Facts Through Documents

“Migration and the Armenians”. These are the two words that appear
frequently in the recent years along with the “genocide”. “Migration” is only one
of the measures applied in extraordinary circumstances of war. Have only the
Armenians been affected by this measure? Why not the Turks are ever
remembered in the regions mentioned?

Never pronouncing the reasons that paved the way for the relocations in
1915, and taking refuge behind a psychological defense mechanism have
been suppressing the emergence of the facts. The only proofs where the facts
can never be denied are the written documents. As the documents take their
stance the neglected will undeniably emerge.

The following decisions were taken at a meeting, where the Caucasian
Tashnak delegates have also attended, in Erzurum:

“1. To continue to show submission and keep silent until the
declaration of war; but in the meantime to become well equipped with the
weapons to be obtained from Russia and from the inner regions,
2. Should the war be declared, all the Armenians in the Ottoman Army
would join the Russian forces with their arms.
3. To keep silent should the Turkish Army advances,
4. Should the Turkish Army withdraws or comes to the point of
standstill, all the gangs should start their activities behind the lines in
accordance with the plan they already have…”1 The decisions were applied
adherently… As the circumstances became apparent by of the end of 1914,
Armenian activities went off on a tangent. Hence, there were no secure
regions behind the fighting Turkish Army.

According to an evaluation made by the 3rd Amy it was observed that
the main centers of upheaval were to be “Van, Bitlis, Erzurum, and Karahisar
(Şebinkarahisar), and Sivas, Kayseri, and Diyarbakır were to follow”. When
those centers of upheaval are taken into consideration from the military point
of view it can easily be seen that all were located “on the main points of the
range borders”.2 Consequently, it is evident that the military support supplies
had been jeopardized.

The increasing activities of the Armenian rebels in the inner regions
initiates the terror events. Villages and towns are set afire; innocent people
are massacred and forced for migration. “The Armenian soldiers,” in the
Turkish Army, “were fleeing away to the Russian Army at every single
occasion. It was also observed that the officers and the doctors were joining
the Russian Army with a lot of valuable information. At the most critical moment they were pin pointing the arsenals, batteries, and reserve
emplacements to the enemy.3

Thus, under these circumstances, the security decree is issued on April
24, 1915. For, the continuation of the state and the nation was being
threatened. The evaluation that; “It has once more become clearly evident –
through the last upheavals in Zeytun (Maraş, Süleymanlı), Bitlis, Sivas, and
Van – that the Armenians on the Ottoman lands are waiting for the Army’s
weakest position in the continuing war to incite upheavals by taking every
opportunity for granted in accordance with the decisions they have taken
earlier,”4 explains fully the reasons for the taking of security measures.
However, it should be noted that in the application of the relocations human
rights have always been sought; the examples of which will clearly be seen in
the documents.

Armenians have never hesitated to exploit the civic organizations for
their evil intentions. One of the most concrete examples of those civic
organizations, which demonstrate how those associations have been used as
a threat against the basic existence of the state, is the “Armenian Aid
Association,” that was found and chaired by Boghos Nubar Pasha. This
association that was found in Egypt, on the surface, pursued the aim of
“determining the physical and spiritual needs of the Armenian nation”. An
innocent name, and an innocent goal. However, the truth is definitely different.
“Even though the association is known as Aid Association its real aim is to
rescue and free Armenia. Working for this aim by various means is within the
scope of their program. Its general headquarters is in Cairo. There are
branches of the association in the various parts of the Ottoman State as well
as in the Caucasus, Bulgaria, Romania, America, and in other places of
Europe. It especially takes money from the rich. The tradesmen who have
given a lot of money became affiliated to this association. In the balance
sheets of 1911 it was observed that the association had some 27.500
Egyptian liras.”

Under the disguise of this association, lots of committee
members from Egypt and other countries have come to the environs of Adana,
Aleppo, and Syria and tried to buy weapons and to form political
organizations. Hence, this association is political as the others. The chair and
the members of the association are in fact all committee members.6
The only explanation for the increasing Armenian atrocities, despite
the declaration of the Relocations, is the decisiveness of the Armenian rebel
committees in applying the decisions taken.

Mahmut Kâmil Pasha reveals
the situation in naked truth in his coded message to Ministry of Defense on
July 19, 1915: “The cities of Erzurum, Trabzon, Van, Bitlis, Elazığ,
Diyarbakır, and Sivas are the regions of war in the east. It has become
evident that by the discovery of the weapons, bombs, and explosives the
Armenians in Sivas, Diyarbakır, and Elazığ have been pursuing the same aim.

This situation has been further proved by the events occurred in Karahisar
later. I believe that the presence of those villains in the regions where our
army provides its supplies pose a great threat to the army’s provision channels
and jeopardize the security of the army. Army encounters a great danger
when it sends some of its supply forces and additional forces to fight with the
enemies within the region at a time when it engages in a heavy clash with the
enemy;”7 and he further proposes the relocation of the Armenians in those
regions to be moved to Aleppo and Mosul. This is extremely important in
displaying an army commander’s helplessness in besiege. How can an army
fight when it is not certain in the regions behind?

There are numerous examples of this situation during the war. In a
detailed report sent to the General Headquarters by the 10th Army Corps on
March 27, 1915, it is stated that: “Armenian Tashnaksutyun Committee has
set up a secret revolutionary society in the province of Sivas. Its main aim is to
cause turmoil in the regions behind the Ottoman lines and thus to ease the
advancement of the enemy; the members of the mentioned society have been
equipped with various weapons.”8 On the other hand, the detailed
explanations of Marshal Fevzi Çakmak,one of the prominent eye-witnesses of
the period, about the maneuvers on the Eastern Front, while displaying the
hardships at the front draws attention to the activities in the rear echelons.

For the presentation of this work to the reading public and to the
academia, a careful and an extensive study have been undertaken among the
documents pertaining to the Armenian atrocities and treacheries, during the
First World War and the Turkish War of Independence, found in the Turkish
General Staff Military History and Strategic Studies and Inspection (ATASE ve
Dent.) Directorate Archives collections. In the publication of this book the
documents revealing the reasons leading to relocations are taken in to
consideration; such as, rebellion and betrayal, massacring of the innocent,
terror and violence that degrades the human dignity.

In the publication of the documents a chronological and a
contemporaneity of the relevant documents have been sought. The
documents pertaining to the period between 1914 and 1918 have been
planned for publication in series. The first volume of the series contains
documents belonging to 1914-1915 period.

Consequently, it is believed that this work will achieve its due aims as
the original documents and their transcriptions aim at founding of compelling
bases for the academia; the Turkish, and English translations aim at a wider
reading public at home and abroad.

Dr. Ahmet TETİK,
Dr. Ins. Col.
Archives Director