1914-12-30-DE-001-M

Source: DE/PA-AA/R14085
Publication: DuA Doc. 014 (abbr.)
Translator: Linda Struck

From the Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg)

No. 342

Pera, 30 December 1914

1 enclosure.
The following report about Turkish excesses against the Armenian population around Erzerum confirms the reports I received from the Armenian Patriarch; they caused me to mention these conditions to the Sublime Porte, and I urged them to see to it that those incidents are stopped. But the Grand Vizier pointed out that these incidents did not occur without Armenian provocation; as proof he pointed out that Armenians are openly taking sides against the Turkish cause in the war, and he mentioned that the Bulgarian Armenians send a troop of volunteers to Russia.

Wangenheim

Enclosure

Erserum, 5 December 1914

Re: excesses against Armenians in the district of Erserum.
The Armenian population of the Vilajets of Erserum, especially the country people, is very worried because of a few incidents, which they see as harbingers of new massacres.
On the 1^st of the month three Turkish irregulars visited a distinguished priest in the village of Osni on the Erserum plateau, where they ate and slept. The next morning they forced him to accompany them to the edge of the village, where he was shot to death with a shotgun.
In the village of Tewnik , also on the Erserum plateau, a group of 12 irregulars expelled all the males of the village, chained them and asked for 100 Turkish pounds of ransom. The village could not raise this amount of money. The men remained prisoners. Some women of this village came crying to the Armenian bishop in Erserum and asked for help.
There are similar reports from other villages.
The Armenian bishop turned to the Vali, who promised to rid the Erserum plateau of these irregulars.
These reports come from respectable Armenians.
The Armenian population maintains that the Turkish party “Ittihad” instigates this movement. It is a matter of fact that Turkish officers do not see eye to eye with the Armenians and reproach them with being friendly to Russia and helping Russian troops to get into Turkish territory. Even with the Turkish population, as one can see from certain symptoms, the old hatred is rising again.

I reported all these incidents to the commander of the fortress of Erserum, General Posseldt, member of the German military mission.

Schwarz