ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

A R A M T U R A B I A N
Les Volonlaires Armeniens
SOUS LES DRAPEAUX FRANCIS
M ay 17, 1915
The Arm enians conquer Van and set
fire to the Moslem
p art of the town
It was a tragic but telling coincidence that April 24 was
the day the Ottoman Minister o f the Interior gave the
order to arrest the party functionaries, known revolutionaries,
and agitators in Istanbul. (There was not yet any
talk about a relocation order.) On that very same day, the
governor o f Van sent the following telegram:
UN TIL NOW A PPROXIM A TELY 4000 IN SU R ­
GENT ARM ENIANS HAVE BEEN BROUGH T TO
TH E REG IO N FROM TH E V IC IN IT Y THE
R E B E L S A RE ENGAGED IN HIGHWAY R O B ­
BERY, ATTACK THE N EIGHBORING V ILLA G ES
AND BURN THEM . IT IS IM PO SSIBLE TO P R E­
VEN T THIS. NOW M AN Y WOMEN AND CHIL­
DREN A RE LEFT H O M ELESS. IT IS NOT PO SSI­
B L E NOR SU ITA BLE TO RELOCATE THEM IN
TR IBA L V ILLA G ES IN THE VICINITY. WOULD
IT BE CONVENIENT TO BEGIN SENDING THEM
TO THE W ESTERN PROVINCES?
Truly an absurd telegram. The governor o f Van wanted to
move the Moslem women and children to the safety o f the
West. No one was yet thinking o f relocating Armenians,
only Moslems.
On May 8, the Armenian rebels began a general assault in
the vicinity o f Van. All the surrounding Moslem villages
went up in flames. The Ottoman governor, Cevdet Pasha,
now ordered a withdrawal. On May 17, the Ottoman
troops abandoned Van. On the same day, the incoming
Armenians set fire to the Moslem part o f town and established
total Armenian control.
A few days later, the Russian vanguard arrived in Van. It
was made up o f Armenian units. Several days after that
regular Russian troops followed. The new Armenian ruler
o f Van, Aram, presented the Russian commander, General
Nikolayev, with the keys to the city. Two days later,
Nikolayev confirmed the Armenian provisional government
in office, with Aram as governor. The point o f this
Russian show o f generosity was clear. It was intended to
give the Armenians an appetite for similar self-government
in the wake o f similar rebellions. The specter lasted
only six weeks; then the Ottomans advanced and reconquered
Van. They moved into an empty town. The
Moslems had been killed, and the entire Armenian population,
along with the American missionaries, had fled
north with the Russians to the safety o f Transcaucasia.
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