The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1918-12-25
Continued from previous issue.)


After massacreing hundreds Of thou
sands Of Armenians in the course Of
30 years, outraging their women and
girls and rObbinE and maltreatlng them
in every conceivable way, the Turks
still apparently believed that they had
the right to expect from them the most
enthusiastic loyalty" That the Ar
menians all over Turkey s~ympathized
with the entente was no secret. III
YOU want to know how the war is
going" wrote a humorous Turkish
newspaper. all you need to do is to
look in the face Of an Armenian. II
he Is smiling. then the allies are win
nlng, II he is doWnCast, then the Ger
mans are successful" II an ottoman
Armenian soldier should desert and join
the Russians. that would ]unquestion-
ably constitute "A technical crime
against the state and might be pun-
ished without violating the rules of all
civilized countries. Only the Turkish
mind, however-and possibly the Ger
mau--could regard it as furnishing an
excuse for the terrible barbarities that
now took place.
Though the air, all during the au-
tumn and winter of 1~9l4-l5, was filled
with premOnitiOns of trouble, the Ar
menlans behaved with remarkable self
restraint. For years ii had been the
Turkish policy to provoke the Chris
tian population into committing overt
acts and then Selling upon such mis-
behavior as an excuse for naSSaCres.
The Armenian clergy and political
leaders saw many evidences that the
Turks were now up to their Old tao
tiCs, and they therefore went among
the people, cautioQng them to keep
quiet, to bear all insults and even out
RACES patiently, so as not to give the
Moslems the opening which they were
seeking, Even though they burn a
few Of our villages these leaders
would say, do not retaliate, for 1t is
better that a few be destroyed than
hat the whole nation be massacred. 90
When the wal started. the central
government recalled Tahsin Pasha, the
conciltatory governor Of Van, and re-
placed him with Djevdet Bey, a broth
er-in-law OF Enver Pasha. This act in
itself was most disquieting. Turkish
offtcialdom has always contained a mi
nority Of men who do not believe in
massacre as a state policy and can not
be depended upon to carry out strictly
the most bloody orders OF the central
government, Whenever massaCres have
been planned, therefore, It has been
customary first to remove such 'un-
trustworthy. public ervants and re-
place them with men who are regarded
as more reliable. The character Of
TahsiG's successor made his displaCe-
ment still more alarming, Djevdet had
spent the larger part Of his life at
Van, he was a man of unstable char
acter, friendly to non-Moslems one mo-
ment, hostile the next, hypocritical,
treaCherous and feroCious according to
the worst traditions Of his race. He
hated the Armenians and cordially
sympathized with the long established
Turkish plan Of solving the Armenian
problem. There Is little question that
he came to Van with definite instruC-
lions to eXterminate all Armenians In
this province, but, for the first few
months, conditions did not facilitate
such operations. Djevdet himself was
absent fighting the Russians in the
Caucasus and the near approach OF
the enemy made II n wise policy for
the Turks to refrain from maltreating
the Armenians Of Van. But early in
the spring the Russians temporarily re
treated. II is generally recognized as
good military tactics for a victorious
army to follow up the retreating enc
my. In the eyes of the Turkish gem
erals, however, the withdrawal of the
Russians was a happy turn OF wal
mainly because 1t deprived the Ar.
menians Of their protectors and left
them at the merCies OF the Turkish
army. Instead Of following the re,
treating foe, therefore, the Turks
army turned aside and invaded theiI
own territory Of Van. Instead Of fight.
ing the trained Russian army of men
they turned their rifles. machine guns
and other weapons upon the Armenian
women, children II old men in the
villages of Van, Following their usua
custom, they distributed the most beau.
tiful Armenian women among the Mos
lens, sacked and burned the Armenian
villages and m~aSsaCred uninterruptedlS
for days, on April Is about 500 youns
Armenian men of Akantz were mus.
tered to hear an order Of the sultan
at sunset they were marched outsid,
tho town and every man shot in colC
blood, This procedure was repeated il
about 50 Armenian villages in the dis
trict north Of Lake Van, and in thre,
days "a 900 Armenians we're murdere,
In this atrocious fashion. A single cpl
sode illustrates the u~nspeakahle de
pravity of Turkish methods, A con
flict having broken out at Shadak
Diedvet hey, who had meanwhile re
turned to Van, asked four OF the lead
ing Armenian citizens to go to thi
town and attempt to quiet the multi
tude. These men made the trip, stop