Resident of Voskepar village, Tavush marz, a historian by profession Never Beglaryan says that the Gallipoli victory, about which Erdogan invites visiting Turkey on April 24, actually was not the victory of Turks but the consequence of treachery of Britons. He mentions that in 1927, the Commander General of the Turkish troops in the Battle of Gallipoli Wehib Pasha being in exile has met with Ruben Ter-Minasyan, whom he knew long ago. Ruben has cited in his book Wehib Pasha’s words said during their conversation. “The Englishmen did not want to enter Tartanel and Constantinople with ironclads. It was them to dicide why to conquer Tartanel as Constantinople and the gulfs were promised to Russia, with which their sacrifice would serve for Russia’s domain.” (Ruben, “Memoirs of an Armenian Revolutionary”, Volume 6, page 259). Wehib has even suspected the allies fighting against the Turks in crime, saing to Ruben, “The allies were found foolish, or if they were not foolish, they became conscious criminals to their troops.” (Ruben, “Memoirs of an Armenian Revolutionary”, Volume 6, page 258).
Wehib also said that if the allies would seriously want to conquer the Dardanelles, “instead of sacrificing 20-30 thousand people every day in the Gallipoli peninsula, they would have provided these troops to attack the neck and top of the peninsula from Seros Gulf. In this case, sending our troops there and supplying would be impossible and the gulfs would be opened. But the main goal of the English was not occupying the gulfs, but keeping us engaged and wasted in the gulfs. We noticed it and were sure of it” (in the same volume, p. 258). Queen of England Elizabeth II and the prime minister of Australia expressed their willingness to attend the celebration of Gallipoli Battle in April 24, 2015. N. Beglayan considers that their move is descerating the memory of hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers deceased in Gallipoli.
Voskan SARGSYAN
