100th anniversary of Adana massacres remembered

Catholicos Aram I, “If Victor Hugo had been here and had seen these pictures, he would have said that the Turks had passed through here.”

by Tatul Hakobyan

Published: Monday November 09, 2009

At the conference in Antelias on the 100th anniversary of the Cilicia tragedy. Tatul Hakobyan

Catholicos Aram I at an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Adana massacres. Tatul Hakobyan / Armenian Reporter.

Beirut - Returning temporarily to Cilicia, Catholicos Sahak on November 29, 1921, wrote poignantly about the Armenians who had lost their homes and were dispersed along the shores of the Mediterranean. He explained why it was important to find a safer place for the Armenians rescued from Cilicia and move them away from their homes.

"My residence in Sis is a pile of destruction. I am in Adana temporarily to relocate to Syria, where my flock is just as numerous as it is in the province of Adana. My request is the supreme appeal of Cilicia - to rescue by all means, the beloved and wretched fragments of the Armenian people; to find a safe refuge; to secure their daily bread until a new possibility of a safe haven is secured," wrote Catholicos Sahak.

"If we, Cilicians are to die, then let us die far away, very far away so that we do not, through our blood and bones turn Cilicia into a hated place for our people," Catholicos Sahak appealed to his flock.

One hundred years ago, in April 1909 by the shores of the Mediterranean, where in the Middle Ages for almost 300 years the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia was created and prospered (1080-1375), Armenian massacres took place in two stages, which in Armenian history is known as the tragedy of Cilicia or the massacres of Adana.

It was on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of these massacres that a string of events, organized by and under the auspices of Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, took place in Lebanon.

On October 28 in the mother cathedral of the Great House of Cilicia, the placement of stone-crosses and the opening of a photo exhibit dedicated to the Adana massacres took place with the participation and blessing of Aram I.

"What took place a hundred years ago was not inadvertent, but the result of the Ottoman Empire's policy of exterminating the Armenians. What took place at the hands of the Ottoman Empire was a premediated massacre," Aram I said during the opening of the photo exhibit.

More than 30,000 Armenians perished during those massacres, approximately 8,000 children were orphaned, more than 4,000 women were widowed, and more than 30,000 Armenians became homeless. Thirty two churches, 19 schools, close to 3,000 homes, 600 stores, and other structures were burned, looted, and destroyed.

"These are not imaginary numbers. These are the testimonials by witnesses of the day," said Aram I.

And the testimonials by the witnesses of the Adana massacres are devastating. An article in the April 19, 1909 issue of the New York Times reads: "The situation in Cilicia is obviously very difficult and the telegrams confirm the hopelessness of the situation. Large parts of the city have been burned, including the neighborhood where the Armenians live, who tried in vain to resist while causing losses to the adversaries, until they were finally defeated. The city of Tarsus is burning. The Christians there are peaceful, but the Muslims are killing and looting."

A few days later, in the April 23, 1909, issue, the same newspaper writes: "The entire population of Qerqkhan, which is found between Aleppo and Alexandretta have been slaughtered, even newborn babies were not spared...the massacres are accompanied by cruelty, even women and children are not spared."

Addressing those taking part in the commemoration ceremony on October 28 in the mother cathedral of Antelias, Aram I said that a hundred years have passed since the Adana massacres; however even a millennium later the tragedy of Cilicia and the Armenian Genocide will remain rooted in our people's collective memory.

"We will remind the international community that 100 years ago Ottoman Turkey carried out the Adana massacres and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the martyrs remember and demand justice and compensation," added the Catholicos.

On October 29-30 a conference dedicated to the Adana massacres took place with the participation of historians, scholars, and specialists in Armenian studies from Armenia and the diaspora.

Among them were Claude Mutafian, Vergine Svazlian, Zaven Yekavyan, Aramais Baloyan, Yervant Pambukian, Hayk Demoyan, and Houri Azezyan.

During opening remarks, Aram I admonished the participants not only to discuss the tragic events of Adana but to find scientific answers to the question of why the tragedy of Cilicia took place.

Aram I: "We demand reparations from Turkey"

During his closing remarks at the conference dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the Adana massacres, Catholicos Aram I said that these kinds of events are important to help "refresh our collective memory." It is equally important that we are able to look at the past in order to make the right decisions about the future.

Catholicos Aram I stressed that the struggle for the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide must not only continue, but the time has come for the Armenian people to raise the question of restitution for the Genocide. The following are excerpts from that speech.

"We demand reparations from Turkey," Aram I said. "The international community, the defender of justice and supporter of human rights must also remember that in 1909 Armenians who were living peacefully and who were faithful citizens of the Ottoman Empire were subjected to, with the direct and indirect fault of that same state, massacres in Adana. The international community does not have the right to remain silent in the face of such crimes. History has shown that when massacres and genocides are unpunished they encourage crimes such as genocide to be carried out against humanity.

"Justice must remain above every kind of geopolitical interests....Remembering the 100th anniversary of the Adana massacres for the Armenian people means that not only the international community but also and especially present­-day Turkey who is considered the continuation of the Ottoman Empire, must be reminded that a collective massacre was carried out against the Armenians in Adana and call them to account. "We repeat, the Adana massacres were not accidental, they were planned with the encouragement of the Turkish state and in fact they were the first step toward the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Present-day Turkey is required to take on the responsibility of the planned and organized massacres carried out by their forefathers and to compensate the grandchildren of the victims, who as a result of Turkey's massacres, oppression and exile are dispersed to the four corners of the world.