New-York tribune., 1915-11-04
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

To the Editor OF L ne iripuHo'
Sir: Za Mufty-Zade Bey, in letter pub
lished in a recent issue of New York paper
which has not deemed It necessary TO say
word about the present Turkish atrocities
irreverently ventures 70 place upon the AT
menians the responsibility for the indescriba-
bic atrocities now ruthlessly going on in the
Turkish Empire upon the unarmed and abso-
utely innocent Christians.
Permit me to say few words and state
some facts concerning the Turks and IN de-
fence Of Armenisns, who in these days OF
their national sorrow must at least be spared
libellous accusations.
Any one interested In the sad reports from
Eastern Christian countries long before this
war. and standing by the side of truth and
Justice, will admit that the cruel Turkish
administration was endeavorng by all means
be il BY systematic murder or by unspeaHa-
BILE oppression, to exterminate -Mussulman
nationalities A glance at the pages OF his
tory will convince US that the Christians
were never left in peace under the Turkish
despotism.
The Armenans were for many centuries
destined to Moslem brutalities, but nothing
could keep them away from Christianity, to
which they clung more and more. The capt
ure OF Constantinople C1453) marks the be-
ginning Of series OF terrible slaughters
Of European Christians. They are recorded
in hundreds Of volumes, and can be found at
the Public Library on Fifth Avenue. | would
advise Mr.. Mufty-Zade to "give them the once
over"
The rnassacres Of Greeks, particularly that
Of Scio, where out of 100000 innocent in
habitants 900 were left; the Serbians' suf-
ferngs of fearful oppression under the rule
Of Turks until 1880, and Rumanas troubles
with the Turks until 1877; the Bulgarian
massacres in 1876, and their suferings OF
brutal barbarties until 18S0-it is impossi-
bic to give an adequate description Of the
crimes committed by these felonious Turks.
It is undeniable that they carried fire and
sword wherever they went, with one thought
in their minds the EXTERN ination of Chris
tians! This was the battle cry on the lips Of
Turks since the year i0iS, the beginning Of
their unruly invasions.
After The Treaty of Berlin for the East
ern question: All 1000 " NHiNH NAb"A'" -
liberation was obtained, everything seemed
TO be going on quietly, but in reality the
systematic murder and oppression were 60
ing on, and the Christian nations left under
the intolerable yoke of the Ottoman Empire
still suffered intensely. This caused among
the Armenians very natural uneaslness,
which resulted in an unimaginable slaughter
of $4,000 innocent Armenans (lS95-'96) that
shocked the civilized world. Nothing was
done for them, and so the siXty-frst and
sixty-second clauses of the Treaty of Berlin,
which were supposed TO have the power to
stop the Turks bloody sword, proved TO be
futile. or, according to the German EXPIRES
sion. "a scrap of paper" And even after
this wholesale murder, for which the sgners
Of the Treaty of Berlin were responsible. day
by day. every year. were received the reports
of maltreatments and heartrending brutali-
ties on the Armenisns.
And later came the massacres OF Mace
domains under the very nose of civilized Eu-
rope But all these happened before the
Young Turks entered Constantinople that
is, under the bloody rule Of Abdul Hamid.
Some optimistic people believed and hoped
that after the entry of the Young Turks
party into the Ottoman capital civilization
would succeed barbarism in Turkey.
Alas, When in 1908, on July "a, the con-
stitution was granted and the Young Turks
took possession of the government, from all
corners was heard the song Of fraternity,
equality. liberty. The Christian nations re-
ioiced, for at last they thought they would
breathe in freedom. Right after these eele-
brated events 10000 innocent Armenians