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  • The 1909 Adana Massacres

    THE 1909 ADANA MASSACRES
    By Mihran Boyadjian

    AZG DAILY
    11-04-2009

    Armenian Genocide

    The Adana Massacres of 1909, whose 30,000 victims are being
    commemorated on the centenary of their death this year, are of special
    significance to the Armenians of Cyprus since a large proportion
    of them are descendants of the 1915 Genocide survivors from Adana
    who found refuge in Cyprus, and who still consider themselves
    "Adanatsi". In Larnaca, the Armenian Church of St. Stephanos, built
    in 1913, is dedicated to the 1909 victims. Massacres of Armenians
    in Turkey were nothing new, in fact about 15 years earlier, the
    Hamidian Massacres of 1894-96 had claimed tenfold that figure and
    had shown the lack of enthusiasm of the European powers for taking
    any effective preventive action. It must be mentioned however that
    the American Missions, whose members were eyewitness to the events,
    saved countless lives through their valiant efforts on the ground and
    their very effective fund-raising back home. Earlier Massacres had been
    more local affairs, usually the result of periodic Kurdish raids on
    helpless villages and small towns. Some were opportunistic, "pacifying"
    operations by local governing pashas whose main aim was to raise
    revenue by pillage and extortion to recoup the large sums (some would
    call them bribes), which they had to pay the Porte to obtain their
    posts. The Russian Empire, whose primary foreign policy objective was
    to gain access to the Mediterranean through Ottoman territory, found a
    convenient pretext for intervening in Ottoman affairs by assuming the
    role of protector to the Christian population. The European powers,
    led by Great Britain, fiercely opposed any Russian expansion into the
    Mediterranean and wanted any pieces of the slowly collapsing Ottoman
    Empire for themselves. Hence they supported the Sultan. The Armenians,
    caught in the middle, had great hopes on the constitutional changes
    forced on the reluctant Sultan by the European powers. However, these
    changes were on paper only and were largely ignored by the Porte. It
    was in this context that Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain in 1878
    in return for promised British protection against Russia.

    Some time ago, I came across and purchased a letter written by the
    Commissioner of Kyrenia of the time, W.N. Bolton, which reveals a
    macabre link between Cyprus and the Adana Massacres of 1909. The
    letter, written on cream coloured notepaper blind embossed with the
    British coat of arms, is apparently in response to an enquiry by
    Harry Lukach, Private Secretary to the Governor of Cyprus Hamilton
    Goold-Adams. Today, he is better known as Sir Harry Luke, having
    changed his surname to Luke in 1919. Subsequently, he had a highly
    successful career in the colonial service and authored numerous books
    mainly on the Middle East where he served in Cyprus, Armenia (1920),
    Jerusalem, Malta etc. His books are full of anecdotal material of his
    experiences in the places he served in, and show his compassionate
    interest in the people he came in contact with.

    Kyrenia 30th January, 1912

    "Dear Lukach, I have just been looking up the inquests held in my
    district in 1909 on unknown bodies washed up by the sea. The first case
    was in the first week in May on the body of a man washed ashore near
    Lapithos. This body was much decomposed but had two bullet wounds one
    in the neck and one in the abdomen just above the groin. The two next
    both males came ashore one at Ayios Ambrosios & one at Ayios Epiktetos
    but I do not think there were any marks showing cause of death. No
    4 was the body of a little girl about 6 to 8 years her head had been
    smashed in by some heavy weapon like a hammer or a pick. As far as we
    could tell from their dress they were all Armenians. Dr. Fuleihan now
    Ast D.M.O. Nicosia was the officer who examined the bodies and might
    if you want it give you more information. Besides these there were
    several bits on which I did not hold inquests. And I also believe
    a very large number came ashore in the Carpas. I cant write owing
    to gout which I am glad to say is getting better but very slowly. I
    sent you a wire about the Lapithos road on Saturday as Williams was
    over in the P.W.D. Motor on Friday & told me it was quite passable
    with care, since when they have been hard at work mending it so it
    should be quite all right.Yours SincerelyW.N.Bolton".

    It is interesting to note that the Adana Massacres started in early
    April and bodies started to get washed up in Cyprus about a month
    later. Today the fiction being propagated by the Turkish state is that
    there was no Genocide in 1915 and that deaths occurred on both sides
    as a result of fighting between Armenians and Turks. They further claim
    that the deportations, during which some "unfortunate" deaths occurred,
    were necessary for the security of the Ottoman Empire. They neglect to
    mention that most of the fit Armenian men, who had been conscripted
    into the Ottoman Army in 1914, were later disarmed, transferred to
    labor battalions, and subsequently executed. The fighting claimed by
    the Turkish state only took place in a few mountainous regions when the
    Ottoman army tried to enforce the deportation orders of 1915. We see
    here another example of reversal of facts employed by the Turkish state
    similar to that of claiming the bodies of Armenian victims exhumed
    from mass graves were those of Turks killed by Armenians! The final
    destination of the entire Armenian population of Anatolia, consisting
    mostly of older men, women, and children, was the small oasis town
    of Der Zor in the middle of the Syrian Desert! Very few were fit or
    lucky enough to reach there. The majority were killed on the way or
    died of thirst, starvation or exhaustion during the forced marches,
    as was intended by the Ottoman government.
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