The morning call., 1895-03-04

leave their native soil and emigrate to other
countries? If there was no proof OF Turkish
misgovernment in Armenia this clrcum-
stance alone would present sufficient evi-
dence OF those expressions which the
Armenlans in Turkey are enduring.
Nearly $4,000 Armenians seek work in
Constantinople in order that they may be
able to pay taxes which the Turkish
Government imposes upon them. In the
whole Turkish empire, including Asia,
there are about 100000 Armenians.
Regarding the Sassoun massacre the
father said:
"As every action brings its result or
counter-blow the same may be said of the
oppression of the Armenians who under
stood the actions of the Turks and began
to revolt. 1t was then and only then that
the Turks understood the danger of the
position. As result they had recourse to
the Kurds, whose chief went to CONSTANT
nopIe where they received instructions to
form regiments of soldiers from their own
tribes. This was the beginning of what is
known as the Hamideh cavalry OF Kurdish
regulars. The Kurdish chiefs were loaded
with favors and invested with the right to
oppress the Armenians.
"The troops received no pay, but, what
was better for them, they received permis-
sion to plunder the Christians. Unable to
elude this newest form of oppression and
torture, some Armenians revolted against
the cruelty of their oppressors while many
others sought to fly to foreign countries
''The final result came in the massacre
III the Sassoun Mountains. What took
place I know only from the statements of
eyewitnesses and also from accounts pub
lished in the newspapers. The Turks had
wished for long time to capture and pun
ish the people who had revolted against
the cruelties of the Kurds, but the inae-
cessability of the mountain countries, not
only to cavalry but also to infantry frus-
trated their plans However, when the
Kurdish regiments were formed the task
of capturing the mountain people was en-
trusted to them, and subsequently 1000
Turkish regular troops, with several noun
tain guns. were sent to assist in the work.
The Armenians occupied a strong posi-
ton, owing to the inaccessabilitv of the
mountain region, and when the Turkish
troops attacked them they met with re-
sistance, but as the Armenians had but
few arms and inadequate supplies of pro-
visions they were eventually compelled to
surrender. During the fighting a few
soldiers were killed, but they were very
few in comparison with the number of
Armenians afterward put to death by both
Kurds and Turks.
among the horrible cruelties perpe-
trated on the Armenians during the massa-
ere [ will relate the following fact, proving
the ferocity of the Turkish troops and their
commander, Zeki Pasha: When the
Armenians had surrendered $50 of them,
including priests, were tle1wn into large
ditch alive despite the fact that they were
not wounded. Earth was then heaped on
them, and some soldiers were sent to watch
them until they all had perished. After
this the massacre continued, many people,
old and young, were killed, and many
women and young girls were sent to Moosh.
The bodies of the Armenians who were
killed in large numbers together were
buried in common graves, but the bodies
of those who were killed in isolated places
were left unburied. The Arnenians who
were not killed fled. Most of them came
to Russia. Some of them are now in Tiflis.
Some came to me in Etzchmiadzin and re-
lated to me the sufferings they had en-
dured. M&pWArmenians are confined in
prisons for political matters. The exact
number of the prisoners is unknown to me,
but it must be more than 1000. Forty or
fifty clergymen are among the number
priests, bishops and archimadrades. These
are imprisoned for so-called political Of
fenses.'..
''The state of the Turkish prisons is
simply dreadful. For instance, the chief
monk of a monastery was fastened to
wall with a nail driven through his hands,
and was delivered from that position only
on admitting that he acted wrongly, al
though he was innocent. On the hands and
feet of several prisoners were fastened
chains and heavy shackles of wood while
on the heads were placed instruments re-
sembling copper pots which were heated to
a high temperature. Sometimes these tor
lures ended in the death of the sufferers.
Sometimes the torturers executed their
terrible task simply to kill their victims.
"In the Sassoun district there were about
ia villages and hamlets. In one of these
villages lived Iaimiadan, a Turkish district
chief. The whole number of Armenian
families, or 'hearths, as they were called
in the district, was 1868. The Armenians,
l may explain, pave preserved the ancient
tribal system. The maximum number to
one of these 'hearths' is eighty persons.
Taking twenty as a modest average the
number of inhabitants in the district
amounted to more than 10, 900 souls.
From the information brought to me
believe that the Kurdish and Turkish
troops have burned or destroyed number
of cities or villages, and | estimate that the
number of men, women and children
killed in the Sassoun district amount to
1900"
The correspondent also interviewed sew
eral Armenian refugees at Tifiis. The
stories they told of the massacres CORE
spond in every respect with what had
been published in local Armenian papers.
The Armenians held their ground against
the Turks for twenty-four days, when,
their provisions and ammunition being
exhausted, they were either forced to fly
or to surrender. After reaching the viii
lage of Cleivoson the Turks set fire to the
houses destroyed the churches and began
to massacre the inhabitants. Old and
young men, women and children were tor