By Harut Sassounian
I just received the first volume of a valuable book published in Yerevan in 2021 that makes public for the first time some of the 8,000 handwritten letters by survivors of the 1894-96 Turkish massacres of 300,000 Armenians in Western Armenia (present-day Turkey), organized by Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
This unique book, authored by Vera Sahakyan and published by the Matenadaran, the repository of ancient manuscripts and documents in Yerevan, reproduces the eyewitness testimonies of 200 Armenian survivors of the Turkish massacres from the 28 villages in the Bulanekh province of the Mush region who had fled to Eastern Armenia. The heart-wrenching letters were sent to Catholicos of All-Armenians Mkrtich Khrimian (1893-1907), known endearingly as Khrimian Hayrig, located in Etchmiadzin, the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church, seeking his compassionate aid for their basic necessities of food and lodging.
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The letters of the Armenian survivors were kept for several decades in the archives of Etchmiadzin and subsequently transferred to Matenadaran. The author plans to publish several more volumes in the future to cover the rest of the 8,000 letters. Many of the letters in volume 1 were translated into English by Lucine Minasian.
Here are excerpts from some of the letters written to the Catholicos by the Armenian survivors of the 1894-96 Turkish massacres:
— On October 29, 1896, Yeghiazar Hagopian, a refugee from Bulanekh’s Kakarlu village of Mush, wrote: “I was able to flee the barbaric Kurdish killings. Besides totally looting us, they murdered my son, and I barely escaped, only losing the fingers of my right hand. It’s already been four months that I have been wandering around here begging for alms…. My family, famished and naked, is impatiently waiting for me back in the homeland. I beseech you to at least grant me some travel money.”
— On October 14, 1894, Mardiros Mouradian, an inhabitant from Khoshgaldi village of Lower Bulanekh, wrote: “The unlawful Tajiks [Turks] attacked my lamentable and poor family beating us with stones on the one hand, and fatally shooting my 20-year-old son on the other hand. They pillaged my whole fortune and even disrobed us.”
— On July 11, 1895, Parish Priest Hovhannes Der Bedrossian from Molahkant village of Mush wrote: “Being attacked by Kurds and Hamidian troops, we abandoned our homes and possessions and barely fled secretly to Russia to survive. Now, we are wandering poor, delusional, famished… bereft of a single piece of dry bread.”
— On January 2, 1896, Hagop Levoniants from Bulanekh’s Liz village wrote: “Our intention is self-defense — we appeal to you that you will free us, our people, and our homeland from the Turkish iron yoke. Hand us a few weapons so we can go and reach our eight friends who have been writing us letter after letter, asking us to reach them soon.”
— On January 13, 1897, Mkrtich Haroutyounyan from Bulanekh’s Khristam Kadouk village wrote: “We barely survived the atrocities…and freed ourselves from the pitiless claws of the furious Ottoman government…. I plead for some rags and some rubles that will cover my travel costs, so I can protect my family from the frost and attain daily sustenance for them during the wintertime.”
— On September 30, 1895, Yaghush Mkrtichian (five people) and Yalduz Mardirosian (six people), two widows of refugee families from Bulanekh’s Kharakhlo village of Mush, wrote: “Both of us have been widowed for almost two years, as the heads [of our families] were killed by the Kurds. Being frightened, we fled here. They took everything we owned. They didn’t leave anything — neither cattle nor possessions.”
–On March 15, 1894, Baghdasar Margosian from Keakarlou village of Mush wrote: “Enduring numerous tortures and sufferings, we could barely free ourselves from death. The unlawful warden released us from prison, demanding 80 pieces of gold. Afterwards, they looted all my movable and immovable property and forcibly imprisoned my son.”
— On July 17, 1895, Sahag Garabedian from Hamzasheikh village of Bulanekh Province wrote: “Because of the barbarity committed by the government and the Turks, we left our homeland and fled to Russia. My father died. Now there are five of us, including my old mother. Presently, my family lives in a hut with lice in the Armidlu village.”
— On April 19, 1894, Priest Mateos Der Kevorkian from Bulanekh village and Sahag Serovpian from Karakilise village wrote: “Since September 1893, the Kurds and Turks of Turkey have been torturing our Armenians intensely and oppressing them. They have been looting our harvested wheat. They have been pillaging our stored wheat. At nights they commit adultery with our wives and then kill them. When the Armenian laborers come back from abroad, they rob their money and homes and kill them. Eighteen families from Hamzasheikh village were forcibly converted into Turkish religion. Three of them were killed and now there is an order to hang 28 people…. Effendis and aghas forcibly demand 40-50 gold pieces from Armenian peasants or kill them. Prelate Priest Nercess has been sentenced to two years in jail. They forcibly demanded from him 450 gold pieces which were collected by passing a plate [in church] and now he is in prison. Effendis and aghas are forcibly taking over the Armenian villages, harming and torturing people….”
This is a valuable book because it:
1) Documents the 1894-96 massacres of Armenians through eyewitness accounts of the survivors;
2) Gives present-day Armenians the opportunity to find the names of their ancestors who used to live in Western Armenia;
3) Reveals that some of the little-known villages in the region were indeed inhabited by Armenians.
