I have received the following reports:
1) Deportation and expulsion of the Armenians from the district of Ismid:
Armash (approx. 30 km north-east of Ismid), solely inhabited by Armenians (approx. 2,000 people), seat of the large seminary of priests of the Armenian Gregorian Patriarchy, with rich endowments and a famous old holy relic, was evacuated on the 1st inst.;
Adapazar with about 25,000 inhabitants, half of which are Mohammedans, approx. 1,500 Greek, the rest Armenians (1,500 Protestants among the latter), was to be evacuated today by the Armenian inhabitants; a supply of bombs was found in Adapazar and the Armenians claim that it was set up at the time, i.e. under Abdulhamid, with the support of the Young Turks.
Baghtchedjik (’Bardizag’ in Armenian), solely Armenian, 10,000 inhabitants (some Catholic and Protestant families among them) with good schools, will be next on the list any time now.
Two Mechitarists visited me today, urgently requesting that the Imperial Embassy intercede, at least on behalf of Baghtchédjik; I told them that such an intercession was completely hopeless.
Aslanbey near Ismid, solely Armenian (approx. 3,000 inhabitants; most of them are employed at the Imperial Cloth and Fez Factory in Ismid) has supposedly been completely evacuated.
The expulsion of the Armenians was headed by a certain Ibrahim Bey, who led the Armenian massacres in Adana in 1908.
It is assumed that Ismid will soon be on the list (Armenian population approx. 5 – 6,000 people).
2) Armenian expulsions on the coast of the Black Sea:
numerous Armenians in the district of Samsun have converted to Islam (in Samsun itself, Ineboli, Unie); the Armenian church in Ineboli was turned into a mosque and the Armenian priests act as Imam; those in the district of Trebizond who apostatized were turned away.
In many cases, the Armenians in Trebizond were loaded onto barques and taken out to sea, where they were thrown into the water.