"The Armenian Genocide: Breaking The Silence". The Conscription Of T

“THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE: BREAKING THE SILENCE”. THE CONSCRIPTION OF THE ARMENIANS IN THE OTTOMAN ARMY WAS FOR RECRUITING, DISARMING, SLAUGHTERING

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Aysor.am
presents a special project within which we shall consider cultural,
scientific and social projects implementing these days.

Today we talked to the director of “Armenpress” News Agency, PhD Aram
Ananyan, who is working on a scientific research about the conscription
of the Armenians in Ottoman Empire before the Genocide.

– Mr. Anayan, first of all, why is the study of this research so
important?

– I have to say that over the last 100 years Genocide and its history
were thoroughly investigated by both historical and legal aspects.

Many archives, works are put into the scientific circulation, and
reading all this I discovered that a problem still remains completely
unexplored: that is the issue of Armenian soldiers’ slaughtering in
the Ottoman army. The Ottoman Empire’s Christian population was also
drafted into the army during the First World War. It is, of course,
followed by the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and for the Armenians
the recruitment in the Ottoman army was the first step which was aimed
at depriving any opportunity to defend itself. I will explain why.

Until the mid-19th century non-Muslims have not had the opportunity
to serve in the Ottoman army and instead have paid the poll tax. I
have discovered a fact, that the Greek sailors were drafted into the
navy since 1847. Then, in 1855, a decision was adopted on compulsory
military service, but it caused dissatisfaction among Muslims and
Christians: so it was decided to set tax.

Thus, we must underline, that there was no regular military service for
non-Muslims before the Young Turk revolution. After the revolution,
in 1909, the military law was changed in Turkey. The Young Turk
government eliminated the tax for exemption of military service.

The terms were created for equal military service, regardless of
religious affiliation. It is noteworthy that the teachers, foreign
citizens and caregivers of old people could exempt from military
service.

In fact, the military service could be very important for Armenians,
because military affairs had been unknown for them, consequently,
they were defenseless while living in the Ottoman Empire so many years.

Armenian military memory had been erased for centuries. However,
the Armenians even being drafted never bore arms.

According to available data, the non-Christians recruitment in the
Ottoman army took place in three age groups: 20 to 45, 15 to 20 and
at the end 45 to 60 age groups. That is, all the men theoretically
and practically capable to capture weapons were conscripted, disarmed
and subjected to brutal exploitation in labor battalions.

The information on the number of army conscripts is not ambiguous
in those years. There are few data. Turks, for example, note about
50 thousand recruits, which is actually impossible. Other sources
mention about 100 to 200 thousand recruits.

I would like to cite the German ambassador’s information, got from the
interview with the Patriarch, just to understand the attitude towards
the Armenians at the beginning of the First World War. “Men fit for
military service have been drafted into the army others have been
used for transfer and similar services. They are exposed to attacks
by the soldiers who are involved in the theft of corpses”.

Thus, we can conclude that the goal of this recruitment was to dislodge
and to kill the population who were capable of protecting.

– Mr. Anayan, what sources have you used for the research?

– I use all the sources available. Basically I want to work with the
materials published by Turkey and Turkish allies. Their data may be
closer to the reality, because it comes from the military, army.

It is compelling, because, for instance, I don’t know a single case
when the country commits crimes against its own army. That is: the
country conscripts the soldier and kills him during the military
service. And this has happened in the Ottoman Empire.

There was a condition: to conscript the Armenians, disarm, exploit in
the labour battalions and kill them there. This was the first phase
of the organized massacres and it worked by a clear mechanism. Even
pro-Turkish historians write about these facts. There is also
information that in some cases the Armenians were sent to the front,
just to be killed there.

It should be noted that the massacre took place not only after the
conscription, but often, during the muster.

I will cite information, which is dated on April 29, 1915, “29-year-old
conscripts are called up and sent to distant province.

Their exact number is not known, but there are a few thousand
soldiers”.

People were recruited and killed under the conscription pretext. In
addition, there is a terrible reality, strong and snout Armenian
soldiers have been used in medical experiments. They have been even
subjected for Typhus vaccine testing. The test results have been
published in local newspapers.

There exist many evidences about Armenian soldiers who came to the
camp on vacation and could not find their families.

Armenians were used for the road and railway construction. There was
an important project, the Berlin-Istanbul-Baghdad railway: Armenians
have been working on the construction.

Moreover, the attempted murders against Armenian workers have been
prevented by Germans for not breaching works of railway construction.

Generally I do not set a deadline to complete the work. But I think
it will be another proof of the Ottoman Empire’s genocidal Policy.

21.04.15, 21:06

Yana Shakhramanyan