Armenian Genocide Resources Center And 6 Year

The blog of Armenian Genocide Resource Center is celebrating its 6th anniversary. I thought about the meaning of this anniversary and assessed whether having reached the 6th year of this blog was something that we should madly be happy about. I seriously looked for an answer to this question in my mind but since I have not thought about this issue before I could not come up with an immediate answer. Then I realized that although giving an answer to this question seemed easy at first, philosophically it was not that easy. The reason for this was the fact that this blog included a significant work based on archiving and so its nature was quite important.

The answer to my question would be very easy if the creators of this blog, Murat, Seda & Lara, would only try to prove or disprove the so called genocide with only a few visual aids and some baseless documents. However this blog they prepared indeed had a very different nature. The sort of significant effort and work to prepare such a blog was making it difficult for me to answer how enthusiastically we should be celebrating the 6th anniversary of this blog. Under normal circumstances, having reached the 6th year of this blog would be very pleasing. However this blog:
not only proved that the statements that were allegedly indicated belonging to Hitler & Mustafa Kemal were indeed fake or demonstrated that the visual aids used by the proponents of the so called genocide were indeed forgeries, but also was successful in revealing reports like Warangian or Niles-Sutherland Reports or books like Patriotism Perverted and many historical newspaper archives and many other comments and thoughts.

Should all these hundreds of documents, books or archival materials that were brought together with such great effort be only published in this blog? Should the function of this blog be this, to be the only source for many people to have access to these many documents and historical information?

The time between years 1915 and 2005 (when this blog was founded) is 90 years. All these years, all those historcial newspaper archives, historical information and documents or reports were always there. Why haven’t the Zorian Institute publish for instance Warangian Report during all those years? Why aren’t the Clark University or Universities of Minnesota or California publishing Niles-Sutherland Report? Why can’t CNN, MSNBC, ABC or BBC broadcast a documentary film about the alleged statements of Hitler? Or why can’t the Turkish History Institution gather the historical newpaper archives in US and publish them?

According to the criteria of the Age of Enlightenment which had taken us out of the Dark Ages and led us to science and justice, all these topics should have been the primary subject-matter of the scientific institutions and not of some internet blog writers. If today the data published by this blog which provides all information in detail with even archival numbers can not be challenged by any historians or can not be proven to be fake or forgery, aren’t we then having a very serious ethical problem and not just for Armenians or Turks but for the whole wide world? The meaning of the term ETOCIDE is probably defined by this question.

Is only some part of the world population being threatened by the fact that politicians, populists and some lazy and selfish parties violate the concepts of enlightenment and modernism like justice, objectivity and peace?

I am asking very serious questions about the work of Murat, Seda & Lara in honour of the 6th anniversary of this blog. I am reminding of those who constantly babble about love, peace and justice that only the ones who are well informed in an objective fashion can be peaceful, just and affectionate.

Murat, Lara & Seda, you are one of a kind and I am so glad we have you...

About Talat Pajha Speculations by Ara Sarafian

Following the publication of the book named ‘Talat Pasha Evrak-ı Metrukesi (Documents Left Behind by Talat Pasha) by Murat Bardakçı in 2008, there were many interpretations of the book as well as many extreme meanings attributed to it both in Turkey and in west in the name of historiography.

Many comments were fyling around some of which were,

‘Denied Deir-El-Zor Massacres’ by Sarafian;
Claim of Hilmar Kaiser about his ‘Death Record’ being a slap in the faces of Turkish historians (Sabrina Tavernise NYT March 8, 2009 - Nearly a Million Genocide Victims, Covered in a Cloak of Amnesia);
Taner Akçam finding the number of the deported low;
Yusuf Halaçoğlu finding the number of the deported high;
Fuat Dündar announcing the document to be the most important of all;
Kemal Çiçek finding the document worthless.

While this theatrical phenomenon of subjective historiography was going on in March 2009, I managed to publish in choronological order the offical documents and statistics gathered from US-Armenian and European sources about the relocations of Ottoman Armenians until end of 1920 (until when the Turkish-Armenian War continued).

Link : Armenian Refugees Movements & Genocide Claims

The ‘Death Record’ claimed to be a slap in the faces of Turkish historians by Hilmar Kaiser must have been a slap in his on face after the documents I published, not to mention the fact that nothing serious was heard about the documents of Talat Pasha from that side.

By SABRINA TAVERNISE Published: March 8, 2009 NYT

Further more Taner Akçam, making a sudden reduction of 50% in his claim for the death toll of so-called genocide victims, announced the number as 800,000 in the TV program of Balçiçek Pamir which was a more defendable figure for him although the claim about the number of the so-called genocide victims by the related institutions and committees was 1.5 million.

Not being contented with the documents I published, we also issued the official records of League of Nations about the aid activities for Armenian Refugees.

However, Mr. Ara Sarafian, chairman of Gomidas Institute most probably was not very pleased with the outcome since he attempted to relate miraculously the ‘Deported Armenian’ records in the documents of Talat Pasha with the telegraphs of 1917, with the dream of coming up with a miracle result for the relocation.

[ Generated Analysis by Sarafian about Talat Paşa Evrak-ı Metrukesi ]

Let me remind all of you who express their opinions based on comments by Sarafian of some points one more time:

1) It is very clear that the document presenting the general condition of Armenians after the relocation and attributed to Talat Pasha is used to try to give an image as if it is representing truths recently surfaced (that were being hid on purpose before) although a copy of the very same document with the same hand-writing is with the Attache archives and the telegraphs of 1917 that are referenced by Sarafian are in the Ottoman archives. The aim becomes evident when we hear the claims that the document had been prepared specially for Talat Pasha in order for him to be able to control the number of survivors and to mask the process as a security measure. Unfortunately when you do a simple math on 1914 population cencus figures, figures on the telegraphs of 1917 and numbers in Attache archives, you get the same result with the document attributed to Talat Pasha, all of these documents being readily available in the archives for many years. Also in the history journal issued by NTV, there is a document published by Derya Tulga dated November 2nd, 1922 and having a stamp on it as ‘true copy’ presenting the number of Armenians relocated as 924,158. The document published by Bardakçı about Talat Pasha is neither a secret nor something specially prepared for him.

Published by Derya Tulga in The NTV History Journal

2) In addition the expressions of Sarafian of ‘masking this process as a security measure’ and ‘his report was not meant for public disclosure and may well have been destroyed were it not for Talat’s untimely death in 1921’ are not appropriate and hereby I remind Sarafian of the official document prepared by American Ambassador Jackson dated February 3rd, 1916 about the Armenian population in Iraq and Syria. Someone who was in the intention of exterminating Armenians secretly would certainly not get Armenians counted by the American Ambassador with the presence of Armenian reverends.

[ US Archives State Department Record Group 59, 867.48/271 by Ara Sarafyan, United States Official Documents on the Armenian Genocide, Vol II, s. 112-113 ]

3) Another remarkable comment by Sarafian is ‘Consequently, the eastern provinces of Erzerum, Bitlis, Van, Diyarbekir, Trebizond, Elazig and Janik were not included in the survey because they had been ordered to clear out their Armenian populations in the initial stages of deportations’. Sarafian went too far by further deepening his claim with the remark of ‘Talat knew that many Armenians had managed to escape from the Ottoman Empire, such as those who resisted Ottoman forces in Van in April 1915, as well as those who managed to flee across the Russian border in 1915-16. The number of people who escaped was probably around 150,000 and their ultimate survival was by no means clear. Thousands subsequently perished from privation and disease’. Sarafian did not even have to make any effort to see that a document belonging Lord Major Found proved that the number of the fleeing ones was 250,000 alone in 1915 and that Armenians were not only fleeing from Van but other provinces too.In addition to this, the number of the fleeing ones in the following years to Caucasia, Southern Russia and Iran is no less than 500,000.

Armenian refugees: Lord Mayor's Fund
nationalarchives.gov.uk

4) As a result Sarafian claims that 900,000 Armenians had been systemically terminated by basing his claim also on telegraphs of 1917. In response to this Fuat Dündar claims that since the document attributed to Talat Pasha does not include the number of Armenians in general assembly areas like Deir-El-Zor or Mosul but only includes the ones counted in the cities, there is no way that the claim of Sarafian about the number of Armenains who died can be true. Either way, it is not possible to form a claim based on the document attributed to Talat Pasha or on the telegraphs of 1917. However if Sarafian is in the intention of attaching to his claim for life, then he has to come up with other official and historical documents. He can start by checking the official documents from American archives proving that the number of survivors in Ottoman borders in 1921 is 624,900. He can then also take a look at the documents presented to the League of Nations if he wishes. He can even present the documents.I included in my article headed ‘Armenian Refugees Movement and Genocide Claims’ to world’s public opinion before the article becomes a slap in the face to Sabrina Tavernise. None of these documents are from Turkish arhives, they are all official documents and they all include historical information and dates.

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration - NARA, T 1192 R2. 860J.01

The document in Talat’s archive brings forth the following:

* The document does not include either dates or a general outcome based on calculations and therefore does not have unique importance alone in its current form.

* It becomes an extra useful item for calculation following the presentation of Armenian Refugee numbers from the archives of League of Nations in years following WW1.

* It is useful in the sense that it pulls down the baseless claim of Armenian Patriarchate about the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire before 1914 of 2 million back to its real levels of 1.5 million.

* What has been said and commented about the document produce more efficient results than what is included in the document itself.

Armenian Refugees Movements And Genocide Claims

Many reputable sources account to 1.5 – 1.6 million of Armenian population within Ottoman Empire before WW1. Only the number provided by the Armenian Istanbul Patriarchate in 1912 is way above these general numbers, being around 2 million. Oddly, Patriarchate’s number is the only one taken into account in Toynbee’s Blue

Book and in the declaration published by Boghos Nubar and A. Aharonian before Paris Peace Conference.

Patriarchate’s 2 million figure highly contradicts with the detailed population numbers provided by British H.F.B Lynch and French Vital Cuinet for the periods ending 19th century and beginning 20th century. When we look at the numbers given by Lynch and Cuinet, it’s easy to see that Patriarchate’s number for before WW1 is nearly 100% higher than the British and French sources for the periods ending 19th century and beginning 20th century which is nearly impossible considering populations can not rise by that much for over only 15 to 20 years. Also the number provided by Armenian Patriarchate for Muslim population in Ottoman Empire in 1912 is 20-30% lower than the other reputable sources.


In addition to sources of Lynch and Cuinet, many other reputable sources show that Armenian population with in Ottoman empire before WW1 was around 1.3-1.6 million.
Hence in Lozan Peace Conference, 2 million figure introduced by the Armenians had been found quite an exaggeration and 1.6 million figure by David Magie had been taken into account.
Another disinformation Ottoman Empire had been a victim of during WW1 about Ottoman Armenians is the number of Armenians that had been killed in Anatolia. It’s almost like this number had been introduced to an auction in last 100 years. ( Numbers given by the Red Cross is between 600.000 and 800.000, numbers given by Morgenthau is 1 million and today Armenian Diaspora claims the number to be around 1.5 to 2 million.

Some historians that support the Armenian Genocide allegations ignore this debate by saying that; ‘Numbers are meaningless, it’s the crime that matters’. There is no legal document that highlights or clarifies how many Armenians had died or had been killed under what conditions during 1915 phenomenon. Today the main allegation is that most Armenians (1.5 million to 2 million) had faced ethnic cleansing in Anatolian camps or North Syrian camps.

However when we look at legal documents with European or United Nations origins for the period commencing WW1 and ending 1924, we see just the opposite of these allegations. If we take into consideration the documents of Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun) as well as Czardom Russia and Bolshevik Russia documents together with the above mentioned documents, we can see the mobility of Armenians together with how they ended up and their fates.

The most important official document indicating the ‘Armenian Armed Movements’ before WW1 is the 1910 speech given by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation ideologist Mikail Varangian (aka Warangian) in Copenhagen during Second Socialist International.

The report shows that Dashnaktsutiun had organized and formed armed gangs in almost everywhere in Anatolia by adopting a terrorist movement. The report is in Belvedere archives.


Two other sources admitting the ‘Armenian Armed Movements’ that were seen long before WW1 are as follows:
1- Manifesto of First Prime Minister Hovhannes Katzhaznouni of Yerevan Dashnak Goverment published in Bucharest
2- The article of First USA Ambassador of Armenia Garekin Pastırmacıyan called ‘Why Armenian Should Be Free – Boston 1918’

The number of Armenians who had joined in these armed forces were around 200.000 as stated by Armenia Delegation Chairman Avetis Aharonian and World Armenians Delegation Chairman Boghos Nubar in Paris Peace Conference in 1919.

The act of organizing and arming these 200.000 Armenians was naturally not something that Armenians could manage on their own initiatives financially and technically. The Armenian armed gangs were supported directly by Czardom Russia, Britain and France before WW1.

Two years before WW1 on 26th November, 1912, the confidential report sent by Russian Ambassador Zinovyev in İstanbul to Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia S. D. Sazanov included the following (Russian State Archives, Politics Department, nr 117/293):

‘According to the information provided by our Van, Beyazıd, Erzurum, Trabzon Consulates, the Armenians living in these cities are on Russian side and are waiting for our armies’. [RussianStateArchives/political section n.117/293]

As paralel to what stated above, the riots of Armenian armed gangs resulted in Russians occupying Van at the beginning of WW1.

Van tradegy was described as follows in the telegraph sent by German Ambassador in İstanbul Hans Von Wangenheim to Ministery of Foreign Affairs of Germany on 10th May, 1915:

‘Armenians in the city of Van started rioting and started to attack Muslim villages and the castle. The Turkish headquarters in the castle had lost 300 soldiers and as a result of the street combats for days, the rebels took over the city. Russia occupied the city on 17th May, 1915. Armenians sided with Russia afterwards and started to massacre Muslims. Approximately 80.000 Muslims around Bitlis started to flee. [Wangenheim,Deutschisches und Armenien 1914-1918,Postdam 1919 p.65]

The massacres of Muslims by Armenians were also documented in Czardom Russia archives. A report sent by Russian Commander Brigadier Bolhovitinov in Caucasus to headquarters on 11th December, 1915 included the following:

‘The Armenian Volunteer Legions had killed Muslims brutally with racist motives.’ [Brigadier General Leonid Bolhovitinov's Report,1915,Russian Military History Archives (RGVIA) fond2100,list1,folder557,p.303-307]

While these tradegies were taking place in East Anatolia, Russian, British and French were helping Armenians getting armed in East Mediterranean.

The telegraph dated 5th November, 1914 sent by Francois George Picot and French Middle Ambassador Defrance of Egypt stated:

‘Greece accepted to send 15.000 rifles and 2 million bullets to the volunteer legions in Syria and in a possible intervention of France in Syria there are 30.000 – 35.000 volunteers readily avaliable to side with France in the region’. [Guerre Mondiale Turquie Vol.867 XCIII-document 237,Legion d'Orient 1914-1918]


The report sent by the French Admiral in Syrian shore to the British military headquarters in Egypt indicated that the riot in Cilicia had lasted for over one month as of 28th May, 1915 and a total of 300 Turkish gendarmes had been killed.
[U.K.Archives W.O. 157/691/8, 28 April 1915,Cairo]

The memorandum sent by Russian Ambassador to British Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 24th Feb, 1915 expressed that an Armenian from Cilicia had contacted Kont Warentzoff Dachkoff in Caucasus and had indicated that they had gathered a force of 15.000 to raid the transportation lines of the Turkish Army but that they had not had enough arms and arsenal to perform and those could have been provided by British and French over through Alexandretta Harbour. [U.K. Archives F.O. 371/2484 No.22083,15 Feb.1915]

As can be seen clearly from documents and information like the ones mentioned above, Armenian Dashnak Forces were committing war crimes behind the battles when Ottoman Empire called all men to the army to fight in Çanakkale, Palestine and Caucasus battles. This situation resulted in Ottoman Empire deciding to relocate Armenians in war zones as well as Armenians in Anatolia who were working for Dashnak Party to Syrian region.

The ones claiming that there is a genocide are accusing Ottoman Empire of ethnically cleansing 1.5 million Armenians in the Empire with the application of this relocation decision dated 27th May, 1915.

Many official documents were obtained in relation to the fate of Armenians forced to relocate during WW1 and after which were highly contradicting with the idea of a genocide.

Although Ottoman Empire decided to relocate Armenians in above mentioned locations, Batumi Ambassador of Britain P. Stevens indicated that many Armenians were not even subject to obligatory relocation and were taken away by Russians to Caucasus in the report he sent to London on 25th Feb, 1916. [Halaçoğlu,Ermeniler:Sürgün Ve Göç,p.84-85]

[Photo: Armenian Refugees From Turkey arrived in Russia,1914- Harold Buxton;Travel & Politics in Armenia,1914]

This is also confirmed in the report of British Lord Major Found which he wrote about 1915. 250.000 Armenians moved to Caucasus Armenia from Anatolia fighting against illnesses and war conditions. [U.K.FO 96/205]


250.000 figure was confirmed in the report sent by Armenian National Delegation Chairman Boghos Nubar to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France in addition to the figure of 40.000 Ottoman Armenians being in Iran.

When we can reasonably confirm that 250.000 Ottoman Armenians arriving at Caucasus and 40.000 Ottoman Armenians arriving at Iran at the beginning of WW1, we also obtain some other related information from US National Archives: American Counsel J. B. Jackson of Aleppo indicated in the letter he sent to American Ambassador Henry Morgenthau in İstanbul(8February1916) that 486.000 Armenians were located in the camps between Aleppo and Damascus and there were two charities helping the migrants. [U.S. Archives State Department Record Group 59,867.48/271]
[---The ones claiming that there was a genocide can not answer the question of why Ottoman Goverment allowed American charities or American ambassadors to help the Ottoman Armenian refugees located in camps between Aleppo and Damascus, locations which were under the control of Ottoman Goverment back then.---]

We can provide more detailed information related to Armenian refugees in Caucasus and Syria from documents obtained after WW1.

WW1 ended with Mondros Armistice signed on 30th October, 1918 for Ottoman Empire. In 1918 after the war when the Bolshevik Revolution was over, the massacres of Muslim civilians in East and South East Anatolia by Armenian Dashnak Goverment which was continuing to fight, reached the maximum possible. In the same year, Cilicia was



Occupied by the French (on 24th December, 1918). It is seen that after Cilicia was occupied by the French, some Armenian refugees in Syria were relocated here.
[Photo:George R. Swain(Adana/Turkey). Francis W. Kelsey and Near East Expedition of 1919-1920]




However we obtain the exact number of Armenians living under Ottoman Empire after WW1 from the official document presented to the US by İstanbul American High Council. This document is in US National Archives and was confirmed by İstanbul Armenian Patriarchate.





According to this official document, there were 624.900 Armenians living under Ottoman Empire in 1921. We also know that apparently around 200.000 were located in Cilicia (in Adana, Antep, Maraş etc.) which was under French control.
[U.S. Archives NARA, T 1192 R2.860J01/395]

This document shows that there were 624.900 Armenians under Ottoman borders after WW1 until these Armenians were refugees again.

There is also another visual document related to Armenians obtained for these years. The photo of Armenian refugees living in Novorossisk (Black Sea shore – South Russia) taken by G. P. Lloyd is in Frank Carpenter archives and it was taken in 1920. Unfortunately we can not obtain any information related to the number of Armenian refugees in Novorossik.

It is discussed in the Near East Relief Report dated 31st December, 1921 that around 500.000 Armenian refugees in Dashnak Goverment in Yerevan (which was in Caucasus) were being provided aid.


[Report Of The Near East Relief,For The Year Ending 31 December 1921, Washington Government Printing office 1922]

The exact number of Armenian refugees who went to Armenia during the Turkish – Armenian War which started with WW1 and ended with Gümrü Treaty signed on 3rd December, 1920 and Bolshevik Russians occupying Armenia on 4th December, 1920, was provided by Fridjof Nansen, Refugees High Commissar of League of Nations.


Fridjof Nansen indicated that 400.000 of the 1 million population of Yerevan Armenian Goverment was comprised of refugees who came during the war as answer to the question of an Indian representative during the 8th meeting of League of Nations held on 19th October, 1928.

Even if Fridjof Nansen did not give any indications related to the number of Armenians in whole Caucasus or South Russia, he definitely indicated that 400.000 Ottoman Armenians moved to Caucasus Armenia.

Meanwhile the Ankara Treaty signed between France and Ankara government resulting in France withdrawing from Cilicia also resulted in 200.000 Armenians leaving the region (who were located there before) and migrating to other countries without ever coming back. 500.000 Muslims being massacred by Armenian Armed Forces in Anatolia made it impossible for the Armenians and Turks living together.


The document about the ‘Armenian Population Around The World’ dated 1922 and included in US National Archives gives information about the Armenian emigration that started with the French withdrawing from Cilicia. We can follow the refugee movements of the 624.900 Armenians in Ottoman Empire beginning 1921 with the help of the activities of League of Nations.
[U.S. Archives, NARA 867.4016/816.Janunary 10,1923]



This refugee movement was also indicated in the declaration prepared by Armenian National Delegation for Lausanne Treaty on 2nd February, 1923.


[League Of Nation,Armenia, Geneva, February 2nd.1923, 0.153. M.56 1923 VII]



CONCLUSION:

From the beginning of WW1 to 1921, there were 624.900 Armenians in Ottoman Empire, at least 400.000 in Yerevan Armenia and finally at least 40.000 in Iran. Unfortunately we can not conclude as to how many Ottoman Armenians immigrated to South Russia, Georgia, Egypt, Greece, USA or Europe.

However the most certain thing we get out of all these documents is that the Armenian population which was around 1.6 million before WW1 was at least around 1.1 million after WW1.














[The Republic Of Armenia--A Memorandum , On The Recognition Of The Government Of The Republic Of Armenia, Submitted By The Special Mission Of The Republic Of Armenia To The United States-- Presented By Mr. Lodge,November 10,1919, Washington,Government Printing Office 1919]


GÖÇ EDEN OSMANLI ERMENİLERİNİN AKİBETİ VE SOYKIRIM İDDİASI

Birinci Dünya Savaşı öncesinde Osmanlı İmparatorluğu sınırları içinde yaşayan Ermenilerin sayıları hakkında verilen ciddi rakamların çoğunluğu 1.5-1.6 milyon arasındadır.Sadece İstanbul Ermeni Patrikhanesi'nin 1912 yılında verdiği rakam , bu genel rakamların çok üzerinde, 2 milyon u bulmaktadır.Patrikhane'nin bu değerleri, hem Toynbee'nin Mavi Kitap'ı ve hemde Paris Barış Konferansı öncesi, Boghos Nubar ve A. Aharonian iklisinin yayınladığı bildiride kullanılır.

Patrikhane'nin bu 2 milyon rakamı , 19. yy sonu-20.yy başı itibariyle İngiliz H.F.B Lynch ve Fransız Vital Cuinet'in verdiği detaylı nüfus değerleri ile oldukça çelişkilidir.Lynch ve Cuinet'in verdiği rakamlara bakıldığında, Patrikhane'nin verdiği nüfus değerlerinin hemen hemen %100 fazla olduğu anlaşılır ve 15-20 yıl içinde hiçbir insan populasyonu doğal yollardan bu kadar artamaz.Ayrıca İstanbul Ermeni Patrikhanesi'nin 1912 yılında, Müslümanlara ait nüfus sayılarında ise %20-30 oranında bir eksilme görülmektedir.

Lynch ve Cuinet'e ek olarak birçok kaynakta da, Birinci Dünya Savaşı öncesi için Osmanlı sınırlarındaki Ermenilerin sayısı
1.3-1.6 milyon civarında verilmektedir.

Keza Lozan Barış Konferansı'nda da , Ermeni Patrikhanesi'nin 2 milyon rakamı çok abartılı bulunarak, David Magie tarafından hazırlanan ve Ermenilerin sayısını 1.6 milyon olarak veren nüfus istatistiği kabul edilmiştir.

Birinci Dünya Savaşı'nda, Osmanlı Ermenileri hakkında bilimsel olmayan bilgi dezenfermasyonunun bolluğu içinde karşımıza çıkan diğer bir konu ise,Birinci Dünya Savaşı boyunca hayatını kaybeden Anadolu Ermenileri'nin sayısıdır.Bu konu geçen 100 yıl içinde sanki açık arttırmaya çıkmış gibidir. (Kızılhaç 600-800 bin rakamı, Morgenthau 1 milyon, bugünün Ermeni Diasporası ise 1.5-2 milyon kayıptan bahseder)

''Ermeni Soykırımı'' iddiasında bulunan bazı tarihçiler, bu sayılar hakkında ''ne kadar insanın öldüğünün ne önemi var,önemli olan suçun kendisidir'' diyerek, konuyu geçiştirmektedirler.1915 fenomeni içinde ne kadar Osmanlı Ermenisi'nin hangi koşullar altında öldüğü ya da öldürüldüğünün hukuki bir belgesi yoktur.Bugün itibariyle genel iddia, 1.5 (ya da 2) milyon Ermeni'nin,
Anadolu'da veya Kuzey Suriye'deki kamplarda etnik temizliğe tabii tutulduğu üzerinedir.

Halbuki 1.Dünya Savaşı'ndan 1924 lere kadar olan,Avrupa ve Birleşik Devletler kaynaklı resmi belgeler bize bu iddiaların tam tersi şeyleri söylemektedir.Bu belgelere , Ermeni Devrimci Federasyonu'na (Dashnakzutiun) ait bazı belgeler ile Çarlık Rusyası ve Bolşevik Rusya'ya ait belgeleri de eklediğimizde, Osmanlı Ermenileri'nin hareketliliğini ve akibetlerini genel bir kesinlikle görüyoruz.

1.Dünya Savaşı öncesi, Ermeni Silahlı hareketlerinin tarih ititbariyle en önemli ve resmi belgesi, Ermeni devrimci Federasyonu'nun (Dasnakzutiun) ideolojisti Mikail Varangian(or Warangian) ın 1910 yılında Kopenhag'taki 2. Sosyalist İnternasyonal'e verdiği rapordur.

Raporda bizzat, Dashnakzutiun'un Anadolu'nun hemen her yerleşiminde örgütlendikleri ve silahlı çeteler oluşturarak, terörist eylem biçimini benimsedikleri ifade edilmektedir.Bu rapor Belvedere arşivlerindedir.

1.Dünya savaşı'ndan çok önce başlayan Ermeni Silahlı organizasyonlarını itiraf eden diğer iki kaynak ise, Erivan Taşnak Hükümeti'nin ilk Başbakanı Hovhannes Katzhaznouni'nin Bükreş'te yayınlanan manifestosu ve Ermenistan'ın ilk Abd Büyükelçisi Karekin Pastırmacıyan'ın ''Ermenistan niçin özgür olmalı''(Why Armenia Should Be Free-Boston 1918) yazılarıdır.

Keza bu silahlı hareketlere katılan Ermenilerin sayısı, hem 1919'da Paris Barış Konferansı'nda Ermenistan Delegasyon Başkanı Avetis Aharonian ve hem de Dünya Ermenileri Delegasyon Başkanı Boghos Nubar'ın söylediği üzere 200.000 civarındadır.

Doğal Olarak bu 200.000 kişilik silahlı Ermeni Çetelerin silahlandırılması ve yönetilmesi eylemi, Ermenilerin kendi insiyatifleriyle gerçekleştirebilecekleri teknik ve finansal bir eylem değildir.Ermeni silahlı çeteleri 1.Dünya Savaşı öncesinde bizzat Çarlık Rusyası,İngiltere ve Fransa tarafından desteklenmiştir.

Keza savaştan 2 yıl önce, 26 Kasım 1912 tarihinde, Rusya'nın İstanbul Büyükelçisi Zinovyev'in Rusya Dışişleri Bakanı S.D. Sazanov'a gönderdiği gizli raporda( Rusya Devlet Arşivi,Siyasi Bölüm,nr 117/293);

''Van;Beyazıd;Erzurum,Trabzon konsolosluklarımızın bildirdiklerine göre, bu vilayetlerdeki Ermenilerin hepsi Rusya tarafındadırlar ve bizim ordularımızı bekliyorlar'' denilmektedir.

Bunu gelişmeleri takiben 1.Dünya Savaşı'nın başlangıcında, Ermeni silahlı çetelerinin isyan faaliyeti Rusların Van İlini işgal etmesiyle sonuçlanır.

İstanbul Alman Büyükelçisi Hans von Wangenheim tarafından Alman Dışişleri Bakanlığı'na gönderilen 10 Mayıs 1915 tarihli telgrafta, ''Van Trajedisi'' şu şekilde anlatılır:

''Van vilayetindeki Ermeniler ayaklanmışlar,müslüman köylere ve kaleye saldırıya geçmişlerdir.Kaledeki Türk garnizonu 300 kayıp vermiş,günlerce devam eden sokak muharebeleri sonunda şehir asilerin eline geçmiştir. 17 Mayıs 1915'te de Van Ruslar tarafından işgal edilmiştir.Ermeniler Rus tarafına geçmiş ve müslümanları katle başlamışlardır.Bitlis istikametinde 80.000 müslüman kaçmaya başlamıştır.''

Ermeni çetelerinin katliamları Çarlık Rusyası arşivlerinde de belgelenmiştir.Kafkas Cephesinde görevli Rus komutan Tuğgeneral Bolhovitinov, 11 Aralık 1915'te karargaha gönderdiği raporda;

''Ermeni Gönüllü Birliklerinin ırkçı duygularla Müslüman Halka karşı vahşi katliamlar yaptı'' der.

Doğu Anadolu'da bu trajedi yaşanırken, Doğu Akdeniz'de Rus-İngiliz ve Fransızlar tarafından bölgedeki Ermeniler silahlandırılmaktadır.

Francois George Picot ve Fransa Mısır Orta Elçisi Defrance'ın 5 Kasım 1914 tarihini taşıyan telgrafta;

''Yunanistan'ın Suriye'deki gönüllü kuvvetlere 15.000 tüfek ve 2 milyon mermi yollamayı kabul ettiği ve Fransa'nın Suriye'ye müdahelesi durumunda, burada 30-35.000 gönüllünün bulunduğu'' ifade edilmektedir.

Mısır'da ki İngiliz askeri karargahına Suriye kıyısındaki Fransız Amiralinden gelen rapor;

''28 Nisan 1915 tarihine kadar Zeytun'daki (Cilicia) isyan bir aydır devam etmektedir ve toplam 300 Türk jandarması öldürülmüştür.''

Rus Büyükelçisi'nin İngiliz Dışişleri Bakanlığı'na yazdığı 24 Şubat 1915 tarihli memorandumda ;

''Zeytun'lu bir Ermeni'nin Kafkasya'da Kont Warentzoff_Dachkoff ile temas kurduğu, Türk ordularının ulaşım hatlarına baskın yapmak üzere 15.000 kişilik bir kuvvet topladıkları ancak silah ve cephanelerinin yeterli olmadığı, ingiliz ve Fransızlar tarafından İskenderun Limanı üzerinden bunun yapılabileceği ...'' anlatılır.
Buna benzer birçok belge ve yazışmadan da anlaşılacağı gibi, Osmanlı İmparatorluğu WW1 Savaşı başlangıcında Çanakkale, Filistin, ve Kafkasya cephesinde savaşmak üzere ülkedeki erkekleri askere almışken, Ermeni Taşnak birlikleri cephe gerisinde savaş hukukuna aykırı eylem ve katliamlara girişmişlerdir.Bu durum Osmanlı Devleti'nin savaş bölgelerindeki ermeniler ile tüm Anadolu'daki Taşnak Partisi ile bağlantılı Ermenilerin Suriye bölgesine tehciri kararını almasıyla sonuçlanmıştır.

İşte ''soykırım'' iddilarını öne sürenler 27 Mayıs 1915 tarihli bu tehcir kararı uygulamasıyla 1.5 milyon ermeninin, Osmanlı Devleti tarafından etnik temizliğe tabii tutulduğunu iddia etmektedirler.

1.Dünya Savaşı esnasında ve sonraki yıllarda tehcire maruz kalan Ermenilerin akibeti ile ilgili olarak, '' soykırım'' iddialarının aksine , çok farklı resmi belgeler ortaya çıkmaktadır.

Ermenilerle ilgili olarak Osmanlı devleti'nin tehcir kararı almasına rağmen, ingiltere'nin Batum Konsolosu P. Stevens'ın Londra'ya gönderdiği 25 Şubat 1916 tarihli raporda; çok sayıda Ermeninin zorunlu göçe tabii tutulmadığı ve Ruslar tarafından Kafkasya'ya götürüldüğü ifade edilmektedir.

Bu durumu İngiliz Lord Major Found'un 1915 yılına ait raporuda tasdik eder. 250.000 Ermeni bu yıllarda Türkiye'den Kafkasya Ermenistan'ına geçmiş ve savaş koşullarında hastalıklarla mücadele etmektedirler.

Aynı bilgiyi Ermeni Milli Delegasyon Başkanı Boghos Nubar'ın Fransız Dışişleri Bakanlığı'na gönderdiği yazıda 250.000 rakamı teyit edildiği gibi İran'da da 40.000 Osmanlı Ermenisinin bulunduğu bilgisi verilir.

1. Dünya Savaşı'nın ilk yıllarında Kafkasya'ya 250.000, İran'a 40.000 Ermeni'nin gittiği bilgisine ulaşırken başka bir bilgi de Amerikan Ulusal Arşivlerinden çıkıyor.
Amerikan Halep Valisi J.B. jackson'un 8 Şubat 1916'da Amerikanın İstanbul Büyükelçisi Henry Morgenthau'ya gönderdiği raporda, Halep ve Şam arasındaki bölgede Osmanlı'nın tehcir ettiği 486.000 Ermeni göçmenin kamplarda bulunduğu ve iki yardım kuruluşu tarafından bu göçmenlere yardım edildiği bildiriliyor.

--- Bu rapora baktığımızda ''soykırım'' iddiasını ileri sürenlerin, o yıllarda Osmanlı kontrolündeki Halep ve şam bölgesinde, Ermeni mültecilere yardım için niçin Amerikan Yardım Kuruluşlarına ve Amerikan Elçisine izin verildiği sorusuna cevapları yoktur.---

Hem Kafkasya ve hemde Suriye'deki Ermeni mülteciler hakkındaki daha detaylı bilgilere savaş sonrasında ortaya çıkan bilgilerden öğreniyoruz.

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu için 1.Dünya Savaşı 30 Ekim 1918 de imzalanan Mondros Mütarekesi ile sona erer. 1918'de savaş bittiğinde, Bolşevik Devriminden sonra savaşa devam eden Ermeni Taşnak Hükümeti'nin Doğu ve Güneydoğu Anadolu'da sivil halka karşı gerçekleştirdiği katliamlar doruk noktasına çıkar.Aynı yıl içinde Çukurova (cilicia)
Bölgesi Fransa tarafından işgal edilir.(24Aralık1918).Çukurova'nın (Cilicia) Fransızlar tarafından işgalinden sonra, Suriye'deki Ermeni göçmenlerin bir bölümünün buraya yerleştirildiğini anlıyoruz.

Ama 1. Dünya Savaşı sonrası Osmanlı İmparatorluğu içindeki Ermenilerin tam sayısını, Amerikan Ulusal Arşivlerinde bulunan; Birleşik Devletlere, İstanbul Amerikan Yüksek Komisyonunca sunulan ve İstanbul Ermeni Patrikhanesi tarafından da onaylanan resmi belgeden anlıyoruz.

Bu belgeye göre 1921 yılında Osmanlı İmparatorluğu sınırları içinde 624.900 Ermeni yaşamaktadır.Ve görünen o ki, 200.000 kadar Ermeni Fransız kontrolündeki Cilicia (Adana-Antep-Maraş vs) bölgesine yerleştirilmiştir.

Bu belge ile , 1. Dünya Savaşı sonrası , Osmanlı sınırları içindeki Ermenilerin, tekrar göçmen durumuna düşmesine kadar ki tam sayıları 624.900 dür.

Bu yıllarda ortaya çıkan diğer bir fotoğrafik belge de 1920 yılına ait Frank carpenter arşivinde bulunan ve G.P. Lloyd tarfından çekilen, Novorossik'teki(Karadeniz Kıyısı-Güney Rusya) Ermeni Mültecilere ait fotoğraflardır.Malesef Novorossik'teki Ermeni Mültecilere ait sayısal bir değere ulaşamıyoruz.

Kafkasya'da Erivan Taşnak Hükümeti sınırları içindeki mülteci sayısı hakkında ise, 31 Aralık 1921 tarihli Near East Relief raporunda, 500.000 kişiye yardım edildiğinden bahsedilir.

1.Dünya Savaşı ile başlayıp 3 Aralık 1920 deki Gümrü Antlaşması' na kadar süren ve ertesi gün, 4 Aralık 1920'de Ermenistan'ın Bolşevikler tarafından işgal edilmesiyle tamamen son bulan Türk-Ermeni Savaşı boyunca, Ermenistan'a giden Ermeni Mültecilerin tam sayısını, Milletler Cemiyeti (League of Nations) Mülteciler Yüksek Komiseri Fridjof Nansen net olarak söylüyor.

Milletler Cemiyeti'nin 19 Ekim 1928 tarihli sekizinci oturumunda Hindistan temsilcisinin sorusuna verdiği cevapta , ''Erivan Ermeni Hükümeti'nin 1.000.000 luk nüfusunun 400.000 inin savaş boyunca gelen mültecilerden oluştuğunu söylüyor.

Bu belgeden bütün Kafkasya ve Güney Rusya'daki Ermenilerin sayısını öğrenemesek bile, Ermenistan'a 400.000 Osmanlı Ermenisi'nin geçiş yaptığını öğreniyoruz.

Diğer taraftan Fransa'nın 20 Ekim 1921 tarihinde Ankara Hükümeti ile yaptığı anlaşma ile , Fransızların Çukurova'dan (Cilicia) çekilmesi, Çukuroava'ya geri dönen 200.000 kadar Ermeni'nin, geri dönmemek üzere başka ülkelere mülteci olarak yerleşmesi sonucunu doğurdu.Anadolu'da Ermeni Silahlı Birlikleri tarafından öldürülen 500.000 den fazla Müslüman olması, artık Ermeniler ile Müslümanların birlikte yaşayamayacağı sonucunu doğuruyordu.

Fransızların Çukurova'dan çekilmesiyle başlayan Ermeni göçü hakkında, Amerikan Ulusal arşivlerindeki 1922 tarihli , ''Dünya'daki Ermeni Populasyonu' nu gösteren belge, bize bu konuda bilgi veriyor. 1921 yılı başlarında Osmanlı sınırları içindeki 624.900 Ermeni'nin, Milletler Cemiyeti'ninde faaliyetleriyle ilk mülteci hareketlerini bu şekilde izliyoruz.

Bu hareketlilik, 2 Şubat 1923 tarihinde, Ermeni Milli Delegasyonu'nun, Lozan Konferansı için hazırladığı bildiride de yine teyit edilir.

SONUÇ:

Dünya Savaşının başlangıcından 1921 yılına kadar ;

Osmanlı İmparatorluğu'nun sınırları içinde 624.900 , Erivan Ermenistan'ınanda en az 400.000, İran'da en az 40.000 Osmanlı Ermenisi bulunmaktadır.1914 ile 1921 yılları arasında, Güney Rusya,Gürcistan,Mısır,Yunanistan,Abd ve Avrupa'ya ne kadar Osmanlı Ermenisi'nin göç ettiği hakkında net bir rakama ulaşamıyoruz.

Ama bu belgelerden öğrendiğimiz en kesin şey, savaş öncesinde sayıları 1.6 milyon olan Osmanlı Ermenileri'nin , savaş sonunda en az 1.1 milyonunun hayatta olduğudur.