{"id":627652,"date":"2018-03-06T16:31:50","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T13:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/tr\/content\/?p=627652"},"modified":"2018-03-06T16:31:50","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T13:31:50","slug":"patriotism-perverted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/2018\/03\/06\/patriotism-perverted\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriotism Perverted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n


\nPatriotism Perverted<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A discussion of the deeds
\nand the miedeeds of the
\nArmenian Revolutionary
\nFederation, the so-called
\nDashnagtzoutune<\/span><\/p>\n

By
\nK. S. PAPAZIAN<\/span><\/p>\n

BOSTON
\nBAIKAR PRESS
\n1934<\/p>\n

———-<\/p>\n

COPYRIGHT 1934
\nBy K. S. PAPAZIAN
\nAll rights reserved<\/p>\n

(Printed in the United States of America)<\/p>\n

DEDICATED<\/p>\n

To the memory of those Armenian martyrs
\nwho, for their devotion to their people and
\ntheir loyalty to their fatherland, met death
\nat the hands of their brothers.<\/p>\n

[pp. 7-8]<\/p>\n

PREFACE<\/p>\n

In the following pages I have tried to present to the English speaking Armenians of
\nthis country and to the American public in general, a fairly clear picture of an
\norganization, that has received so much publicity in connection with the recent
\nassassination in New York of Archbishop Leon Tourian.<\/p>\n

An understanding of the background, past activities, the purposes and the methods of
\nthe Armenian Revolutionary Federation may be important, if we are going to try and
\nrid the Armenian-American community life, of the predatory inclinations of this
\nsociety. Its mode of organization, its discordant mental make up as expressed in its
\npublications, its belief in the use of violence rather than persuasion and free
\ndiscussion to overcome opposition, its tendency to disregard and distort the will of
\nthe majority in dealing with public issues, are all alien to our American ideals and
\nChristian principles, and have repeatedly precipitated conflicts in the past.<\/p>\n

This booklet, I hope, will help create in the minds of its readers a fairly adequate
\nidea as to the moral and physical dangers with which our youth and our cornmunity
\nare threatened on account of Dashnag activities. Such knowledge is necessary, if we
\nare to ward ofi these dangers, and establish peace and harmony in our midst. The
\ntask of presenting the Dashnagtzoutune in its true political and moral charactelwas
\nrather dificult, as this society has had the agility of repeatedly changing its face
\nand color with perfect ease of conscience. At first they were nationalists diluted
\nwith socialism; then they turned out and out socialists, with bolshevistic leanings,
\nand adopted the red flag for their emblem. However, it co-operated with the
\nimperialistic tyrants of Turkey. It now professes nationalism again, and even leans
\ntowards Facism or Hitlerism, still clinging to the red flag and dangling a daggar,
\nsymbol of revenge and conspiracy, from its emblem.<\/p>\n

I have tried to be fair in my presentation of facts and in my judgments. Most of my
\nconclusions are based on facts of contemporary history, and are fortified with
\nquotations from Dashnag publications and Dashnag authors. My picture of the A. R.
\nFederation will not be pleasing to the eyes of its devoted adherents; however, I
\nhave tried to cling to the idea, that at least the rank and file of the society,
\nalthough deluded and misled, still have patriotism for a motive, even though a
\ndistorted and perverted form of patriotism.<\/p>\n

K. S. PAPAZIAN,<\/p>\n

Boston, Massachusetts,
\nMay 10, 1934.<\/p>\n


\n[p. 9]<\/span><\/p>\n

THE BEGINNING<\/p>\n

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the so-called Dashnagtzoutune, was organized in the
\nCaucasus, in 1890, through the consolidation of several secret revolutionary societies,
\nthat had as a common purpose or ideal, more or less definite ideas about the liberation of
\nArmenia from the oppression of the Turks. The elements that composed the Dishnagtzoutune
\nin the beginning, were Armenian intellectuals belonging to the Russian school of
\nsocialism, Arrnenian groups who were staunch nationalists, some pure and unadulterated
\nMarxists, some liberals and some representatives of the bourgeois classes.<\/p>\n

Speaking of this assortment of groups, Mikael Varandian, an ideologist and historian of
\nthe Dashnagtzoutune, states: “Right and left, moderates and radicals, those with
\nnational and all-human tendencies…. all imbued with the idea of the liberation of the
\nArmenians of Turkey.” (“History of the A. R. Federation”, by M. Varandian,
\nVol. I, Page 59, Paris 1932. ).<\/p>\n

This idea of the liberation of the Armenians of Turkey was interpreted difierently by
\ndifiercnt groups that sought the union. For socialists, liberation did not mean
\nnecessarily the independence of the Armenians of Turkey from the rest of the peoples
\ncomposing the Ottoman empire. They rather imagined a condition where all workers,
\nArmenian, Turkish, Kurdish etc., would enjoy universal freedom and be free from economic
\noppression. For the nationalists, liberation meant at least some measure of autonomy for
\nthe Armenians in Turkish Armenia. The contending groups finally agreed upon the general
\nprinciple, that they should shake off the abominable yoke of the Sultan, should annihilate
\nthe tyrannical and autocratic<\/p>\n

[p. 10]<\/p>\n

regime of Turkey, “should secure harmony between nationalities, safety for labor, and
\nliberty of conscience, of speech and convictions”. Their endeavor was going to be
\n“to achieve equality for nationalities and religions before the law”. (From the
\nProgram of the A. R. Federation, adopted in the General Convention of 1892, Pages 6 and
\n9).<\/p>\n

The purpose of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation was defined in the following formula,
\nas it is given in the above mentioned pamphlet, page 15,\u2014”The purpose of the A. R.
\nFederation is to achieve political and economic freedom in Turkish Armenia,<\/i> by
\nmeans of rebellion . . . . ”<\/p>\n

It is worthy to note, that the attitude of the Dashnag society towards Armenian
\nindependence has been rather vague right from the beginning. It did not demand
\nindependence for Turkish Armenia. “The pioneers of Dashnagzoutune, not only did not
\nutter the word Independence<\/i> in their public speeches but they did not have
\n‘independence’ as a demand”, says M. Varandian, in his “History of the A. R.
\nFederation”, page 118. The same Dashnag historian, in order to prove his point,
\nquotes from the “Droshak” (The official organ of the Dashnag central Bureau)
\nNov. 5 , 1893, the following lines:<\/p>\n

“We are opposed to those views according to which the independence of a people is an
\nabsolute condition for the amelioration of its lot”.<\/p>\n

This vagueness and equivocation was designed frorn the beginning, in order to appease the
\nultra radicals and socialists in the ranks of the organization. “Political and
\neconomic freedom in Turkish Armenia”, was more acceptable to these groups, than
\npolitical independence or autonomy for Armenians in Turkish Armenia.<\/p>\n

This vagueness in the defnition of their purpose, and the dilution of their national
\nideals with international and socialistic tendencies, made it easier for the Dashnag
\nleaders,<\/p>\n

[p. 11]<\/p>\n

in later years, to subject the Armenian political demands to dangerous compromises with
\nthe young Turks. To run with the hare and hunt with the hound, has been the tactics of the
\nA. R. Federation.<\/p>\n

The idea or policy of an independent Armenia was forced upon the society, through the turn
\nof political everts that resulted from the Great War and the Russian Revolution.<\/p>\n

The consolidation of these various revolutionary societies was engineered by Christopher
\nMikaelian,.Simon Zavarian and Rostom Zorian, three leaders of ability and personal power,
\nwho, while they lived, contrived to maintain harmony among the diverse and somewhat
\ndiscordant elements that composed the Dashnagtzoutune * ).<\/p>\n

Even though a common purpose\u2014the liberation of the Armenians from Turkish oppression\u2014brought
\ntogether these various groups, divergence of political principles and tendencies were not
\neliminited from amongst them: and this fact, in later years, became the cause of great
\nconfusion in the program and the policies of the organization. Frorn its very beginning
\nthe society has lacked consistency of purpose and method, and opportunism and lack of
\ncommon sense have characterized most of its actions.<\/p>\n

ORGANIZATION<\/p>\n

The organization is democratic in form only; its various committees and conventions are
\nlittle more than debating societies and furnishers of money, for the achievement of the
\npurposes of the society. The actual direction of affairs from the beginning has rested in
\nthe hands of affairs from the beginning has rested in the hands of of a secret Bureau,
\nwhich established itself in Geneva, Switz-<\/p>\n

———-<\/p>\n

* ) The word Dashnagtzoutune is the Armenian equivalent for Federation and
\nwas adopted for the new society because it designated the alliance of various groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 12]<\/p>\n

erland ruled its adherents with an iron hand and strict discipline. The common
\nmembers are not encouraged to communicate with each other or with Committees about
\nmatters pertaining to the society. This has reduced criticism to a minimum and
\ndiscouraged independent thinking.<\/p>\n

Article 35 of the By-laws drawn up for the A. R. Federation District of America, and
\npublished by “Hairenik Press” in Boston, 1910, forbids communication
\nbetween individual members with the following words:<\/p>\n

” …. it is never permitted<\/i> to a Dashnagtzagah *) member to send
\ncirculars to members and committees”.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the leaders and official bodies or Committees can withhold
\nimportant facts and information from the rank and file , if they choose to do so.<\/p>\n

The organization is rather oligarchical; and its followers have been taught to
\naccept, without any discussion, the decrees and orders of the higher ups, Dr. Jean
\nLoris-Melikoff, a personal friend of Christopher Mikaelian.and one of the founders
\nof the Dashnag society, speaks as follows: \u2014”The truth is that the party was
\nruled by an oligarchy, for whom the particular interests of the party came before
\nthe interests of the people and the nation”. (La Revolution Russe et les
\nNouvelles Republique Transcaucasiennes, page 84, Liberairie Felix Alcan, Paris,
\n1920).<\/p>\n

Section 7 of Article 57 of the By-laws for the American District, printed in 1910 by
\nthe “Hairenik” in Boston, describes as follows some of the duties of the
\nCentral Committee of America :\u2014<\/p>\n

“To communicate to Committees, by means of circulars, such news received from
\nthe fields of activity of our organization, (Turkey, Persia, Caucasus) that have
\nnothing to do with conspiracies<\/i>…”<\/p>\n

————<\/p>\n

*) Dashnagtzagan means a member of Dashnagizoutune. In this
\ndiscusslon the word Dashnag is also used to designate a member of Dashnagizoutune.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 13]<\/p>\n

Many plots, intrigues, conspiracies and terroristic enterprises are kept secret from
\nthe members. Many innocent members are made co-partners in plots without being
\napprised of the directing motives or purposes behind them. This privilege of secrecy
\nhas been often and gravely abused by Dashnag leaders.<\/p>\n

The rank and file have continually been kept under the spell of their invisible
\nrulers, who, through sensational though futile acts, managed to keep their own
\nprestige high, and their coffers bulging.<\/p>\n

To this day, the Dashnagtzoutune is the meeting place of divergent elements. In its
\n\u201cReport on Russian Armenia,\u201d the American Commission under Gen. James G.
\nHarbord, which was sent to the Caucasus by the Peace Conference in 1919, speaks as
\nfollows of the Dashnagtzoutune:\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really a political society, rather than a party.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt contains three clearly defined elements, all of which are strongly socialist.<\/p>\n

\u201ca. The right wing composed of comitadji, (meaning secret revolutionists who
\nbelieve in strong armed methods).<\/p>\n

\u201cb. The centre comprising intellectuals who control both Wings.<\/p>\n

\u201cC. The left wing, which is almost Bolshevist.\u201d<\/p>\n

TERRORISM IN THE EARLY PROGRAM<\/p>\n

Patriotism, and the influence of early leaders maintained loftiness of motives, if
\nnot prudence in activity, within the party. Gradually however, established
\ntraditions, and self interest governed the policies of the Dashnagtzoutune. Men of
\nsmaller intellect and questionable patriotism, and even opportunists, managed to
\nplace themselves at the helm of the society; and there began a process of
\ndegeneration; and questionable, and even criminal<\/p>\n

[p. 14]<\/p>\n

methods were resorted to, in order to achieve the purposes ot the party.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the Dashnag Society in the Caucasus, tne report of the American
\nCommission under Gen. James G. Harbord declares again:\u2014<\/p>\n

“It is highly organized, has agents everywhere, and still plays a dominant part
\nin Armenian National life.<\/p>\n

“The opponents of the Dashnagtzoutune say that, despite its patriotic work, it
\nis only a relic of barbarism and<\/p>\n

must be suppressed. “Its adherents maintain that it is a vital organ of
\nArmenian life, and that its vicious elements being the inevitable product of former
\nconditions, will be eradicated as order is restored.<\/p>\n

“It is probable, that the Dashnagtzoutune still employs terroristic methods,
\nand undeniable that it is now a source of danger, owing to its liability to
\nprecipitate conflicts”.<\/p>\n

This report was submitted to the Peace Conference and to the United States
\nGovernment, in August 1919.<\/p>\n

Terrorism has, from the first, been adopted by the Dashnag Committee of the
\nCaucasus, as a policy or a method for achieving its ends. In this they have followed
\nthe Russian Socialists or Nihilists. Under the heading “Means”, in their
\nprogram adopted in 1982, we read as follows:\u2014<\/p>\n

The Arm. Revolutionary Federation, in order to achieve its purpose through
\nrebellion, organizes revolutionary groups. . . .” and these groups are to use
\nvarious means or methods, which are given on pages 17 and 18 of the program.<\/p>\n

[p. 15]<\/p>\n

Method No. 8 is as follows:\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cTo wage fight, and to subject to terrorism the government officials, the
\ntraitors, the betrayers, the usurers, and the exploiters of all description\u201d.<\/i><\/p>\n

Method No. 11 is :\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cTo subject the government institutions to destruction and pillage\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dashnag publications are full of stories of terroristic exploits.<\/p>\n

At first, these terroristic methods were resorted to in order to obtain money for
\nthe revolutionary movements in the Turkish territory. Says Dr. Jean Loris-Melikoff:
\n\u201cThey made collections among the bourgeois and the great merchants. At the end,
\nwhen these means were exhausted, they resorted to terrorism, after the teachings of
\nthe Russian revolutionaries, that \u2018the end justifies the means\u2019 . . . (La
\nRevolution Russe et les Nouvelles Republiques Transucasiennes\u201d, Page 81).<\/p>\n

In a signed article entitled \u201cArmenia, its History and Customs\u201d, which appeared
\nin \u201cHairenik\u201d, the official mouthpiece of the Dashnag Central Committee in the
\nUnited States, the following is said on this matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, Turkish oppression was often quickly reduced or eliminated by the
\nDashnag policy of exterminating arbitrary officials. Another effected practice was
\nthe intimidation of prominent men in order to obtain financial support. Those who
\nrefused were put on the “spot”. In fact, it was very similar to the
\nunderground methods of modern racketeering, except that its goal was noble”.
\n\u201cHairenik\u201d, Sept. 16, 1933).<\/p>\n

If we are to believe the late M. Varandian, who was a prominent leader of the
\nsociety belonging to its inner councils, terroristic methods were often used in
\norder to collect money from rich Armenians.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[p. 16]<\/p>\n

“The first attempt at collecting money by force, was tried in Shousha. In the summer
\nof 1902, our leader Christopher was there, with his soldiers. . . . The first blow of the
\n“storm” fell upon the well-known millionaire, Isahag Jamharian \u2014 . . . the
\n“storm” squad arrested him one night and took him to a lonely spot outside the
\ncity.” They let him free when he promised to pay 30,000 rubles. However, he notified
\nthe police, and his abductors were arrested. “With his cynical betrayal, says
\nVarandian, Jamharian forged his own tragic fate. And a few months after this episode, in
\nMoscow, in broad daylight, and in the courtyard of the Armenian church, in the presence of
\na great throng, this traitor paid for his sin; he fell under the blows of a dagger . . .
\n.” (“History of the Dashnagtzoutune”, by M. Varandian, Vol. I Page 325,
\n326, 327, Paris, 1932).<\/p>\n

Jamharian had committed the sin of defending himself from the arbitrary demands of
\nself-appointed and irresponsible saviors of our people, who had gone so far as to abduct
\nhim and threaten him with violence. He was, therefore, a traitor in the eyes of these
\npeople. He was still a traitor for the Dashnag historian Varandian, in the year of grace
\n1932, and was even denied the right of self defense.<\/p>\n

All those who disagreed with the Dashnag leaders, or against whom the local Dashnak chiefs
\nnourished a grudge, were denounced as traitors, and betravers of the cause. Mateos
\nBaliozian, a wealthy merchant of Smyrna, was thus denounced, although to this day there is
\nno proof at all that he betrayed anyone to the Turkish qovernment, However, according to
\nVarandian, he was killed in 1902, by a Dashnag terrorist, Horen Sarkisian or Bedros Azizof
\nof Magnisa. Here is how this episode is related by the Dashnag historian: “The two
\nspies were being protected morally and materially, by the local Armenian Croesus, Mateos
\nBaliozian, who was influential within the government<\/p>\n

[p. 17]<\/p>\n

circles. . . . The organization, naturally, did not retreat and punished the Armenian
\nmoths. Maksoud and Karekin (alleged spies) were subjected to terrorism. The same lot fell
\nalso on Baliozian, who continued, stubbornly, to assist the police. His terror was
\norganized by Hrach himself (1902), and the terrorist was Bedros Azizof of Magnisa, (
\n“History of the Dashnagtzoutune”, Vol, I. Page 450).<\/p>\n

That terroristic methods were also used, in those early days, within the ranks of Dashnag
\nleaders for differences of opinion and to satisfy personal grudges, is also admitted, by
\nVarandian himself, in his famous “History of the Dashnagtzoutune”, page 86.
\n“In the same year 1891 Gerektzian was killed in Erzroum, by the decision of the local
\nCentral Committee …. His “guilt ” was, that he was against hasty revolutionary
\nmoves, he preached prudence, he advised that long preparations be made. ‘Whoever is not
\nwith us, is our enemy’\u2014said the hot headed comrades of Gerektzian. They cast lots, and
\nthe lot fell on Comrade Aram Aramian who has also killed Comrade Gerektzian.<\/p>\n

“The Central Committee of Dashnagtzoutune condemned this step in 1892, in the
\npresence of Aramian, and issued a special bulletin on it”. But the Dashnag Center did
\nnot punish Aram Aramian for his crime. A verbal reprimand was considered suficient.<\/p>\n

Judging from the contents of the “History of the A. R. Federation”, as written
\nby Varandian, the early Dashnag organization has been very prolific in organizing and
\ncrrrying out terroristic acts. It seems that terrorism against their own co-nationals has
\nbeen a prominent part of the revolutionary activities of the Dashnag leaders of the
\nCaucasus. Organized to fight the Turks, these chieftains have been more successful in
\ntheir fight against their<\/p>\n

[p. 18]<\/p>\n

Armenian opponents in Turkey, and the Caucasus, very often defenseless and innocent.
\nVarandian exalts the terroristic activities of the A. R. Federation, in his history, pages
\n211-213. in the following glowing terms :\u2014<\/p>\n

“Terroristic acts, which, alas, have very often<\/i> been directed against the
\ninternal adversaries\u2014against betrayers, against unfaithful spies and against all kinds
\nof traitors…. Perhaps there has never been a revolutionary party\u2014 not even the Russian
\nNarodovoletz,<\/i> or the Italian Carbonaris<\/i>\u2014 with such rich experiences on the
\nroad of terroristic acts, as the A. R. Federation, which in its difficult environment, has
\ndeveloped the most frenzied types of terrorists, and given hundreds of masters of the
\npistol, the bomb and the dagger, for acts of revenge. “The terror of the
\nDashnagtzoutune, although directed mainly against cowardly Armenians at first, gradually
\nwas turned against the enemy itself, and we see its hundreds of victims, Turkish, Kurdish,
\nRussian, great or small tyrants …. etc.”<\/p>\n

One of the most unfortunate results of these terroristic methods, was the gradual
\ndevelopment of a class of terrorists, who used their bullet and their dagger
\nindiscriminately, both against those who betrayed the cause, and against those who were
\nunfortunate enough to make personal enemies of the Dashnag leaders. This class of
\nterrorists enjoyed a place of honor within the society.<\/p>\n

A partial list of alleged Armenian victims of Dashnag terrorism is given at the end of
\nthis discussion, (See Appendix I ).<\/p>\n

[p. 19]<\/p>\n

ACTIVITIES AGAINST TURKEY<\/p>\n

Under the leadership of Sarkis Gougounian, a dare devil student from Moscow, a band of
\nsome 100 Armenian enthusiasts were organized in Alexandropol, in the summer of 1890,
\ncrossed the Turkish border sometime in September of that year, and had some encounters
\nwith the Kurds. However, when the Turkish regulars appeared on the scene, they had to
\nretreat. Their retreat into the Caucasus was cut off by the Cossacks. A good many were
\nkilled, most of them arrested, and Gougounian was exiled into Siberia.<\/p>\n

Thus ended the so-called Gougounian expedition, in which the newly organized
\nDashnagtzoutune had no part. On the contrary, its leaders tried to dissuade Gougounian
\nfrom carrying out his plan. as r rash, premature and harmful move. They believed, at that
\ntime, that there should be a more careful and general preparation for an uprising against
\nTurkey.<\/p>\n

However, they soon discarded this more prudent policy of action, and adopted the methods
\nof sensational, sporadic and partisan fights along the borders of Turkish Armenia. This
\nmethod was tried for a few years, but without the desired results. European governments
\ndid not intervene in favor of the Armenians who as a result of these forays were subjected
\nto more systematic anrl bitter persecution by the Turks and the Kurds. The Hunchagist
\nparty had tried the same method of sensational acts and sporadic fighting in
\nConstantinople, Sassoun, Zeitoun and elsewhere, and had failed to bring about European
\nintervention. They had given up these methods as futile and harmful. The Dashnag society
\nthought it would succeed where others had failed. Therefore it decided to carry the fight
\ninto<\/p>\n

[p. 20]the Turkish capital, and to attempt a move, that would rattle the Sultan, and would
\ncause the European powers to intervene and compel the Turkish government to put into
\nforce the reforms promised for the Armenian provinces, under Article 61 of the
\nTreaty of Berlin. (See appendix III ).<\/p>\n

The Dashnag high command had decided an attack on the Bank Imperial Ottoman.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, one day in August 1896, a group of young men entered the Bank in
\nConstantinople, subdued the employes, barricaded themselves in, and threatened to
\nblow up the bank with bombs and dynamite, unless the Sultan promised reforms for
\nArmenia. The Sultan made no rnove, and represented these revolutionists as brigands.
\nDr. Dr. George Washburn, a famous missionary, goes even so far as to say in a book
\nof his, that Abdul Hamid was aware of the plans of the Dashnags, and let them enter
\nthe bank in order to discredit the Armenian revolution and use it as a pretext for a
\nmassacre. After waiting in vain for a whole day, and through the intervention of the
\nRussian embassy, our heroes were safely escorted out of the bank and placed on board
\na European steamer and saved themselves; while 16,000 Armenians were massacred in
\nConstantinople during the following two days by the Turkish rabble and the regulars
\n* ).<\/p>\n

However, the Dashnag leaders clung to the idea that sporadic uprisings and partisan
\nfights with the Turkish armed forces, were essential to bring about diplomatic
\nintervention.<\/p>\n

————–<\/p>\n

* ) ” . . . . it is certain that the Turkish government knew all
\nabout it many davs before, even !o the exact time when the bank was to be entered,
\nand the Minister of Police had made elaborate arrangements not to arrest these men
\nor prevent the attack on the bank, but to facilitate it and make it the occasion of
\na maesacre oI the Armenian population of the city”. (Dr. George Washborn,
\n“Fifty years in Constantinople”, page 246).<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 21]<\/p>\n

“The purpose of the Armenian movement, has been, says M. Varandian, the most
\nprominent Dashnag ideologist and historian, from the beginning, to organize as far
\nas possible a long drawn-out fight against the Ottoman tyranny, to create in the
\ncountry a continuous revolutionary state, always having before our eyes the
\nintervention of the third factor . . . . the European factor,” (M. Varandian,
\n“History of the Dashnagtzoutune”, page 302).<\/p>\n

They ignored a fourth and most important factor, the people of Turkish Armenia.<\/p>\n

Being all Armenians from the Caucasus, these people never took the trouble of
\ninquiring into the actual conditions in Armenia, and consulting the Armenians in
\nTurkey. They even refused to co-operate with other secret societies, organized in
\nTurkish Armenia, who believed only in methods of self defense against the Turkish
\nand Kurdish oppressors, and in long and silent preparation for a general uprising in
\nthe distant future. They pursued their own disastrous methods.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Another futile expedition, that took place in the summer of
\n1897, and ended in a fiasco, was that of Khanasor, Its net result was disastrous for
\nthe Armenian population of the district between Van and Persia. Many Armenian
\nvillages were wiped out as a result of this adventure of the Dashnags, who, for the
\nmost part, escaped with their own skins intact.<\/p>\n

The Khanasor expedition, so-called, was the result of tlre machinations of the
\nRussian authorities, whose purpose was to encourage political unrest and turmoil
\nalong the eastern borders of Turkey. There is reason to believe, that some of the
\nDashnag leaders of Tiflis, were playing the game of the Russian government. Their
\nmore prudent leaders, as well as all other Armenian political organizations, opposed
\nthe undertaking as one that was certain to<\/p>\n

[p. 22]<\/p>\n

bring failure and disaster. However, the central authorities of Tiflis prevailed
\nupon local opposition. Enormous amounts of money had been collected from the
\nArmenians to organize and equip this expedition; therefore, they had to show
\nresults. The Russian authorities had to be pleased too.<\/p>\n

The avowed purpose of the expedition of Khanasor, was to punish the Kurdish tribe of
\nMazrik, that had been the scourge of the Armenian population of those districts,
\nThere were about 250 fighters in the band that attacked the camp of the Mazrik tribe
\nin the plain of Khanasor just before daybreak, and set fire to the nearest tents and
\nkilled a few Kurds. The main body of the Kurds put up a stiff fight, and drove back
\nthe attackers, who in their confusion fired upon each other.<\/p>\n

The Dashnag band was in danger of being surrounded by the Mazrik fighters, and had
\nto retreat to safety, leaving 19 in dead on the battlefield, according to
\n“Droshak”, the Dashnag central organ, Nov. 11, 1897.<\/p>\n

The Mazrik escaped punishment, their chief, Sharaf Beg, although declared killed in
\nthe fight in all Dashnag papers ever since, was still alive twenty years after
\nKhanasor; and he took terrible reyenge on the peaceful Armenian peasants.<\/p>\n

To this day, Khanasor is celebrated every year, by the Dashnag society, and the rank
\nand file is made to believe that it was a glorious victory; and that the blood
\nthirsty Sharaf Beg was killed in the fight.<\/p>\n

The rebellion of the mountain district of Sassoun in 1904, is another chapter in the
\nrevolutionary activities of the A. R. Federation. Sassoun had alreadv taken up arms
\nagainst the Kurds and the Turkish soldiers in 1894, under the leadership of the
\nHunchagist leaders Mourad and Damadian. This early movement during which the heroic<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[p. 23]<\/p>\n

mountainers fought bravely, was ruthlessly crushed by the regular army, and many villages
\nwere distroyed and the people massacred.<\/p>\n

The new rebellion in 1904 was better organized and was led by Antranik, whose homeric
\nexploits against the enemy, form some of the most glowing pages of the history of Armenian
\nstruggle for independence. However, its outcome was not any different than that of the
\nearlier rebellion. After a series of long drawn-out fights, during which the peasants and
\ntheir leaders from outside displayed great bravery and inflicted heavy losses on the
\nTurkish troops, the rebellion was finally crushed, many mountain villages were destroyed
\nand the revolutionists had to retreat to the districts of Moush and Bitlis.<\/p>\n

This second Sassoun episode created a little more noise in the Europern press; a few more
\nspeeches, supporting the Armenian cause, were delivered fiom the rostrum of some European
\nparliaments; some consular aqents were dispatched to the scene of operations in order to
\nsend firsthand information to their respective governments; and the incident was ended so
\nfar as European diplomacy was concerned.<\/p>\n

The third factor\u2014European intervention\u2014never displayed any signs of effective action
\nto force the Sultan to carry out the stipulations of Article 61 of the treaty of Berlin
\nfor Armenian Reforms.<\/p>\n

These periodic fights with limited numbers of fighters. and scattered over isolated
\nregions. involved great sairifices of human life and money, but were not effective enough
\nto wrest the least concessions from the government of the Sultan. It will hardly be an
\nexaggeration to say, that all the revolutionary activities of the A. R. Federation out
\ntogether, did not equal, either in magnitude or in actual results, the rebellion of the
\ntown of Zeitoun in 1895. For<\/p>\n

[p. 24]<\/p>\n

over three months, the inhabitants of this rnountain town defended themselves against a
\nregular army of 30,000, under Edhem Pasha, captured a whole Turkish regiment and forced
\nthe government to come to terms and grant some measure of local autonomy for the district
\nof Zeitoun. The Dashnagtzoutune had no part in this memorable fight.<\/p>\n

The attempt on the life of Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid in 1905, constitutes the last episode of
\nthe revolutionary aitempts of the A. R. Federation in behalf of Turkish Armenia. This was
\nanother of the spectacular but futile acts of the Dashnagtzoutune. Its success would not
\nhave helped the Armenian cause; its failure probably saved our people from greater
\nmisfortunes.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

The Armenian struggle for independence was directed against the most ruthless tyranny in
\nthe world. Obstacles were overwhelming. Neither geography nor friendly diplomacy helped
\nour cause. These facts taught a lesson to the early Armenagans * ) and the Hunchagists,
\nwho, after a few spectacular exploits, gave up the method of armed insurrection with small
\nnumbers.<\/p>\n

The Dashnagtzoutune would not learn any lessons from the experiences of others. Its
\ndoctrine was, that liberty is won by bloodshed only, and the more the Sultan is goaded
\ninto massacring the Armenian people, the stronger will become our claims for autonomy, and
\nthe greater will become the hope for European intervention.<\/p>\n

As we have already stated, this expected intervention never materialized, and the Sultan
\nwas left free to deal with tbe Armenians as he saw fit,<\/p>\n

————–<\/p>\n

* ) Armenagens were the earliest Armenian revolutionary society, formed in
\nVan, direcred by local leaders who believed only in patriotism ard not in other isms. They
\npreached self defense and tried to prepare the people for an uprising in the future. They
\nalterwards joined the Ramgavar party,<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 25]<\/p>\n

Years of futile and wasteful struggle against the Turkish government finally forced tlre
\nscholastic leaders of the Dashnagtzoutune, who had directed the struggle from their safe
\nrefuges of Geneva and Tiftis, to admit their defeat, but not their ignorance.<\/p>\n

“We were defeated, says Mikael Varandian on page 191 of his hodge-podge of a ‘History
\nof the Dashnagtzoutune’, and adds immediately, “but the enemy was not victorious
\neither”. This last sentence is simply a bravado in keeping with Dashnag mentality.<\/p>\n

Although mostly disastrous in its final outcome., the Armenian revolution produced the
\nbeneficial impression among the Turks and Kurds, that the long oppressed Armenian infidel
\ncan also strike back at its tyrants. Some real fighters sprang up from among the people,
\nwho struck terror into the hearts of the Turks. The prestige of various revolutionary
\nsocieties was built on the personal bravery of these fighting patriots, who, like the
\ngreat Antranik, later symbolized the struggle of the Armenians for independence.<\/p>\n

The Dashnagtzoutune exploited the fame and prestige of Antranik and others, to the fullest
\nextent. These heroic figures were represented as the product of the revolutionary school
\nof the party.<\/p>\n

Here is what Gen. Antranik has to say about this kind of exploitation by the
\nDashnagtzoutune.<\/p>\n

“They say, that I have been the spoiled child of the Dashnagtzoutune.<\/p>\n

“Fortunately my revolutionary teacher of 1889 was not the Dashnagtzoutune, I can not
\nunderstand what right can a party have to appropriate its followers of the past, when its
\npresent is completely against its doctrines of the past and the national spirit?<\/p>\n

[p. 26]<\/p>\n

“It would have been a good thing, of course, if the Dashnagtzoutune had had
\nwell-known and less-known heroes, wlrose teachers had been the intelligentsia belonging to
\nitself.<\/p>\n

“For decades it was the people of Sassoun, Moush, Akhlat and the Armenian people in
\ngeneral, who have supported me and other soldiers like me; and we have been their soldiers
\nonly, and not the soldiers of the Dashnagtzoutune or any other party.<\/p>\n

“When these brave soldiers, who sprung up from the bosom of the Armenian people, were
\nfighting in the mother country. . . . the Dashnagtzoutune was only waging partisan
\nquarrels in its press abroad, and exploiting the names of my inimitable fighting comrades.
\nIt is hard to understand therefore, whether we, fighters, are the ones who have nourished
\nand spoiled the Dashnagtzoutune, or. this latter has spoiled us?<\/p>\n

“Today the Dashnagtzoutune is deprived of the right to speak in the name of those who
\nfell like heroes”. (“Antranik Speaks”, pages 4, 5, 6, Paris 1921).<\/p>\n

ADHERENCE TO SOCIALISMWhen the Russian Czar issued a decree in 1903, by which the government was going to
\nconfiscate the property of the Armenian church. the people rose in one body in
\ndefense of their rights. The authorities in the Caucasus, in order to weaken the
\nArmenian people, incited the Mohammedan Tartars to attack them. Riots and murders
\nincreased to the proportion of massacres in many cities; while the police and the
\nCossacks turned a deaf ear to the appeals of the Armenians for protection.<\/p>\n

Then the Armenians took up arms and defended themselves very efiectively from this
\ndouble attack. The rev-<\/p>\n

[p. 27]<\/p>\n

olutionary societies, with their organization and their leadership, naturally,
\nplayed an important part in this conllict; and the Dashnagtzoutune won great credit
\nand fame for its share in the fight. However, the claims of the Dashnag writers,
\nthat their own organization and their own partisan chiefs played the leading part in
\nthese internecine fights seem to be greatly exaggerated. The accounts of these
\nclashes, which lasted almost a year and a half ( 1905-1906) and in which the
\nArmenians were victorious, come mostly from Dashnag writers, and grossly
\noverestimate the importance of the A. R. Federation as a fighting element.<\/p>\n

According to H. Katchaznouni, the A. R. Federation did not take the initiative in
\nthat national struggle; it rather followed the popular movement. Here is what this
\nveteran Dashnag leader, who was also the prime minister of the Armenian Republic
\nfrom 1905-1906, has to say on the subject.<\/p>\n

“. . . . In Transcaucasia, the Dashnagtzoutune has been not so much as a leader
\nor initiator in the past. as a follower of those movements, that have grown
\nindependently of itself. It was thus in 1903 (rebellion and demonstrations on
\naccount of the confiscation of the property of the church). l t was thus during the
\nperiod of 1905-1906 (bloody Armeno-Tartar conllicts); it was also thus during the
\nfirst great labor movements (1903-1906), when tlie Dashnagtzoutune was being
\ngoverned, in Baku, Tiflis and Batoum, by the policy and mode of action of the
\nforeign socialistic parties”. ( “A. R. Federation flas Nothing More to
\nDo”, pages 7-8, by Hov. Kachaznouni, Vienna, t923).<\/p>\n

These conflicts and also the first revolutionary movements that broke out in the
\nCaucasus after the Russo-Japaneses [sic] War, threw the Armenian people and its
\norganizations into close contact with the Russian socialistic parties.<\/p>\n

[p. 28]<\/p>\n

Many Dashnag leaders of the Caucasus had socialistic tendencies already; and thcy
\nconceived the bright idea that the open adoption of socialism as a political
\nprogram, would secure the support of Russian and European socialist leaders for the
\nArmenian cause. Accordingly, about the year 1906, they adhered to the
\nsocial-revolutionists of Russia. This step meant a deviation from their original
\nprogram of the liberation of Turkish Armenia, and was bitterly opposed by some of
\nthe most eminent fighters in the ranks of the Dashnagtzoutune, such as Antranig,
\nMourad, Mihran, etc., mostly all Armenians from Turkey.<\/p>\n

These men were pure and simple patriots. They did not give a rap tor socialism or
\nother isms.<\/i> Mihran could not be won over to the viewpoint of the
\nintellectuals and the secret Bureau. Therefore, he was assassinated one day.<\/p>\n

In their convention of Vienna, that was held in I907, the Dashnagtzoutune condemned
\nMihran to death.<\/p>\n

Here is what M. Varandian writes about this decision.<\/p>\n

“At last, here is the decision of the meeting about Mihran, which was passed
\nunanimously, with one exception:\u2014<\/p>\n

1 “To consider the conduct of Mihran and his accomplices a grave offense
\nagainst the organization and the Turkish-Armenian cause that it defends. On this
\nbasis, to consider them expelled from the ranks of Dashnagtzoutune.<\/p>\n

2. “To recommend to the proper body, that it subject Mihran and his accomplices
\nto the penalty that is foreseen in the by-laws of the organization.<\/p>\n

” ( Soon the death penalty was carried out ) “. ( M. Varandian, ‘History
\nof the Dashnagtzoutune, page 491, Paris, 1932).<\/p>\n

The opposition, however, did not stop there. When in the above mentioned convention,
\nwhich was held in Vienna in 1907, the Dashnags finally adopted and ratified<\/p>\n

[p. 29]<\/p>\n

the program of social-revolution, some of their most eminent fighting leaders,
\nAntranik among them, left the party. His prestige among the Dashnag rank and file
\nwas so great, that the Bureau did not dare to put him on the “spot”, like
\nit did Mihran.<\/p>\n

Here is what General Antranik has to say about this convention of Vienna, in his
\nbooklet, “Antranik Speaks”‘ pages 7-8-9- 10.<\/p>\n

“At the Convention of Vienna, in 1907, the Dashnagtzoutune adopted the
\nCaucasian Program, that is to say it renounced its real aim, which was the
\nliberation of the Armenian people of Turkey, in order to pursue pan-human purposes.<\/p>\n

“This, to a certain extent, meant the burial of the Turkish-Armenian cause.<\/p>\n

“For three days, during which the Caucasian Program was debated, I opposed it
\nwith all my soul. Maloumian, who was presiding that day, protested, and declared,
\nthat I myself and a few others with me, were to blame for the prolongation of the
\nconvention.<\/p>\n

“Then I answered \u2014 Let your blood be on your own heads. Do as you please, but
\ndon’t close the doors of Russia against us. We have too many enemies already, don’t
\nmake an enemy of Russia too; and do not furnish any excuse for reducing the
\nArmenians of the Caucasus to the condition of the Armenians of Turkey.<\/p>\n

” . . . . I deemed it useless for me to stay in the Dashnagtzoutune, and I
\nwrote my resignation from Varna and sent it to Geneva, so it could be published in
\nthe’Droshak’.<\/p>\n

“From that day on, as I beheld the doings of the Dashnagtzoutune, I became more
\nand more firm, in my convictions that brought about my resignation.<\/p>\n

“Indeed, after that I saw that the Dashnagtzoutune made it a business to
\npersecute the Armenian ‘bourgeoisie’.<\/p>\n

[p. 30]<\/p>\n

Presumbly to protect the rights of the workers, it caused strikes in Bakou and
\nBatoum. These strikes harmed only the Armenian owners of oil establishments, from
\nwhom the same society had often begged fot money. Many of them had to close their
\nfactories; thus making happy the Tartar factory owners. Tens of thousands of
\nArmenian laborers were thrown out on the streets, and wandered without work. After
\nthe ‘Ottoman Constitutional Regime’, the Dashnagtzoutune spread its strikes from
\nConstantinople out until it came to the rug factories of Harpert and Sebastia.<\/p>\n

“From that time on, the Dashnagtzoutune remained faithful to its socialistic
\naims. When we had an independent Armenia, they preached socialism, from Karabagh to
\nSarikamish, to the Armenian people, eighty per cent of whom did not know the
\nalphabet. They wanted to teach socialism to the Turks and Tartars too: and they
\nshouted in their organs “Workers, unite without distinction of race l ”<\/p>\n

Adherence to socialism had other and more grave consequences for the Dashnagtzoutune
\nand the Armenian people. At once the Russian government began to persecute the
\nArmenian revolutionists, as the allies of the Russian revolutionary societies.<\/p>\n

Formerly the activities of the Dashnagtzoutune lvere tolerated in Caucasian Armenia
\nby the authorities, as they were directed against Turkey only. Now the Czar and his
\nministers saw a great danger in their presence on Russian soil. The leaders were
\narrested, exiled and persecuted. The Dashnags, according to their grandiloquence,
\nwere fighting the powers of both the Sultan and the Czar. But the position of the
\nArmenians in the Caucasus became untenablc, and the revolution was deprived of its
\nonly base where the operations against Turkey could be organized and started. On the
\nother hand, European socialism failed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[p. 31]<\/p>\n

to come to our help, as European diplomacy had already failed. The net result was a
\ntremendous waste of energy and internal dissensions.<\/p>\n

YOUNG TURKS AND THE DASHNAGTZOUTUNE<\/p>\n

The Dashnagtzoutune, while devoted solely to the purpose of Armenian liberation, had
\nshunned the overtures of the young Turkish leaders in Europe for their co-operation in
\noverthrowing the tyranny of Abdul Hamid. Now that they began to play high politics, they
\ncame to an understanding with the Turkish Revolutionists. Some of the bases of this
\nagreement between the Dashnags and the young Turks, which was drawn up in Paris in 1907,
\nwere the following :<\/p>\n

1. The abandonment by the Armenians of the demand for the enforcemcnt of 61st Article of
\nthe Treaty of Berlin *). This meant that the Armenians were not going to demand separate
\nreforms for Armenia, but were going to work for a constitutional government for Turkey as
\na whole, and become citizens, with equal rights, of the Ottoman empire.<\/p>\n

2. Rebellion against the Czarist government in the Caucasus; and the liberation of the
\nvarious peoples of the Caucasus-Armenians included\u2014from Russia, under the hegemony of
\nTurkey. Dashnagtzoutune was to play a leading part in this movement against Russia.<\/p>\n

3. The curtailing of the privileges enjoyed by the Armenian Patriarchs of Constantinople,
\nunder age old Firmans of the Sultans, according to which the Armenians were given some
\nsort of autonomy in ecclesiastical, educational and purely Armenian community afiairs.
\nThese<\/p>\n

———–<\/p>\n

* ) See Appendix IIL<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 32]<\/p>\n

privileges made it possible for Armenian community life to exist under Turkish oppression
\nand tyranny.<\/p>\n

After the young Turkish revolution of July 1908, when the Dashnagtzoutune for the first
\ntime appeared in Turkey openly and as a legal political party, and a constitutional
\ngovernment was declared by the young Turks, a few seats were alloted to the Dashnag
\nleaders in the Ottoman Parliament. One of the first acts of the Dashnag deputies was their
\nagreement to a resolution whereby the Turks proposed the abrogation of the Article 61, of
\nthe Berlin treaty. This, at once, aroused opposition among the Armenian authorities and
\nthe people.<\/p>\n

AGAINST THE CHURCH<\/p>\n

The intellectual leaders of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation have never been very
\nfriendly toward religion in general, and towards the Armenian church in particular. Their
\nattitude has been, that the church should confine itself to strictly religious and ritual
\nactivities only, and should play no other part in the social or community life of the
\nArmenian people.<\/p>\n

Such a doctrine is unthinkable even under the free institiutions of advanced countries
\nlike the United States or England, where the church is always accepted as an active force
\nin the social well being of a community. Under governmental regimes that obtained in
\nRussia and Turkey, the national and community life of subject peoples was organized around
\ntheir religious institutions; therefore, the application of the radical principles
\nadvocated by Dashnag leaders, would have been both absurd and disastrous.<\/p>\n

However, as soon as socialism was adopted by the Dashnag leadership as a party program,
\nthey set out with the zeal of newly created converts to put it into application within the
\nArmenian national life.<\/p>\n

[p. 33]<\/p>\n

The Czar of Russia had proclaimed a constitutional form of government for his empire. A
\nmore liberal atmosphere prevailed in the political life of the Caucasus. Taking advantage
\nof this opportunity, His Holiness Khrimian Hairik, who was then Catholicos of all the
\nArmenians, ordered an ecclesiastical meeting of the Armenians of Russia, to be held in
\nEchmiadzin. The purpose of the convention, as drawn up by His Holiness, was to be to adopt
\nmeasures for improving the Armenian schools, for regulating and increasing the revenues of
\nthe church; and to draw up a constitution for the administration of church and community
\nafiairs that would be more in line with Armenian interests than the Balagenia\u2014a law
\ndecreed by the Russian government for the administration of Armenian church afiairs.<\/p>\n

The ecclesiastical Assembly met in August 1906 at Echmiadzin, and was solemnly opened by
\nHis Holiness the Catholicos. The overwhelming majority of the lay delegates being
\nDashnags, these took charge. of the affairs, ignored the ecclesiastical nature of the
\ngathering, drowned tle voice of the clerical members, and changed the assembly into a
\npolitical meeting.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Ormanian, in his “Azkabadoum”, speaks of this meeting as follows:<\/p>\n

“Those who attended the gathering, forgot, from the first day, the sphere of
\neducational, financial and electoral problems, which had been set for them, and began to
\ninvade other spheres . . . . The Armenian Church and the clergy were declared to be
\nharmful to the Armenian people; antichurch feeling was aroused’; a campaign was declared
\nagainst the ministers of the church.<\/i> Even the authority of the Catholicos was scorned,
\nnotwithstanding the fact that their existence and activities originated in him.”
\n(Ormanian, “Azkabadoum”, pages 5323, 5324, 5325, 5326).<\/p>\n

[p. 34]<\/p>\n

According to the account given of this Ecclesiastical Assembly by M. Varandian, the
\nprogram adopted provided that, “The property belonging to the churches and
\nmonasteries be turned over to the possession of the people itself; that the Catholicos and
\nthe ertire clergy have authority to deal only with purely religious, dogmatic and. ritual
\nproblems and have no more connection with various national institutions and. affairs; that
\nthese temporal affairs be henceforth governed by temporal bodies elected by popular,
\nuniversal, secret and equal ballot, etc.”<\/i> (“History of the
\nDashnagtzoutune”, by M. Varandian, page 472) .<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately, all this was to remain on paper only”, declares Varandian
\nregretfully, for neither Khrimian Hairik, nor the saner minority of the Assembly would
\ntolerate this attempt to remake the Armenian church in accordance with the “liberal
\nspirit of the Dashnag ideology”. The Catholicos saw nothing but danger in this farce
\nof an Assembly, and most probably it was he who invited the police authorities to put a
\nstop to it .<\/p>\n

The attempt of the Dashnagtzoutune to dispossess the church of its property and its
\nfunctions, and exploit them for its own purposes was thus frustrated. The church and the
\npeople had just rescued their sacred rights from the encroachments of the Russian Czar,
\nand would not tolerate trespassing by Armenian despoilers.<\/p>\n

The agitation against the church in Turkish Armenia, which was started by the
\nDashnagtzoutune soon after the declaration of Constitutional government in Turkey, was
\nsimply another phase of the hostile attitude of this society towards church and religion.
\nThis agitation had for its object, the opening of all the Armenian churches for political
\nmeetings. The church authorities and the people opposed this agitation most vehemently,
\nand there were widespread dissensions and fights in practically every Armenian com-<\/p>\n

[p. 35]munity. This was known as the “Open, Close” controversy, and lasted three
\nyears.<\/p>\n

In a great many instances, the Dashnag leaders made their henchmen break into the
\nchurches, throw open the doors, and start their political meetings, using the pulpit
\nand the chancel as their platform.<\/p>\n

This dispute was so violent, that there were many instances of riots among the
\ndisputants, and in one instance, at least, two Armenians who wanted to protect the
\nchurch of Smyrna from being sacrileged, were then and there shot and killed by
\nDashnag terrorists.<\/p>\n

The committee of Union and Progress, Turkish allies of the Dashnagtzoutune who
\ncontrolled the Turkish government, secretly encouraged these internal dissensions;
\nand the Dashnag violators of law and order were treated very leniently by the
\nTurkish police and in Turkish courts.<\/p>\n

This movement against the church was well supported by an anti-religious propaganda
\nwhich was carried on systematically in the Dashnag daily and periodical
\npublications. Being newly converted socialists, they represented everything
\nreligious and ecclesiastical as reactionary and medieval anachronisms.
\nUnfortunately, many were the Armenian youths who followed these teachings; and faith
\nin religion, respect for paternal authority and other solid social ideals in the
\nhearts of many of the young generation were undermined.<\/p>\n

The anti-religious movement was carried to such extremes, that even the highest
\nchurch dignitaries were treated discourteously by Dashnag leaders.<\/p>\n

I shall cite one glaring example of this disrespect for religion and religious
\nauthority. The meeting of the Armenian National Council, which was a sort of a
\nlegislative body, always opened with a prayer by its president, the Patriarch, who
\nwas always an Archbishop. Custom and<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

[p. 36]<\/p>\n

courtesy required the councilmen to stand up during these prayers. In one instance,
\nwhile the Patriarch was reciting the Lords prayer, Mr. Shahrigian, the leader of the
\nDashnag group in the council, and one who was high up in the party, crossed his legs
\nand kept his seat, declaring, afterwards, that religion did not mean anything to
\nhim.<\/p>\n

The opposition of the clergy and people to these designs for using the churches for
\npolitical meetings, sprang first of all from religious principles. The church
\nbuildings were for worship only. Secondly, the Dashnag leaders, who claimed they had
\nno other meeting halls, used these churches, wherever they were able to, for mass
\nmeetings against the Russidn government, which had at this period (1909-1912)
\nunearthed an alleged plot of the Dashnags against the authorities in the Caucasus,
\nand had imprisoned many of their leaders. Such a movement against Russia was
\nagreeable to the young Turks, but would embarrass His Holiness the Catholicos of
\nEtchmiadzin, and would endanger the position of the Armenians in Russia. The
\nPatriarchate would not allow the churches to be used for such agitation.<\/p>\n

After throwing the entire Armenian community into dissension and disorder, this
\n“Open, Close” controversy ended in the defeat of the Dashnag leadership.<\/p>\n

The Armenians and the Armenian authorities in Turkey, based their opposition to the
\nDashnags principally on the following points :\u2014<\/p>\n

1. Their leaders were Russian-Armenians, and therefore, ignorant of the peculiar
\nconditions of Turkey; but they concluded agreements with the Turkish Authorities,
\nover the heads of established official bodies.<\/p>\n

2. During the period from 1908-1914 they frustrated the efforts of the other
\nArmenian political parties<\/p>\n

[p. 37]<\/p>\n

and the Patriarchate to organize a united front to the Turkish government. They
\nwould rather ally themselves with the young Turks, than with their own co-nationals
\n*). The popular conviction was, that the Deshnag leaders were bought by special
\nprivileges, seats in the Parliament, and offices.<\/p>\n

3. Their socialistic program and propaganda among the youth and the peasants was
\nobnoxious to the Armenians, Who thought such doctrines had no place in a struggle
\nfor political freedom.<\/p>\n

4. Their anti-religious propaganda and publications, undermined the morals of the
\nyouth.<\/p>\n

THE WORLD WAR<\/p>\n

When the world war broke out in Europe, the Turks began feverish preparations for
\njoining hands with the Germans. In August 1914 the young Turks asked the Dashnag
\nConvention, then in session in Erzerum, to carry out their old agreement of 1907,
\nand start an uprising among the Armenians of the Caucasus against the Russian
\ngovernment. The Dashnagtzoutune refused to do this, and gave assurances that in the
\nevent of war between Russia and Turkey, they would support Turkey as loyal citizens.<\/p>\n

————-
\n*) In the A. R. Federation, thc Committee of Union and Progress. the
\nso-called young Turks, who controlled the Ottoman government at this period, found
\nready and willing tools for their program of weakening the political authority of
\nthe Armenien Patriarchate. which represented the nation before the Turkish
\ngovenrment. The young Turks encouraged the Dashnak leaders in their attempts to
\nreorganize the Patriarchate and other ecclesiastical institutions depending on it,
\nin accordance wirh rhe “liberal spirit of the Dashnag ideology.” being
\nsure that their euccess would mean the weakening of the Armenian community
\nthroughout Tukey. Even after rhe Adana rnassacres of 1909, where 20,000 Armenians
\nwere killed, the Dashnaqrzoutune supported the young Turkish viewpoinl. and weakened
\nthe position of lhe Patrriarchate that demanded swift and drastic punishment for the
\ninstigators of that great crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 38]<\/p>\n

On the other hand, they could not be held responsible for the Russian-Armenians.<\/p>\n

The Turks were not satisfed. They suspected them of duplicity. This perhaps was not
\ntrue, because the answer given the Turks was based on a resolution adopted by the
\nconvention. The fact remains, however, that the leaders of the Turkish-Armenian
\nsection of the Dashnagtzoutune did not carry out their promise of loyalty to the
\nTurkish cause when the Turks entered the war. The Dashnagtzoutune in the Caucasus
\nhad the upper hand. They were swayed in their actions by the interests of the
\nRussian government and disregarded, entirely, the political dangers that the war had
\ncreated for the Armenians in Turkey. Prudence was thrown to the winds; even the
\ndecision of their own convention of Erzurum was forgotten and a call was sent for
\nArmenian volunteers to fight the Turks on the Caucasus front.<\/p>\n

Thousands of Armenians from all over the world, flocked to the standards of such
\nfamous fighters as Antranik, Kery, Dro, etc. The Armenian volunteer regimen rendered
\nvaluable services to the Russian Army in the years of 1914-15-16. However, their
\ndeeds of heroism and the blood they shed in the conquest of Turkish Armenia by
\nRussia, did not help the Armenian cause. The Dashag leaders declared, that the
\nRussian government had promised freedom for Armenia. There was no foundation to this
\n: and the deception was exposed finally. But thousands of Armenians had already
\nanswered the false call, and incidentally, millions were poured into the coffers of
\nthe Dashnag \u201cNational Bureau\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the methods used by the Dashnagtzoutune in recruiting these
\nregiments were so open and flagrant, that it could not escape the attention of the
\nTurkish authorities, who were looking for an excuse to carry<\/p>\n

[p. 39]<\/p>\n

out their program of exterminating the Christian population which they had adopted
\nas early as 1911.<\/p>\n

Many Armenians believe, that the fate of two millions of their co-nationals in
\nTurkey might not have proved so disastrous, if more prudence had been used by the
\nDashnag leaders during the war. In one instance, one Dashnag leader, Armen Garo, who
\nwas also a member of the Turkish Parliament, had fled to the Caucasus and had taken
\nactive part in the organization of volunteer regiments to fight the Turks. His
\npicture, in uniform, was widely circulated in the Dashnag papers, and it was used by
\nTalat Pasha, the arch assassin of the Armenians, as an excuse for his policy of
\nextermination *).<\/p>\n

The fact remains that the real representatives of the Armenians in Turkey, the
\nPatriarchate and its organs, were never consulted by the Caucasian leaders of the
\nDashnagtzoutune in adopting their policies with regard to the Armenian people; yet,
\nthe disastrous consequences of these policies were suffered by the Armenians in
\nTurkey.<\/p>\n

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE ARMENIAN EFFORTS AT DEFENSE<\/p>\n

The Russians did not liberate the conquered provinces of Armenia; and after the
\nrevolution, their army abandoned the front, and left it defenseless against the Turks. The
\nNationalistic elements of the Dashnags in the Caucasus, along with the National Council of
\nthe Western or Turkish Ar-<\/p>\n

—-<\/p>\n

* ) When the deportations and exile of Armenian leaders began in the
\nsurnmer of 1915. an Armenian lady, the wife of another Armenian deputy in the Ottoman
\nParliament, had gone to plead with Talat Pasha, asking the [?] of her husband from exile
\nand probable death. During the interview, Talat Pasha produced a copy of the Dashnag paper
\n\u201cHorizon\u201d in which Armen Garo’s picture in the uniform of a volunteer was published,
\nand, pointing to the picture, said, \u201cMadam, look at our mebous<\/i> (deputy)\u201d. Armen
\nGaro, incidentally, was one of the \u201cheroes\u201d of the Bank Ottoman episode of 1896.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 40]<\/p>\n

menians who had fled across the Russian border, tried to raise an army corps under the
\nleadership of Gen. Antranik and the supreme command of Gen. Nazarbekoff, an old Armenian
\nveteran of the Russian army.<\/p>\n

The boishevistic branch of the Dashnags, led by such leaders as Chamalian and Vratzian,
\nwho even up to this date are in the secret Dashnag Bureau in Paris, opposed the
\nintroduction of capital punishment as a disciplinary measure into this new army. They
\nwanted regimental councils or \u201cproletarian discipline\u201d. Much valuable time was wasted
\nin this way. On the other hand, some Dashnag leaders did everything within their power to
\nfrustrate Antranik\u2019s efforts in Erzerum to organize a defense against Vehib Pasha\u2019s
\narmy. Antranik had opposed the corrupt methods and policies of the Dashnagtzoutune,
\ntherefore he had to be punished somehow. That punishment cost the Armenians the
\nstrongholds of Erzerum, Kars and Alexandropol, and the lives of multitudes.<\/p>\n

THE REPUBLIC<\/p>\n

By a curious twist of Turkish and German diplomacy, the Armenians were forced to declare
\nthe independence of Russian Armenia, which was recognized by the Turks in June 1918, by
\nthe Treaty of Batoum. Turkish defeats at Karakilisa and Sardarabad, and the stiffening
\nresistance of the Armenians were important factors in this recognition; but the main
\nreason was, that the Turks wanted to separate Armenia from Russia and deal with it at
\ntheir pleasure at a more convenient time. Secondly, they did not want an enemy army in
\ntheir rear during their advance towards Bakou and the rich oil fields.<\/p>\n

The Dashnag party found itself in the saddle. A ministry and parliament were formed, in
\nwhich the Dashnags were the overwhelming majority. However, being<\/p>\n

[p. 41]<\/p>\n

long used to underhanded and violent methods as a revolutionary party, they failed to show
\nany ability for governing and statesmanship. The ministry and the Parliament were often
\noverruled by the secret and powerful Dashnag Bureau; and the agencies of law and order
\nwere often flouted by Dashnag Mauserists *), who had been thus far petted and pampered by
\nthe society for secret terroristic purposes, and could not be controlled now. They
\ntyrannized the people and defied the government.<\/p>\n

Speaking of the policies of the Armenian government, the report of Gen. Harbord\u2019s
\nCommission declares as follows :\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cThe policy however, is unfortunately affected by Dashnagtzoutune methods, which are
\nalways liable to precipitate trouble\u201d.<\/p>\n

H. Kachaznouni, the former prime minister of the Armenian Republic, decries the methods of
\nhis own party in the following words :\u2014 \u201cArmenia was a democratic republic . . . .
\nThis was the form. But reality was otherwise. In practice, our party endeavored to control
\nboth the legislative body and the<\/p>\n

government. \u201cThere was created an intolerable duality of authority; on the surface it
\nwas the Parliament and the government, while in secret, it was the party and its organs.<\/p>\n

” . . . This state of affairs made very difficult the work of forming a serious and
\nsincere coalition. Actually, te alien elements who entered the coalition were forced to
\npursue a policy which was not their own, since it was being developed and planned outside
\nof the government and by party committees, to which they could not have access and
\nparticipation.<\/p>\n

———-<\/p>\n

* ) The neme Mauserist is from tlhe maurer pistols wth which these
\nhenchrnen of the Dashnag leaders were usually armed.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 42]<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Armenia there was no Parliament; it was an empty form without content.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problems of state were being discussed and solved behind closed doors, in the rooms
\nof the Dashnag faction, and then declared from the rostrum of the parliament. In reality,
\nthere was not even a parliamentary faction, because this latter was under the very strict
\nsupervision of the Dashnag Bureau, and was obliged to carry out its orders. There was not
\na government either. This also, was ruled by the Bureau; it was a kind of executive body
\nfor the Bureau in the state. This was the Bolshevistic system. But what the Bolshevists
\nare doing openly and consistently, we were attempting to veil under democratic forms.\u201d (\u201cDashnagtzoutune
\nHas Nothing More to Do\u201d, by H. Kachaznouni, pages 31-32 and 38, Vienna, 1923).<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Internal and external troubles were not long in following.<\/p>\n

In internal affairs, the Dashnag government first all failed to establish peace and a
\n.minimum of law and order within the country. Brigandage and oppression were fre quent,
\nand in many cases the arbitrary acts of the underli of the Dashnag chiefs precipitated
\ntrouble.<\/p>\n

Secondly the socialistic legislation, passed by the Parliament, tended to retard the work
\nof economic reconstruction of the country, by creating a large bureaucracy and supporting
\nthem at the expense of the peasants. For example, the farm crops were declared government
\nmonopolies and forcibly bought from the peasants at nominal prices and sold abroad by
\ngovernment agents who also collected the commission. The cotton crop was thus taken over
\nby th ministry of agriculture, and sold in Batoum in 1919 by Sarkis Araradian, the then
\nminister of finance, who at the same time collected his commission.<\/p>\n

[p. 43]<\/p>\n

\u201cAmong the administrative and legislative enterprises, says A. Khatisian, prime minister
\nof Armenia, 1919-1920, we might mention the declaration of the agrarian laws, by which,
\nland in Armenia was nationalized and given to the workers\u201d. (\u201cThe Origin and
\nDevelopment of the Armenian Republic\u201d, by A. Khatisian, page 115, Athens, 1930).<\/p>\n

In a proclamation of May 29, 1919, the Dashnag Bureau, which was the real government,
\ndeclared, that the<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cDashnagtzouiune, after realizing its political ideal, the establishment of a Democratic
\nrepublic, and being true to its fundamental doctrine (socialism), will steer our ship
\nconsistently and with determination, through the channel of social reforms, to that haven
\nof social justice, towards which the workers of all the nations are bound, and where the
\nworkers of Armenia, without distinction of race or creed, will find the realization of the
\nideals of the entire humanity.\u201d Accordingly the people were invited by the Dashnag
\npress, to rise and take possession by force of individually owned lands, and the property
\nand lands belonging to the churches.<\/p>\n

Third\u2014the government failed to win the co-operation other political parties.<\/p>\n

Fourth\u2014it could not maintain the dignity of the government against foreign
\nrepresentatives. A mere British general in Erivan dictated to the prime minister in a way
\nthat would be considered most insulting.<\/p>\n

Fifth\u2014It failed to organize the defenses of the country properly, because the trained
\nand professional officers of the general staff were overruled by Dashnag chieftainswho
\nknew little or nothing about military science.<\/p>\n

Externally.\u2014<\/p>\n

1. The Dashnag government waged three wars in two years and a half. The war on Georgia, in
\nDec. 1918,<\/p>\n

[p. 44]<\/p>\n

lasted only three weeks but caused untold calamity to Armenia. The war with Azerbaijan
\nover Karabagh ended disastrously for the Armenians. Finally came the war with Turkey in
\nthe fall of 1920, which almost put an end to the republic and threatened the Armenian
\nremnant with extermination. At least two of these wars were avoidable.<\/p>\n

The war with Georgia, waged over the question of the district of Lory, was precipitated by
\ncertain Dashnag partisan leaders, over whom the government had no control, and by the
\nprovocative acts of Russian officers in the Armenian army.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not improbable, says H. Kachaznouni, that these (meaning the Russian officers)
\nwere inciting our military circles against Georgia, and creating a hostile atmosphere
\nwhich was very favorable for beginning military operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had barely had an existence of 4 or 5 months as a state, and already we were engaged
\nin war; while the country had thousands of ills that needed attention. And we waged war
\nagainst a neighbor with whom we had the greatest need of allying ourselves closely. Wasn\u2019t
\nGeorgia our only avenue for keeping in touch with the civilized world? . . . .
\nIndependently of the attitude of Georgia, which was doubtless to be condemned, no little
\npart has been played by our own incapacity, our own lack ot experience in political life,
\nand our own unpreparedness conducting the life of a state.\u201d (\u201cDashnagtzoutune Has
\nNothing More to Do\u201d, by H. Kachaznouni, pages 34, 35.)<\/p>\n

The war with Turkey was indirectly the outcome of the Act of May 28, 1919, by which the
\ngovernment of the Armenian Republic, claimed possession of the provinces of Western or
\nTurkish Armenia. If we remember that the existing Republic was recognized by the Turks
\nunder the treaty of Batoum, in which the Russian-Armenian envoys<\/p>\n

[p. 45]<\/p>\n

renounced all territorial claims over Western Armenia, we can readily comprehend why the
\nTurks regarded the Act of May 28, 1919, as a provocation for war, and attacked the
\nArmenian Republic as soon as they were ready.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the Armenian government overestimated its own strength, and created an
\nimmediate occasion for conflict by occupying the district of Olti.<\/p>\n

We are again going to quote from Kachaznouni, the one time prime minister of Armenia, in
\norder to show, that the Dashnag government failed to take measures to avoid this
\ndisastrous war. \u201cIt is an irrefutable fact, says Kachaznouni, a flagrant fact, that we
\nhave not done everything that we should have done\u2014it was our duty to do\u2014in order to
\navoid war.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we have not done everything for the simple but unpardonable reason, that we were
\nignorant of the real strength of the Turks, and too sure of our own strength. There lies
\nthe fundamental mistake. We were not afraid of war, because we were sure of being
\nvictorious. With the carelessness of inexperienced and ignorant men, we were not aware of
\nthe forces that the Turks had organized on our borders, and so we were not cautious. On
\nthe contrary, the hasty occupation of Olti was the gauntlet which we threw down, as if
\nintentionally, to the Turks; as though we ourselves were desirous of war and went after
\nit.” (\u201cDashnagtzoutune Has Nothing More to Do\u201d, by Kachaznouni, page 41)<\/p>\n

2. The arrogant attitude of the Armenian government towards Soviet Russia during the
\ncritical year of 1920, deprived the small and weak republic of a strong and neutral ally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[p. 46]<\/p>\n

A BODY BLOW DEALT TO THE ARMENIAN CAUSE<\/p>\n

The so-called \u201cArmenian Cause\u201d, was centered on the issue of reforms for the
\nArmenian provinces in Turkey; in other words, it was a demand on the part of the
\nWestern Armenians that they be protected from oppression and be given some measure
\nof limited autonomy. This demand of the Armenians was recognized internationally by
\nthe 61st Article of the treaty of Berlin, which the great powers and Turkey had
\nsigned in 1878, after the Russo-Turkish war *). Internationally, therefore, the
\nArmenian Cause, was the cause of the liberation of the Armenians of Turkey.<\/p>\n

During the world war, the Armenian Cause was represented before the allied powers,
\nby a National Delegation, representing the Western Armenians only, who spoke for
\ntheir cause only.<\/p>\n

This delegation, headed by Boghos Noobar Pasha, was recognized by the allies, and
\nconcluded formal agreements with them, according to which the Armenians were to have
\nautonomy in Cilicia, under the protection of France. It was under these agreements,
\nthat the Armenian regiments fought for France in the Syrian campaign during 1917 and
\n1918. The final defeat of the Turks raised Armenian hopes for a free and autonomous
\nexistence in the greater part of Western Armenia, which was now abandoned by the
\nRussian army.<\/p>\n

The appearance, on the diplomatic scene, of the representatives of the newly formed
\nArmenian Republic in the Caucasus, complicated matters at once.<\/p>\n

—————-<\/p>\n

* ) See Appendix III.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 47]<\/p>\n

The Dashnag delegation led by A. Aharonian, instead of co-operating with the
\nNational Delegation in the work of achieving the freedom of Western Armenia, started
\nright away to lay plans for the removal of the National Delegation. The
\nDashnagtzoutune could not tolerate the dominance of any other authority in Armenian
\nlife, but its own. They had repeatedly sacrificed the interests and jeopardized the
\nphysical existence of the Western Armenians, in order to follow the policies and
\nviews of their leaders from the Caucasus. They would stop at nothing now in order to
\ndiscredit the National Delegation, which enjoyed the confidence of all the Western
\nArmenians, and to take into their own hands the direction of the Armenian Cause
\nbefore the Peace Conference.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, on May 28, 1919, the government of Erivan, came out with a proclamation
\nby which it declared the Armenian Provinces of Turkey\u2014which the \u2018Western
\nArmenians claimed from the allies\u2014united with the existing republic. This
\nproclamation is what is known as the Act of May 28. It was actually a usurpation of
\nauthority by a government which owed its existence to the incident of the Russian
\nRevolution, which did not represent the Turkish Armenians, and which had not even
\nbeen authorized by its own parliament for this disastrous act.<\/i> The whole thing
\nwas designed in Paris, plotted in the Dashnag Bureau at Erivan, and foisted upon the
\npublic.<\/p>\n

The immediate result of this act was the flaring up of an internal conflict among
\nthe Armenians, which made it impossible for the political factions to present a
\nunited front to the allies in the peace conference, which they had done up till
\nthen. The Social Democrats and the Peoples party withdrew from the government and
\nthe parliament of the republic, protesting that the government had no<\/p>\n

[p. 48]<\/p>\n

authority for such an unlawful act. This weakened the government even on its own
\nhome front.<\/p>\n

According to Kachaznouni, the Act of May 28 aimed to put the National Delegation out
\nof existence. This did not materialize. While on the other hand, the intolerance of
\nthe rulers at Erivan, made impossible the formation of a coalition government,
\ncomposed of both Eastern and Western Armenians.<\/p>\n

On the diplomatic front, the Act of May 28 created confusion both among our
\nrepresentatives and in the minds of the allied powers. The Armenian question was at
\nfirst the problem of the liberation of Turkish Armenia, which the allies had
\npromised and for which the efforts of the Western Armenians had created the basis.
\nNow, the Armenian question was something else. Accordingly, the allied powers saw in
\nthis Act of May 28, an easy way out of a difficult problem. Instead of liberating
\nWestern Armenia, and organizing it into a seperate state, they decided to add some
\nof the provinces of Turkish Armenia to the existing Republic. This was consummated
\nin the S\u00e8vres treaty *). However, they also attached a joker; that the final
\nsolution of the entire problem depended upon the course of the Russian revolution.<\/p>\n

The cause of the freedom of Western Armenia was thus killed by Dashnag intolerance
\nand intrigue. The treaty of S\u00e8vres which recognized Armenia, at the time, denied
\nfreedom to Western Armenia. It was by the representatives of the Republic at Erivan,
\non Aug. 10, 1920. The same men were to repudiate the S\u00e8vres treaty and the claims
\nof Armenians in Turkey by signing the treaty of Alexandropol on Dec. 2, 1920.<\/p>\n

—————-<\/p>\n

* ) See Appendix IV.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 49]<\/p>\n

DISASTER<\/p>\n

The Act of May 28, 1919, which claimed Turkish Armenia for the newly formed Armenian
\nRepublic, that was recognized by the Turks under the treaty of Batoum, (June 4,
\n1918), prepared grounds for the attack of Mustafa Kemal on Armenia. As soon as the
\ntreaty of S\u00e8vres was signed in Paris, the Turks began their attack. The Armenians
\nwere without allies in the Caucasus. The European allies were too far distant to
\ngive them aid. The country was not unified internally, and the army was demoralized
\nby Dashnag military methods. The Armenian forces failed to make an effective stand
\nbefore the seasoned Turkish troops. The key fortress of Kars was surrendered; and
\nthe Turks advanced as far as Alexandropol, where on Dec. 2, 1920, the Dashnag
\ngovernment, represented by a delegation headed by A. Katissian, signed a treaty that
\nvirtually ended the independence of Armenia, and put the fate of the Armenian
\nremnant in the hands of Turkish Pashas. (The Treaty of Alexandropol is given at the
\nend of this discussion, Appendix IV).<\/p>\n

A timely intervention of Soviet Russia saved the Armenians. Concerning this
\nBolshevik intervention H. Kachaznouni declares:\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bolsheviks entered Armenia without meeting any resistance. This Was the
\ndecision of our Party ……..<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were two reasons for acting this way, First, we could not resist it if we
\nwanted to Second, we hoped that the Soviet authorities, backed by Russia, would be
\nable to introduce some order in the state-a thing which we, all alone, had failed to
\ndo, and it was very plain already that we would not be able to do\u201d<\/p>\n

The Dashnags were driven out of authority in the newly formed Soviet Armenian
\nRepublic.<\/p>\n

[p. 50]<\/p>\n

AFTER THE DISASTER<\/p>\n

The Dashnag leaders, however, could not reconcile themselves with the idea of being
\nout of power. Especially, they were deprived of a sure means of livelihood and were
\nutterly discredited before the Armenian public. Being of Bolshevistic tendencies,
\nsome of them, such as S. Vratzian, the present head of the invisible Bureau in
\nEurope and a former editor of the Boston \u201cHairenik\u201d, were allowed by the
\nBolshevik Armenian leaders to stay in Armenia.<\/p>\n

Two months and a half elapsed since the fall of the Dashnag government, when on Feb.
\ni8, 1921, a serious rebellion under the leadership of Vratzian broke out in Armenia
\nagainst the Bolshevik government.<\/p>\n

The Bolshevik forces were temporarily driven out of Armenia, but Vratzian\u2019s
\ngovernment was not sure of its own ability to hold out against them. They sought
\nmilitary assistance from the Turks by invoking the infamous treaty signed at
\nAlexandropol, article 7 of which provided, that \u201cwhenever the Armenian government
\nso desires, the Great National Assembly of Turkey undertakes to give armed
\nassistance to Armenia, against internal and external dangers.\u201d The reentry of a
\nTurkish army into Armenia would have meant additional destruction and disaster for
\nthis much harassed land. However, the Dashnag leaders seemed to prefer Turkish
\nrather than Russian protectorate over what was left of the Armenian Republic. So, on
\nMarch 18, 1921, Mr. Vratzian sent to Angora a formal appeal in which Armenia
\nexpressed the hope that “during her fight she would receive help from her
\nneighbors; and in the first instance, the interests of the Turkish people would also
\nrequire that Armenia should issue victorious from this fight and remain independent.\u201d
\nThen the Turkish government was asked to let the Armenian government<\/p>\n

[p. 51]<\/p>\n

know, whether it \u201cfinds it possible to send military aid to Armenia; and if able
\nto do so, to what extent and when?<\/p>\n

\u201cIn making this appeal, the Armenian Government relies on the friendly relations
\nthat have been established under the treaty of Alexandropol, and which have been
\ndisturbed during the bolshevik rule.\u201d (The complete text of this appeal by
\nVratzian is given in Appendix V.)<\/p>\n

Fortunately for the Armenian remnant, the awe of the rising power of the Soviet
\nUnion kept the Turkish army out of Armenia.*)<\/p>\n

There was much bloodshed, until the Dashnags were again defeated by the Bolshevists,
\nand driven out of the country. This civil war lasted almost three months, and cost
\nArmenia the lives of tens of thousands.<\/p>\n

ACTIVITIES IN EXILE<\/p>\n

The Dashnag leaders and former ministers came out now and declared that they had
\ndecided to follow a policy of loyal opposition,<\/i> toward Soviet Armenia.
\nHowever, they secretly fomented conspiracies against her. With an amazing
\nflexibility of policy and conscience, they extended friendly hands to their former
\nfoes; the Mousavat party of the Azerbaijan Tartars, and the Mensheviks of Georgia.<\/p>\n

————-<\/p>\n

*) This appeal of Vratzian as the president of the newly formed
\nArmenlan government, was virtually the ratification of the treaty of Alexandropol,
\nby which the Dashnag leaders declared to the whole world that Armenia has renounced
\nall her demands on Turkey and has no more cause of dispute. The Turks utilized the
\nabove mentioned treaty and this last appeal of Vratzian as powerful weapons in the
\nconference of the great powers at London, in 1921, and again in the Lausanne
\nconference in 1923, against the demands of the Armenians for a free national status
\non the soil of Turkish Armenia. They claimed that they had settled all disputes with
\nArmenia, by the treaty of Alexandropol and for them the Armenian question did not
\nexiat any more. Thus was consummated the burial of the Armenian question, which was
\nalready killed by the representatives of the Dashnagtzoutune when they signed the
\ntreaty of Alexandropol on December 2, 1920. The organization that set out to free
\nTurkish Armenia, finished by first repudiating, then by Interring that same cause.<\/span><\/p>\n

[p. 51]<\/p>\n

These societies were similarly exiled from their respective countries by the advent
\nof the Bolsheviks. In 1922 there was secretly concluded what is now known as the \u201cPromethean\u201d
\nalliance between the Dashnags, the Tartars, the Georgians and the representatives of
\nDaghestan Mohammedans. Its purpose was to organize a concerted rebellion in
\nTranscaucasia against the Soviet Republics. Attempts to this effect were suppressed
\nrigorously; but the secret agreement is still in force.<\/p>\n

Failing in this, the Dashnags tried to consolidate all the Armenian political and
\nother organizations abroad, with the idea of creating a sort of governmenl
\nwithout territory,<\/i> the alleged purpose of which was to coordinate national and
\ncultural activities of all the Armenian communities in different countries. The real
\nmotive behind this move was to use the united public opinion and the material
\nresources of all the Armenians abroad, against Soviet Armenia.<\/p>\n

This policy was vigorously opposed and frustrated by the Armenian Democratic Liberal
\nparty, which, although hostile to the principles of socialism or Bolshevism,
\nchampioned, however, the cause of Soviet Armenia as the only political hope for the
\nnation.<\/p>\n

The Dashnagtzoutune tried next to cooperate with the Kurdish leaders in their
\nrebellion against Turkey. They made their followers believe, that in case of success
\nthe Kurds were going to recognize Armenian rigths over the territory of Turkish
\nArmenia. There was no basis for such belief, as the Kurds claimed the same territory
\nas Part of their national program.<\/p>\n

The Dashnagtzoutune muleted its credulous followers of thousands of dollars to
\nsupport the Kurdish cause. The Kurds were finally defeated in 1928, Net result:\u2014much
\nneeded propaganda for the Dashnagtzoutune, waste of the hard earned money of the
\nArmenian workers, and more<\/p>\n

[p. 53]<\/p>\n

oppressive measures by the Turkish government in dealing with the Armenian remnants
\nin Turkey.<\/p>\n

However, they sought other fields of activity, and finally managed to break up the
\nunity of some of the cornpatriotic societies. These societies were formed in various
\nlands by Armenians coming from the same home town in their old country. They tried
\nto raise money, so as to rescue their refugee compatriots, send them into Soviet
\nArmenia, and establish them in towns named after their old homes. These towns, which
\nhave been built in Armenia by these same compatriotic societies, are now growing and
\ndeveloping through the co-operation of the Armenian government. Some of these
\nsocieties are now on the verge of disruption, however, on account of the opposition
\nof their Dashnag members.<\/p>\n

On all these various fronts the Dashnags met determined oppoistion from other
\npolitical parties, from organizations devoted to the work of Armenian reconstruction
\nand from the people in general. Their most serious mistake has been a campaign of
\nopposition, bordering on enmity which they have been waging against Soviet Armenia.
\nThis propaganda however, failed to dampen the patriotic ardor of the Armenians of
\nthe diaspora, and could not put a stop to their efforts at repatriating the refugees
\nscattered in Greece, Syria, France and the Balkans.<\/p>\n

DISSASTISFACTION WITHIN THE RANKS<\/p>\n

Dissatisfaction against this disastrous leadership began within the ranks of the
\nDashnagtzoutune right after the signing of the Alexandropol treaty in December 1920.
\nFor a while it was in secret. Soon it came out into the open.<\/p>\n

Many leading Dashnags, who had always believed in socialism or bolshevism, demanded
\nthat their party stop its opposition to Soviet Armenia, liquidate itself, and join
\nthe communist party. Being refused in this, they severed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[p. 54]<\/p>\n

their connections and went over, in groups, to join the communists, as there was hardly
\nany difierence in their ideology. These were branded as traitors by the leaders, who were
\nable to maintain the party intact, thanks to their financial resources.<\/p>\n

This process of disinteglation was accelerated by the famous booklet of Hovhanes
\nKachaznouni, a life long Dashnag and one time prime minister of the Armenian Government,
\nentitled, “Dashnagtzoutune Has Nothing More to Do.”<\/p>\n

After publishing his booklet, in which he tried to prove, that Dashnagtzoutune has no more
\nground for existence, and advising it to disband and support Armenia, Kachaznouni went
\nover to Erivan and tendered his services to the Armenian government. His example was
\nfollowed by many others, who were all “traitors”, of course, for the Dashnag
\nhigh comrnand.<\/p>\n

Soon it dawned on the more nationalistic elements in the rank and file of the party, that
\nthe present Armenia was really the beginning of a political future for the Armenian
\npeople; and they put a demand that the party stop its enmity to Soviet Armenia.<\/p>\n

Convention after convention failed to satisfy this demand and finally many groups left the
\nparty and organized separately or joined the other parties friendly to Armenia. The most
\nserious schism came two years ago, when almost the entire Dashnag organization in France
\ncame out openly against the policies of the Central Bureau.<\/p>\n

These dissenting groups are mostly Western Armenians or Armenians from Turkey, rvho
\nrealized, finally, the betrayal of the Cause of Western Armenia by their leaders from the
\nCaucasus, and saw the political blind alley into which they were being led by these
\nunscrupulous intriguers, at the present time.<\/p>\n

[p. 55]<\/p>\n

The patent criticisms leveled by the Dashnagtzoutune at the present Soviet Armenia is
\nthat, it is not independent, and it is a communistic and not a national government. These
\ncriticisms have no ground to stand upon. The Dashnags themselves, while they were at the
\nhelm, tried to place Armenia under the protection of some great Power \u2014the United States
\nfor one\u2014through the League of Nations. The mandate of any great Power, if it had
\nmaterialized, would have meant a limitation of Armenian independence.<\/p>\n

Armenia has now secured its political existence, not by accepting the mandate of a great
\nPower, but by joining hands, as one of the federated republics, with the great
\ncommonwealth of nations known as the Soviet Union. Given the geographical, political and
\neconomic situation of Soviet Armenia, the severance of its federal ties from the Soviet
\nUnion, would mean nothing but ruination. As to the communistic form of the government, it
\nis perfectly in line with the socialistic program of the Dashnagtzoutune.<\/p>\n

If the Dashnags were sincere patriots, they would ardently support the present political
\nunion of Armenia with Moscow. On the other hand, if they were sincere adherents of
\nsocialism, they would not oppose the application of socialism in Armenia now. They are
\nneither. Their leaders are simply unprincipled opportunists, who lead their followers into
\na blind alley for their own selfish material interests.<\/p>\n

[p. 56]<\/p>\n

What they condemn now, was in their program once. Here is what we read in the Dashnag
\nprogram published in Boston, by the Hairenik Press, in 1911.<\/p>\n

Under the heading \u201cPolitical Demands\u201d, we read:\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cLed by socialistic principles, striving to attain our purpose not by political
\nseparation, but by reorganization of the body politic on federal foundations, and taking
\ninto ~ consideration the real and ripened needs of the territory we live in, the party
\nproposes the following demands.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Transcaucasia, these demands are as follows :\u2014<\/p>\n

1. \u201cThe democratic republic of Transcaucasia shall form an integral part of the
\nfederated republic of Russia, united to it in matters of self-defense, monetary system,
\ncustoms and foreign policy.<\/p>\n

2. \u201cIn all internal affairs, the Trariscaucasian Republic shall be independent, having
\nits central parliament, elected by general, equal, direct, secret and proportional
\nballoting. Every Transcaucasian, who is over 20 years old, shall have the right to vote,
\nirrespective of sex.<\/p>\n

3. \u201cTranscaucasia shall send its representatives to the federal Parliament of Russia,
\nelected in the same manner.<\/p>\n

4. “The Transcaucasian Republic shall be divided into cantons, enjoying the widest
\nself-rule, The communities likewise shall have self-rule in purely communal aftairs.<\/p>\n

5. “In deciding the boundaries of the cantons, the geographical and cultural
\ncharacteristics of the population shall be taken into consideration, in order to form as
\nhomogenous units as possible.<\/p>\n

6. “All the legislative, judicial and executive bodies as well as the oficials shall
\nbe elected by the people, according to the above mentioned system.<\/p>\n

[p. 57]<\/p>\n

7. \u201cDirect legislation, and the rights of referendum and initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even a casual comparison of the above articles of the Dashnag program with the present
\nreality of Armenia, will make it clear, that these demands of the A. R. Federation are
\nmore than fulfilled. While the very name of Armenia is eliminated from the above demands,
\nit forms today not a canton of Transcaucasia, but one of the federated republics of
\nTranscaucasia, and is united to the central Union of the Soviets, and enjoys freedom for
\ncultivating its own national life and culture.<\/p>\n

ATTEMPT TO CONTROL THE CHURCH<\/p>\n

Having failed in all their previous attempts to organize the Armenian diaspora into a
\nunified body which they could use as a weapon against the Soviet Armenian government, the
\nDashnag high command decided to try another strategy.<\/p>\n

For thirty years previously they had preached against church and religion. Now, all of a
\nsudden, they discovered that they believed in religion and in the Armenian Apostolic
\nchurch, as a bulwark of Armenian nationalism.<\/p>\n

The church was being persecuted by the Soviet regime. Echmiadzin is robbed of its lands
\nand of its means of support. His Holiness the Catholicos is a prisoner in the ancient seat
\nof the Armenian church and is constantly being hounded by the Cheka. Therefore, it will be
\na good thing for the Armenians to move the Holy See to some place outside of Soviet
\nArmenia. After this was achieved, the Dashnag high command thought, it would be easy to
\nuse the moral prestige of the Holy See, to discredit the Soviet Armenian leaders in the
\neyes of the people.<\/p>\n

At one time in 1930, events seemed to play into their hands. His Holiness, Kevork V, died
\nduring that year.<\/p>\n

[p. 58]<\/p>\n

Dashnagtzoutunc came out openly then and declared that the Soviet Armenian government was
\nnot going to permit the meeting of a Church Council at Echmiadzin for the election of a
\nsuccessor; or, if it did, it was going to dictate the election, as Catholicos, of a
\nchurchman who was already a tool of the Soviet secret police.<\/p>\n

Both these prophecies failed. The Armenian government allowed the Church Council, with
\ndelegartes fiom all over the world, laymen, and churchmen, to convene at Echmiadzin in
\nNovember, 1932. The new successor to the throne of St. Gregory the Illuminator who was
\nelected, His Holiness Catholicos Khoren, could not be accused bv the Dashnagtzoutune as a
\ntool in the hands of the Cheka.<\/p>\n

However, they floated a new story; that the Soviets allowed the election of a man like
\nCatholicos Khoren, because they knew that he enjoyed the confidence of the Armenian people
\nabroad; and therefore, it would be easier for them to mislead them through him. This being
\nthe case, the churches and churchmen would not be committing an offense, if they simply
\ndisregarded the decrees of the Holy See.<\/p>\n

Almost from the first day of his landing in the United States, His Eminence the late
\nArchbishop Leon Tourian had to fight these attempts to belittle the authority of the
\nCatholicos, and the underhanded propaganda for moving tlre Holy See from Echmiadzin.<\/p>\n

Church authorities who opposed the Dashnag designs and methods rvere everywhere denounced
\nand subjected to indignities. They were represented as the tools of the Soviet secret
\npolice, who fomented conspiracies against the national aspirations of the Armenians and
\nagainst the Dashnags. These churchmen were declared to be the allies of communists. At the
\npresent time, there is hardly any Prelate of the Armenian church, who<\/p>\n

[p. 59]<\/p>\n

has not fallen under this accusation, and who has not been subjected to persecution and
\ncalumny. A partial list of these churchmen is to be found at the end of this discussion
\n(see Appendix II ) .<\/p>\n

I shall mention only one notorious example of Dashnag insolence in dealing with church
\nauthorities who fail to please them. Patriarch Sahag of the Armenians in Syria, was
\nbitterly denounced by Housaper, the Dashnag official organ of Cairo, Egypt, because of a
\nrecent encyclical in which His Holiness exhorted his flock to refrain from acts of
\nviolence and to cultivate brotherly love. The occasion for this pastoral letter, was the
\nassassination in Beirult, last October, of one Aghazarian, a bitter opponent of the
\nDashnags. Neither the said murder, nor the Dashnagtzoutune were mentioned in the pastoral
\nletter, But the Housaper,<\/i> denounced vehemently this “Cawing of Ill Omen”,
\nand closed its editorial with the following inflammatory remarks :\u2014<\/p>\n

” . . . . the gontag (pastoral letter) of the Patriarch is wicked.<\/i><\/p>\n

“It is a cawsing of ill omen, that threatens our people, who long for peace, trith.
\nthe dangers of new schisms.<\/p>\n

“However, is it only our lot to be calm and. circumspect?<\/p>\n

“Let your blood be on your heads.”<\/p>\n

By controlling the churches in different countries, not only they hoped to win over the
\nbishops and the prelates, to the support of their campaign against Soviet Armenia, but
\nincidentally, to benefit financially, as these churches had property and income in a good
\nmany places.<\/p>\n

[p. 60]<\/p>\n

THE LAST DESPERATE DRIVE<\/p>\n

Failure on all these fronts and the gradual disruption of their ranks, forced the Dashnag
\nGeneral Convention, which met in Paris in March 1933, to take drastic measures. They had
\nto terrorize the diaspora into submission, and incidentally stop the gradual
\ndisintegration of the rank and file. There could be no better means to achieve this double
\npurpose, than to start a violent campaign against their opponents. War against the enemy
\nwould bring internal unity. In this, they succeeded in part.<\/p>\n

It was decided to create a secret Supreme Council with invisible headquarters, and a
\ncentral Bureau for window dressing. The real power and the direction of affairs was to be
\nin the hands of these few men in the dark. The policy of action adopted was secret
\nintrigue, conspiracies and violence. Of these methods they were past masters. The
\ndeclaration was openly broadcast that the only obstacle to their domination of the
\nArmenian diaspora was the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party; therefore, they should be
\nfought by every means and on evrey [sic] front.<\/p>\n

The immediate excuse for a fight was the Tricolor flag of the defunct Armenian government.
\nAll of a sudden quarrels sprang up in Egypt, France, Greece, America and Bulgaria, over
\nthe flag which the Dashnags wanted to raise in every public function and at every public
\ngathering place.<\/p>\n

Acts of violence followed in the wake of these quarrels. Armenian leaders of official
\nstanding, both laymen and churchmen, were assaulted in Egypt, Syria, Greece, America, and
\nelsewhere. Even murders were committed in some of these countries.<\/p>\n

[p. 61]The much lamented Archbishop Tourian, Prelate of the Armenian church in America, was
\nassassinated because he obeyed the orders of His Holiness, the Catholicos, to keep
\nthe church away from political influences and to prevent its being used as a moral
\nweapon in the hands of unbelievers and the avowed enemies of the government of
\nArmenia. He did not belong to any political faction. He was a devoted servant of the
\nchurch only, and had only her interests at heart. During the Armenian day exercises
\nat the Chicago fair last year, he supported the decision of the committee in charge,
\nwhich was to display only the Stars and the Stripes. He was opposed by a group of
\nDashnag adherents, who had insisted on bringing the Tri-color of the former Armenian
\ngovernment into the hall, in spite of the decision of the committee. The Prelate’s
\nstand was supported by the votes of an overwhelming majority of the audience.<\/p>\n

However, the Chicago incident was not the real reason for the Dashnag opposition to
\nthe Prelate. This antagonism started soon after he landed in this country in 1931,
\nand tried to preserve the moral prestige of the Holy See of Echmiadzin, which was
\nbeing represented by the Dashnag press as controlled by the Soviet Secret Service\u2014the
\nCheka. The Archbishop also opposed the Dashnag propaganda in favor of removing the
\nHoly See from Armenia to some other country. Their success in this move would have
\nmeant the closing of a spiritual center that has existed for sixteen centuries, and
\nthe final stamping out of Christianity from Soviet Armenia. Armenian bishops all
\nover the world acted like Archbishop Tourian did, and most all of them incurred the
\nenmity of the Dashnag society.<\/p>\n

The incident in Chicago was used merely as an excuse to intensify the persecution of
\nthe Prelate, Led by<\/p>\n

[p. 62]<\/p>\n

the Hairenik, <\/i>their central mouthpiece in Boston, the entire Dashnig
\norganization went out on the war-path. Calumnies and indignities were hurled in
\nabundance at the churchman who had dared to “insult the tri-color”. For
\nmonths, previous to the death of this saintly servant of God, bitter hatred and
\ndenunciation of him were spouted by the Hairenik <\/i>and roared from platforms.<\/p>\n

He was first represented as the agent of the Soviet Cheka, and his ousting from
\noffice was demanded. He was then threatened with violence, at first covertly, and
\nsoon, openly. Besides pourinq out its venom and malice editorially, the Hairenik <\/i>admitted
\nto its columns communications which demanded that the Archbishop be punished
\nruthlessly. On July 27, 1933, it puhlished a letter in which a monetary reward was
\npromised to those who would teach the Prelate a lesson. The writer of another
\nletter, published by the Hairenik <\/i>on August 1, 1933, demanded that Tourian
\n“be ruthlessly punished”, and expressed surprise that “Tourian has
\nleft Chicago without being punished”.<\/p>\n

The deplorable results of this fanatical agitation were soon to follow. On August
\n13, 1933, some young ruffians belonging to the Dashnag society assaulted the Prelate
\nin Westboro, Mass. and would have caused him serious physical injury if they had not
\nbeen prevented. Three of these were arrested, tried and punished. The Hairenik <\/i>condoned
\nthis outrage in an editorial on August 17, 1933, and made heroes of the culprits, at
\nthe same time blaming the victim for the episode.<\/p>\n

The overwhelming majority of the community supported the Prelate. His Holiness, the
\nCatholicos of Echmiadzin, Supreme head of the Armenian church, approved of the
\nconduct of the Archbishop and sent him, repeatedly, his blessings and full
\nconfidence. He ordered<\/p>\n

[p. 63]<\/p>\n

that thc controversy be stopped, and the community follow the Prelate. The Dashnags
\nalone defied the authority of His Holiness, and continued in their anarchistic
\nopposition in a more violent fashion. Short of actually inciting their followers to
\nmurder the Prelate, the Dashnag publications did everything else, in order to injure
\nhim morally and materially.<\/p>\n

In a virulent editorial entitled, “A Masterpiece of Pharisaism”, Hairenik
\n<\/i>hurled blasphemy and insult at the late Prelate, who had published a pastoral
\nletter for the Christmas season, exhorting his people to cast away hatred and
\nselfishness and cultivate brotherly love and forgiveness. “That unworthy
\nclergyman is so shameless, that he is not even ashamed of giving such advice,”<\/i>
\ndeclares the Dashnag paper, and continues, “Indeed, instead of addressing to
\n‘the beloved people’ those sermons, the sincerity of which nobody can believe,
\nArchbishop Leon should have rendered an infnitely more christian and patriotric
\nservice to this colony and this church, if he would have, at least under the
\ninspiration of the great mystery ol Christmas, the comtton decency of publicly
\nconfessing the sins he has committed, and, as a first step of repentance, he would
\nresign once for all from his culpable leanings of dividing this colony and this
\nchurch”.<\/i><\/p>\n

The editorial appeared on December 21st, 1933, three days before the assassination
\nof the Prelate in the Holy Cross Armenian church of New York. This horrible crime
\nshocked everybody except the members of the Dashnagtzoutune, their leaders and their
\npress. These latter could hardly conceal their satisfaction; their only regret was
\nthat eight members of their sociefy were arrested and indicted for the murder. They
\neven tried to excuse the crime, and held the victim and his supporters morally
\nressponsible<\/i> for the bloody tragedy.<\/p>\n

[p. 64]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Boston Hairenik,<\/i> which had for six months preached hatred against the
\nPrelate, and had inflamed the passions of its followers to white heat, came out with
\na brazen editorial in its issue of December 27th, 1933, and expressed the wish that
\nthe blood of the Archbishop would, “Finally bring to their senses all those who
\nincite and inflame the passions ot’ the masses”. With the same breath, the
\nDashnag sheet blamed the Cheka\u2014Soviet secret police\u2014and the opponents of the
\nArmenian Revolutionary Federation, for the unfortunate situation. “Moreover,
\nsaid the Hairenik, the opponents of the A. R. F. gradually became very rash and
\nreckless in their inciting and intransigeant conduct, and in a precipitous rnanner,
\nbrought upon us the stormy reality in which we are found”.<\/i> The above
\nsentences can only mean one thing, that those who dare to oppose the Dashnag society
\nare bound to sufier punishment and physical injury. Such language and mentality are
\nbecoming only to the Italian Mafia and the underworld gangsters.<\/p>\n

Not one Dashnag paper condemned the murder without reservation. Some even excused
\nit, as did the Paris Harach<\/i> in its issue of January 5th, 1934, in the
\nfollowing words.<\/p>\n

“lf the Dashnagtzoutune or any Dashnag has suggested this murder, under such
\nhorrible circumstances, and without any excuse, they also should be tried and
\ncondemned,”<\/i><\/p>\n

Of excuses, the Dashnagtzoutune had plenty, of course.<\/p>\n

Armenian public opinion did not hesitate in coming to the decision that the group
\nthat had so bitterly hated and persecuted the Archbishop was closely connected with
\nthe instigators and the plotters of the murder. A mighty wave of indignation and
\nprotest swept the Armenian<\/p>\n

[p. 65]<\/p>\n

communities all over the world and the United States. Public mass meetings were held
\nin which the Dashnag society and its leaders were charged with responsibility for
\nthe crime; and the people, stirred to the bottom of its soul, demanded that the
\nactual murderers, as well as the, organizers of the murder, be found and handed over
\nto justlce.<\/p>\n

Special memorial services were held in the Armenian churches all over the world, and
\nthe death of the Prelate was mourned by the highest ecclesiastical authorities. He
\nwas declared a martyr. All national organizations and groups came out officially,
\nand expressed deep sorrow for the crime. All the Armenian press condemned the A. R.
\nFederation as the author of thi crime; that is, all, except the Dashnag press, which
\nacted true to its traditional method of blackening the character of their victims.
\nEven after his death, the late Prelate was subjected to calumnies and slander.<\/p>\n

Whatever the fate of the nine Dashnags who are now under indictment in New York for
\nthe murder of the Archbishop, the Armenian public will always be firm in its
\nconviction, that the demands of justice will be only partly satisfied until the real
\ninstigators and plotters of this horrible crime are found and punished.<\/p>\n

The late Archbishop Leon Tourian was martyred for his faithfulness to his duty and
\nhis God.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n


\n[p. 66]<\/span><\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/p>\n

Dashnagtzoutune was organized for liberating Turksh Armenia. Its leaders, all Armenians
\nfrom the Caucasus, failed to take into consideration the peculiar political and social
\nconditions under which the Armenian people lived in Turkey; and their insurrectional
\nattempts and methods were used as excuses by the Turkish authorities for massacres and
\nrenewed oppression.<\/p>\n

Its opportunism, its internal corruption and terroristic methods prevented the best
\nArmenian elements from joining the movement for Armenian independence; while its adherence
\nto the Russian socialism created confusion and wasted much precious energy in the
\nmaelstrom of the Russian revolution.<\/p>\n

Its high handed acts in dealing with the instituted Armenian authorities in Turkey,
\ncreated internal quarrels and prevented the formation of a unified front against the
\nTurkish government before the world war, and in the allied conferences, after the war,
\nthereby preventing the solution of the Turkish Armenian question independently of the
\ncourse of the Russian revolution. This failure was consummated in the treaty of S\u00e8vres.
\nBy their signing this treaty themselves, instead of the Armenian National Delegation, the
\nrightful representatives of the Armenians in Turkey, the Dashnag government of the
\nArmenian Republic invited the Turkish attack on itself and hastened its own downfall.<\/p>\n

^ The former ministers and officials of the Armenian Republic fomented internal
\ndissensions and quarrels wherever they went, in order to impose their will on the Arnenian
\npeople and its institutions. Being always believers in terroristic methods, the Dashnag
\nleaders encouraged<\/p>\n

[p. 67]<\/p>\n

physical violence against their opponents, with the result, that many acts of violence
\nhave been committed by their followers during the last few years in various countries.<\/p>\n

While the Armenian people, as a whole, and all its organizations, political, charitable,
\necclesiastical etc. see a political future for our race in the present Soviet Armenia, and
\ntherefore support it despite its communistic regime, and desire to bring their assistance
\nto its reconstruction, the Dashnagtzoutune stands alone in its opposition, advocates its
\nseparation from the federal union of the Soviets, and foments plots against its
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n

Thus we behold the picture of the A. R. Federation as an enemy of the nucleus of Armenian
\npolitical life; as an organization that has degenerated so far, that it can be compared
\nwith the Italian Mafia, and the gangsters of this country. It stands alone and condemned
\nby the Armenian public. Its hands are raised against everybody, its plottings and crimes
\nhave rocked the conscience of all decent Armenians, and have disgraced our people before
\nthe civilized world.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Patriotism Perverted, book cover<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[p. 68]APPENDIX I<\/b><\/p>\n

A partial list of Armenian victims of terrorism.<\/i><\/p>\n

1. Isahag ]amharian, a wealthy Moscow millionaire, stabbed to death in 1902,
\nwithin the enclosure of the Armenian church at Moscow, by the agents of a group who
\nhad previously abducted him and tried to extort money. (‘History of the
\nDashnagtzoutune’, by M. Varandian, pages 325-326-327).<\/p>\n

2. Mateos Baliozian, <\/i>a wealthy Armenian merchant of Smyrna, was murdered in
\n1902, by one Horen Sarkisian, a member of the Dashnag secret group. (‘History of the
\nDashnagtzoutune’, by M. Varandian, page 450). Baliozian was accused of betraying
\nArmenian revolutionists to the Turkish government. This suspicion had no basis. The
\nmore probable motive of his murder was that he would not give financial aid to local
\nrevolutionary chieftains.<\/p>\n

3. Gerektzian<\/i> was killed in Erzerum in 1891 by the decislofl of the local
\nDashnag committee. They cast lots and the lot wa| drawn by Aram Aramian, who killed
\nGerektzian. (‘History o the Dashnagtzoutune’, by M. Varandian, page 86).<\/p>\n

4. Mihran,<\/i> a famous fighter of the A. R. Federation, had opposed the adoption
\nof socialism as a program by the socieity. In his opposition he even had threatened
\nto use violence. He was found guilty by the Dashnag Convention of Vienna in 1907 and
\nwas condemned to death. This sentence was carried out in 1909. (‘History of the
\nDashnagtzoutune’, by M. Varandian, page 491).<\/p>\n

5. Abbot Arsen Vartabed<\/i> of the monastery of Akhtamar near Van, and his
\nsecretary Mihran, were brutally murdered in 1904 by Ishkan, a notorious Dashnag
\nchieftain. Ishkan and his gang attacked the monastery one night, dragged the abbot
\nand his secretary out, shot them first and then stabbed them to death. The bodies
\nwere then cut to pieces and thrown on the shores of lake Van. Arsen Vartabed was a
\nsaintly and patriotic clergyman. He had opposed the designs of Ishkan , who wanted<\/p>\n

[p. 69]<\/p>\n

to control the property and the income of the monastery. After his death, Ishkan and
\nhis gang pillaged the ancient monastery.<\/p>\n

6. Dehertzi, David<\/i> was a very capable and trustworthy man in the ranks of the
\nDashnags in Van. He enjoyed the confidence of the local Committee and knew all the
\nsecrets of the society. He was therefore sent into Persia on a secret mission.
\nReturning to Van he found that his fiancee had been gravely mistreated by Aram, the
\nchief Dashnag leader in the district. He was immediately disarmed and imprisoned at
\nAram’s order, but managed to escape. Maddened with thoughts of revenge, he betrayed
\neverything to the Turkish authorities, causing the arrest of many, and the
\nconfiscation of all the weapons of the society. He was one day shot and killed early
\nin 1908.<\/p>\n

7. Garjganttzi Manoug,<\/i> a former Dashnag, who had opposed the authority and
\nthe arbitrary acts of Ishkan, Dashnag leader, was shot and killed in 1910. However,
\nthe murderer was shot by a companion of his victim and died in a few days, after
\ncharging Ishkan with responsibility for the unfortunate episode.<\/p>\n

8erdos Capamajian,<\/i> the mayor of Van, a wealthy and ambitious man had
\nantagonized Ishkan. He was shot and killed one winter night in 1912 while entering
\nhis carriage with his wife and daughter.<\/p>\n

9. Hampartzoum Arakelian,<\/i> the well known 70 year old editor of the journal
\n“Mushag” of Tiflis, and a powerful and relentless toe of the Armenian
\nRevolutionary Federation, whose biting pen and sarcasm had mercifully lashed the
\nDashnag stupidity and arbitrariness for many years, was one night stabbed and killed
\nin his bed by terrorists. He had often been branded as a ‘traitor’ by the Dashnag
\npapers. Popular opinion blamed the Tiflis Committee of the Dashnags for this crime,
\nwhich was followed as usual, by a campaign of falsification and calumny in the
\nDashnag press throughout the world. This was in 1918.<\/p>\n

10. Garjigian,<\/i> a Dashnag of high rank, who occupied a ministerial chair in
\nthe newly formed Armenian Republic at Erivan, was shot and killed late in 1918 by
\nanother Dashnag, an officer of the army, Egor Der Minasian. The real motives for
\nthis murder were never made public by the government. The<\/p>\n

[p. 70]<\/p>\n

probable causes may have been dissensions within the Dashnag party.<\/p>\n

11. Bedros Atamian,<\/i> manager of the Ramgavar paper, ‘Nor Alik’, was attacked
\non a street in Saloniki, Greece, on the night of November 4, 1926, and hit on the
\nhead and stabbed. He died in the hospital after a few hours. Arshak Enofkian, a
\nDashnag, was arrested for this crime, just when he was going to sail from Saloniki
\nfor Marseilles, France, on a false passport. The case was tried before the criminal
\ncourt in Saloniki, on January 26, 27, and 28, 1928. Arshag Enofkian was found guilty
\nas an accessory, and was sentenced to four years of hard labor and a fine of 15,000
\ndrachmes.<\/p>\n

12. Dekhruni,<\/i> intellectual, a member of the Hunchagist party, was shot and
\nkilled in 1929 in Beirut, Syria. A Dashnagtzagan, Kuchuk Stepan, was accused of the
\nmurder, but was acquitted finally. Dekhruni was a vehement opponent of the
\nDashnagtzoutune, and public opinion blamed the Dashnag Committee of Beirut for this
\nmurder.<\/p>\n

13. Sarkis Keyijian,<\/i> intellectual, a dissenting Dashnag, who opposed the
\nBureau in Paris, was shot to death in Athens, GreeceS, July 20, 1933, Several
\nDashnagtzagans were accused of this| murder by the authorities and are still under
\nindictment.<\/p>\n

14. Mihran Aghazarian,<\/i> a Hunchagist editor and a bitter foe of the
\nDashnagtzoutune, on whose life an attempt had already been made several years ago,
\nwas shot and killed in Beirut, Syria, October 13, 1933. The murderers have not been
\narrested so far, but the Armenian public accused the local Dashnag society openly
\nfor this crime, and the victim was given a national funeral.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[p. 71]<\/p>\n

APPENDIX II<\/b><\/p>\n

ARMENIAN CHURCHMEN PERSECUTED BY THE ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FEDERATION<\/p>\n

Archbishop Leon Tourian, who was brutally murdered on Dec. 24, 1933, in the Armenian
\nHoly Cross Church, of New York, allegedly by Dashnag terrorists, was not the only
\nchurchman of high rank persecuted by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. This society
\nwaged a campaign of calumny and persecution against all those leaders of the Armenian
\npeople, who would not allow the exploitation of the church and the national institutions
\nby the Dashnag trespassers. This campaign existed for some time, but assumed a more
\nviolent character in the last few years.<\/i><\/p>\n

The following are the most prominent churchmen who are being persecuted by the
\nDashnagtzoutune:<\/p>\n

Most Rev. Archbishop Mesrob Magistross:\u2014This churchman was formerly the Prelate of
\nTiflis, Caucasus. During the world war he presided over the so-called National Bureau,
\nthat was engaged in recruiting and equiping the Armenian Volunteer regiments for the
\nRussian Army. This Bureau was under the control of the Dashnagtzoutune, and the Archbishop
\nwas everywhere advertised as a great patriot in the Dashnag press. A few years ago this
\neminent churchman was appointed to the Prelacy of the Diocese of Perso-India. On account
\nof his friendly attitude toward Soviet-Armenia, the Dashnag society represented him as a
\ncommunist to the Persian government, and, as a result of this false accusation he was
\nexpelled from Persia.<\/p>\n

Rt. Rev. Bishop Roupen Manasian.<\/i> He is the Prelate of the Armenians in Mesopotomia.
\nFor years this churchman has been subjected to persecution in the Dashnag press. He was
\neven attacked once in the city of Bagdad. The Dashnag papers tried to discredit Bishop
\nRoupen as “the agent of the Cheka”, and published a long drawn fabricated story
\nabout him to prove their accusations. The Bishop brought a libel suit against
\n“Housaper”,<\/p>\n

[p. 72]<\/p>\n

the Dashnag organ of Cairo. The mixed tribunal of Cairo, composed of Egyptian and European
\njudges, found “Housaper”, and its publishers guilty. They were condemned to pay
\na fine and the expenses of the trial.<\/p>\n

Bishop Roupen<\/i> was also accused by the Dashnag society as being a bolshevik.
\nHowever, the government of Irak would not heed these false accusations; and the late King
\nFeisal expressed his confidence and respect for the Prelate by receiving him into royal
\naudience.<\/p>\n

Most Rev. Archbishop Housig Zohrabian,<\/i> The prelate of the Armenians of Roumania,
\nwas regarded as a most worthy clergyman while he was supposed to be friendly to the
\nDashnagtzoutune. But when he opposed the intrigues and exploitations of this society and
\nshut the gates of the prelacy against the Dashnag leaders and workers, a campaign of
\npersecution and calumny was started against him. Archbishop Housig defended the church
\ninterests vigorously, and defeated all the intrigues against his office and the Armenian
\nPrelacy of Roumania.<\/p>\n

Right Rev. Bishop Garabed Mazloumian,<\/i> The prelate of the Armenians in Greece, who
\nrefused to be a tool in the hands of the enemies of Armenia. He was attacked one night and
\nbeaten by the agents of the Dashnags, who also sheared his beard in order to insult the
\naged prelate. He was also accused as an “age! of the Cheka” before the Hellenic
\ngovernment; but this false I cusation was not given any credence.<\/p>\n

His Eminence Most Rev. Archbishop Torcome,<\/i> Patriarch of Jerusalem:\u2014While he was
\nthe Prelate of Egypt he donated a precious emerald ring for the benefit of the
\nIndependence Loan of Armenia (1920), and had services of thanksgiving held in the
\nchurches. After the establishment of the Soviet regime in Amenia, Archbishop Torcome, as a
\npatriotic Armenian, maintained a friendly and correct attitude towards the new government,
\nHe would not allow the ex-ministers and dignitaries of the former government, who had
\nestablished themselves in Egypt after being expelled from Armenia, to plunder the income
\nand the property belonging to the ecclesiastical institutions of Cairo and Alexandria and
\nsuppressed all their attempts of exploitation with a vigorous hand. Therefore, he aroused
\nthe bitter enmity of the Dashnags<\/p>\n

[p. 73]<\/p>\n

against him. Housaper,<\/i> the Dashnag paper in Egypt, and all its colleagues, insulted
\nand columnized the Prelate in a most infamous manner. They even organized an attack on the
\nPrelacy; they represented him as a Bolshevik to the Egyptian government, and did
\neverything within their power to prevent his being chosen to the Patriarchate of
\nJerusalem.<\/p>\n

His Holiness Khoren I, Catholicos of All the Armenians<\/i> was also subjected to attack
\nby the Dashnag press. His first Gontag,<\/i> (encyclical) was declared to be
\n“inspired by the Cheka”. The Pontiff was represented as a
\n“man-machine” and his orders and instructions were declared to be void and
\nwithout any value. The Dashnag press openly preached rebellion against the execution of
\nthose orders. This was done in the name of “popular rights”. His Holiness the
\nCatholicos and the Supreme Spiritual Council were all represented, continually, as the
\nagents of the Cheka, and Echmiadzin was declared to be a nest of the Bolshevik secret
\npolice. The editorials of “Hairenik”, the Boston organ of the Dashnagtzoutune,
\nhave been filled with these misrepresentations for the last six months.<\/p>\n

His Holiness Sahak, Catholicos of Cilicia,<\/i> now established in Antilyas, near
\nBeirut, Syria, was also subjected to an infamous attack by “Housaper”, the
\nDashnag paper of Cairo, Egypt. After the unfortunate murder of Mihran Agazarian in Beirut
\nlast October, His Holiness published a pastoral letter, inviting his flock to be calm and
\npeaceful, observe brotherly love, refrain from acts of violence and be law-abiding
\ncitizens of the land where they have taken refuge. In its issue of Dec. 6, 1933,
\n“Housaper” denounces this Pastoral letter as a “Cawing of Ill Omen”,
\nand insults the 85 year old Patriarch as “wicked”, as one who was raised to his
\noffice by the Sultan, and as “one who incites national disruption”.<\/i><\/p>\n

[p. 74]
\nAPPENDIX III<\/b><\/p>\n

THE 61ST ARTICLE OF THE TREATY OF BERLIN<\/p>\n

After the close of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78, in which the Turks were
\nthoroughly beaten, the European Powers met in a conference at Berlin, to settle all
\nthe problems effecting Europe as a whole, and to draw up a peace treaty between the
\ntwo combatants. In this conference, the Armenian question was recognized as an
\ninternational problem, under the Article 61 of the treaty.<\/i><\/p>\n

Here is that Article\u2014<\/p>\n

“The Sublime Port (meaning Turkey) undertakes to carry out, without further
\ndelay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local requirements in the provinces
\ninhabited by Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians
\nKurds. The Sublime Port will, periodically, make known the steps taken to this
\neffect to the Powers, who will superintend their application.”<\/p>\n

APPENDIX IV<\/b><\/p>\n

THE TREATY OF ALEXANDROPOL<\/p>\n

The text of the treaty signed between the Armenian delegation and the Turks at
\nAlexandropol, has never been published by those who were responsible for it. Neither
\nMr. A. Khatisian, the head of the delegation that signed the treaty, nor Mr. S.
\nVratzian, the head of the Armenian government of the time, who have both written
\nvoluminous histories of the Armenian Republic, embody the text of the treaty in
\ntheir books. This omission may be due to the consciousness ol guilt and sharne in
\ntheir hearts.<\/i><\/p>\n

The following is a translation of the document as it was published in the Turkish
\npress:\u2014<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 3\u2014As it is evident from Turkish, Russian and all other world-statistics,
\nand from the established social situation, we again, at this occasion, confirm that
\nthere is no territory within<\/p>\n

[p. 75]<\/p>\n

the Ottoman borders where the Armenians form a majority. (Articles 4 and 5 draw the
\nboundaries of Armenia and Turkey according to which, the cities and districts of
\nKars, Ardahan, Ikdir, Alexandropol, also the Mt. Ararat and other important
\nterritories were left to Turkey. Armenia was almost halved and reduced to the
\nboundaries drawn in the treaty of Batoum in 1918).<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 6\u2014Hereafter, with the good intention of preventing any act or episode,
\nthat may disturb tranquility through agitation and incitements, the Republic of
\nErivan undertakes not to allow any military organization, excepting a division of
\n1500 paid soldiers with 8 field or mountain cannons and 20 machine guns, which will
\nprotect the borders of the country; and lightly armed gendarmerie which will be able
\nto keep the internal order of the country.<\/p>\n

The Armenian Republic is free to erect fortifications to protect the country from
\nenemies, and to place as many heavy guns in these fortifications as it desires.
\nThese heavy artillery will not contain obuses of 15 centimeters and long range guns
\nof 10.50 caliber, and other howitzers, which could be used in the army if necessary.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 7\u2014The government of Erivan agrees that, the Turkish minister or
\nrepresentative, who will reside in Erivan after peace is established, supervise and
\nexamine these matters. In exchange for this, whenever the Armenian Republic so
\ndesires, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey undertakes to give armed assistance
\nto Armenia, against internal and external dangers.<\/p>\n

(The rest of Article 7, and Article 8, relate to the question of repatriating
\nrefugees and fugitives).<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 9\u2014The government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, although it has
\nbeen obliged to maintain an army for two years and at great expense, and though it
\nhas a right to demand an indemnity as a result of the war against Armenia which it
\nhas been compelled to wage, gives up this indemnity, because it has an extreme
\nrespect for the accepted and well known humanitarian and judicial principles.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 10\u2014The government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey undertakes,
\nwith all sincerity, to assist the development of the Republic of Erivan, and the
\nsolidification of the<\/p>\n

[p. 76]<\/p>\n

authority of the Erivan Republic, as it is described within the boundaries drawn in
\nArticle 4.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 11\u2014The government of Erivan declares, that it considers as null and void
\nthe S\u00e8vres Treaty, which is absolutely disavowed by the government of the Grand
\nNational Assembly of Turkey. It undertakes to withdraw its delegations of Europe and
\nAmerica, that are tools in the hands of some imperialistic governments and circles.
\nBoth parties assume mutual obligations in good faith to remove all kinds of
\nmisunderstandings that exist between the two nations.<\/p>\n

As a proof of the sincerity of its desire to develop in peace and to respect the
\nrights of good neighborliness with Turkey, the Armenian government is willing to
\nkeep away from the government those persons who pursue imperialistic aims and will
\ndisturb the tranquility of the two people. (Article 12 allows that the Secretariat
\nof Religions of the Turkish government have the right to confirm the election of the
\nreligious head of the moslems living in Armenia).<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 13\u2014The two contracting parties mutually undertake not to prevent the free
\npassage and transit of persons and merchandise belonging to the other party, over
\ntheir railroads and highways.<\/p>\n

Turkey, being under obligation to prevent menacing agitations by imperialists
\nagainst her existence, will keep under her own control the railroads and the means
\nof communication of the Republic of Erivan, until the signing of a general peace, so
\nthat, the quantity of arms to be imported will not be any more than specified in
\nArticle 6, on condition that this control will not interfere with the freedom of
\ntransportations. Also, the two contracting parties will prevent the entry into the
\nRepublic and the residence therein, of officials and unofficial bodies and
\nrepresentatives belonging to the imperialistic powers.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 14\u2014The government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, will have the
\nright to organize in Armenia temporary military measures against attacks that
\nthreaten the independence and the territorial integrity of the Turkish state on
\ncondition that the rights that are guaranteed the Republic of Erivan are not to be
\ninterfered with.<\/p>\n

[p. 77]<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 15\u2014The Republic of Erivan agrees to consider as null and void all those
\nstipulations of treaties she has signed with any power, which relate to Turkey and
\nare harmful to the interests of Turkey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

APPENDIX V<\/b><\/p>\n

VRATZIAN’S APPEAL TO THE TURKS FOR MILITARY AID<\/p>\n

As the president of the Armenian government, Simon Vratzian sent an urgent appeal to
\nthe Turkish government, asking that military supplies and Turkish troops be sent into
\nArmenia, to help the rebel government fight its Armenian adversaries. The official
\ndocument was handed to Behaeddin, the representative in Erivan of the Turkish high
\ncommand, to be forwarded to Angora.<\/i><\/p>\n

Here is the text\u2014<\/p>\n

“Please forward the present request promptly to your high authorities, and as I have
\nexplained to you, urge on them for an immediate answer.<\/p>\n

“The fight of Armenia against the bolsheviks, and for its own freedom and
\nindependence, serves, as we are convinced, not only Armenia itself, but also the interests
\nof all the nations of the Near East.<\/p>\n

“For this reason, Armenia hopes, that during this fight she will receive help from
\nher neighbors, and first of all the interests of the Turkish people also require that
\nArmenia should come victorious out of this fight and remain independent.<\/p>\n

“Relying on this conviction, the Armenian government requests the government of the
\nGrand National Assembly of Turkey, that, in the name of the mutual interests of the two
\npeoples, and as speedily as possible, it<\/p>\n

1.\u2014”Return the Armenian war prisoners that are now on the war front of Erivan.<\/p>\n

2.\u2014”Give the Armenian army some ammunition under certain conditions; first of all
\ncartridges for Russian three-lined rifles and for Turkish mausers; or else rifles of the
\nRussian and Lepel system.<\/p>\n

[p. 78]<\/p>\n

3\u2014”Communicate with us, if the government of the Grand National Assembly finds it
\npossible to send military aid to Armenia, and if able to do so, to what extent and when?<\/p>\n

“In making this appeal, the Armenian government relies on the friendly relations that
\nhave been established with the treaty of Alexandropol, and which were disturbed during the
\nbolshevik rule.”<\/p>\n

Respectfully<\/p>\n

SIMON VRATZIAN<\/p>\n

President of the Armenian Government.<\/p>\n

Erivan,
\nMarch 18, 1921.<\/p>\n

APPENDIX VI<\/b><\/p>\n

THE SEVRES TREATY<\/p>\n

The Articles 88-93, Section VI, of the treaty of Sevres signed by the Allied
\npowers and the Armenian Republic on the one hand, and Turkey on the other, relate to
\nArmenia and its independence. The following is a translation of those articles as
\nthey appeared in Armenian papers.<\/i><\/p>\n

ARTICLE 88.\u2014Turkey recognizes Armenia as a free and independent state, in
\naccordance with the step taken by the Allied powers.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 89.\u2014Turkey and Armenia, as well as the other high contracting parties,
\nagree to submit to the arbitration of the President of the United States the problem
\nof the frontiers to be established between Armenia and Turkey in the vilayets of
\nErzerum, Trebizond, Van and Bitlis, and to accept his decision in the matter; also
\nall other measures which he may perscribe in regard to an outlet on the sea for
\nArmenia, and with regard to the demilitarization of the Turkish territories adjacent
\nto the above boundaries.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 90.\u2014When boundaries are drawn according to Article 89, and the above
\nmentioned vilayets or definite parts of<\/p>\n

[p. 79]<\/p>\n

them are ceded to Armenia, Turkey hereby renounces all her rights and claims over
\nterritories thus ceded. The amount and nature of that part of the public debts of
\nTurkey, which is apportioned to Armenia, also the rights that are to be transferred
\nto Armenia are to be determined in accordance with the stipulations of Articles
\n241-244 of the present treaty.<\/p>\n

Subsequent agreements will settle, if necessary, all those problems which are not
\nsettled in this treaty and which are likely to arise, gradually, in relation to the
\ntransfer of the above provinces.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 91,\u2014In the event that the territories indicated in Article 89, are
\ntransferred to Armenia, a commission for boundaries will be appointed, (the
\nformation of this commission will be decided later), in order to draw up the
\nboundaries between Armenia and Turkey within three months.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 92.\u2014The boundaries of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan will be determined
\nby direct agreements between those states.<\/p>\n

If under any circumstances, these governments fail to decide upon their boundaries
\nthrough mutual agreements, and the decision prescribed in article 89 is already
\ngiven, in that event the boundaries will be determined by the principal powers.<\/p>\n

ARTICLE 93.\u2014Armenia agrees to incorporate in the treaties with the principal
\npowers, those decisions which the powers deem essential to protect the rights of
\nthose inhabitants of Armenia, who defer from the majority in race, language and
\nreligion.<\/p>\n

Armenia equally agrees to incorporate in the treaties with the principal powers
\nthose decisions which the powers deem essential for the freedom of transit and for a
\nstatus of justice toward the commerce of other nations.<\/p>\n

Download as pdf:\u00a0Patriotism perverted<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/tr\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Patriotism-perverted.pdf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patriotism Perverted A discussion of the deeds and the miedeeds of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, the so-called Dashnagtzoutune By K. S. PAPAZIAN BOSTON BAIKAR PRESS 1934 ———- COPYRIGHT 1934 By K. S. PAPAZIAN All rights reserved (Printed in the United States of America) DEDICATED To the memory of those Armenian martyrs who, for their devotion […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":627720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[9721,744],"class_list":["post-627652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","tag-armenian-question","tag-ermeni-sorunu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}