Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-05-10

appeared to the Armenian people for
the last six centuries"
The Armenians, NJ Raft said, look
10 Russia for protection when they
are removed from the rule OF the
Turk. Like Poland" he said. I'VE
VIII expect to get some kind of auton-
omous government. with the capital
at Erzerum or Van. Before the war
the argument against granting us
autonomy was that in some parts OF
the country the population was a mix
ture OF Armenians, Turks and Kurds
After the war. II the allies are NiCto-
rious, that difficulty will no longer
exist. The Turks Will have fled, while
the kurds have never been more than
nomadic tributes always ready to side
with the stronger power. 1t must not
De forgotten that altho they have
helped in the massacres, they have
also helped in the rescue of great
many Armenians, have fought against
the Turks as well as against Russia
ana also are continually fighting
among themselves. They have no
schools. You will find a school in
| every Armenian village.
Grow Under Russian Rule.
There will be a tremendous de-
Velopment in railways and Industries
In Asia Minor after the war, and in
this there is no question the Armen-
ians will play a great part"
NJ. Raffi was asked about the Rus
sian treatment of the Armenians.
When the Russians conquered the
| present Russian Armenia from the
Turks and Persians little more than
huRdred years ago." he said. there
were only thirty thousand Armenians
there. Now there are more than two
million and this is certainly a tribute
to the rule Of the Russians. The
Armenians, indeed. feel that with the
Turks gone there is nothing for them
as people to fear. Naturally, they
look forward to some reparation for
all the horrors they have suffered.
only yesterday batch of tho
latest Armenian newspapers reached
me from the Caucasus, and they con-
tain terrible reports of massacres that
are still going on. One man, forced TO
join the Turkish army and who has
just escaped thru Erzerum TO the Rus
slams, said the country he passed thru
was strewn with the bodies of dead
Armenians. He met a group of dis
tracted children who seemed to have
lost their speech. 1t has become a
custom of the Turks to throw their
victims from bridges, as the easiest
way of getting rid of them. The
~ HicilidIs nave Il say llS II you GET
past bridge you have escaped death
Burned Villages Are Rebuilt.
In one province, learn, the Turks
took unusual precautions after
massacre. They sent regular troops to
burn the bodies I'm order to prevent
the Turkish inhabitants from becom-
ing infected with disease. The pretty
girls have been saved and divided
among the men, the rest of the women
thrown into the river Euphrates.
There have been masacres OF the
Armenian regular soldiers in the
Turkish army. Men and youths, it is
stated, were cast into a great ditch
and burned alive.
I'm spite of all this persecution and
bloodshed the nation has 1rospered
and brought treasurers even to those
who slew the people, and today the
nation has its own tredtiOns, its own
literature and art. In 1896, when the
last big massacres occurred, travellers
found whole towns and villages raZed
to the ground and their inhabitants
exterminated. Two years later those
towns were rebuilt and flourishing
That gives an insight into the astonish-
Ing vitality of the Armenian people.
1t is a bright and wonderful vision
that we now see.'