THE 1909 ADANA MASSACRES

[MosJan]

THE 1909 ADANA MASSACRES

 

By Mihran Boyadjian

 

 

The Adana Massacres of 1909, whose 30,000 victims are being commemorated on the centenary of their death this year, are of special significance to the Armenians of Cyprus since a large proportion of them are descendants of the 1915 Genocide survivors from Adana who found refuge in Cyprus, and who still consider themselves "Adanatsi". In Larnaca, the Armenian Church of St. Stephanos, built in 1913, is dedicated to the 1909 victims. Massacres of Armenians in Turkey were nothing new, in fact about 15 years earlier, the Hamidian Massacres of 1894-96 had claimed tenfold that figure and had shown the lack of enthusiasm of the European powers for taking any effective preventive action. It must be mentioned however that the American Missions, whose members were eyewitness to the events, saved countless lives through their valiant efforts on the ground and their very effective fund-raising back home. Earlier Massacres had been more local affairs, usually the result of periodic Kurdish raids on helpless villages and small towns. Some were opportunistic, "pacifying" operations by local governing *****s whose main aim was to raise revenue by pillage and extortion to recoup the large sums (some would call them bribes), which they had to pay the Porte to obtain their posts. The Russian Empire, whose primary foreign policy objective was to gain access to the Mediterranean through Ottoman territory, found a convenient pretext for intervening in Ottoman affairs by assuming the role of protector to the Christian population. The European powers, led by Great Britain, fiercely opposed any Russian expansion into the Mediterranean and wanted any pieces of the slowly collapsing Ottoman Empire for themselves. Hence they supported the Sultan. The Armenians, caught in the middle, had great hopes on the constitutional changes forced on the reluctant Sultan by the European powers. However, these changes were on paper only and were largely ignored by the Porte. It was in this context that Cyprus was ceded to Great Britain in 1878 in return for promised British protection against Russia.

 

Some time ago, I came across and purchased a letter written by the Commissioner of Kyrenia of the time, W.N. Bolton, which reveals a macabre link between Cyprus and the Adana Massacres of 1909. The letter, written on cream coloured notepaper blind embossed with the British coat of arms, is apparently in response to an enquiry by Harry Lukach, Private Secretary to the Governor of Cyprus Hamilton Goold-Adams. Today, he is better known as Sir Harry Luke, having changed his surname to Luke in 1919. Subsequently, he had a highly successful career in the colonial service and authored numerous books mainly on the Middle East where he served in Cyprus, Armenia (1920), Jerusalem, Malta etc. His books are full of anecdotal material of his experiences in the places he served in, and show his compassionate interest in the people he came in contact with.

 

Kyrenia 30th January, 1912

 

"Dear Lukach, I have just been looking up the inquests held in my district in 1909 on unknown bodies washed up by the sea. The first case was in the first week in May on the body of a man washed ashore near Lapithos. This body was much decomposed but had two bullet wounds one in the neck and one in the abdomen just above the groin. The two next both males came ashore one at Ayios Ambrosios & one at Ayios Epiktetos but I do not think there were any marks showing cause of death. No 4 was the body of a little girl about 6 to 8 years her head had been smashed in by some heavy weapon like a hammer or a pick. As far as we could tell from their dress they were all Armenians. Dr. Fuleihan now Ast D.M.O. Nicosia was the officer who examined the bodies and might if you want it give you more information. Besides these there were several bits on which I did not hold inquests. And I also believe a very large number came ashore in the Carpas. I cant write owing to gout which I am glad to say is getting better but very slowly. I sent you a wire about the Lapithos road on Saturday as Williams was over in the P.W.D. Motor on Friday & told me it was quite passable with care, since when they have been hard at work mending it so it should be quite all right.Yours SincerelyW.N.Bolton".

 

It is interesting to note that the Adana Massacres started in early April and bodies started to get washed up in Cyprus about a month later. Today the fiction being propagated by the Turkish state is that there was no Genocide in 1915 and that deaths occurred on both sides as a result of fighting between Armenians and Turks. They further claim that the deportations, during which some "unfortunate" deaths occurred, were necessary for the security of the Ottoman Empire. They neglect to mention that most of the fit Armenian men, who had been conscripted into the Ottoman Army in 1914, were later disarmed, transferred to labor battalions, and subsequently executed. The fighting claimed by the Turkish state only took place in a few mountainous regions when the Ottoman army tried to enforce the deportation orders of 1915. We see here another example of reversal of facts employed by the Turkish state similar to that of claiming the bodies of Armenian victims exhumed from mass graves were those of Turks killed by Armenians! The final destination of the entire Armenian population of Anatolia, consisting mostly of older men, women, and children, was the small oasis town of Der Zor in the middle of the Syrian Desert! Very few were fit or lucky enough to reach there. The majority were killed on the way or died of thirst, starvation or exhaustion during the forced marches, as was intended by the Ottoman government.

 

 

[MosJan]

 

ONE CENTURY AFTER ADANA MASSACRE

The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute organizes an international conference on April 20-21, 2009 dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the Armenian massacres in Adana district of the Ottoman Empire. Historians from Armenia, Italy, Hungary, Austria, France, USA and Sweden specialized on these issues will make speeches at the conference. The speakers will have the opportunity to present their papers and share their knowledge about the massacre in Adana district and in the city of Adana itself in spring 1909 in the main reverting on the motives of massacres as well as international responses. In 1908, the Young Turkish revolution brought some hope for change for the Empire’s Christian minorities.

 

However, the initial euphoria and hopes for equal rights for Muslims and Christians were dashed in brutal slaughtering of Armenian population in Cilicia and its center Adana. This massacre revived the fears of Christian minorities, particularly of Armenians towards the traditional Ottoman policy against them. The Adana massacres of April 1909 became a symbolic prelude for the state orchestrated and executed policy of genocide against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. Ethnical cleansings and large-scale massacres were carried out even earlier; during the Hamidian massacres in 1894-1896 about 300.000 Armenians were annihilated and evicted. The study of Adana massacre reveals several important issues, particularly in terms of crime investigation, reparation and involvement of Turkish regular army in the massacre.

 

These tragic events resonated with the events of the earlier attacks on the Armenians and brought back the feeling of the coming catastrophe. The Adana massacres heralded a large-scale extermination policy, which was implemented shortly after the breakout of the WWI. This resulted in the genocide of Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during 1915-1922, and expulsion of several hundred thousand people from their homeland.

 

Source: Panorama.am

 

 

[MosJan]

YEREVAN LAUNCHED AN EXHIBITION IN MEMORY OF ADANA MASSACRES

• http://www.armtown.com/img/photo/pan_en_30693.jpg

   

  On Apr. 21 RA National Archive hosted an exhibition in memory of Adana massacres. The exhibition featured over 100 documents and photos, testifying to tragic events in Cilicia in the beginning of 20th century. According to Amatuni Virabyan, RA National Archive Director, such events have gained special importance now that intensive negotiations over Armenian- Turkish border opening are in process. "We have to be very careful, and every step we take towards normalization of ties with Turkey should be well considered and carefully weighed," he stated. In his turn, Yerevan's Armenian Genocide Museum Director, Hayk Demoyan stressed that Armenian population in Cilicia witnessed 3 massacres: in 1909, during Genocide of 1915 and in 1918 when massacres were initiated by Turkish leaders who became the founders of present-day Turkey. Dwelling on assertions about restricted number of Genocide documents in Armenian archives, preventing the Armenian part from countering Turkish negation policy, Hayk Demoyan stated, "Today's exhibition proved the opposite."

[Yervant1]

Nebraska Today

March 2 2022

Der Matossian’s book takes closer look at Adana massacres

by Deann Gayman | University Communication

On April 23, 1909, the Omaha Daily Bee reported on its front page that “all inhabitants of several Armenian villages and towns have been killed … victims number ten thousand.”

The newspaper was referring to the shocking massacres that engulfed Adana in April 1909. These massacres were twin eruptions of violence that claimed the lives of at least 20,000 Armenians and 2,000 Muslims in the former Ottoman Empire, presently Turkey.

At the time, these massacres were covered extensively by the press; however, they soon fell into oblivion. Historians tend to concentrate more on the Armenian Genocide of 1915-1923 which killed up to 1. 5 million Armenians.

But a new book by University of Nebraska–Lincoln historian and preeminent scholar of ethnic violence in the Ottoman Empire, Bedross Der Matossian, sheds light on the Adana massacres and the political, economic and societal factors that led up to it. The book, “The Horrors of Adana: Revolution and Violence in the Early 20th Century,” offers one of the first close examinations of the events that led to the massacres. It will be published March 15 by Stanford University Press.

Courtesy | Ernst Jackh Papers, Columbia University

Destroyed buildings are shown in the city of Adana following the 1909 massacres.

Relying on documents and newspapers from 15 archives in a dozen different languages from around the world, Der Matossian examines the events from the perspectives of victims, perpetrators, bystanders and humanitarians.

“It was a period where massive violence shook the province,” Der Matossian, Hymen Rosenberg Associate Professor of Judaic Studies and history, said. “The historiography of the Adana massacres has been represented in a superficial way — as Muslims killing Christians. I argue that that’s not the case. I argue that we have to really go into depth in order to understand why these massacres took place. As historians, we have to really understand and explain why phases of violence erupt in a specific period of time and lead to a cataclysm of violence.”

“In order to fully understand the Adana violence, we have to really understand the political and socio-economic structure of the province of Adana.”

The book follows his examination of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 in “Shattered Dreams of Revolution: From Liberty to Violence in the Late Ottoman Empire,” and begins with the economic hardships wrought for some by the invention of the cotton gin and other new technologies. Previously, cotton grown in the region had been harvested by 70-80,000 migrant workers.

“The requirement for labor started decreasing with the development of new technology,” Der Matossian said. “Armenians played an important role in the introduction of this new technology of cotton machines, and there’s anger and envy towards perceived Armenian superiority in the economic sphere. Economic changes created a kind of resettlement.”

Also playing a role in the massacres was the despotic government in power, which fomented rumors and conspiracy theories. Adana was under extensive surveillance by the government before the 1908 revolution because a small group of Armenians had formed revolutionary groups in order to fight against the depredations and persecutions suffered in the eastern provinces.

“Post-1908 revolution, the conspiracies about the intentions of the Armenians were spread very fast by discontented elements of the province leading to an exacerbation of an already contentious situation.” Der Matossian said. “The government and the local notables in power now believed that Armenians were preparing an uprising in order to reinstate the kingdom of Cilicia.”

Courtesy | Ernst Jackh Papers, Columbia University

Tents were put up in a refugee camp in Adana.

Der Matossian, who is the grandson of Armenian genocide survivors, said it is important to grow the historical knowledge of these massacres, as history has a way of repeating itself.

“Massacre is an extremely important thing that needs to be analyzed,” he said. “I argue in the book that massacre is not an aberration. It is a logical process that has its unique dynamics and has an evolution and a conclusion.”

“They are endemic to urban centers — they start there and spread — but they are not endemic to specific religions, cultures or societies.”

And, he does not want these massacres to be forgotten.

“I also wrote this book because in the field of Middle Eastern Studies, in the field of Ottoman and Turkish Studies, this important phase is not even in the footnotes,” Der Matossian said. “Most scholarship tends to concentrate on the Armenian genocide because of its magnitude and bypasses this important episode. I’ve tried to lay out here the complexity of the situation and what we can learn from this specific episode.

“What types of measures can we take? Because these massacres not only happened in 1909, similar dynamics and similar actors played important roles in different massacres across the course of the 20th century.”

Der Matossian concludes his book by comparing the Adana Massacres to the 1905 Pogroms of Odessa (Ukraine) and the Sikh Massacres of 1984 (India).

https://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/today/article/der-matossians-book-takes-closer-look-at-adana-massacres/