100 years ago, on April 24, 1915, a monstrous campaign of genocide of Christians began in the Ottoman Empire. The ruling party "Ittihad" (Young Turks) was building grandiose plans to create a "Great Turan", which would include Iran, the Caucasus, the Volga region, Central Asia, Altai. For this, the Turks joined Germany in the First World War. But the supposed territory of Turan was divided by a strip of Christian peoples. Many Greeks lived near the Black Sea. In the eastern provinces, the majority of the population were Armenians. In the upper reaches of the Tigris lived the Aysors, south of the Chaldeans, the Syrian Christians. In the Ottoman Empire, all of them were considered "second class" peoples, they were mercilessly oppressed. They cherished hopes for the intercession of the Russians and the French. But the Turks were also worried. If these Christians want to secede, as the Serbs and Bulgarians once did? The empire will fall apart! The ideologists of Ittihad believed that the best way out was to exterminate Christians.
The war opened up the best opportunities for this: no one would interfere. US Ambassador Morgenthau wrote that in the spring of 1914 the Young Turks “did not make a secret of their plans to wipe the Armenians off the face of the earth”, and on August 5, having signed an alliance with the Germans, the Turkish dictator Enver Pasha released 30 thousand criminals from prison, began to form “Teshkilats mehsusse”-“Special Organization”.
The beginning of the war was not brilliant for the Ottomans. They made a noise about the conquests, and the Russians destroyed the 3rd Turkish army near Sarykamish. Moreover, Enver was saved from captivity by Armenian soldiers. Christians called to war generally served honestly. Indeed, in the army, the laws of partnership in arms and common destiny are in force. Again, will the bosses really not appreciate the excellent service, will they not go to indulge your people? But this was not taken into account.
In January 1915, a secret meeting was held, which was attended by the top of the ruling party - Enver, Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat, Minister of Finance Javid, ideologist Shakir, Fehmi, Nazim, Shukri and others (later one of the secretaries, Mevlian Zade Rifat, repented and published the minutes). Plans for genocide were discussed. We decided to make an exception for the Greeks so that neutral Greece would not oppose Turkey. For other Christians, "they voted unanimously for complete annihilation." (Most of them were Armenians, therefore, documents often refer to the Armenian genocide).
The action promised continuous benefits. Firstly, “Ittihad” wanted to save its reputation, to blame all defeats on “treason”. Secondly, many Armenians lived well, in Turkey they owned a significant share of industrial enterprises, banks, 60% of import, 40% of export and 80% of domestic trade, and the villages were rich. The confiscations would fill up the empty treasury. And the Turkish poor got houses, fields, orchards, they would glorify their benefactors, party leaders.
The headquarters was formed. Support from the army was taken over by Enver, from the side of the Talaat police, responsibility along the party line was assigned to the “acting troika” of Dr. Nazim, Dr. Shakir and … the Minister of Education Shukri. The organizers were quite “civilized” people with European education, they were well aware that it is difficult to kill more than 2 million people using “handicraft” methods. Provided comprehensive measures. Some of them will be physically killed, and others will be deported to places where they themselves will die out. For this, they chose the malaria swamps near Konya and Deir ez-Zor in Syria, where rotten swamps coexisted with waterless sands. We calculated the traffic capacity of the roads, made a schedule of which areas to “clean up” first and which later.
The German Foreign Ministry knew about the genocide plans, and it came to the attention of the Kaiser. Turkey was heavily dependent on the Germans, a shout was enough, and Ittihad would have backed down. But it did not follow. Germany secretly encouraged the nightmare plan. Indeed, among the Armenians there was strong sympathy for the Russians, and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zimmerman came to the conclusion: “Armenia, inhabited by Armenians, is harmful to German interests”. And after Sarikamish in Berlin they feared that Turkey would withdraw from the war. Genocide was exactly what was required. The Young Turks cut their way to a separate world.
Preparations unfolded in the spring. They created an "Islamic militia", involving every rabble in it. Christian soldiers were disarmed and transferred from combat units to “inshaat taburi”, workers' battalions. And civil Christians had their passports taken away; according to Turkish law, it was forbidden to leave their village or city without them. Searches began to seize weapons. They took everything from hunting rifles to kitchen knives. Those who were suspected of hiding weapons or who simply did not like were tortured. Sometimes interrogations became just a pretext for sadistic reprisals, people were tortured to death. The priests were especially bullied. They pinned their heads in a noose, plucked beards. Some were crucified, mocking: "Now let your Christ come and help you." The priests who had been brought half to death were given rifles in their hands and photographed: here, they say, the leaders of the rebels.
In the front-line vilayets (provinces), Erzurum and Van, there were troops, detachments "Teshkilat-y mehsuss". The Kurdish tribes were also attracted. They lived very poorly and were seduced by the possibility of robbery. There were many forces here, and the seizure of weapons was immediately combined with the massacre. In March-April, 500 villages were destroyed, 25 thousand people were killed. But this was just a prelude. On April 15, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a "Secret Order for the Wali, Mutesarifs and Beks of the Ottoman Empire." It was pointed out: “Taking the opportunity provided by the war, we decided to subject the Armenian people to final liquidation, to evict them to the deserts of Arabia”. The start of the action was scheduled for April 24th. It was warned: "Every official and private person who will oppose this holy and patriotic cause and will not fulfill the obligations imposed on him or in any way tries to protect this or that Armenian, will be recognized as an enemy of the fatherland and religion and will be punished accordingly."
The first in the schedule was Cilicia - here the roads intended for deportations converged between the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Before driving people from other regions along them, it was necessary to get rid of the local Armenians. A provocation was staged in the city of Zeytun, a clash between Muslims and Armenians. They announced that the city was punished, the population was to be expelled. The first columns of the doomed walked along. Not only from the "guilty" Zeitun, but from other Cilician cities - Adana, Ayntab, Marash, Alexandretta. People clung to hope until the last minute. After all, deportation is not yet murder. If you are obedient, can you survive? Armenian political and public figures also suggested: in no case to rebel, not to give a pretext for the massacre. But these figures themselves began to be arrested throughout the country. Activists of Armenian parties, parliament members, teachers, doctors, authoritative citizens. The people were simply beheaded. All those arrested were condemned to death in a crowd.
They also took on the soldiers of the workers' battalions. They were divided into divisions, assigned to build and repair roads. When they completed the assigned work, they were led to a deserted place where a firing squad was on duty. The heads of the wounded were broken with stones. When the parties of victims were small, and the executioners were not afraid of resistance, they did without shooting. They cut, beat them with clubs. They scoffed, cutting off arms and legs, cutting off ears and noses.
The Russians received evidence of the massacre that had begun. On May 24, a joint declaration was adopted by Russia, France and England. The atrocities were qualified as “crimes against humanity and civilization,” and personal responsibility was imposed on members of the Young Turk government and local government officials involved in the atrocities. But the Ittihadists used the declaration as another pretext for repression - Turkey's enemies stand up for Christians! Here is proof that Christians are playing along with them!
And according to the schedule, after Cilicia, Eastern Turkey was next in line. In May, Talaat received an order here to begin deportation. For those who do not understand, the minister explained in plain text: "The purpose of deportation is destruction." And Enver sent a telegram to the military authorities: "All subjects of the Ottoman Empire, Armenians over 5 years old, should be evicted from the cities and destroyed …". He said to fellow party members: "I do not intend to tolerate Christians in Turkey any longer."
No, not all Turks supported such a policy. Even the governors of Erzurum, Smyrna, Baghdad, Kutahia, Aleppo, Angora, Adana tried to protest. Opponents of the genocide were dozens of lower-ranking officials - mutesarifs, kaymakams. Basically, these were people who began their service in the Sultan's administration. They had no love for the Armenians, but they did not want to participate in the monstrous actions either. All of them were removed from their posts, many were put on trial and executed for “treason”.
A significant part of the Muslim clergy also did not share the views of the Ittihadists. There are cases when mullahs risked their lives to hide Armenians. In Mush, the influential imam Avis Qadir, who was considered a fanatic and a supporter of "jihad", protested - arguing that the "holy war" is not the extermination of women and children. And in the mosques, the mullahs argued that the order for the genocide must have come from Germany. They did not believe that Muslims could give birth to it. And ordinary peasants, townspeople, often tried to help, sheltered neighbors and acquaintances. If it was revealed, they themselves were sent to death.
However, there were also a sufficient number of those who were not against the bloody "work". Criminals, police, punks. They got complete freedom to do whatever they want. Are you poor? All that you plunder is yours. Looking at women? There are so many of them at your complete disposal! Did your brother die at the front? Take a knife and take revenge! The worst instincts were kindled. And cruelty and sadism are contagious. When the external brakes are removed and the internal barriers break down, a person ceases to be a person …
Sometimes deportation was purely a convention. In Bitlis, the entire population was massacred, 18 thousand people. Under Mardin, Aysors and Chaldeans were exterminated without any resettlement. For others, deportation was only a road to the place of execution. The Kemakh-Bogaz gorge not far from Erzinjan acquired terrible fame. Roads from different cities converge here, the Euphrates rushes violently in a gorge between the rocks, and a high Khoturskiy bridge is thrown across the river. The conditions were found convenient, teams of executioners were sent. Columns from Bayburt, Erzinjan, Erzurum, Derjan, Karin were driven here. On the bridge they were shot, the bodies were thrown into the river. In Kemakh-Bogaz, 20-25 thousand people died. Similar massacres took place in Mamahatun and Ichola. Columns from Diyarbekir were met and cut by a cordon near the Ayran-Punar canal. From Trebizond people were led along the sea. The reprisals awaited them at the cliff near the village of Dzhevezlik.
Not all people obediently went to the slaughter. The city of Van rebelled, it was heroically under siege, and the Russians broke through to help. There were also uprisings in Sasun, Shapin-Karahizar, Amasia, Marzvan, Urfa. But they were located far from the front. The doomed defended themselves from the bands of the local militia, and then troops with artillery approached, and the matter ended in carnage. In Suedia, on the Mediterranean coast, 4 thous. Armenians, resisted on Mount Musa-dag, they were taken out by French cruisers.
But to completely kill such a number of people was still a difficult task. About half were subjected to “real” deportation. Although the caravans were attacked by Kurds, bandits or just those who wish. They raped and killed. In large villages, the guards set up slave markets and sold Armenian women. “Goods” were in abundance, and the Americans reported that the girl could be bought for 8 cents. And the road itself became a method of murder. They drove on foot in 40-degree heat, almost without food. The weakened, unable to walk, were finished off, and only 10% reached the final points. 2000 people were taken from Harput to Urfa, 200 remained. From Sivas 18 thousand were taken. 350 people got to Aleppo.
Different witnesses wrote about what was happening on the roads about the same thing.
American missionary W. Jax: "From Malatia to Sivas, all the way for 9 hours I met dense rows of corpses." Arab Fayez el-Hossein: “There are corpses everywhere: here is a man with a bullet through his chest, there is a woman with a torn body, next to him is a child who has fallen asleep in eternal sleep, a little further there is a young girl who covered her nakedness with her hands.” The Turkish doctor saw "dozens of rivers, valleys, ravines, destroyed villages filled with corpses, killed men, women, children, sometimes with stakes driven into the stomach." German industrialist: “The road from Sivas to Harput is a hell of decay. Thousands of unburied corpses, everything is contaminated, water in rivers, and even wells”.
Meanwhile, the genocide program was unfolding on schedule. Others followed the eastern provinces. In July, the Ittihadist plan was introduced in central Turkey and Syria, in August-September in Western Anatolia. There were no deportations in the interior regions of Asia Minor. The American Consulate General in Ankara reported that the Armenians were taken to the outskirts of the famine, where a crowd of murderers with clubs, axes, scythes and even saws were waiting. Old people were killed quickly, children were tortured for fun. Women were gutted with extreme cruelty. The largest cities, Istanbul, Smyrna (Izmir), Aleppo, were not touched during the summer. The Armenian merchants and entrepreneurs who lived in them converted to Islam, made donations for military needs, poured bribes. The authorities showed that they were treating them favorably. But on September 14, a decree was issued on the confiscation of Armenian enterprises, and the owners were rowed up for deportation. In October, the final chord, the genocide plan was introduced in European Turkey. 1600 Armenians from Adrianople (Edirne) were brought to the coast, put on boats, seemingly transported to the Asian coast, and thrown into the sea.
But hundreds of thousands of Christians still made it to the places of deportation. Someone reached, someone was brought by rail. They ended up in concentration camps. A whole network of camps arose: in Konya, Sultaniye, Hama, Hosk, Damascus, Garm, Kilis, Aleppo, Maar, Baba, Ras-ul-Ain, and the main ones stretched along the banks of the Euphrates between Deir ez-Zor and Meskena. Christians who arrived here were accommodated and supplied at random. They were starving, dying of typhus. A lot of scary photographs have come down to us: skin-covered chests, sunken cheeks, abdomens that have sunk to the spine, shriveled, fleshless mosles instead of arms and legs. The Ittihadists believed that they themselves would die out. The Syrian Expulsion Commissioner, Nuri Bey, wrote: "Need and winter will kill them."
But hundreds of thousands of unfortunate people managed to endure the winter. Moreover, Muslims helped them to survive. Many Arabs and Turks fed the unfortunate. Even the governors of Saud Bey, Sami Bey, and some district chiefs helped them. However, such chiefs were removed on the basis of denunciations, and at the beginning of 1916 Talaat ordered a secondary deportation - from the western camps to the east. From Konya to Cilicia, from Cilicia to the vicinity of Aleppo, and from there to Deir ez-Zor, where all streams were to disappear. The patterns were the same. Some were not taken anywhere, they were cut and shot. Others died on the way.
In the Aleppo area, 200 thousand doomed people gathered. They were led on foot in Mesken and Deir ez-Zor. The route was determined not along the right bank of the Euphrates, but only along the left, along the waterless sands. They didn't give them anything to eat or drink, and in order to wear them out, they drove them here and there, deliberately changing their direction. 5-6 thousand survived. An eyewitness said: "Meskene was littered with skeletons from end to end … It looked like a valley filled with dried bones."
And to Deir ez-Zor Talaat sent a telegram: “The end of the deportations has come. Begin to act according to the previous orders, and do it as soon as possible. About 200 thousand people have accumulated here. The bosses approached the issue in a businesslike manner. Organized slave markets. Dealers came in large numbers, they were offered girls and teenagers. Others were led into the desert and killed. They came up with an improvement, stuffed it tightly into the pits with oil and set it on fire. By May, 60 thousand remained in Deir ez-Zor. Of these, 19 thousand were sent to Mosul. No massacre, just in the desert. The path of 300 km took more than a month, and reached 2,500. And those who still survived in the camps were completely stopped feeding.
The Americans who visited there described a kind of hell. The mass of emaciated women and old people turned into “ghosts of people”. They walked “mostly naked,” from the remnants of clothing they erected awnings from the scorching sun. "Howl from hunger," "ate grass." When officials or foreigners came on horseback, they rummaged through the manure, looking for undigested oat grains. They also ate the corpses of the dead. As of July, there were still 20 thousand "ghosts" living in Deir ez-Zor. In September, a German officer found only a few hundred artisans there. They received food and worked for the Turkish authorities for free.
The exact number of victims of the genocide is unknown. Who counted them? According to the estimates of the Armenian Patriarchate, 1, 4 - 1, 6 million people were killed. But these figures concern only Armenians. And besides them, they destroyed hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians, half of the Aysors, almost all the Chaldeans. The approximate total number was 2 - 2.5 million.
However, the ideas cherished by the authors of the venture completely failed. It was hoped that the confiscated funds would enrich the treasury, but everything was plundered locally. They built projects that the Turks would take the place of Christians in business, banking, industry, trade. But this did not happen either. It turned out that the Ittihadists destroyed their own economy! Enterprises stopped, mining stopped, finances were paralyzed, trade was disrupted.
In addition to the terrible economic crisis, gorges, rivers, streams were contaminated with masses of decaying corpses. Cattle were poisoned and died. Deadly epidemics of plague, cholera, typhus spread, mowing down the Turks themselves. And the magnificent Ottoman soldiers, having been in the role of executioners and robbers, became corrupted. Many deserted from the front, strayed into gangs. Everywhere they robbed on the roads, cutting off communication between different areas. Commercial agriculture collapsed as well, it was Armenian. Famine began in the country. These catastrophic consequences became one of the main reasons for the further defeats and deaths of the once majestic and mighty Ottoman Empire.
