Secret.
Your Excellency!
Further to my Report No. 12 dated 20 May, I would like to report the following:
The villages abandoned by the Armenians are being occupied by the muhadjins (Turkish emigrants from the villages at the battlefront). In many places, these people are also plundering the Armenians' property.
There are grounds for the supposition that possibly even from the very beginning the purpose of the relocation was to make room for these emigrants.
With the exception of the molesting and rape of the Armenian women and girls, which is nothing unusual here, the behaviour of the gendarmes accompanying the expelled Armenians is otherwise little suited to ease the hard fate of the expellees. The gendarmes' behaviour could not be more brusque if it were directed at the subjects of enemy nations.
I enclose the translation of a letter addressed to the local bishop and signed by the priests of 6 villages, which he also gave to the Vali for his information.
Unexpectedly, the distribution of bread by the consulate among the evacuated Armenians has made a large and good impression among the Armenian population. I believe that, without being intended, this also achieved a politically favourable result. No obstacles were placed in my path on the part of the government.
Holy Father!
For centuries, we have faithfully served the powerful Ottoman Empire and lived under its high protection. During the last mobilisation we also obediently followed its orders by sending soldiers and giving everything we had during the requisitioning: wheat, barley, oxen, sheep, butter, cheese and other things. It has even happened that we took over the duty of our Turkish neighbours and gave in their place during the requisitionings, and accommodated their guests, Turkish emigrants from the battlefield who were put up for a while with the Armenians and treated as guests. We asked nothing for all of these sacrifices. The Turkish officers spoke in praise of the hospitality practised by us Armenians and did not want to stay in the homes of the Turks. We did all this gladly and willingly out of love for our Vatan (fatherland), and what has it got us now? Banishment, persecution, plundering: see what depresses us so much in our hearts. One evening at sundown in May, messengers came bearing the bad news and proclaimed the order for our banishment. Two hours later, all of us – old people and children, brides and girls, poor and crippled people – were outside under the open sky, crying because of our hard fate. Early in the morning we saw our houses being plundered by the soldiers who were in the village and by our neighbours. They were still camping close to their villages. We were not permitted to re-enter our houses and some of the families among us barely had a chance to get some food and a few blankets, and thus, we moved off from our village under the most loathsome curses, abuse and beatings by the gendarmes. As already stated, we were driven completely unexpectedly from our homes: the sour dough was still in the tubs and now we are without bread, because we are forbidden to enter the villages along our way. We are starving, our animals are starving, our dead remain lying practically unburied along the way and we are constantly being driven ahead; along the way we are also subject to plundering. Who knows where we are going to, perhaps to a black grave. Holy Father, we do not know what we should do: should we, perhaps, accept the suggestions of the gendarmes to become Turks in order to save ourselves from this misery, as they want us to believe?
There were enough people who accepted these suggestions, as you will learn in the village of Hyntik. We have heard that the 16-55 year-olds who must enlist in the army are to be separated from us: who will then protect our namus [honour]? Strange areas, strange places! What will become of us? We are sending this report to Your Holiness through the mediation of the Germans, who distribute bread to us, so that you can be an interpreter of our suffering. We kiss your holy hand and remain your obedient sons.
For Hintyk. For Kezelkilisse. For Tzitog. For Trandj. For Dinarikom. For the Catholic Armenians.
All the Armenians from the villages on the plains have been expelled. The travellers passing by as well as the Turkish farmers take away the last things we have. Some women and girls have also been raped.
With regard to these, the Porte informed in a different connection that it has been determined that the rebellious movement of the Armenians in the Anatolian border provinces, which finally led to the known occurrences in Van, was the work of the Armenian revolutionary parties which are presently located in Paris, London and Tiflis and supported by Russia in particular. Among other things, the following was cited:
After the outbreak of the war, the former Turkish Member of Parliament, Karekin Pastirmadjian, took over the leadership of a gang, which had been set up by the Armenian party leaders, Dro and Hetsho, and supplied with weapons by the Russians. After the seizure of Bayazid, he destroyed all of the Mohammedan villages which he came across on his march and massacred their inhabitants. He was wounded during the withdrawal of the Russians from these areas, and a certain Suren, Member of Parliament for the Dashnag Party in Erzurum, was killed at his side; at present, he and his gang are at the Caucasian border. A photograph showing him together with Tro and Hetsho while swearing a solemn oath before going off to war was published in the newspaper Asbarez, the Daschnag's organ in the United States.
These and other occurrences, such as the finding of bombs and weapons among the Armenians in Everek (near Caesarea), Diyarbekir, Egin and other places, justify the harsh action taken by the authorities against the Armenians, particularly also in Erzurum, and excuse the occasional excesses of the Mohammedan civilian population.
I would like to add that during the past few days the two deputies, Vartges (Erzurum) and Zohrab Effendi (Stambul), were arrested here; they are strongly suspected of having connections with the revolt in Van.
The aforementioned reports are merely for your personal information. I request that Your Honour sees from this that the Armenians' attitude is making it increasingly ever more difficult for us to stand up for them, despite our interest in them and despite our sympathy for those among them who have to suffer as innocent victims.