks they had collected into the barracks at gun point. They killed others
by filling them into water wells. The fact that Turks were stuffed into water wells
has also been verified by the subject matter of long messages between Turkish
Commander Vehip Pasha and Russian Army Commander General Odishelidze.
Kazim Karabekir Pasha, who rid Eastern Anatolia from the Armenians had this to
write: “Only a handful of people remained alive in Erzincan which was home to
20,000 Turks. If we were not succesful to save the few people who remained captive
inside the Müsirlik estate home next door to the army office, we could not have
seen anyone alive. All water wells were filled with murdered people’s corpses.”[44] Karabekir mentions that he had seen women who
had turned insane, cradling their bayoneted milk babies in their arms [45] and reports that the Turkish unit that entered on February 22 to
Mamahatun (which we call Tercan now) found not a single person alive. “I saw with
my own eyes that everyone was killed and thrown into a huge ditch. Fire was
everywhere. We were horrified with the Armenian cruelty that we saw in Mamahatun.
They had opened up an 8 meter ditch and filled it with gunned down, bayoneted,
undressed Turks of all ages and gender. Only one family from Mamahatun remained
alive because they could escape into the mountains.”[46]
The following excerpts are from a telegram sent by Captain Ahmet Refik in Erzincan
to the 2nd District Manager Seyfi Bey of Central Headquarters:
For the last two months in Erzincan, we have been busy burying Muslims’ corpses.
The number of bodies that we collected until now from water wells and roadside
ditches totals 606. These are the remains of the poor people who could not pull out
of Erzincan upon the Russian invasion of this city. Many of them were killed with
their hands tied behind their backs with telephone cable. The bodies removed out of
the water wells had gone rotten. While some of them had bayonet scars in their
chests, others had wire cuts visible in their throats. The corpses which could be
taken out of the water wells until now have been brought to the mosque yard. Those
who could be identified have been returned to their relatives. As of today, 3-4
thousand Erzincan citizens have been found dead. The remaining have no shoes; they
are left hungry, desolate and in poverty.”[47]
In his book named “İki Komite İki Kita [Two Commitees, Two
Continents]”, Ahmet Refik (who was representing Turkey at the International
Commission which gathered to investigate the Armenian atrocities) described how the
Turks were annihilated by the Armenians with whom they had been living together for
nine centuries with words: “Erzincan had turned into an execution location for the
Turks. Their corpses could be seen along the weeping or cascading waters of the
river Firat, or amidst crevices of huge rocks. The bodies of Turks killed by
Armenians which were clumsily left everywhere were often torn into pieces by hungry
dogs to become their meal. Grinning child skulls were sighted in front of dogs quite
often.
“Neighborhoods were in ruin all over. The collapsed walls of the houses showed
that the most horrible struggle between Turks and Armenians took place in these
locations. The corpses that were left along the road with fresh blood on them or in
water wells belonged to Turks who were killed by Armenians. Well decorated stone
walkways and freshly blossoming gardens of Armenians’ homes were stained with
large patches of blood. Looking into their narrow water wells left one’s heart
fainting with the repulsing stench and nauseating head spin. Hair and pieces of
clothing belonging to the Turks were visibly stuck on the edges of the water wells.
“Ruins, fire locations, wall sides were all filled with corpses of Turks or their
body parts like bits and pieces of arms, skulls, greasy leg bones, and some parts
not yet rotten.
“(…)Mamahatun appeared to be weeping with its ruined mosques, homes and torn
apart babies cradled in their mothers’ bosoms. Armenians had blasted the historic
mosque left from the Akkoyunlu dynasty and murdered most of the people. A wide ditch
down by the creek was filled with hundreds of Turks killed. Stench of human corpses,
clothes and shoes filled the air. Heaped were these corpses with their crushed
skulls, greasy leg bones, stinking arms and legs.”
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1. Cezmi Yurtsever, “Kan ve Gözyaşının Toprağa
Karıştığı Belde [District Where Blood and Tears Mixed with the
Soil]”, YTD, no 38, (Ankara, 2001), p. 1036.
2. Cezmi Yurtsever, ibid, p. 1037. During
his research, Yurtsever also came across a verse song for Genco. One of the verses was:
They killed the chief secretary
By beating him with a stick
They are skinning Kurt Genco
With self compliments
3. “Arsiv Belgelerine gore Kafkaslarda
ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt 3 (1919-1920) [Armenian atrocities in the Caucasus and
Anatolia According to Archive Documents - Volume 3 (1919-1920)]”, (Ankara, 1977), p. 57.
4. Erol Ulubelen, “Ingiliz Gizli
Belgelerinde Türkiye [Turkey in Secret British Archives]”, (Istanbul, 1967), p 121.
5. Erol Ulubelen, ibid. p.253-254.
6. Arshavir Shiraciyan “Bir Teröristin
İtiraflari [A Terrorist's Confessions] Translated by: Kadri Mustafa Oraglı, (İstanbul,
1977).
7. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre Kafkaslarda
ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 3 (1919-1920) [Armenian Atrocities in the Caucasus and
Anatolia - Volume 3 (1919-1920)]”, (Ankara, 1977), p. 59.
8. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapilan Katliam
Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 2 (1919- 1921)]”,
(Ankara, 2001), p. 75.
9. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapilan Katliam
Belgeleri - Cilt: 1 (1914- 1919) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 1 (1914- 1919)]”,
(Ankara, 2001), p. 363.
10. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 81, (Ankara, 1982), p.245.
11. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 81, (Ankara, 1982), p.377.
12. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapılan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 2 (1919-
1921)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 811. Names of Turks killed and more details are listed on p.
812.
13. “Arşiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 3 (1919-1920) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 3 (1919-1920)]”, (Ankara, 1977), p. 153.
14. Mehmet Hocaoglu, “Arsiv Vesikalarıyla
Tarihte Ermeni Mezalimi ve Ermeniler [Armenian Atrocities and Armenians in History with
Archive Documents]”, (Istanbul, 1976), p. 741.
15. Mehmet Hocaoglu, ibid. pp. 742-743.
16. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 4 (1920-1922) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 4 (1920-1922)]”, (Ankara, 1998), p. 150.
17. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapılan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 2 (1919-
1921)]”, (Ankara 2001), p. 809.
18. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 4 (1920-1922) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 4 (1920-1922)]”, (Ankara, 1998), p. 150.
19. Mehmet Hocaoglu, ibid. p. 741
20. For detailed report see; “Ermeniler
Tarafindan Yapilan Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 1 (1914- 1919) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities
- Volume 1 (1914- 1919)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 272 and others.
21. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapilan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 1 (1914- 1919) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 1 (1914-
1919)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 2.
22. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 1 (1906-1918) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 1 (1906-1918)]”, (Ankara, 1995), p. 52.
23. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 4 (1920-1922) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 4 (1920-1922)]”, (Ankara, 1998), p. 18.
24. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapılan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 2 (1919-
1921)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 901.
25. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 4 (1920-1922) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia – Volume: 4 (1920-1922)]”, (Ankara, 1998), pp. 16-17.
26. The villages where a total of 912
Muslims were killed are; Bardız, Güreshgen, Zakim, Çermik, Vartanut, Kürkçü,
Mitinder, Ehriz, Posik, Demirkishla, Yank, Müsünk, Katris, Pertos, Terpenk, Dakir, (?), as
per “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapılan Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence
of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 2 (1919- 1921)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 932.
27. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapılan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities – Volume: 2
(1919- 1921)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 935.
28. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 4 (1920-1922) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 4 (1920-1922)]”, (Ankara, 1998), p. 150.
29. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 4 (1920-1922) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 4 (1920-1922)]”, (Ankara, 1998), p. 164.
30. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 3 (1919-1920) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 3 (1919-1920)]”, (Ankara, 1997), pp. 21-22.
31. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 3 (1919-1920) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 3 (1919-1920)]”, (Ankara, 1997), p. 26.
32. “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapılan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 2 (1919-1921) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume 2 (1919-
1921)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 935.
33. Abdullah Yaman, “Ermeni
Komitelerinin Emelleri ve İhtilal Hakerketleri [Armenian Rebels’ Aims and Revolution
Methods]”, (Istanbul, 1973), p. 413.
34. Names of the victims, most of whom
were from Köprüköy and names of assailants that could be identified can be found in “Ermeniler
Tarafindan Yapilan Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 1 (1914- 1919) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities
- Volume 1 (1914- 1919)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p. 255.
35. None of the assailants’ names
could be identified, however the victims are listed in “Ermeniler Tarafindan Yapilan
Katliam Belgeleri - Cilt: 1 (1914- 1919) [Evidence of Armenian Atrocities - Volume: 1 (1914-
1919)]”, (Ankara, 2001), p.262 etc.
36. “Arsiv Belgelerine göre
Kafkaslarda ve Anadoluda Ermeni Mezalimi - Cilt: 3 (1919-1920) [Armenian Atrocities in the
Caucasus and Anatolia - Volume 3 (1919-1920)]”, (Ankara, 1997), p. 14.
37. Kazim Karabekir, “1917-1920
Arasinda Erzincan’dan Erivan’a Ermeni Mezalimi [Armenian Atrocities from Erzincan to
Yerevan in 1917-1920]”, (Istanbul, 2002), p. 83.
38. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 83, (Ankara, 1983), p.241.
39. Mehmet Hocaoglu, ibid. p.763.
40. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 81, (Ankara, 1982), p. 460-463.
It is impossible to believe the Lieutenant Colonel’s farcical claims that the Armenians
committed a genocide behind the Russian soldiers’ back. It is unbelievable that 3,000
people can be killed in an instant accidentally. It is out of context that the Russian
soldiers did not notice the torture which must have taken painfully long hours. The Russian
soldiers who joined the killing with the Armenians posed an angelic front in order to
cleanse their army off the criminal list. For this reason the Turks do not owe any thanks to
some Russian soldiers for leaving these documents.
41. Halil Kemal Türközü, “Osmanlı
ve Sovyet Belgeleriyle Ermeni Mezalimi [Armenian Atrocities In Ottoman and Russian
Documents]”, (Ankara, 1982), p. 54.
42. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 81, (Ankara, 1982), p. 279.
43. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 81, (Ankara, 1982), p. 267.
44. Kazim Karabekir, “Birinci Cihan
Harbini Nasıl İdare Ettik? Erzincan ve Erzurum’un Kurtuluşu – Cilt: 3
[How We Managed World War I - Saving Erzincan and Erzurum from the Clutches of the Enemy -
Vol.3]”, (Istanbul, 2002), p. 99.
45. Kazim Karabekir, ibid, p. 183.
46. Kazim Karabekir, ibid, p. 166.
47. Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi
[Armed Forces Historical Documents Publication] No. 81, Ankara 1982, p. 413.
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Don't forget:
Part II may be accessed here.
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