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The Armenian population has equipped a large number of armed bands, which go ahead of theRussian troops and avenging the Armenian massacres in last fall, destroying the fleeing Turkishpopulation as much as they can. 195On March 13, 1916, Wirsén noted the tension surrounding the German officers which wasaffecting their relations with the Turks. He assumes that something is about to happen at theCaucasian front, but the outcome is uncertain. He concludes the paragraph with the followingsentence:To observe is that the persecution of the Armenians have now begun in Thrace and even inConstantinople itself, when the Armenians living in the eastern parts of the city have begun beingtransported away to Asia. 196On March 27, Wirsén included the following report in his dispatch:The Russians advance slowly in Armenia. It is very difficult to be well-informed on the situation,since the Headquarters here sometime issues two different communiqués about the same thing.One is intended for foreign countries, the other is for the Turks. The former is anxiously keptsecret. 197This remark is essential and common in regard to the secrecy surrounding the issuing of theannihilation orders as well, as described earlier. Commenting on the general situation in May,Wirsén points out the main source for the epidemics spreading in the eastern front:The health situation in Iraq is horrifying. Typhus fever claims numerous victims. The Armenianpersecutions have to a large degree contributed to the spreading of the disease, since the expelled[Armenians] in hundred thousands have died from hunger and deprivation along the roads. 198During the rest of 1916, Wirsén did not write anything specific in relation to the Armenianpersecutions, but continues to report in detail the war efforts in eastern Turkey, which hecontinually names “Armenia.”On June 7, a telegram reports of a survey, conducted by a delegate from the Federation ofCities’ Caucasian department, indicating that in 45 Armenian villages in Trabizond, inhabited by8,343 Armenians prior to the war, now (since the Russian occupation) only has 367 inhabitants.In Trabizond, for every ten thousand inhabitants only 92 are still alive. “The extermination of theArmenians has been done systematically.” 199On August 15, DN published an article written by the Armenian correspondent of theEnglish newspapers, Arshak Safrastian, who, describing the slaughter with terrifying realism,writes about the Armenian will to survive and the complicity of the German Government. He195 KA, Generalstaben, letter 11, March 3, 1916.196 KA, Generalstaben, letter 13, March 13, 1916.197 KA, Generalstaben, letter 18, March, 23, 1916.198 KA, Generalstaben, letter 8, May 13, 1916.199 DN, June 7, 1916.45