New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-12

To the Editor o. The Tribune
Sir: This mornings Tribune hhs .e;;er
from His E1ce.loncy ZiS Muft-Ztci Bey =
reply 20 letter from Mr. o. :. Nslghs-
zouny. published November :. Go not tsp-
pen 10 have seen the letter 20 which he re-
fers, but inssmuch as ! was IN Van during
the entire siege and in close touch with both
Moslems and Christians. beg you 20 give
this letter publicity equal to that given 20
Zia Bey's letter in to-dsy's issue.
note tina, he draws attention 10 the fact
that Mr.. Malghazouny does not deny the re-
bcllion Of the Armenians at Van" l have
been told that Zia Bey published in The
Times" in October letter in which he
made the charge that the Armenans of Van
rebeled and that the Ottoman government
was suppressng rebellion in the measures it
took against the Armenians. He used pho
tcgreph published in THE Literary Digest"
of October Q as proof that the Armenians
were in rebellion and that the Americans
aided them. IL is unfortunate that those in
prominent official positions, like Zia Bey,
should be misinformed and endeayor TO pro-
tect the good name of their governments by
errors in statement.
Permit me TO say. first, that "The Literary
Digest" by the explanation under the above
mentioned photograph misinformed Zia Bey.
This stated that the Armenians, taken I'M
awares and many of them massacred, fled to
the American Mission compound, fortified it
and directed their fight against the Turks
from that place until the Turks retired.
The first part of this statement is true, the
latter part utterly false. The trench pho
tographed was full mile from the Amer
lean Mission compound. The compound
was never fortified in any way, and all
through the siege its neutrality was main
tanned.
No armed man was permitted to enter the
premises, even cartridge belts being re-
moved at the gate when men with revolvers
desired to come in to some relative or
friend. No shot was ever fired from the
American Mission at the Ottoman forces or
airy others, and the Americans were so deter
mired to preserve the neutrality and extra
terrtoriality of their premises that they as
sured the Governor General, Jevdet Bey, a
brother-in-law Of Damed- Enver Pacha, that
they would themselves shoot any one who
dared to fire from the American premises
be he Christian or Moslem, civil or military.
During the siege there we're more than
twenty Ottoman soldiers in the American
MAN refugees, mostly women and children,
in the mission compound. After the siege
the Armenians brought us about one thou
sand Mussulman refugees, men, women and
children, and n number Of wounded and sick
Turkish soldiers, and all were tenderly
cared for by American and Armenian Chris
tans and the Russian Red Cross workers.
AZ to the revolution rebellion Of Ar
menians as cause OF the massacres and
other atrocities by the Turkish military, tho
facts are as follows: From the beginning
of the mobilization il was made perfectly
evident that. it was the determination Of the
government TO ruin the non-Moslems The
mon were removed from their homes and
shops and then their houses and shops were
p!undered IN the name of the government.
Cooking utensils, copper vessels, bedding
clothing, food and other things, even bric-a
brac, were seized, and the meanest Turkish
gendarme was given powers supposed to lie
only in the hands Of a court martial.
Poth in the army and out Of it many Ar
menians were shot down, and payment OF
"hadal," or exemption money was no pro-
lection. Americans would have rebelled
urdcr one-tenth OF the provocation, but Ar
menians did not. Turkish officers took Ar
mchians out OF the ranks, on the march,
tied them TO telegraph poles and shot them,
with no better excuse than the accusation
that they wanted to desert. Self-respecting
and faithful Armenans in the army were
disarmed ard made the slaves OF Turkish
soldiers. Sickness and starvation were rife
among them, and their starving families at
home were uncared for by the government.
Murders of Armenians in the army were fire.
quent. There were desertions. but the
Kurds deserted in much larger numbers |
wonder would not Zia Bey have deserted I'M
der such circumstances. when 1t was evident