Today’s Zaman article unveils stories of Ottoman Armenian Intellectuals

PanARMENIAN.Net - An article Forgotten Ottoman Legacy: Armenian Intellectuals was published at Today’s Zaman unveiling the stories of Armenian intellectuals, inspired by author Nesim Ovadya İzrail’s book.

“According to Hrant Dink, what happened in 1915 was total destruction for both the Turks and Armenians. Some terrible and horrible things that both communities are unable to define, acknowledge and address happened in that year,” the article says.

“The Deportation Law was adopted on May 27, 1915. The bill, which formally entered into force on June 1, was specifically designed to facilitate the deportation of the Armenian communities of the Ottoman state; thousands of Armenians were relocated under the provisions of the law. Even though the bill was adopted on May 27, April 24 is marked as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day by Armenians around the world. Interior Minister Talat Paşa ordered the arrest of leading Armenian figures on that day. Armenian intellectuals, writers, artists, teachers, lawyers, doctors and deputies were arrested in their homes early on April 24 and taken to detention centers. The arrests spread to other provinces within a few days. Nesim Ovadya İzrail, author of the book “24 April 1915 İstanbul, Çankırı, Ayaş, Ankara,” recalls that initially, 197 intellectuals were put under arrest. Then an additional 53 were taken into custody. İzrail further argues that 174 Armenian intellectuals were executed without a trial after four months of detention. The remaining 76 were released on the orders of the central government,” the article says.

“Krikor Zohrab: journalist, parliamentarian, university professor. Zohrab was elected after the pronouncement of the second constitutional monarchy as an İstanbul deputy; he was one of the Armenian representatives of the Committee for Union and Progress in Parliament. Zohrab, one of the most active members of Parliament, was famous for his eloquent speeches. He addressed a large audience in Turkish on July 31, 1908 in the Taksim Municipal Garden. He ended his speech saying: “We have different religions; but we do have the same path. And that path is the road to freedom.” These remarks suggest that Zohrab was an Ottoman. He was not a nationalist; he was a pro-Ottoman intellectual. He had a lot of friends, including Talat Paşa, the most powerful man of the time. According to Izrail, both were Freemasons. Despite their friendship, Talat did not hesitate to signed the papers for the arrest of Zohrab. Zohrab was killed in Urfa; his head was smashed with a stone.”

“Zabel Yesayan was an Ottoman-Armenian intellectual who lived in Üsküdar, İstanbul. She was the first Armenian woman to study literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne. She witnessed the Adana massacre in 1909. She was listed among those who would be arrested on April 24. Yesayan was the only woman on the list; she fled to Bulgaria. However, in 1937, she was placed under arrest for publishing anti-Soviet propaganda during Stalin's rule and exiled to Siberia. There is no precise information on when and how she died,” the article says.

The article goes on to tell the stories of Komitas, Levon Larents, Arisdekes Kasparya. Komitas lost his mind, Larents died in 1930 in İstanbul, Kasparyan was killed in 1915 in Ankara.

“We are aware of the role of Armenian intellectuals who defended Turkish nationalism. Diran Kelekyan, chief columnist of the Turkish-language Sabah daily, delivered one of the most enthusiastic speeches to encourage the Ottoman state to enter the war in Balkans. But even he was one of the people who were arrested on April 24; he was murdered in Sivas,” Izrail said.