This is one of only two instances where the Armenians disappointed the Turkish government and her Teutonic and Kurdish allies, and deprived them of the pleasure of massacring the Christians. No wonder that in the face of such instances Count Ernst von Reventlow resented the American protest against Turkish massacres of the Armenians. We reproduce only one paragraph from Reventlow’s article:[164]
“Indeed, the Turkish empire has been long enough compelled to allow all powers who would destroy and rob her have their say in her affairs. To-day the time for this is past. It will be past for ever, so soon as the German empire takes up determinedly the standpoint that the question as to what it intends to do with the bloodthirsty Armenians is one that concerns her Turkish ally alone.”
Resuming our doleful narrative in this Section, we regret to say that the first occupation of Van by the Russians was not the last. For towards the end of July, the Turks, being strongly reinforced, took the offensive and succeeded in occupying Van. Although the Turkish offensive and occupation of Van lasted only a short time—about three weeks—yet within that time they exterminated all the Armenians behind their lines, and in the country through which they marched. The retiring Russians, however, contested stubbornly every mile of ground, and gained time for the Armenians to escape the country, while the Russians fought rear-guard actions and held back the Turks and Kurds from cutting the line of retreat of the Armenian refugees. The sufferings of those panic-stricken people were terrible. One of the German missionaries, in Persia, wrote:
“On the road, I found four little children. The mother sat on the ground, her back resting against a wall. The hollow-eyed children ran up to me, stretching out their hands and crying ‘Bread! Bread!’ When I came closer to the mother, I saw that she was dying.”
Here is a brief description of the whole scene:
“I wonder if it is possible to witness a more agonizing sight than the present one. Human beings are dying in hundreds from hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, and the means for relieving the distress are very scanty. There is absolutely no possibility of even buying bread. The first contingent of refugees has already reached this place (Igdir). Owing to congestion on the roads, the human tide had to be broken up into two channels; about 100,000 walked through the plain of Abagha, their rear being guarded by the Russian army under General N. and the Armenian regiments under Andrianig and Dero; another 50,000 from the city of Van were diverted into Persia, their rear being defended by the mounted regiments of Keri and Hamazasp. Bloody rear-guard actions are being fought to stem the Turks and Kurds, who are pressing forward in order to cut the line of retreat of the Armenians.”
We will at present leave these suffering thousands in the hands of their sympathizing friends, the Russians, and the Russian Armenians, and return to Armenia to see the condition of those who could not flee the country.
The news of what was taking place behind the Turkish army lines reached the Novaye Vryemya of Petrograd on July 22d.
“The Turkish atrocities in the district of Bitlis are indescribable. After having massacred the whole male population of this district, the Turks collected 9000 women and children from the surrounding villages, and drove them in upon Bitlis. Two days later they marched them out to the bank of the Tigris, shot them all, and threw the 9000 corpses into the river.
“On the Euphrates, the Turks have cut down more than 1000 Armenians, throwing their bodies into the river. At the same time, four battalions were ordered to march upon the valley of Moosh to finish with the 12,000 Armenians inhabiting this valley. According to the latest information, the massacre has already begun.... All the Armenians in the Diarbekir region will likewise be massacred.”