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The deportation of Armenian intellectuals is conventionally held to mark the beginning of the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...
. Leaders of the Armenian community in the Ottoman capital of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
(now
Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
), and later other locations, were arrested and moved to two holding centers near Angora (now
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
). The
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
to do so was given by
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
Talaat Pasha Mehmed Talaat (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha,; tr, Talat Paşa, links=no was an Ottoman politician and convicted war criminal of the late Ottoman Empire who served as its leader from 1913 t ...
on 24 April 1915. On that night, the first wave of 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople were arrested. With the adoption of the
Tehcir Law The Temporary Law of Deportation, also known as the Tehcir Law (; from ''tehcir'', an Ottoman Turkish word meaning "deportation" or "forced displacement" as defined by the Turkish Language Institute), or, officially by the Republic of Turkey, th ...
on 29 May 1915, these detainees were later relocated within the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
; most of them were ultimately killed. More than 80 such as
Vrtanes Papazian Vrtanes Mesrop Papazian ( hy, Վրթանես Մեսրոպի Փափազյան; 1866–1920), was an Armenian writer, public-political and cultural activist, literary critic, editor, literature historian, teacher and translator. Biography Vrtanes ...
,
Aram Andonian Aram Andonian ( hy, Արամ Անտոնեան; 1875 – 23 December 1951) was an ethnic Armenians, Armenian journalist, historian and writer. Biography Andonian was born in Constantinople. There he edited the Armenian journals ''Luys'' (''Light' ...
, and
Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...
survived. The event has been described by historians as a
decapitation strike Decapitation is a military strategy aimed at removing the leadership or command and control of a hostile government or group. The strategy of shattering or defeating an enemy by eliminating its military and political leadership has long been utiliz ...
, which was intended to deprive the Armenian population of leadership and a chance for resistance. To commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide, 24 April is observed as
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day ( hy, Մեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր ''Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or'') or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed ...
. First observed in 1919 on the fourth anniversary of the events in Constantinople, the date is generally considered the date on which the genocide began. The Armenian genocide has since been commemorated annually on the same day, which has become a national memorial day in
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and the
Republic of Artsakh Artsakh, officially the Republic of Artsakh () or the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (),, is a list of states with limited recognition, breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan ...
and is observed by the
Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...
around the world.


Deportation


Detention

The Ottoman Minister of the Interior
Talaat Pasha Mehmed Talaat (1 September 187415 March 1921), commonly known as Talaat Pasha or Talat Pasha,; tr, Talat Paşa, links=no was an Ottoman politician and convicted war criminal of the late Ottoman Empire who served as its leader from 1913 t ...
gave the detention order on 24 April 1915. The operation commenced at 8 p.m. In Constantinople, the action was led by Bedri Bey, the Chief of Police of Constantinople. On the night of 24–25 April 1915, in a first wave 235 to 270 Armenian leaders of Constantinople, clergymen, physicians, editors, journalists, lawyers, teachers, politicians, and others were arrested upon an instruction of the Ministry of the Interior. The discrepancies in numbers may be explained by the uncertainties of the police as they imprisoned people with similar names. There were further deportations from the capital. The first task was to identify those imprisoned. They were held for one day in a police station (Ottoman Turkish: ''Emniyeti Umumiye'') and the Central Prison. A second wave brought the figure to between 500 and 600. By the end of August 1915, about 150 Armenians with Russian citizenship were deported from Constantinople to holding centers. Teotoros Lapçinciyan (
Teotig Teotoros "Teotig" Labdjindjian ( hy, Թեոդորոս "Թէոդիկ" Լապճինճեան, 1873; Üsküdar, Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire – 1928; Paris, France) was an Armenian writer and publisher best known for his Armenian langu ...
): ''Ամէնուն Տարեցոյցը. Ժ-ԺԴ. Տարի. 1916–1920. veryman's Almanac. 10.-14. Year. 1916–1920', G. Keshishian press, Constantinople 1920
A few of the detained, including writer Alexander Panossian (1859–1919), were released the same weekend before even being transferred to Anatolia. In total, it is estimated that 2,345 Armenian notables were detained and eventually deported, most of whom were not nationalists and did not have any political affiliations.


Holding centers

After the passage of
Tehcir Law The Temporary Law of Deportation, also known as the Tehcir Law (; from ''tehcir'', an Ottoman Turkish word meaning "deportation" or "forced displacement" as defined by the Turkish Language Institute), or, officially by the Republic of Turkey, th ...
on 29 May 1915, Armenians left at the two holding centers were deported to
Ottoman Syria Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...
. Most of the arrested were transferred from Central Prison over Saray Burnu by steamer No. 67 of the Şirket company to the Haydarpaşa train station. After waiting for ten hours, they were sent by special train in the direction of Angora (
Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...
) the next day. The entire convoy consisted of 220 Armenians. An Armenian train conductor got a list of names of the deportees. It was handed over to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Zaven Der Yeghiayan, who immediately tried in vain to save as many deportees as possible. The only foreign ambassador to help him in his efforts was US ambassador
Henry Morgenthau Henry Morgenthau may refer to: * Henry Morgenthau Sr. (1856–1946), United States diplomat * Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1891–1967), United States Secretary of the Treasury * Henry Morgenthau III (1917–2018), author and television producer of ''Screa ...
. After a train journey of 20 hours, the deportees got off in Sincanköy (near Angora) Tuesday noon. At the station Ibrahim, the director of the Central Prison of Constantinople, did the triage. The deportees were divided into two groups. One group was sent to
Çankırı Çankırı, historically known as Gangra (Greek language, Greek: Γάγγρα), is the capital city of Çankırı Province, in Turkey, about northeast of Ankara. It is situated about 800 m (2500 ft) above sea level. History Çankır ...
(and Çorum between Çankırı and
Amasya Amasya () is a city in northern Turkey and is the capital of Amasya Province, in the Black Sea Region. It was called Amaseia or Amasia in antiquity."Amasya" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th e ...
) and the other to Ayaş. Those separated for Ayaş were transported in carts for a couple of hours further to Ayaş. Almost all of them were killed several months later in gorges near Angora. Only 10 (or 13) deportees of this group were granted permission to return to Constantinople from Ayaş. A group of 20 latecomers arrested on 24 April arrived in Çankırı around 7 or 8 May 1915. Roughly 150 political prisoners were detained in Ayaş, and another 150 intellectual prisoners were detained in Çankırı.


Court martial

Some notables such as Dr.
Nazaret Daghavarian Nazaret Daghavarian ( hy, Նազարեթ Տաղավարյան, Western Armenian: Նազարէթ Տաղաւարեան, tr, Nazaret Dağavaryan; 1862 in Sebastia, Western Armenia, Ottoman Empire – 1915) was an Ottoman Armenian doctor, agrono ...
and
Sarkis Minassian Sarkis Minassian (1873 – 1915), also known as Aram Ashod, was an Armenian journalist, writer, political activist, and educator. He became the chief editor of the newspaper '' Hairenik'' in Watertown, Massachusetts. After returning to the Ottoma ...
were removed on 5 May from the Ayaş prison and taken under military escort to Diyarbakır along with
Harutiun Jangülian Harutiun Jangülian ( hy, Յարութիւն Ճանկիւլեան; 1855 – 15 June 1915) was an Armenian historian, political activist, and member of the Armenian National Assembly. He was especially known for his involvement in the Kum Kapu demo ...
,
Karekin Khajag Garegin Khazhak (also Karekin Khajag, hy, Գարեգին Խաժակ; 6 October 1867–1915) was an Armenian journalist, writer, political activist and educator. A member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Khajag traveled around the worl ...
, and
Rupen Zartarian Rupen Zartarian or Ruben Zardaryan ( hy, Ռուբեն Զարդարյան hyw, Ռուբէն Զարդարեան; 1874 – 16 August 1915) was an Armenian writer, educator, and political activist. He was killed by Ottoman authorities during the Arme ...
to appear before a court martial. They were, seemingly, murdered by state-sponsored paramilitary groups led by
Cherkes Ahmet Cherkes Ahmet (died September 6, 1915) was the leader of Ottoman Turkey's state-sponsored paramilitary marauders of supposedly Circassian origin during World War I. Cherkes Ahmet was from Serres, Macedonia. He was notoriously responsible for the ...
, and lieutenants Halil and Nazım, at a locality called Karacaören shortly before arriving at Diyarbakır. Marzbed, another deportee, was dispatched to Kayseri to appear before a court martial on 18 May 1915. The militants responsible for the murders were tried and executed in Damascus by
Djemal Pasha Ahmed Djemal ( ota, احمد جمال پاشا, Ahmet Cemâl Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Cemal Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Djemal wa ...
in September 1915; the incident later became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the
Ottoman Parliament The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...
led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo. After Marzbed's release from the court, he worked under a false Ottoman identity for the Germans in Intilli (Amanus railway tunnel). He escaped to Nusaybin, where he fell from a horse and died shortly before the armistice.


Release

Several prisoners were released with the help of various influential people intervening on their behalf. Five deportees from Çankırı were freed upon the intervention of the United States ambassador
Henry Morgenthau Henry Morgenthau may refer to: * Henry Morgenthau Sr. (1856–1946), United States diplomat * Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1891–1967), United States Secretary of the Treasury * Henry Morgenthau III (1917–2018), author and television producer of ''Screa ...
. In total, 12 deportees were granted permission to return to Constantinople from Çankırı. These were
Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...
, Piuzant Kechian, Dr. Vahram Torkomian, Dr. Parsegh Dinanian, Haig Hojasarian, Nshan Kalfayan, Yervant Tolayan, Aram Kalenderian, Noyig Der-Stepanian,
Vrtanes Papazian Vrtanes Mesrop Papazian ( hy, Վրթանես Մեսրոպի Փափազյան; 1866–1920), was an Armenian writer, public-political and cultural activist, literary critic, editor, literature historian, teacher and translator. Biography Vrtanes ...
, Karnik Injijian, and Beylerian junior. Four deportees were granted permission to come back from Konya. These were Apig Miubahejian, Atamian, Kherbekian, and Nosrigian. The remaining deportees were under the protection of the governor of
Angora Vilayet The Vilayet of Angora ( ota, ولايت آنقره, Vilâyet-i Ankara) or Ankara was a first-level administrative division ( vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, centered on the city of Angora (Ankara) in north-central Anatolia, which included most of ...
. Mazhar Bey defied the orders of deportation from Talat Pasha, the Interior Minister, and was replaced by central committee member Atif Bey by the end of July 1915.


Survivors

After the
Armistice of Mudros Concluded on 30 October 1918 and taking effect at noon the next day, the Armistice of Mudros ( tr, Mondros Mütarekesi) ended hostilities in the Middle Eastern theatre between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies of World War I. It was signed by th ...
(30 October 1918), several surviving Armenian intellectuals came back to Constantinople, which was under an allied occupation. They started a short, but intense, literary activity that was ended by the Turkish victory in 1923. Those who have written memoirs and books about their accounts during the deportation include
Grigoris Balakian Grigoris Balakian ( hy, Գրիգորիս Պալագեան) 1875 – 8 October 1934), was a bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church, in addition to being a survivor and memoirist of the Armenian genocide. Life Grigoris Balakian was born in Toka ...
,
Aram Andonian Aram Andonian ( hy, Արամ Անտոնեան; 1875 – 23 December 1951) was an ethnic Armenians, Armenian journalist, historian and writer. Biography Andonian was born in Constantinople. There he edited the Armenian journals ''Luys'' (''Light' ...
,
Yervant Odian Yervant Odian ( hy, Երուանդ Օտեան or Երվանդ Օտյան; 19 September 1869 – 1926) was an Ottoman Armenian satirist, journalist and playwright. He is regarded as one of the most influential Armenian satirists, along with his ...
,
Teotig Teotoros "Teotig" Labdjindjian ( hy, Թեոդորոս "Թէոդիկ" Լապճինճեան, 1873; Üsküdar, Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire – 1928; Paris, France) was an Armenian writer and publisher best known for his Armenian langu ...
, and Mikayel Shamtanchyan. Other survivors, such as
Komitas Soghomon Soghomonian, ordained and commonly known as Komitas, ( hy, Կոմիտաս; 22 October 1935) was an Armenian priest, musicologist, composer, arranger, singer, and choirmaster, who is considered the founder of the Armenian national scho ...
, developed serious cases of
post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
. Komitas underwent 20 years of treatment in mental asylums until his death in 1935.


Day of remembrance

The official date of remembrance for the Armenian genocide is 24 April, the day that marked the beginning of the deportation of Armenian intellectuals. The first commemoration, organized by a group of Armenian Genocide survivors, was held in Istanbul in 1919 at the local St.Trinity Armenian church. Many prominent figures in the Armenian community participated in the commemoration. Following its initial commemoration in 1919, the date became the annual day of remembrance for the Armenian genocide.


Notable deportees

Below is a list of prominent Armenian intellectuals,
community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...
leaders and other public figures that were deported from Constantinople on 24 April 1915, the first wave of the deportations. The list of names are those that have been provided in the Ottoman Archives and various Armenian sources:


Notes


References


Reference notes


Bibliography

* * Krikor Balakian ''Հայ Գողգոթան
he Armenian Golgotha He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
', Mechitaristenpresse Vienna 1922 (vol. 1) and Paris 1956 (vol. 2) (a new edition in French: Georges Balakian: ''Le Golgotha arménien'', Le cercle d'écrits caucasiens, La Ferté-Sous-Jouarre 2002 (vol. 1) , 2004 (vol. 2) ) * ssay about the survivor literature 1918–23* * * [Gives an account of over 1.500 deported clergymen all over the Ottoman Empire with selected biographical entries and lists 100 notables of 24 April 1915 by name out of 270 in total and classifies them roughly in 9 professional groups] * * * *


Further reading

*


External links


Armenian Genocide Archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Armenian Notables Deported From Constantinople In 1915 Armenian genocide
Deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...
Lists of Armenian people Lists of 20th-century people People who died in the Armenian genocide * Political and cultural purges 1915 in the Ottoman Empire Deportation Ottoman Empire-related lists Persecution of Christians in the Ottoman Empire Persecution in the Ottoman Empire Persecution of intellectuals Anti-intellectualism 1910s-related lists April 1915 events