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ARMENIAN ATROCITIES IN MARASH DURING THE FIRST WORD WAR
Assoc.
Prof. Dr. Ahmet EYİCİL*
ARMENİAN ATROCİTİES İN
MARASH
According to 1908 Aleppo Province
yearbook, there were 4 Armenian, 3 protestant, 2 catholic and 1
Latin Church and 15 Christian schools in central Marash. 6
churches, 2 monastery, 1 non- Muslim high school and 5 elementary
schools were in Zeytun (Suleymanlı). 3 Churches in Elbistan and 1
Armenian church and 4 protestant schools in Goksun were running to
provide necessary things to the non-Muslims. The population of
central Marash was 67,974 of which 46,557 Muslims, 11,180
Armenians and 3,567 Catholic.
The Armenians enjoying wide religious tolerance of the Ottoman
Empire lived a happy life between 1453 and 1909. Some of the
ungrateful, adventurer, day dreaming, double faced, deceitful,
rebellious, liars, cunning, obstinate, opportunist Armenians , the
arch enemy of the Turks and the Islamic world, who could have done
everything for their own interest, were unable to realize the
faith of the Ottomans invested in them and the privileges they had
been granted, organized so many rebellions throughout the country.
There were numerous rebellions and mutinies among the Armenians
influenced by the adverse political propaganda carried out by
Russia, America and Europe against the Ottoman Empire. The
Armenians rose against the Ottoman rule in Zeytun in 1862, in Van
in 1863, and in Çarsancak in 1863.
The American College and the American missionaries in Marash
played a prominent role in the organization of the rebellion
staged in Zeytun. The missionaries agitated the Armenian people
living in the region against the Ottoman rule by spending millions
of dollars. The Americans further extended their activities by
assigning a consular to Marash.
*
Kahranmanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversity (KSÜ) Faculty of
Science, departmemt of History.
Abdullah Emircan, Mehmet Emin Gerger, Ermeni Vahşeti (Armenian
Atrocities), Cemre Yayınları, İstanbul 1992, p.15-16.
A. Nimet Kurat, Türkiye ve Rusya, Kültür Bakanlığı Kültür
Eserleri Dizisi 150, Ankara, 1990, p. 113.
There were nearly four hundred American educational institutes in
Turkey during the reign of Abdulhamit II. When the Ottoman
government tried to close the unlicensed ones among these, the
American consulate asked for the permission for 10 out of them.
The Ottoman government granted the permission for them. Among
these were the religious school, American Girl's school and the
residence of the missionaries in Marash. In other words three out
of ten institutes, which were allowed to continue their
activities, were in Marash. This in turn resulted in the rapid
increase in the number of American missionaries and the
intensification of their activities in the region.
The biggest goal of the Hunchack committee, centered in London,
was to make the European media aware of the so called Armenian
matter and provoke them against the Turks. In fact the Hunchack
committee in London was under total political and financial
control of the British government, and it was used as a tool for
their political interest.
The activities, planned by the leader of the Hunchack committee,
Nazar Beg, in London, were started in the first months of 1895.
The site chosen for the rebellion was Zeytun. A propaganda
committee consisting of the Hunchack members was sent to the
region. The committee started to arm the people and told them that
the British government was going to send them arms and money and
the British navy was going to occupy Mersin and Iskenderun ports
upon the start of the rebellion.
The rebel leaders of, representatives of the villages and the
members of the propaganda committee held a meeting in Karanlıkdere
in September 1895 where they decided the time, way and the site of
the rebellion. The rebels were equipped with modern English
weapons. The rebellion participated by 6000 Armenians started on
19 October 1895. The rebels occupied the governmental buildings
took the soldiers, officers, local and other authorities as
hostages. The rebellion spread all through the region in a very
short time as planned. However the rebels were surrounded by the
troops sent against them. The British, French and the Russian
Embassies anxious of the extermination of the rebels by the
surrounding troops, asked for the termination of the military
movement. As a result of the intervention of the consulates, the
rebels surrounded their arms and they, including the committee
members, were allowed to leave the country without any charges.
The rebels were allowed to leave the country. This was the end of
the rebellion.
Yaşar
Akbıyık, Milli Mücadelede Güney Cephesi: Marash, Atatürk Kültür,
Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu, Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi, Ankara
1999, p. 312.
Ahmet Eyicil, Marashta Ermeni Siyasi Faliyetleri (Armenian
Activities in Marash), Gün Yayıncılık, Ankara, 1999, pp.
214-226., Osmanlı Arşivi Yıldız Tasnifi Ermeni Meselesi
(Ottoman Archaives Yıldız Collection Armenian Question), Tarih
Araştırmaları ve Dökümasyon Merkezi Kurma ve Geliştirme Vakfı,
İstanbul, 1989, v. 2, p. 433.
In a congress of the Armenian committees directed by the patriarch
in 1905 in Paris, they decided to establish an Armenian state in
Cilicia (Adana and Marash). This decision taken by the influence
of the patriarch was the pact of the cross and the sword.
The Armenians ,who took the chance that the Ottoman Empire entered
the first world war, started to stab the Ottoman army at the back
and massacre the innocent Muslim population with big grudge and
hatred in order to ruin the Empire from the inside by the
provocation of occupying western forces. They ruthlessly massacred
1.5 million Muslims between 1878 and 1915. All these treason and
back stabbing of the Armenians culminated in the enactment of the
deportation law on 14 May 1915. The Armenians causing great harm
to the state and the people were deported to much safer regions.
On 23 April 1914 a gendarme team was sent to Zeytun to arrest
eight Armenian bandits hiding in a house. The bandits, who refused
to surrender, opened fire against the team causing killing an
innocent person. Just as the house was surrendered the Armenian
Patriarch started to provoke the people and the Armenians attacked
the gendarme team. The battle reached the proportion beyond
control and the gendarme team had to come back to Marash empty
handed.
The rebels from Zeytun attacked the 100 Muslims from Andırın
discharged from the Zeytun military command on 17 August 1917 and
killed them ruthlessly. They also killed many people from Beşen
village during this assault.
Erdal
İlter, Ermeni Kilisesi ve Terör (Armenian Church and Terror),
Ankara Üniversitesi ve Osmanlı Tarihi Araştırma ve Uygulama
Merkezi Yayınları, no. 3, Ankara, 1996, p. 55.
Emircan, ibid, p.26.
Askeri Tarih Belgeleri Dergisi (ATBD)(Military historical
documents), number 86, document no 2048, Ankara April 1987, p.1.
The Armenians who gathered at the house of Hunchack committee
leader Çakıroglu Panos decided to ambush the governor building,
kill the governor and cut the communication lines. Fortunately
this heinous plan was not put into action due to fact that they
were not able to take the necessary precautions and give the
necessary orders on time.
An Armenian gang of forty robbed 20 passengers at twenty minutes
walk from Zeytun and seized 12 000 kurus (Ottoman currency) from
them. Thirty soldiers in the barracks in Zeytun had to escape due
to Armenian oppression. When the worries that the Muslim people
would soon retaliate to the oppression of the Armenians
intensified, it was decided to send a squadron of 200 soldiers to
Zeytun. Although more troops were demanded, the battalion of 1160
men providing security of the city was not allowed to leave Marash.
A telegram sent to the ministry of internal affairs on 24 October
1914 signed by the fifteen prominent members of the Marash people
stated that the Armenian gangs had burned the Andırın governor
building, subjected all forms of oppression to the Marash people,
killed the men and made so many women and children widow and
orphan, the gang who had been residing in mountains had shed so
much blood since 1910, attacked 60 soldier going to Zeytun
garrison according to general mobilization and seized 250 liras
from them and had run away with it, some prominent people were
using their influence to make these gang go away unpunished, the
Muslims are very disturbed about this situation, this may have an
adverse effect upon the people to comply with the mobilization
order, Gandarme Ahmet had been killed a few days ago. It also
continued that the gangs were freed before the blood of the
martyrs dried of. It stated that if you refrain to punish these
gangs let the Muslim people free.
The Armenians provoked and used by Britain, Russia and France for
their own political interests started the activities to weaken the
Ottoman forces in the regions occupied by the enemy, organized so
many rebellions lead by the Hunchack committee and began to
massacre the Muslim people.
Veysel
Eroğlu, Ermeni Mezalimi(Armenian Atrocities), Sebil Yayınevi, İstanbul
1995, p.97-98.
ATBD, No: 81, Document no 1806, Ankara Aralık 1982, p.19.
The leaders of the Zeytun Rebellion were the head of the Hunchack
committee Çakıroğlu Panos, his brother Solakoğlu Mesrup and
Yeni Dünyaoğlu Nisan.
The Armenian gangs retreated back to Tekke monastery located at a
very steep part of Zeytun. During their chase Captain Suleiman the
commander of Marash Gendarme division and twenty five soldiers
were killed and thirty four soldiers were wounded. Some of the
rebels were captured but most of them escaped using the darkness
of the night and steepness of the location.
On 18 March a small gendarme division was ambushed by thirty
Armenian gangs between Marash and Zeytun. Six soldiers were killed
during the attack. At the same time the raw recruits coming to
Zeytun accompanied by two gendarmes were locked in a church.
The Armenian Gangs attacked a gendarme division carrying
ammunition to Zeytun on 10 April 1915. There was no peace and
comfort in the region due to constant attacks of the Armenian
gangs. Upon all these it was reported to the commander of IV Army,
Cemal Pasha, that the necessary precautions should be taken to
deport the Armenians living in Zeytun and Marash to Konya .
The Armenians took to rebelling against the Ottomans by the
provocations of France and Russia at every chance they got, raised
against the Ottomans on 18 March 1915 while the battle of
Dardanelle was going on and the stabbed the Turkish army, which
was trying to defend its homeland, at the back . This was
culminated in sending troop Saint Mary monastery on 25 March 1915.
The battle continued till late at nigh and some of the bandits ran
away. There were 26 soldiers wounded and one captain and 8
soldiers were killed in it. However 100 gangs were wounded and 37
of them were killed when the battle ended. Five bandits were
captured after the chase. Also there were large amount of
ammunition, Armenian publications and the seal of the Hunchack
committee seized by the security forces. As a result of insistent
chase and deterrent measures 300 gangs surrendered on 29 May. The
gangs escaped from the battle gathered in Ali Rock and Sultan
mountain. A division equipped with a mountain gun was sent against
them in order to prevent a possible massacre . The bandits who
managed to survive in the battle settled in a strategical location
called Fındicak and rebelled here again. Four hundred Armenian
brigands gathered in Fındicak village burnt houses in the
neighboring villages and killed 10 Muslims. The battle between the
Armenians and the 132. regiment started on 20 July and resulted in
2 soldiers got killed and three soldiers got wounded. As the
battle spread and intensified the commander of the fourth army,
Cemal Pasha, asked for the regiment to be supported with
additional troops . In Findicak rebellion, which continued till 2
August 1915, Turks lost seven thousand people, including two
thousand soldier and 5000 civilians. 2100 Armenian rebels were
killed.
ATBD,
No: 86, Document no 2049, p.5.
The name of Zeytun has been officially changed Suleymanlı in the
memory of Gendarme Major Suleiman Beg killed by the Armenians .
Yalçın Özalp, Milleti Sadıka Patırtısı ve Marash, (Royal
Citizens Chaos And Marash) Fatih Gençlik Vakfı Matbaası İşletmesi,
İstanbul (without date ), p.325.
EROĞLU, ibid. p. 99-100.
ATBD, No: 81, Document no 1820, p.98.
ATBD, No: 81, Document no 1823, p.112.
EYİCİL, ibid., p.333.
EYİCİL, ibid., p.340. ATBD, No: 86, Document no 2053, p.23.
EYİCİL, ibid., p.342.
ATBD, No: 81, Document no 1836, p.176.
EYİCİL, ibid., p.342-47.
The commander of the IV army Cemal Pasha was perfectly cognizant
of the danger and the damage of the Armenian rebellions, which
would be organized in the south. He was aware that great deal of
troops had to be deployed in the sensitive regions such as Zeytun,
where there is a dense Armenian population, for the establishment
of the peace and harmony in case such rebellions would occur. Any
rebellion, which would occur in Antep, Urfa, Marash, Dörtyol or
Zeytun, would facilitate the separation of Syria from the
Ottomans. The Armenians living in these regions used to organize
rebellions and they were waiting for a suitable opportunity. The
East Mediterranean commanders of the British and French armies
fully exploited this delicate situation and gave the necessary
instructions to get the rebellions started during the most
intensified period of the battle of Dardanelle. The head of the
American National Armenian defense committee Miran Seraslan, sent
a letter to the British Foreign Affairs ministry saying that they
had been ready to direct the volunteering Armenian brigades to
start rebellions in Sis (Kozan), Haçin (Saimbeyli), Fırnıs,
Marash and Fındıcak which would create a new battle front
starting from the Taurus mountains to Mediterranean and prevent
the Ottoman Army advancing towards Egypt.
AKBIYIK,
ibid., p.310.
AKBIYIK, ibid, p.311.
All the Armenians in Zeytun were deported to the other regions
because of the rebellions they organized against the Ottoman
state. The depths of the Armenians deported from Marash was erased
and the ones doing commercial business in the city were allowed to
remain in there. The ones mistreating the Armenians during the
deportations were appropriately dealt with and the Armenians
subjected to any form of injustice were compensated by the
Ministry of Finance.
Baghdad railway project caused the relations between the Ottomans
and the Germans intensified, which made the Britain very anxious.
Britain was very worried that this project would jeopardize the
security of the route, which connects her to India and Egypt.
Russia was against Ottomans getting stronger again. France was
very disturbed with the fact that the Germany had a bigger say in
the financial affairs of the Ottoman Empire and they were giving
support to the political aspirations of their ally, Russia.
Germany ,who guaranteed that she was going to comply with the
stipulations asked in 1903 Baghdad railway agreement, had her four
hundred missionaries and hundreds of domestic Christian associates
in Turkey at that time. The activities of the catholic German
missionaries were not less than those of their protestant
counterparts. Catholic and protestant Armenians were working in
the construction of the railway. The Germans were using Armenian
workers in the drilling works of the Taurous tunnels. The
Armenians under the protection of the Germans were working at the
construction site during the day time and become bandits at
nights. That caused the establishment of the Locomotive Brigade in
order to establish the security of the railway construction site.
Osmanlı
Belgelerinde lerinde Ermeniler (1915-1920), (O.B.E.) (the
Armenians in Ottoman documents ) Başbakanlık Devlet Arşivleri
Genel Müdürlüğü Osmanlı Arşiv Dairesi Başkanlığı, ( The
Administration of Achieves of Prime ministry , the office of
Ottoman achieves ) Pub. Nu:14, Ankara 1994, p.28.
O.B.E., ibid., p.37.
O.B.E., ibid., p.39.
O.B.E., ibid., p.188.
Edward Mead EARLE, Bağdat Demiryolu Savaşı, (Baghdad Railway
Battle) Translated by: Kasım Yargıcı, Milliyet Yayınları,
1972, p.18
Earle, ibid., p.136.
Earle, ibid., p.145.
An officer named Robert, a born Frenchman who become an Italian
later, become an Ottoman subject and employed so many Armenians
and Greeks in the construction of railway. The Armenians working
there continued their rebellious activities. That was why the
Ministry of Internal Affairs officially asked from the Marash
mayor for the return of the Marash Armenians working in the
construction site within 24 hours on 22 April 1916.
There were 8845 Armenians, 3845 men and 5000 women not subjected
to deportation in Marash on 26 May 1916. 500 of them were
Gregorian and the rest were Catholics. The Catholics were deported
due their role in the rebellions but the Gregorian were kept
exempt from the decision. Among the ones who were deported to
Mesken was Marash mp previously convicted Hırlakyan Efendi who
had became extremely rich by the tenders he obtained from the
state, participated the rebellions and played a major role for the
purchase of 50,000 martin and 70 000 lover guns and 2 000 000
bullets in the uprising in 1895.
The Armenian gang who went to mountains in order to organize
rebellions could not found any refuge in Muslim villages however
they could obtain quite big support form the non Muslim villages.
The Armenians gang who escaped from the pursuit hid in the steep
region and established contacts with the Armenian workers working
in the railway construction. The Armenian workers who gang up with
the brigands used the attack the Muslim villages killing people
and come back to work in the construction site without any trace.
There were some problems in providing the security of the
Armenians who were being deported. The government however took the
necessary precautions to prevent any undesirable incident. 200
Armenian committee men were deported from Izmir to Zor via Marash
on 13 November 1916 under guard.
12.
The written order of the headquarters of the army corps dated 22.
5. 1918 and numbered 1519 . Askeri Tarih Araştırmaları
Stratejik Etüt Başkanlığı (ATASE),( Military History Research
Institute) Folder no 4223, dossier no: 84, Document no 1-120. 12.
O.B.E., The administration of Achieves of Prime ministry, the
office of Ottoman achieves , Publish no:14, Ankara 1994, p.137.
O.B.E., ibid., p.140.
O.B.E., ibid., p.147.
ATASE, folder no 5168, dossier no 16, Document no 20.
ATASE, folder no 5168, dossier no 16, Document no 20-2.
O.B.E., ibid., p.158.
On December 5, 1917 there was a report that an Armenian Gang were
oppressing the people around Islahiye. These gangs were assisted
by the workers working in the construction site. The workers were
transferring the guns and the ammunition they stole from the
locomotive brigade to these bandits. The gangs with the support of
these workers were wreaking havoc in the region. The security was
tightened in order to prevent the terrorist activities of these
gangs and colonel Fuad was assigned to control the activities of
the people working in the construction site.
The activities of the gangs in the other regions were continuing
while the gangs of the Islahiye were chased. A detachment of 30
were was sent from Kilis and Antep in order to chase an Armenian
gang located in the Region of Ali Kayası at the north of Marash .
The pursuit of these gangs was completed on 14 February 1917 by
the help of the additional troops sent for the support of the
detachment originally assigned.
The first battalion of the tenth reserve regiment was deployed in
Marash starting from 16 November 1917 in order to neutralize the
Armenian gang terrorizing the Marash region, catch the run-aways
and established the peace and harmony in the area. This regiment
was not effective in the first two months. The detachments
consisting of forty soldiers each was sent to Pazarcık and one
detachment was sent to Andırın. The operations started on 16
January 1918 after the soldiers had been given a rest. However the
commander of the operation was not able to establish the necessary
discipline and he was not fully cognizant of the responsibilities
he had shouldered. This attitude of the commander encouraged the
Armenian gangs and they approached closer to Marash. Upon these
developments the authorities demanded the deployment of better
trained troops in Marash in order to stop the Armenian gang,
supervision of the region by the by super inspector of the area
and the commander be given the necessary instructions. So much so
that the order and peace in the city were completely destroyed on
27 January 1918 . The Muslims had great difficulties in entering
and going out the city. Even the Armenians living in the
neighboring villages joined the gangs.
The officer Nedim Efendi from the first battalion of the tenth
reserve regiment was killed in a gun battle took place in Göksun's
Kösüderek region and his German made gun was seized.
The
telegraph of the regional inspector telling that the commander of
the Tenth reserve battalion conniving at the escape of the gang
dated 16 Ocak 1918. ATASE, folder no 4218, dossier no 17, Document
no 4.
ATASE, folder no 4218, Document no.4-5.
The letter of the inspector of the emergency armies sent to the
command of the 12th army dated 21 .1. 1918. ATASE, folder no 4218,
dossier no 67, document no 4-2.
Key Words
Maraş, Armenians, oppression,
Entente Powers,
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