Defense of Van (1915)

Armed resistance of the Armenian population of Van against the Armenian genocide

The defense of Van ( Vani herosamart) was the armed resistance of the Armenian population of Van against the Ottoman Empire's attempts to massacre the Ottoman Armenian population of the Van Vilayet in the 1915 Armenian genocide. Several contemporaneous observers and later historians have concluded that the Ottoman government deliberately instigated an armed Armenian resistance in the city and then used this insurgency as the main pretext to justify beginning the deportation and slaughter of Armenians throughout the empire. Witness reports agree that the Armenian posture at Van was defensive and an act of resistance to massacre. The self defense action is frequently cited in Armenian genocide denial literature; it has become "the alpha and omega of the plea of 'military necessity'" to excuse the genocide and portray the persecution of Armenians as justified.

On 30 October 1914, after an exchange of fire during the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I. The province of Van was positioned between Persia and the Caucasus, and the most accessible routes that linked Persia, Russia, Mesopotamia and Anatolia lay through this province. giving Van high strategic value as a consequence of its location. The first engagement of the Caucasus Campaign took place on 2 November 1914 with the Bergmann Offensive. The Russians collected victories along the Kara Kilise (renamed Karaköse in November 1919, present day Ağrı) – Beyazit (Doğubayazıt) line. Beyazit was located in the north of the Province of Van, and Armenian volunteers provided aid as auxiliary forces to Russian regiments while capturing these regions. During December 1914, Nicholas II of Russia visited the Caucasian front. In the presence of the head of the Armenian Church and alongside Alexander Khatisyan president of the Armenian National Bureau in Tiflis, Nicholas II stated: "Armenians from all countries are hurrying to enter the ranks of the glorious Russian Army, and with their blood, to serve the victory of the Russian Army Let the Russian flag wave freely over the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, let all the peoples (Christians) remaining under the Turkish yoke receive freedom through your will. Let the Armenian people of Turkey, who have suffered for the faith of Christ, receive resurrection for a new and free life ". Ottoman War Minister Enver Pasha wanted to encircle the Russian forces between Sarikamish and Ardahan. The Battle of Sarikamish (29 December 1914 – 4 January 1915) was a disastrous defeat for Enver Pasha. For their role in this success, the Armenian volunteers received credit as natives of the region, well adjusted to the climate, familiar with every road and mountain path, and motivated to wage fierce and resolute combat. The Armenian volunteers were small, mobile units, well adapted to semi guerrilla warfare. They worked efficiently as scouts, though they also took active roles in many conventional engagements. Armenian volunteers challenged the Ottoman operations during critical times: "the delay they caused, enabled the Russian Caucasus Army to concentrate sufficient force around Sarikamish". After he returned to Constantinople, Enver blamed his defeat on Armenians living in the region, for actively siding with Russia. On 11 December 1914 Ottoman preparations for their Persian Campaign began with Enver Pasha's order to form a provisional force that would be channeled into the planned theatre using the roads in Van Province. Whilst Turkish preparations were underway, the Russians transferred Armenian General Tovmas Nazarbekian to the Russian occupied Persian Azerbaijan. Theodore G. Chernozubov's Persian Cossack Brigade had been operationally deployed in Persia since 1906. During this period, the Ottoman authorities distributed 24,000 rifles to Kurds in Persia and the Van province. The Ottoman 1st Expeditionary Force was assigned to Chief of Intelligence of the Ottoman General Headquarters, Staff Lieutenant Colonel Kâzim Karabekir Bey. The 5th Expeditionary Force was assigned to Staff Lieutenant Colonel Halil Bey, who was the uncle of Enver Pasha and would defeat the British at Kut al Amara on 29 April 1916. The 1st Expeditionary Force was structurally self sufficient, capable of independent operations, supplemented with the 7th and 9th Infantry Regiments, a cavalry detachment, a field hospital, a transportation unit, an intelligence section, a mountain howitzer battalion with two batteries, a telegraph section, a field battery, an equipment repair battalion, a replacement depot and transportation assets. On 10 January 1915, while the 1st Expeditionary Force was on its way to Persian Azerbaijan, the original plan was scrapped. Due to Turkish losses suffered at the disastrous battle of Sarikamish, the 1st Expeditionary Force found itself assigned to the 3rd Army. On 11 January 1915 the 5th Expeditionary Force was ordered north to Erzurum and eleven days later the 1st Expeditionary Force was ordered there as well. The Van Gendarmerie Regiment (police force) under the command of Staff Major Köprülü Kâzım Bey (Özalp), who would become the Minister of National Defence and Speaker of Grand National Assembly of Turkey, was the only force available to the Persian frontier. Earlier, on 14 December 1914, Van Mobile Gendarmerie Division had assumed the role of securing the road to Persia through the Qotur valley (Qotur Pass). This paramilitary formation was lightly equipped with artillery and machine guns, being primarily suited for internal security functions rather than for the invasion of a neighboring country. In addition to these military activities, during the period of 1914–1915 American and German missionaries present in the area reported occurrences of massacres of the Armenian population. Such massacres intensified immediately prior to the uprising. According to one source, all of the 52 Armenian villages near Beyazit and Eleşkirt were raided, pillaged and destroyed by the Hamidiye cavalry regiments.

During July 1914, Arshak Vramian, the deputy of the Van province, attended the negotiations with the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) as a liaison for the Armenian congress at Erzurum. The public conclusion of this congress was "Ostensibly conducted to peacefully advance Armenian demands by legitimate means". Armenian sources say that local Armenian leaders Aram Manukian, Arshak Vramian, Nikoghayos Poghos Mikaelian (Ishkhan), and Armenak Yekaryan told the Armenians of Van to remain loyal to the Ottoman government and not to antagonize it. The Turkish CUP regarded the Armenian congress as a seedbed for establishing the decision for the Turkish feared Armenian insurrection. Edward J. Erickson concluded that after this meeting, the CUP was convinced of strong Armenian Russian links, with Erickson surmising that these links included detailed plans for the detachment of the region from the Ottoman Empire. Later, in September 1914, Turkish military operations, which included the search for arms, ammunition and operational documents, began. On 20 October 1914, the Turkish 4th Reserve Cavalry Regiment, patrolling Hasankale, reportedly discovered rifles hidden in Armenian homes. During this period, large numbers of Armenians with weapons were moving into Mush, Bitlis, and Van. Erickson concluded that "before the war began, indicators of potentially violent intent accumulated, as the authorities found bombs and weapons hidden in Armenian homes". On the other hand, Nogales witnessed Ottoman army units photographing their own weapons and merely claiming that they had been found in Armenian houses and churches. As early as 5 November 1914, a major attack by the Russians on the 3rd Army's defensive lines in the Van Province was under way. This offensive complicated Turkish perceptions of Armenian intentions. The Russians began larger operations toward Saray and Van by 19 November. In November, the Turkish Gendarmerie units of the provincial security apparatus of the Governors changed hands, reverting to Turkish military command. This change included the units commanded by the governor of Van. The Van Gendarmerie and Van reserve cavalry divisions were assigned to the Third Army. The Van Gendarmerie Division was placed under the command of Major Ferid, while Governor Djevdet kept only a small contingent. During December 1914, Djevdet Bey issued orders to secure the west of the province of Van, as Ottoman forces moved to start the Persian Campaign. CUP negotiators were sent to Erzurum and Van before Djevdet Bey left the city. These negotiators and Djevdet Bey wanted to test the loyalty of the Van Armenians. After their first attempt with the Armenian Congress, they wanted to see once again if they would agree to stage an uprising in Russian Armenia. Djevdet demanded that Armenians furnish 4,000 volunteers, according to conscription in the Ottoman Empire. The Armenians refused to do this. Clarence Ussher states that "it was clear that Djevdet's goals were to massacre the able bodied men of Van so as there would be no defenders, as he had done in the villages under the pretexts of arms searches, searches that had turned into massacres. The Armenians, parlaying to gain time, offered to furnish five hundred soldiers and to pay exemption money for the rest." The Armenian conscription became an issue again when Djevdet returned to the city in April, during the Armenian Easter of 1915. Djevdet asked one more time for the Armenians to furnish conscripts to be used for the establishment of Ottoman fortifications. Ussher would say "the Armenians who had practically decided to give the Vali [Jevdet] the four thousand men he had demanded, now dared not do so for they felt certain he intended to put the four thousand to death." Djevdet did not receive any Armenian soldiers from the city of Van after either requests. Persian Azerbaijan had a large Christian population, mostly Armenian and Assyrian. Many of them fled with the retreating Russian army in a winter trek to the Russian border town of Julfa. Those that remained endured a period of looting and massacre; many villages were plundered and destroyed. After an unsuccessful campaign led by Djevdet Bey to capture Khoi, north west of Tabriz, Djevdet ordered the killing of about 800 people—mostly old men, women and children—in the Salmas district (to the north east of Lake Urmia) in early March. On 25 February 1915, the 3rd Army and the all Gendarmerie commands, including the Van Gendarmerie, received Directive 8682, titled "Increased Security Precautions". This directive noted increased dissident Armenian activity in Bitlis, Aleppo, Dortyol and Kayseri, and identified Russian and French influence and activities in these areas. The Operations Division directed that the Third and the Fourth Armies increase their surveillance and security measures. To contrast the directive, Felix Guse, commander in chief of the 3rd Army, wrote that there was no proof that the Armenians had planned or had any intentions of mounting a general uprising. On 23 March 1915, the 1st Expeditionary Force arrived in the vicinity of the city of Van and later stayed to the south of Van during the conflicts.

Prior to these events, killings of Armenian males in the Van region were reported by neutral observers. Djevdet's extremism towards Armenians was more open: "a man of dangerously unpredictable moods, friendly one moment, ferociously hostile the next, capable of treacherous brutality", he had been nicknamed "Nalband Bey" (Lord Blacksmith) after atrocities committed at Başkale in which he had nailed horseshoes onto his victims' feet. Upon returning to Van, Djevdet "instigated a reign of terror in the outlying villages of the province on the pretext of searching for arms." In the process, the Ottoman gendarmeries killed many Armenians. The Armenian leaders of Van in the meanwhile implored the people to endure in silence. "Better," they said, "that some villages be burned and destroyed unavenged than give the slightest pretext to the Moslems for a general massacre.". However, there were also reports at the same time of Turks lynching Kurdish soldiers responsible for particularly harsh atrocities. blockquote | Some of the rules for [the Armenian defenders of Van] were: 'Keep clean; do not drink; tell the truth; do not curse the religion of the enemy. The Armenian defenders of Van, under the leadership of Aram Manukian, established a local provisional government dealing with defense, provisions, administration, and foreign relations, to ensure that the neutrality of foreign property was respected. Judges, police, and health officials were appointed. It soon became urgent to get a messenger out to inform the Russians of events. Several messengers, with messages sewn into their garments, were sent out, and twelve of them got through.

On 28 April, Nikolai Yudenich ordered 2nd Transbaikal Cossack Brigade of General Trukhin and the Araratian volunteer brigade commanded by Sargis Mehrabyan (Vartan) to be dispatched from Yerevan towards Van. One of the twelve dispatched Armenian messengers reached Persia. An Armenian volunteer unit commanded by Andranik Ozanian, and a division commanded by Chernoroyal dispatched from Persia, were also sent on 8 May. On 30 April, the number of refugees in the city totaled 15,000, the greater part of the refugees those fleeing from the countryside as they began to pour into city. The Armenians in the city at this time reached 30,000 residents, and 15,000 refugees in an area of roughly one square kilometer of the Armenian Quarter and suburb of Aigestan. Djevdet allowed Armenian survivors from the villages to enter the city through his lines. It is stated that this strategy was aimed to subdue the defenders with more ease. After easily fighting off the initial assaults, Armenian forces had great problems with their supply of ammunition. Armenians employed all sorts of devices to draw the fire of the enemy and waste their ammunition in turn. Their bullet and cartridge manufacturing reached 2,000 a day. The defenders also improvised mortars and barricades, and reportedly made use of anything they could find. On 6 May, a major Russian offensive toward Anatolia developed. The Ottoman defensive lines consisted of the X and XI Corps and the 5th Expeditionary Force at the north flank located beyond the province of Van. The north flank of the Russian advance, from Tortum valley toward Erzurum, was not part of the operations in Van. However, as part of this Russian offensive, the Ottoman 1st Expeditionary Force and the Van Cavalry Brigade were pushed back from their initial positions by Russian soldiers and Armenian voluenteers advancing toward the city of Van. On 12 May, the town of Ardjish at the north of province of Van was relieved. Djevdet sent one cannon and two hundred men from the city of Van to face this group at the Bargiri (Muradiye). However, it was a late move and far too weak to stop this advance. On 6 May, the conflicts around the citadel of Van (in the Kale District) were over. On the evening of 14 May, a group of ships filled with Turkish women and children evacuating the region sailed from Van. More ships followed the next day. On 16 May, an Ottoman bombardment of 46 shells covered the retreat of the Turkish units. At the same time, there were reports of up to 6,000 Armenians being killed. Contemporary New York Times reports during April–June 1915 attributed the massacres and fighting to Kurdish auxiliary forces rather than Turkish units. Djevdet abandoned the city on the night between 16 and 17 May and retreated toward Bashkale, joining the 1st Expeditionary Force under the command of Kaymakam Halil Bey (Kut). On 17 May, Armenian civilian forces officially had control of the town. At the same time, the advance guard of the Russian forces, which pushed the 1st and 3rd Ottoman Cavalry Brigades from the city of Manzikert since 11 May, reached the northern area of the province and extended up to the shores of Lake Van, and the advance guard of Russian forces already in the town pushed the Ottoman forces with a continued press to the south of city. These retreating Ottoman forces experienced logistical shortages caused by the interdiction of lines of communication. Soon after, the Russian regulars followed them. According to Ussher, on 18 May, the group dispatched from Persia reached the city of Van. By 20 May, the main centers of the Van province were occupied by Russians. On 23 May 1915, a detachment of Russian soldiers occupied the town of Van, thus bringing eagerly awaited relief to the Armenians, who were besieged by the Ottomans. However, the Russians were busy fighting against the Ottomans and they did not have control of the countryside. The only power left in the countryside consisted of Armenian civilian forces. General Trukhin's 2nd Transbaikal Cossack Brigade did not reach Beghrikale until 24 May. General Nazarbekov's 2nd Caucasian Rifle Brigade had been ordered to support Truhin was at Bashkale on 7 May. On 31 May, Trukhin entered city. On the same day, Truhin's patrol and Nazarbekov's advance guard came into contact between Van and Hoshap. General Yudenich received the keys to the city and citadel after his arrival. He confirmed the Armenian provisional government. Aram Manukian was appointed the governor of Van province. Armenakis Yekarian became the police chief. Fighting shifted farther west for the rest of the summer with the city of Van secure. Upon the arrival of the Russians the Ottomans retreated west of Lake Van in the direction of Bitlis.

Throughout June and July, as Turkish and Russian forces battled to the north of the Van region, thousands of Armenians from Mush and other neighbouring provinces started flooding into the city of Van. There were as many as 250,000 Armenians crowded into the city. This included people who broke away from the deportation columns as they passed the vicinity of the province on their way to Mosul. and were joined in the defense by Assyrians. During July 1918 the British Army occupied the greater portion of Mesopotamia during the Mesopotamian Campaign, as well as a large part of Persian Azerbaijan during the Persian Campaign. Preparations were made for the establishment of a large camp for Armenian and Assyrian refugees near Bakubah, Iraq. There were many who died along the road because of weakness and starvation. On 30 October 1918, the Ottoman Empire signed the Armistice of Mudros and military operations ended.

On 15 May 1915, the Russian consul at the city of Van reported that 6,000 Armenians had been massacred at Van, which has been the scene of so many similar outrages during the last twenty years. Henry Morgenthau referring to Doctor Ussher, "after driving off the Turks, Russians cremated the bodies of Armenians who had been murdered in the province, with the result that 55,000 bodies were burned". The systematic massacre of 25,000 Armenians in the Bashkala district, of whom less than 10 per cent, were said to have escaped, appeared to have been ordered. Though Armenian refugees were the focus of attention of the Western powers and all the relief efforts, most of the Armenian deaths still occurred in the refugee camps, where the casualty rate was as high as 300–400 a day in the Russian Caucasus from starvation and diseases, as reported by the British Consul in the area.

Most of killings were attributed to Circassians and Kurds, although some reports state that Turkish troops also took part. Rafael De Nogales, a Venezuelan officer fighting for the Turks, mentions in his memoirs that Ottoman officials had received orders to exterminate all Armenian males of twelve years of age and older. According to Ussher, on 19 April, Djevdet issued an order throughout the Van province, which read: "The Armenians must be exterminated. If any Muslim protects a Christian, first, his house shall be burnt; then the Christian killed before his eyes, then his [the Muslim's] family and then himself." Djevdet was later accused of war crimes at the Turkish Courts Martial of 1919–20 against the Armenians during operations around the city of Van during the spring of 1915.

The resistance occupies a significant place in Armenian national identity because it symbolizes the Armenians' will to resist. The 2002 film Ararat, directed, written, and co produced by Atom Egoyan re stages (with limited means) some fictionalized events of the defense of Van. Ararat won several awards. To commemorate the defenders of the battle a memorial was created during the 1970s in Soviet Armenia in Agarak, Talin village.

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