Читать книгу The Armenian Crisis in Turkey онлайн

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There is absolute unanimity to this extent: that a gigantic and indescribably horrible massacre of Armenian men, women, and children did actually take place in the Sassoun and neighboring regions about Sept. 1, 1894, and that, too, at the hands of Kurdish troops armed by the Sultan of Turkey, as well as of regular soldiers sent under orders from the same source. What those orders were will probably never transpire. That they were executed under the personal direction of high Turkish military officers is clear. There can also be no doubt—for the official notice from the palace was printed in the Constantinople papers in November last—that Zekki Pasha, Commander of the Fourth Army Corps, who led the regular troops in the work of extermination, has since been specially honored by a decoration from the Sultan, who was also pleased to send silk banners to the four leading Kurdish chiefs, by a special messenger.

The latest, most accurate, and comprehensive document in this correspondence is No. 6, which is based on evidence obtained with special care at the nearest attainable point to the scene, and was prepared by parties in intimate relations with the European official who made the first investigation on the ground last October, but whose report has not yet been made public.