It is a known fact that numerous documents on
the Armenian Genocide were either destroyed or hidden away by
the Turkish government. Determined researchers, however, can
still discover materials in the Ottoman archives that shed light
on important events and personalities of that tragic period.
In recent years, the
Turkish government has selectively published some of the more
innocuous Ottoman documents, in order to counter criticism that
it was concealing incriminating evidence on the Armenian
Genocide. Millions of other documents, however, still remain
inaccessible to the general public because researchers have to
go to Istanbul and request a particular document by its file
number, and pay a processing fee. Even if the documents are
obtained, few people within and outside Turkey can read and
comprehend them, as they are written in Ottoman Turkish and
difficult to decipher Arabic script.
The California Courier was
recently able to obtain from the Ottoman archives important
documents regarding the tragic fate of prominent ARF (Dashnak)
activist E. Agnouni, who was born around 1865 in Meghri,
Armenia. He studied at the University of Geneva and was active
in Armenian political movements in Georgia, Russia and France.
In 1904, while in Paris, Agnouni supported the efforts of the
Young Turk Party to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid. After
returning to Constantinople (Istanbul), he actively participated
in the Young Turk revolution of 1908. He then toured the
Armenian communities of Europe and the United States. Agnouni
was arrested in Istanbul on April 24, 1915 — along with hundreds
of prominent Armenians — and subsequently murdered.
Prior to his arrest,
Agnouni had written a heart-wrenching commentary, published in
the April 16, 1915 issue of Asbarez, the Armenian language
newspaper in Fresno. The article described disturbing scenes of
Armenian soldiers fighting each other in the armies of their
respective countries — Russia and the Ottoman Empire. In his
article, Agnouni urged Armenian-Americans to come to the aid of
their suffering compatriots back home.
Not surprisingly, the
Ottoman government had kept track of Agnouni’s every move. This
was evidenced by our recent discovery in the Istanbul archives
of the Turkish translation of his 1915 article. The translator
was an Armenian official named Artin who worked for the Turkish
government as a “Censor of Armenian newspapers.”
Censor Artin added the
following revealing note: “This translated article belongs to E.
Agnouni. He is a member of the Dashnak Party. His real name is
Khachadour Maloumian. He is a citizen of Russia. He came to
Istanbul during the war and until recently did not do any work
other than carrying out propaganda for his party. During his
residence here, he made one or two trips to Europe. He is part
of the last group that was deported and exiled.”
Bishop Krikoris Balakian,
who was among those rounded up by the Turkish government on
April 24, 1915, narrated the following bone-chilling episode
about Agnouni’s arrest in his monumental two-volume memoir
titled, “Hay Koghkota,” (Armenian Golgotha). When Turkish police
officers came to his house to arrest him, Agnouni asked in a
state of shock: “Does Talat know about this?” Agnouni was
completely dumb-founded when the officers showed him Talat’s
signature on his arrest warrant. He asked: “I just had lunch
with Talat — how come he did not say anything to me?”
Agnouni was stunned by his
arrest because he could not believe that Talat would betray him
after he had saved his life during the Young Turk revolution of
1908, by hiding him in his own home at the risk of his own life.
According to Balakian, when Agnouni finally realized that he was
being led to his death, he told his fellow prisoners: “I don’t
regret dying, since I knew that death was inevitable. My only
regret is that we were deceived by these Turkish villains.”
Balakian expressed his deep regret that Armenians who put their
trust in Turks realized their mistake too late – only when they
were on their way to their deaths!
Several new documents just
obtained from the Ottoman archives reveal for the first time
that the King of Spain made repeated efforts to obtain the
release of Agnouni, Daniel Varoujan, Siamanto, and other
prominent Armenians. It is not known what prompted the Spanish
King to involve himself in such a humanitarian endeavor.
In two letters dated April
24, 1916, and May 10, 1916, Spain’s Amb. Julian del Arroyo wrote
to Turkey’s Foreign Minister Halil Bey, advising him that His
Majesty King Alfonso XIII was asking Sultan Mehmed V to spare
the lives of the above named Armenian prisoners. Regrettably,
unbeknown to the Spanish King, these Armenians had been killed
long before his praiseworthy intervention.
Several recently obtained
confidential memos between various Turkish officials indicate
that Interior Minister Talat finally made up a fake story about
the fate of these prominent Armenians. Talat wrote to Foreign
Minister Halil Bey on July 25, 1916, asking him to advise the
Spanish Ambassador that the Armenians in question, while being
led to the Diyarbekir Military Court, had overcome their guards
and escaped to Russia! Talat concealed the fact that the
Armenian prisoners had been killed months before the Spanish
King’s inquiry. This episode demonstrates that Talat was
covering up his crimes as he was committing them!
Reading these newly
discovered memos written by Turkish leaders leaves no doubt that
the Armenian Genocide was centrally planned and executed.
Minister of Interior Talat ordered the deportation and execution
of Armenians and demanded detailed reports on their movements
and conditions. In some instances, Talat personally wrote
letters inquiring about the whereabouts of several prominent
Armenians!
Despite all attempts to
purge incriminating documents, ample evidence of Turkish
complicity in the Armenian Genocide still remains in the Ottoman
archives!
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