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THE 'GOOD' AND THE 'BAD' - TURKISH PAPER SHEDS LIGHT ON GENOCIDE
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/04/29/ayse-hur/
12:54 ~U 29.04.13
The Turkish party Ittihat ve Terakki (Committee of Union and Progress)
failed to show enough skill to use the conflicts between the different
ethnic and religious communities for organizing the Armenian Genocide,
says a Turkish journalist and historian in recent comments.
Ayshe Hur's article, published in the Turkish Radikal, is presented
below:
"The April 24, 1915 exile of several Armenian intellectuals became
the symbol of the Genocide. The 'Displacement of those opposing
the state measures during the war' marked the official start of the
Armenian Genocide.
After the Ottoman Empire's collapse it was, as a matter of fact, the
Turkish nationalists' movement aimed at creating a national Turkish
state, clearing it off the non-Muslim elements, converting them to
Islam and making them Turks.
Thus, the anti-Armenian (as well as the anti-Greek and Assyrian)
movement supported by the secret segments of Ittihat ve Teraki and
the army also made Turkish, Kurdish, Circassian, Chechen and Georgian
groups accomplices in many places.
The local noblemen or population segments robbing the Armenians of
property, adopting Armenian children and keeping girls in harems, as
well as the commercial bourgeois who had appropriated the Armenians'
wealth, and the craftsmen who opened workshops in the places the
Armenians left also became the accomplices of the big crime. "
'The bad'
Among those who organized the displacement were Commander of the Third
Army, General Mahmud Kamil Pasha, Head of the Intelligence Department
Albay Seyfi, Enver Pasha, his uncle, Halil Pasha, step brother, Nuri
Pasha, Commander of Musul's Sixth Army Sabis Pasha, Yakub Cemil "mad"
Halit, Baheddin Shakir Nazi and the Diyarbekir governor, Mehmet Reshit,
the governor of Trabzon, Jemal Amzi, a former governor of Yerznka,
Mehmet Memduh (who later became the governor of Bitlis), Ahmet Sukru,
the chief of police, Ismail Janbolat, Topal Osman Agha of Giresun,
Yahya Kahya of Trabzon, as well as clergymen like Sagirzade, the
mufti of Malatya.
The most horrific crimes were, of course, perpetrated by the armed
groups who assaulted the columns of people being displaced. Many of
them were released from prison under a special decree to carry out
the horrendous instructions.
"The good"
There were also people opposing to the killings of the Armenians,
hiding them in their houses and endangering their lives in order to
save them.
For instance, Jelal Bay, who had been in the provinces of Aleppo and
Konia since 1914, did not allow the Armenians' exile.
Kutahya governor Faik Ali not only disallowed the Armenian massacre
on the territory but also rendered help to the residents of Balikesir,
Afyon, Izmit and Dapazari.
Katamonu governor Reshat Bey, Yozgat governor Jeal Bay and Erzurum
governor Tahsin Bay were also among those who disobeyed the orders.
Malatya Mayor Azizoglu Mustafa Agha too, had received an instruction to
annihilate the Armenians, but he hid many of them in his house. He was
killed by the Turks over charges of "protecting giaours" (non-Muslims).
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2013/04/29/ayse-hur/
12:54 ~U 29.04.13
The Turkish party Ittihat ve Terakki (Committee of Union and Progress)
failed to show enough skill to use the conflicts between the different
ethnic and religious communities for organizing the Armenian Genocide,
says a Turkish journalist and historian in recent comments.
Ayshe Hur's article, published in the Turkish Radikal, is presented
below:
"The April 24, 1915 exile of several Armenian intellectuals became
the symbol of the Genocide. The 'Displacement of those opposing
the state measures during the war' marked the official start of the
Armenian Genocide.
After the Ottoman Empire's collapse it was, as a matter of fact, the
Turkish nationalists' movement aimed at creating a national Turkish
state, clearing it off the non-Muslim elements, converting them to
Islam and making them Turks.
Thus, the anti-Armenian (as well as the anti-Greek and Assyrian)
movement supported by the secret segments of Ittihat ve Teraki and
the army also made Turkish, Kurdish, Circassian, Chechen and Georgian
groups accomplices in many places.
The local noblemen or population segments robbing the Armenians of
property, adopting Armenian children and keeping girls in harems, as
well as the commercial bourgeois who had appropriated the Armenians'
wealth, and the craftsmen who opened workshops in the places the
Armenians left also became the accomplices of the big crime. "
'The bad'
Among those who organized the displacement were Commander of the Third
Army, General Mahmud Kamil Pasha, Head of the Intelligence Department
Albay Seyfi, Enver Pasha, his uncle, Halil Pasha, step brother, Nuri
Pasha, Commander of Musul's Sixth Army Sabis Pasha, Yakub Cemil "mad"
Halit, Baheddin Shakir Nazi and the Diyarbekir governor, Mehmet Reshit,
the governor of Trabzon, Jemal Amzi, a former governor of Yerznka,
Mehmet Memduh (who later became the governor of Bitlis), Ahmet Sukru,
the chief of police, Ismail Janbolat, Topal Osman Agha of Giresun,
Yahya Kahya of Trabzon, as well as clergymen like Sagirzade, the
mufti of Malatya.
The most horrific crimes were, of course, perpetrated by the armed
groups who assaulted the columns of people being displaced. Many of
them were released from prison under a special decree to carry out
the horrendous instructions.
"The good"
There were also people opposing to the killings of the Armenians,
hiding them in their houses and endangering their lives in order to
save them.
For instance, Jelal Bay, who had been in the provinces of Aleppo and
Konia since 1914, did not allow the Armenians' exile.
Kutahya governor Faik Ali not only disallowed the Armenian massacre
on the territory but also rendered help to the residents of Balikesir,
Afyon, Izmit and Dapazari.
Katamonu governor Reshat Bey, Yozgat governor Jeal Bay and Erzurum
governor Tahsin Bay were also among those who disobeyed the orders.
Malatya Mayor Azizoglu Mustafa Agha too, had received an instruction to
annihilate the Armenians, but he hid many of them in his house. He was
killed by the Turks over charges of "protecting giaours" (non-Muslims).