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Our Windsor, Canada
April 19 2015
Armenian Genocide: The untold spy thriller
Actor/writer Eric Bogosian uncovers a little-known story about a group
of Armenians who took revenge on Young Turk leaders who planned the
mass killings
OurWindsor.Ca
By Olivia Ward
Eric Bogosian always knew something terrible had happened to Armenians
in Turkey. As an American of Armenian descent he grew up hearing
stories of the genocide.
But when he delved into Armenian history, the award-winning playwright,
actor and novelist was startled to discover a spy thriller-like plot
involving a little-known group of Armenian men who took revenge on the
core Young Turk leaders who planned and executed the mass killings.
The result was his book Operation Nemesis, a seven-year plunge into
the dark archives of the genocide, yielding the forgotten history of
the secret assassination plot conceived by the exiled Armenian
Revolutionary Federation and planned by an inconspicuous gaggle of
expats based in Boston. When it ended, more than six top Turkish
officials were dead.
The targets of the killings were actually condemned to death by an
Ottoman military tribunal at the end of the First World War, showing
that they recognized the enormity of the crime against the Armenians.
But the perpetrators were never executed.
They actually hanged one or two people. But there was a major backlash
against the sentences because the Turks were very offended by the way
they were treated by the West. In the 1920s there was an erasure of
history, the tribunal records were lost, then carefully pieced back
together. They were very intense and detailed. But we also have to
realize that there were people in Turkey who were moderate, and not
behind these terrible acts.
How were the hit men chosen?
First there was an apparatus set up to finance the plan with
charitable money. Then they chose men who were experienced with arms --
volunteers who were with the Russians, assassins and gun runners. Some
were very good at planning, others bold and willing to charge into (a
crowd) and shoot. And some didn't work out.
Their targets had settled in Berlin, Rome, Georgia and Tajikistan. How
did they track them down and kill them?
They worked with a network of spies in different cities. In Berlin,
there was one agent who pretended to be a Turk. He played the role of
playboy with the Young Turks there. He took a Turkish name, Mehmed
Ali, was fluent in Turkish and was so close to their inner circle that
he even acted as a pallbearer for the first man killed, Djemal Azmi,
the former governor of Trebizond.
Amazingly, most of the assassins escaped and led long lives in exile.
Soghomon Tehlirian, who was caught, was let off, although he was
arrested at the scene in Berlin after killing Talat Pasha, one of the
top Turkish leaders.
Tehlirian had a very sweet, civilized quality. At his trial he was
taken at face value. He told a story about seeing all his family
massacred, and how he dreamed of his mother wanting justice. He said
he decided suddenly to kill Talat, when he found he was in Berlin (at
the same time) but hadn't planned it. The court believed he had been
irretrievably damaged by the traumatic experience, and was not
responsible for his actions.
How did Turkey react to the killings?
They knew there were Armenian assassins involved. In Tehlirian's case
they sent agents into Serbia where he ended up (after the trial). He
lived in a Christian area where there was no love lost for the Turks,
so he was safe. Eventually he went to the U.S.
There's a hall in the Military Museum (in Istanbul) called the Truth
About the Armenians. It has photos of atrocities that Armenians may or
may not have committed against Turks. The shirt that Talat wore the
day he was killed is there. Even though he's considered a war
criminal, his remains were brought back, and he has a tomb.
There were originally 200 people on the "black list" for
assassination. How did the operation end?
It was very sudden. The killers weren't caught and wanted to keep on
going. The leadership lost their enthusiasm for assassination. They
asked "where is all this leading?" They knew that if somebody was
caught it wouldn't look good for them. So they insisted it stop (in
1922) after the killing of Jemal Pasha (known as the Butcher). They
pulled back the funding.
What did Operation Nemesis accomplish?
They wanted to avenge the genocide even though the killings aren't
equal to the enormity of it. The assassinations also had an
existential aspect: we exist, we have agency, and we aren't going to
lie down and take it.
It eradicated the leaders of the genocide and left the door open to
(first Turkish president Mustafa) Kemal Ataturk, who negotiated a
relationship with the West that the others couldn't. It led to a
position for Turkey in NATO, as recipient of vast amount of arms, etc.
But the most important thing was for the spirit of the Armenian
people. The killers weren't thinking of what God wants, but of a moral
justice that is required of us. In some way the assassinations were an
attempt to bring balance back into the world.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
http://www.ourwindsor.ca/news-story/5565485-armenian-genocide-the-untold-spy-thriller/
April 19 2015
Armenian Genocide: The untold spy thriller
Actor/writer Eric Bogosian uncovers a little-known story about a group
of Armenians who took revenge on Young Turk leaders who planned the
mass killings
OurWindsor.Ca
By Olivia Ward
Eric Bogosian always knew something terrible had happened to Armenians
in Turkey. As an American of Armenian descent he grew up hearing
stories of the genocide.
But when he delved into Armenian history, the award-winning playwright,
actor and novelist was startled to discover a spy thriller-like plot
involving a little-known group of Armenian men who took revenge on the
core Young Turk leaders who planned and executed the mass killings.
The result was his book Operation Nemesis, a seven-year plunge into
the dark archives of the genocide, yielding the forgotten history of
the secret assassination plot conceived by the exiled Armenian
Revolutionary Federation and planned by an inconspicuous gaggle of
expats based in Boston. When it ended, more than six top Turkish
officials were dead.
The targets of the killings were actually condemned to death by an
Ottoman military tribunal at the end of the First World War, showing
that they recognized the enormity of the crime against the Armenians.
But the perpetrators were never executed.
They actually hanged one or two people. But there was a major backlash
against the sentences because the Turks were very offended by the way
they were treated by the West. In the 1920s there was an erasure of
history, the tribunal records were lost, then carefully pieced back
together. They were very intense and detailed. But we also have to
realize that there were people in Turkey who were moderate, and not
behind these terrible acts.
How were the hit men chosen?
First there was an apparatus set up to finance the plan with
charitable money. Then they chose men who were experienced with arms --
volunteers who were with the Russians, assassins and gun runners. Some
were very good at planning, others bold and willing to charge into (a
crowd) and shoot. And some didn't work out.
Their targets had settled in Berlin, Rome, Georgia and Tajikistan. How
did they track them down and kill them?
They worked with a network of spies in different cities. In Berlin,
there was one agent who pretended to be a Turk. He played the role of
playboy with the Young Turks there. He took a Turkish name, Mehmed
Ali, was fluent in Turkish and was so close to their inner circle that
he even acted as a pallbearer for the first man killed, Djemal Azmi,
the former governor of Trebizond.
Amazingly, most of the assassins escaped and led long lives in exile.
Soghomon Tehlirian, who was caught, was let off, although he was
arrested at the scene in Berlin after killing Talat Pasha, one of the
top Turkish leaders.
Tehlirian had a very sweet, civilized quality. At his trial he was
taken at face value. He told a story about seeing all his family
massacred, and how he dreamed of his mother wanting justice. He said
he decided suddenly to kill Talat, when he found he was in Berlin (at
the same time) but hadn't planned it. The court believed he had been
irretrievably damaged by the traumatic experience, and was not
responsible for his actions.
How did Turkey react to the killings?
They knew there were Armenian assassins involved. In Tehlirian's case
they sent agents into Serbia where he ended up (after the trial). He
lived in a Christian area where there was no love lost for the Turks,
so he was safe. Eventually he went to the U.S.
There's a hall in the Military Museum (in Istanbul) called the Truth
About the Armenians. It has photos of atrocities that Armenians may or
may not have committed against Turks. The shirt that Talat wore the
day he was killed is there. Even though he's considered a war
criminal, his remains were brought back, and he has a tomb.
There were originally 200 people on the "black list" for
assassination. How did the operation end?
It was very sudden. The killers weren't caught and wanted to keep on
going. The leadership lost their enthusiasm for assassination. They
asked "where is all this leading?" They knew that if somebody was
caught it wouldn't look good for them. So they insisted it stop (in
1922) after the killing of Jemal Pasha (known as the Butcher). They
pulled back the funding.
What did Operation Nemesis accomplish?
They wanted to avenge the genocide even though the killings aren't
equal to the enormity of it. The assassinations also had an
existential aspect: we exist, we have agency, and we aren't going to
lie down and take it.
It eradicated the leaders of the genocide and left the door open to
(first Turkish president Mustafa) Kemal Ataturk, who negotiated a
relationship with the West that the others couldn't. It led to a
position for Turkey in NATO, as recipient of vast amount of arms, etc.
But the most important thing was for the spirit of the Armenian
people. The killers weren't thinking of what God wants, but of a moral
justice that is required of us. In some way the assassinations were an
attempt to bring balance back into the world.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
http://www.ourwindsor.ca/news-story/5565485-armenian-genocide-the-untold-spy-thriller/