Further to Report No. 660 dated 9 November 1915
Unfortunately, Mr. von Scheubner-Richter’s report dated 5 November 1915 and other reports on hand give the impression that, despite all of our expostulations and warnings, the Turkish government is adhering to its disastrous policy on the Armenians. Apart from deliberations of a general humanitarian and political nature and as sincere friends of Turkey and in their very own interest, we can only deeply mourn the fact that through their incomprehensibly short-sighted actions they are robbing themselves of one of the elements of the population that are most important for the economic development of the country. In both hostile and neutral countries abroad people do not stop making us responsible for the actions of the Turkish authorities. As Mr. von Scheubner’s report again confirms, there is a widespread conception even among large parts of the Turkish population that Germany incited Turkey to persecute the Armenians. We believe that, in view of the Porte’s loyalty towards its German allies, we may expect it to emphatically counter such rumours.
I have the honour of requesting Your Excellency to speak to the government there in the sense given above and to take this opportunity to express once again the expectation that the Porte will follow our advice in its treatment of the Armenian question.