The Washington herald., 1918-10-21


Russians was a happy turn Of war
mainly because It 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 their
own territory OF Van. Instead of
fighting the trained Russian army OF
men, they turned their rifles, machine
guns. and other weapons upon the
Armenian women. children, and old
men in the villages Of Van. Following
their usual custom, they distributed
the ~St beautiful Armenian women
among the Moslems. sacked and burn
the Armenian villages, and massa-
cred uninterruptedly. for days NOn
April Is, about 500 young Armenian
men of Akantz were mustered to hear
an order Of the Sultan; at sunset they
were marched outside the town and
every man shot In cold blood. This
procedure was repeated in about 50
Armenian villages In the district
north of Lake Van, and in three DAYS
1900 Armenians were murdered In
this atrocious fashion. A single cpl
sode illustrates the unspeakable de-
pravity OF Turkish methods. A con-
fiict having broken but at Shadak.
Djevdet Bey, who had meanwhile re-
turned to Van, asked four Of the lead
ing Armenian citizens TO go to this
town and attempt to quiet the multi
tude. These men made the trip. stop
ping at all Armenian villages along
the way. urging everybody to keep
public order. After completing their
work these four Armenians were
murdered in a Kurdish village.
Id
return to his official post, demanded
that Van furnish him Immediately
with 1000 soldiers, the people were
request When We consider what had
happened before and what happened
subsequently, there remains little
doubt concerning the purpose which
underlay this demand. Djevdet, act
ing in obedience to orders from Con-
stantinople, was preparing to wipe
out the whole population, and his pur-
pose in calling for 1000 able-bodied
men was merely to massacre them. so
that the rest OF the Armenians might
have no defenders. The Armenians.
parleying to gain time. offered to fur
nish 500 soldiers and to pay exemp-
tion money for the rest; now, how
ever, Djevdet began to talk aloud
about rebellion" and his determine
tion to Crush" II at snv cost. '1f the
rebels fire a single shot" he declared.
81 shall kill every Christian man,
woman and child" up to here" point
ing to his knee. For some time the
Turks had been constructing en-
trenchments around the Armenian
quarter and filling them with soldiers
and, in response to this provocation,
ha Arr,onnFonS hagan make =
: rations for a defense On April 20,
band of Turkish soldiers seized sew
eral Armenian women who were en-
tering the city: a couple of Arme-
mans ran to their assistance and were
shot dead. The Turks now opened
fire on the Armenian quarter with
rifles and artillery; soon large part
OF the town was in flames and a reg
ular siege had started. The whole
Armenian fighting force consisted of
only l.5O0 men; they had only 800 RI
| fes and a most inadequate supply of
ammunition, while Djevdet had an
army of 5000 men, completely equip
ped and supplied. Yet the Armenians
fought with the utmost heroism and
ekill: they had little chance of hold
| ing off their enemies indefinitely, but
they knew that a Russian army was
| nEnllnE llS way 10 v al anu AAltlT III
most hope was that they would be
able to defy the besiegers until these
Russians arrived As I am not writ
/ ing the story of sieges and battles. ]
cannot describe in detail the numer-
Gus acts of individual heroism, the
corporation of the Armenian women
. the ardor and energy OF the Arme-
nian children, the self-sacrifcing zeal
! OF the American missionaries, espe-
cially Doctor Usher and his wife and
Miss Grace H. Knapp. and the thou
sand other circumstances that make
this terrible month one of the most
glorious pages in modern Armenian
history. The wonderful thing about
il is that the Ar1nenians triumphed
After nearly five weeks of sleepless
fighting, the Russian army suddenly
appeared and the Turks fed into the
surrounding country. where they
found appeasement for their anger BY
again massacring unprotected AT
menian villages. Doctor Usher, the
American medical missionary. whose
hospital at Van was destroyed by
bombardment, is authority for tht
statement that, after driving of tbs
Turks. the Russians began to collec
and to cremate the bodies of Arme'
mans who had been murdered in th'
province, with the result that 500
bodies were burned.
I have told this story of the "Revo'
luton" in Van not only because i
marked the first stage in this organ
lied attempt to wipe out a whole ma
tion. but because these events are al
ways brought forward by the Turk
as a justification Of their subseQuen
crimes. As 1 shall relate, Enver, Ia
laat. and the rest when I appealed Z
them in behalf OF the Armenians, in
varlably instanced the revolution
ists'' Of Van as a sample Of Arme
nian treachery. The famous ReVo
luton" as this recital shows, wa
merely the determination of the Ar
menians to save their women's homo
and their own lives. after the Turks
by massacring thousands Of thet
neiehbors, had shown them the fat
that awaited them
The Murder of n Nation
The destruction Of the Armenia
race in 1915 involved certain diff1cultie
that had not impeded the operation
of the Turks in the massacres Of lS9
and other years. In these earlier pc
lriods the Armenian men had possess
ed little power or means of resistancs
In those days ArInenians had not oeel
permitted to have military training
to serve in the Turkish army. or Z
possess arms. As have already said
these determinations were withdraw
when the revolutionists obtained tn
upper hand in 1905. Not only wer
the Christians now permitted to bea
arms, but the authorities, in the ful
flush Of their enthusiasm for freedom
and equality, encouraged them to d
SO. In the early part of 1916. there