Torlakyan Misak

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Biography
Misak Torlakyan was born in 1890 in the village of Kyushan, Trebizond vilayet.

He graduated from a local school and took part in the liberation struggle of the Armenian Haidut troops against the Turkish occupiers.

By the beginning of the First World War, he joined the army of Tsarist Russia and as part of one of the Armenian regiments, in 1915 he fought his way to Trebizond. For courage and resourcefulness he was awarded a cross and appointed platoon commander. Here he learned that his native village had been massacred, and 16 of his 17 family members were killed.

At the beginning of 1918, together with the Russian troops leaving Western Armenia after the October Revolution, he, at the head of a small detachment of 20 people, retreated to the Caucasus.

In Tiflis he organized the training of 600 volunteers for the Armenian army. With this detachment he managed to help Andranik , who fought near Erzurum . He took part in battles against the Turkish invaders near Kars, Alexandropol and Sardarapat, where he was wounded in May 1918.

In the Caucasus, Misak Torlakyan met the future participants of Operation Nemesis Z. Melik-Shakhnazaryan and A. Yerkanyan and expressed his readiness to take part in committing acts of retaliation against Turkish criminals - the organizers of the Armenian genocide.

In December 1920, he arrived in Constantinople, at the disposal of the editor-in-chief of the Chakatamart newspaper , Manuk Aslanyan , who was responsible for selecting people for Operation Nemesis. There he joins the group of avengers ( Harutyun Harutyunyan , Ervand Fundekyan , Misak Torlakyan).

In July 1921, the group was informed that one of the perpetrators of the Armenian pogroms in Baku (September 1918), the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Musavat government of Azerbaijan, Behbut Khan Jivanshir, was hiding in Constantinople, and was under surveillance. July 19, 1921 - the sentence was carried out, Behbut Khan was killed.

August 28-October 20, 1921 Misak Torlakian appeared before a British military tribunal. After listening to the testimony of witnesses and reviewing materials about the pogroms in Baku, the court found him guilty, but not responsible for his actions.

November 8, 1921 - he was sent to Greece; then lived in Belgrade and Bucharest.

In Europe, he devoted himself entirely to the internal life of the Armenian diaspora, established contacts with Garegin Nzhdeh , Dr. Khatisyan , Dr. Hayk Asatryan and General Dro .

With the outbreak of World War II and the entry of the German army into the USSR, he, together with generals Dro and Nzhdeh, took part in the formation of Armenian units within the Wehrmacht. He led the intelligence and sabotage and reconnaissance units of the Armenian Legion. He personally carried out the operation and captured secret documents of the Turkish command regarding plans to spread pan-Turkism and seize the Caucasus.

After General Nzhdeh’s meeting with Rosenberg and the presentation of secret materials, the Reich leadership abandoned its plans to use the Turkish army in the Caucasus.

At the end of the war, he found himself in the American occupation zone and was released as having not committed war crimes.

In subsequent years he lived in Stuttgart (Germany), and from 1952 - in California (USA).


http://ru.hayazg.info/%D0%A2%D0%BE%D1%80%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%8F%D0%BD_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%BA

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Misak Torlakian (1889 – 12 November 1968) was the assassin of Behbud Khan Javanshir, former Minister of Interior of Azerbaijan, in 1921. Torlakian was admitted "guilty but not responsible" due to his mental condition by a British military tribunal in October 1921.

Biography
Torlakian was born in 1889 in Trabizond, Ottoman Empire. Joining the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) at the age of 18, Torlakian succeeded in providing substantial amount of arms from a Turkish army depot in Trabizond for Armenian self-defense units.[1] Tasked to obtain military intelligence during World War, Torlakian, by then a member of a Russian Army scout unit, provided valuable information about Turkish army dispositions. After the Russian withdrawal from the Turkish front in 1918, which allowed the Turks to advance unimpeded towards Yerevan, Torlakian joined Armenian army forces and participated with distinction in the battle of Bash Abaran, under the leadership of General Dro. The battle stopped the Turkish army from advancing any further. The hard-fought victory, along with others in Sardarabad and Karakilise, led to the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918–1920). In 1921, Torlakian was sent by the ARF to Constantinople (nowadays Istanbul) to execute Behbud Khan Javanshir, former Minister of Interior of Azerbaijan, who was assassinated outside the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul on July 18, 1921. This killing was part of the "Operation Nemesis" program carried out by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation after the Armenian genocide.

Torlakian was tried by a British military court on August 11, 1921. Misak Torlakian's trial is the twin of the trial of Soghomon Tehlirian. Both trials involved the murder of a government official and both perpetrators were found not guilty. History, theology, philosophy, physiology, psychology, and politics were invoked by both sides to sway the military judge in the case of Torlakian and the jury of peers in the case of Tehlirian. Thus, in addition to being landmark legal cases, these two trials reveal the prevailing mindsets and political strategies of Germans, Turks, Armenians and Azerbaijanis in the aftermath of World War I.[2]

In October 1921, the British tribunal issued a guilty verdict but ruled that he was not responsible for his actions due to his epilepsy. Torlakian was expelled to Greece, where he was released and left for the United States.[3]

He eventually settled in California, where he died in Montebello, California, in 1968.[4] He is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in East Los Angeles.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misak_Torlakian

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Known for Assassination of Behbud Khan Javanshir - Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

Assassination

Javanshir was assassinated on July 18, 1921, in Constantinople, in front of the Pera Palace Hotel. The assassination was carried out by an Armenian, Misak Torlakian, in retaliation for Javanshir's role in the massacre of Armenians in Baku.[3] Torlakian was part of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's "Operation Nemesis", and he was assisted by Ervand Fundukyan and (H)Arutiun (H)Arutuinyan. A Dashnak officer who had known Javanshir from Baku recognized him. Fundukyan and Arutuinyan were to follow him, and Torlokyan was to shoot him. Accompanied by his wife Tamara and brothers Jumshud and Surkhay, Javanshir was returning to the Pera Palace Hotel through the park after an evening at Tepebashi Theatre.[4] Torlakian shot Javanshir with a Mauser pistol, once in the head and twice in the chest. Javanshir was later pronounced dead in the hospital.[1] Torlakian was apprehended.[5]

Court and sentencing

Main article: Misak Torlakian § Trial
When questioned by the police, Torlakian said the assassination was justified because of the killing of Armenians in Baku. He was "sued" by the British Military Tribunal. Torlakian's defense attorneys and an Armenian neurologist who examined him in prison claimed he had epileptic seizures due to "the emotional crises to which he is subject" making him "not responsible for his actions". But a Turkish doctor claimed that he had neither epilepsy nor any mental disorders.

In October 1921, the British tribunal issued a guilty verdict but ruled that he was not responsible for his actions due to his epilepsy. Torlokyan left for Greece, where he was released and left for the United States

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sij1vBfiYjc

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197151377/misak-torlakian

 

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197151377/missak-torlakian , memorial page for Missak Torlakian (13 Nov 1894–12 Nov 1968), Find a Grave Memorial ID 197151377, citing Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA; Maintained by Find a Grave.




Grave of Misak Torlakian in Los Angeles

Armenian Partisan. He carried out the assassination of Behbud Khan Javanshir, ex-Internal Affairs Minister of Azerbaijan, outside the Pera Palace Hotel in Istanbul, Turkey on July 18, 1921. At age 18, he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) in Armenia's struggle for independence against the Turkish Ottoman Empire. He participated with distinction in the battle of Bash Abaran, under the leadership of General Drom which stopped the Turkish army from advancing any further. Tis hard-fought victory, along with others in Sardarabad and Karakilise, led to the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918-1920). In 1921 he was sent by the ARF to execute Djivanshir, as a part of the "Operation Nemesis" program, revenge killings carried out by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation as a result of the previous Armenian Genocide. He succeeded but was captured by the British Army and in October 1921, the British tribunal issued a guilty verdict but ruled that he was not responsible for his actions because he suffered from epilepsy. He then left for Greece, where he was released and then emigrated to the US, eventually settling in California where he died at the age of around 79.

Bio by: William Bjornstad

Lot 6198, Row 1, 3rd right

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https://www.google.com/maps/place/204+N+Evergreen+Ave,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90033/@34.040498,-118.197869,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x80c2c5f8e4cf1e75:0x17fcd33e0ddf4eb7!8m2!3d34.040498!4d-118.197869!16s%2Fg%2F11c5p9yq82?entry=ttu

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