Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915

Start of Armenian genocide

The deportation of Armenian intellectuals is conventionally held to mark the beginning of the Armenian genocide. Leaders of the Armenian community in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul), and later other locations, were arrested and moved to two holding centers near Angora (now Ankara). The order to do so was given by Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha on 24 April 1915. On that night, the first wave of 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople were arrested. With the adoption of the Tehcir Law on 29 May 1915, these detainees were later relocated within the Ottoman Empire; most of them were ultimately killed. More than 80, such as Vrtanes Papazian, Aram Andonian, and Komitas, survived. The event has been described by historians as a decapitation strike, which was intended to deprive the Armenian population of leadership and a chance for resistance. To commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide, 24 April is observed as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. First observed in 1919 on the fourth anniversary of the events in Constantinople, the date is generally considered the date on which the genocide began. The Armenian genocide has since been commemorated annually on the same day, which has become a national memorial day in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed by the Armenian diaspora around the world.

The Ottoman Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha gave the detention order on 24 April 1915. The operation commenced at 8 p. m. In Constantinople, the action was led by Bedri Bey, the Chief of Police of Constantinople. On the night of 24–25 April 1915, in a first wave 235 to 270 Armenian leaders of Constantinople, clergymen, physicians, editors, journalists, lawyers, teachers, politicians, and others were arrested upon an instruction of the Ministry of the Interior. The discrepancies in numbers may be explained by the uncertainties of the police as they imprisoned people with similar names. There were further deportations from the capital. The first task was to identify those imprisoned. They were held for one day in a police station (Ottoman Turkish: Emniyeti Umumiye) and the Central Prison. A second wave brought the figure to between 500 and 600. By the end of August 1915, about 150 Armenians with Russian citizenship were deported from Constantinople to holding centers. A few of the detained, including writer Alexander Panossian (1859–1919), were released the same weekend before even being transferred to Anatolia. In total, it is estimated that 2,345 Armenian notables were detained and eventually deported, most of whom were not nationalists and did not have any political affiliations. An Armenian train conductor got a list of names of the deportees. It was handed over to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Zaven Der Yeghiayan, who immediately tried in vain to save as many deportees as possible. The only foreign ambassador to help him in his efforts was US ambassador Henry Morgenthau. After a train journey of 20 hours, the deportees got off in Sincanköy (near Angora) Tuesday noon. At the station Ibrahim, the director of the Central Prison of Constantinople, did the triage. The deportees were divided into two groups. One group was sent to Çankırı (and Çorum between Çankırı and Amasya) and the other to Ayaş. Those separated for Ayaş were transported in carts for a couple of hours further to Ayaş. Almost all of them were killed several months later in gorges near Angora. Only 10 (or 13) Roughly 150 political prisoners were detained in Ayaş, and another 150 intellectual prisoners were detained in Çankırı.

Some notables such as Dr. Nazaret Daghavarian and Sarkis Minassian were removed on 5 May from the Ayaş prison and taken under military escort to Diyarbekir along with Harutiun Jangülian, Karekin Khajag, and Rupen Zartarian to appear before a court martial. They were, seemingly, murdered by state sponsored paramilitary groups led by Cherkes Ahmet, and lieutenants Halil and Nazım, at a locality called Karacaören shortly before arriving at Diyarbekir. The militants responsible for the murders were tried and executed in Damascus by Djemal Pasha in September 1915; the incident later became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the Ottoman Parliament led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo. After Marzbed's release from the court, he worked under a false Ottoman identity for the Germans in Intilli (Amanus railway tunnel). He escaped to Nusaybin, where he fell from a horse and died shortly before the armistice. and was replaced by central committee member Atif Bey by the end of July 1915.

After the Armistice of Mudros (30 October 1918), several surviving Armenian intellectuals came back to Constantinople, which was under an allied occupation. They started a short, but intense, literary activity that was ended by the Turkish victory in 1923. Those who have written memoirs and books about their accounts during the deportation include Grigoris Balakian, Aram Andonian, Yervant Odian, Teotig, and Mikayel Shamtanchyan. Other survivors, such as Komitas, developed serious cases of post traumatic stress disorder. Komitas underwent 20 years of treatment in mental asylums until his death in 1935.

The official date of remembrance for the Armenian genocide is 24 April, the day that marked the beginning of the deportation of Armenian intellectuals. The first commemoration, organized by a group of Armenian Genocide survivors, was held in Istanbul in 1919 at the local St. Trinity Armenian church. Many prominent figures in the Armenian community participated in the commemoration. Following its initial commemoration in 1919, the date became the annual day of remembrance for the Armenian genocide.

Below is a list of prominent Armenian intellectuals, community leaders and other public figures that were deported from Constantinople on 24 April 1915, the first wave of the deportations. The list of names are those that have been provided in the Ottoman Archives and various Armenian sources:
Name Birth dateand place Fate Political affiliation Occupation Deported to Notes Սարգիս Ապօ Killed Dashnak Teacher Ayaşname="avak41 53" Çankırı Died in 1915. Խաչատուր Մալումեան 1865 in Zangezur Killed Dashnak Dashnak militant, newspaper editor, played a role in organizing an assembly of forces in opposition to the Ottoman Sultan, resulting in the proclamation of the Ottoman Constitution in 1908. Ayaş Removed from the Ayaş prison on 5 May and taken under military escort to Diyarbakır along with Daghavarian, Jangülian, Khajag, Minassian and Zartarian to appear before a court martial there and they were, seemingly, murdered by state sponsored paramilitary groups led by Cherkes Ahmet, and lieutenants Halil and Nazım, at a locality called Karacaören shortly before arriving at Diyarbakır. Հնչակեան Վերակազմ Writer and journalist; member of Armenian National Assembly Çankırı Belonged to the second convoy with only one Վ. Արապեան Patriot or educator of exile. The eight prisoners of this group were notified on Sunday, 9 May 1915, about their release and left Çankırı on 11 May 1915. Մանուկ Պասմաճեան Survived Խաչիկ Պօղոսեան Survived Doctor, psychologist, deputy of the Armenian National Assembly Survived Agronomist, lecturer in agriculture at Berberyan school Çankırı Permitted to reside with his family anywhere outside Constantinople by special order from Talat Pasha on 8 May 1915, chose Smyrna, but was taken under military escort to Çorum to appear before a court martial and killed on 20 October 1915 on the way to Sivas between Yozgat and Kayseri near the bridge Cokgöz on the Kizilirmak. Ագրիկ Քերեսթեճեան 1855 in Kartal Died Çankırı Killed during the deportation in Ras al Ain. Ayaş He organized gym exercises in Ayaş. Until the deportees of Ayaş had learned about the 20 Hunchakian gallows of 15 June 1915, they were not realising the severity of their situation. The exercises were viewed by the Turkish guards with great suspicion. Islamized in 1916 under the name Aziz Nuri and then killed in Angora. or 2 June 1915. Same fate as Krikor Zohrab. (Cherkes Ahmet and Halil were led to Damascus and executed there on orders from Cemal Pasha, in connection with the murder of the two deputies, on 30 September 1915, Nazım had died in a fight before that.) Պաղտասար Սարգիսեան Survived Çankırı "Pardoned on condition on not returning to Constantinople" according to a telegramme from the Ministry of the Interior on 25 August 1915 on the subject of exiles erroneously unlisted in a former 3 August telegramme. but was "Permitted to reside freely in Çankırı" according to a telegramme from the Ministry of the Interior on 25 August 1915 on the subject of exiles erroneously unlisted in a former 3 August telegramme. ShahbazՇահպազ Patriot or educator in Constantinople Survived Physician, medical historian Çankırı Permitted to return to Constantinople by special telegramme from Talat Pasha on 7 May 1915. He published a book after the war (a list of Armenian doctors) in Évreux, France in 1922 and a study on Ethiopean Taenicide Kosso in Antwerp in 1929. He died 11 August 1942 in Paris. (Tomajanian)Սամուել Թումաճան (Թոմաճանեան) Died Hunchak Çankırı Permitted to return to Constantinople soon after 11 May 1915. Samvel Tomajian/Թօմաճեան (!) died according to Alboyajian. Դանիէլ Վարուժան 1884 in Brgnik (near Sivas) Killed Poet Çankırı Killed together with Ruben Sevak by 12 çetes on 26 August 1915 six hours after Çankırı near the han of Tüneh in a group of five. Արամ Երջանիկ 1865 Died Restaurant owner Çankırı Deported because many intellectuals regularly met at his restaurant in Bahçekapı, died in 1915. Տ. Երկանեան Lawyer Գրիգոր Եսայեան 1883 from Van Killed Dashnak French and Math teacher, translator of Levon Shant's Ancient Gods into French Çankırı Belonged to the second convoy with only one or two survivors that left Çankırı on 19 August 1915, jailed in Angora 20–24 August killed en route to Yozgat. YeznikԵզնիկ Profession Çankırı Ներսէս Զաքարեան Killed Hunchak Patriot or educator, member of Armenian National Assembly Ayaş Killed in Angora. Աւետիս Զարիֆեան Survived Pharmacist Çankırı Permitted to return to Constantinople soon after 11 May 1915. Ռուբէն Զարդարեան 1874 in Kharpert Killed Writer, poet, newspaper (Azadamard) and textbook editor, considered a pioneer of Armenian rural literature. Translated Victor Hugo, Maxim Gorki, Anatole France, Oscar Wilde into Armenian. Ayaş Removed from the Ayaş prison on 5 May and taken under military escort to Diyarbakır along with Daghavarian, Agnouni, Jangülian, Khajag and Minassian to appear before a court martial there and they were, seemingly, murdered by state sponsored paramilitary groups led by Cherkes Ahmet, and lieutenants Halil and Nazım, at a locality called tr shortly before arriving at Diyarbakır. The murderers were tried and executed in Damascus by Cemal Pasha in September 1915, and the assassinations became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the Ottoman Parliament led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo. ZenopԶենոբ Çankırı Գրիգոր Զօհրապ 1861 in Constantinople Killed Writer, jurist, deputy in the Ottoman parliament Dispatched to Diyarbakır to appear before a court martial Deported either 21 May 1915 or 2 June 1915. Ordered to appear before a court martial in Diyarbakır, together with Vartkes Hovhannes Serengülyan, both went to Aleppo by train, escorted by one gendarme, remained in Aleppo for a few weeks, waited the results of infructuous attempts by the Ottoman governor of the city to have them sent back to Constantinople (some sources mention Cemal Pasha himself intervening for their return, but Talat Pasha insisting on them to send to the court martial), and then dispatched to Urfa and remained there for some time in the house of a Turkish deputy friend, taken under police escort and led to Diyarbakır by car allegedly accompanied on a voluntary basis by some notable Urfa Armenians, and with many sources confirming, they were murdered by state sponsored paramilitary groups led by Cherkes Ahmet, Halil and Nazım, at a locality called Karaköprü or Şeytanderesi in the outskirts of Urfa, some time between 15 July and 20 July 1915. The murderers were tried and executed in Damascus by Cemal Pasha in September 1915, and the assassinations became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the Ottoman Parliament led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo. (Jirayr)Բարթող Զօրեան (Ժիրայր) 1879 in Tamzara Killed Dashnak Publicist Ayaş Killed in Angora.