OFFICIAL USA RESPONSE TO 1915 ALLEGED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

From: SS Aya [[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 2:07 PM

General James G. Harbord Raporu ve Ermeni Iddialarina Cevap | Turkish Forum

Olaya daha geniş bir açıklama getirmek için aşağıda iki belge sunuyorum. Birincisi komisyon üyelerinden Niles ile Sutberland’ın raporu, ikincisi ise Rus Generali Bolhovitinov kendi karargahından yolladığı telgraf

Selamlar

Şükrü S. Aya

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(Gen. Harbord Commission)

From: Report of Capt. Emory Niles and Arthur Sutherland, 1919

https://www.turkishnews.com/en/content/2009/03/24/armenian-refugees-movements-and-genocide-claims/

General James G. Harbord
Tarih: 1 Agustos 1919.
ABD Başkanı Wilson, General James G. Harbord (1866-1947) başkanlığındaki bir heyeti Ermeni katliamı ve “Ermenistan” mandası konusunda inceleme yapması için görevlendirdi.
General Harbord başkanlığındaki heyet Washington gemisiyle İstanbul’a geldi.
Ardından Batum üzerinden Ermenistan’a geçti.
Ermenistan’da Katolikos’u, 5. Kevork’u ziyaret etti. Buradan Anadolu’ya geçti; Van’ı, Bitlis’i gördü. Burada 1915 katliamına tanıklık etmiş kişilerle görüştü.

IV Atrocities.

Although it does not fall within the exact scope of car investigation one of the most salient facts impressed on us at every paint from Bitlis to Trebizond was that in the region which we traversed the Armenians committed upon the Turks all the crimes and outrages which were committed in other regions by Turks upon Armenians. At first we were most incredulous of the stories told as, but the unanimity of the testimony of alt witnesses, the apparent eagerness with which they told of wrongs done them, their evident hatred of Armenians, and, strongest of all, the material evidence on the ground itself, have convinced as of the general truth of the facts, first, that Armenians massacred Musulmans on a large scale with many refinements of cruelty, and second that Armenians are responsible for most of the destruction done to towns and villages. The Russians and Armenians occupied the country for a considerable time together in 1915 and 1916, and during this period there was apparently little disorder, although doubtless there was damage committed by the Russians. in 1917 the Russian Army disbanded and left the Armenians alone in control. At this period bands of Armenian irregulars roamed the coutry pillaging and murdering the Musulman civilian population. When the Turkish army advanced at Erzindjan, Erzerum, and Van, the Armenian army broke down and all of the soldiers, regular and irregular, turned themselves to destroying Musulman property and committing atrocities upon Musulman inhabitants. The result is a country completely ruined, containing about one-fourth of its former population and one-eighth of its former buildings, and a most bitter hatred [of] Musulmans for Armenians which makes it impossible for two races to live together tat the present time. The Musulmans protest that if they art forced to live under an Armenian Government, they will fight, and it appears to as that they will probably carry out this threat. This view is shared by Turkish officers, British officers, and Americans whom we have met.
A further aggravating condition is the state of affairs across the border. We have no way of knowing how far the complaints of the refugees prove true and how far the Musulmans are themselves to blame by organizing resistance to the Armenians. In any case the inhabitants of the Turkish side of the frontier believe that their co-religionists on the Armenian side are being massacred and treated with utmost cruelty and this belief intensifies the feeling against the Armenians. It is most strongly urged that conditions in the Caucasus be investigated with a view to ascertaining the true state of affairs, and if the Musulman reports are true, that steps be taken in order to prevent disorders that make a permanent settlement in this region mare difficult that the present circumstances already make inevitable.
Attention is called to the annexed statements of refugees and inhabitants regarding atrocities. (not appended in this text]

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“Antranik: Armenians’ Massacring Turkish Civilians Are Natural Because ..Turks Killed Wife, Children..” Bolhovitinov’ Telegram To HQ, 1916

Telegram dated 17.03.1916 sent by General Bolhovitinov to Headquarters Army Command 1536.
In reference to the barbarities performed by Armenian volunteers on the Turkish population . . and the alleged participation of our Cossack troops, I have requested information from concerned commanders for the clarification of the data from all ends. General Abatsiyev, commanding the Bitlis Battle furnished the following information: “I definitely do not accept the involvement of the Cossacks in this incident, I have seen around Bitlis personally several times. I received no complaint on the lack of discipline or wrong treatment or atrocities by Cossacks to the civilians; not even one complaint was heard. However in relation to the Armenian Volunteer units composed of mostly Turkish Armenians, owing to their continued attacks on the Muslims following the third day of our occupation, I was compelled to send these troops out of the city and station them between Bitlis – Mush area. I think that the number of two thousand deaths reported by telegram by Turks is exaggerated. When I learned that Armenians are massacring the civilians, I called for their commander Antranik. Antranik said that such incidents are natural because at other times Turks killed his wife, children and relatives and many other innocent persons. At Tatvan I know that fololwing incident happened: In one of the houses an infantry division soldiers unit and Armenian volunteers were stationed. The infantry unit had taken some twenty Muslim homeless orphans into the house and fed them. The group went out on reconnaissance but when they came back in the evening, they found all the children butchered into pieces. When our soldiers were out, there were only Armenians at home. As a result of the investigation I have ordered, it is definite that these murders have been realized by the Armenians. Unfortunately, the culprits could not be found. The Armenian volunteers have caused such a large complication, that it was not possible to resolve the matter.
Signed: Bolhovitinov
(File: RGVIA fond 2100, List 1, file 646, page 80 and back of 89)

Bolhovitinov 11.12.1915 Armenian Report,
Mehmet Perinçek, Dogan Kitap, March 2009

(Translated from Turkish into English by Sukru Aya)

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dr. Kayaalp Buyukataman
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 10:35 PM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: [TFAB:4150] General James G. Harbord Raporu ve Ermeni Iddialarina Cevap | Turkish Forum

https://www.turkishnews.com/tr/content/2009/04/15/general-james-g-harbord-raporu-ve-ermeni-iddialarina-cevap/