The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-01-18
VICTIMS OF THE KURDs.
Some Recent Atrocities to Which Armeni-
ans Have Been Subject.

The N. Y. Independent publishes an ar
ticle upon the treatment of the Arme-
nian, Jacobite and HISTORIAN Christians
at the hands of the KuFds and the Iurk-
ish government, the statements In Whlch,
it says, are drawn from trustworthy
sources and eau be relied upon as penn
correct. The list of outrages clteo IN
cludes pillage, murder, the extoftioh OIL
taxes and the petty exactions OF ofhclals,
and instances are given of communities
that have been wiped out of existence py
their oppressors. In the case OF the VIII
age of Mansurch, already Impoverished
by previous extortions the tax gatherers
swooped down upon the people last sum-
mer and demanded big amount OF SUP
posititious back taxes. The villagers mort
gagged their fields to their full vaiue,
ana that not making the amount, they
gave up in despair, and deserving the
village fed to the mountains. They were
coaxed back after awhile by far promls-
es. but no sooner had they returned than
the old methods were resumed. Many
other villages were treated lu the same
| fashion, and in those villages Iafthef
| back in the mountains the custom OF
| one.
Christians who complain to the author
| titles not only get no redress, but are qulte
| sure of being murdered by the huros
when they hear of the complaint. some
villages have been raided so often tnat
| the men are compelled to senG theik
women and children away and leave
their fields uncultiy ated. Any number
| of Instances of the murder of CHRISTMAS
are gwen, and in no case has. PUNISH
ment been melted out to the oHender. An
| old missionary who is familiar with the
region says the expressions are steaatly
increasing, and that it is only matter
of time when all the villages Will IAN
into the hands of he Kurds.
1t is nos the great raids that are the
most serious to the Christians; 1T is the
daily exactions aud expressions that are
crushing the life out of them. The sys"
TEN of I'm Just and corrupt assessments
the jus ice and severity OF collectors
and the farming out of the taxes 60 pow
| erfuI Kurdish chiefs and the constant
"private" assessments of the chiefs are
| the most harmful.
AS an example of another kind OF treat
ment at the bands of the Sultan, tne
story of the massacre of YedzidlS is tolo.
| The Yedzidis are remnant OF heatheh
sect that has hever been converted TO the
Moslem faith. Their holy city IS not Tar
| lFOul Jig City VI 4hOeuls
In 1892 an officer called Farik Pasha
was sent to Mosul with absolute power
4 to correct certain abuses in the govern
4 fnent, collect back taxes, and to convert
the Yedzidis. For each conversion he
was to get certain sum. AS his pr ests
did not succeed in converting the Yedzldls
at once he gave them the choice OF the
| Koran or the sword. They chose the lat
ter, and his soldiers put every one to the
sword thar would not accept the faith.
Three villages were burned, the women
and girls carried off to harems, and all
sorts of atrocities were committed. A
remnant escaped to the mountains and
successfully defended themselves until the
spring of 1898. when the government
troops dislo1ged them.
Those that remained in the villages
had Moslen, priests set over them to in
struct them in the faith. They were
compelled to attend prayers and were
nominally Mohammedans, but in secret
they practised their own rites and de-
clared themselves Yedzidis.