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APRIL
24, 1915
Regarding these
revolts and massacres, the Ottoman Government merely declared
to the Armenian Archbishop, deputies and community leaders
that appropriate measures would be implemented if the Armenians
did not stop massacring the Moslems. However, the intensification
of the events, the increase of attacks against defenseless
Turkish women and children and the war that waged on several
battlefronts all at the same time necessitated to secure the
rear lines.
The first move
adopted on April 24, 1915 was to ban all Armenian committees
and to arrest 2.345 leaders for crimes against the State.
The date of April 24, commemorated by the Armenians abroad
as the anniversary of genocide against Armenians, is
the date of these arrests and has nothing to do with the replacement.
The Etchmiasin
Patriarch, a priest named Kevork, sent the following cable
to the United States President upon this move:
Mr. President,
according to the latest news received from the Turkish Armenia,
a massacre started there and an organised terror has put the
Armenian lives in danger. In this precarious moment, I am
addressing to the noble sentiments of the great American nation
and ask you to intervene immediately through your Great Republic’s
diplomatic representation for protecting my people left to
the mercy of the violence of Turkish fanaticism, on behalf
of humanity and Christian belief.
Kevorg, Ecumenic
Patriarch of all Armenians.
This cable
was followed by the Washington contacts of the Russian Ambassador.
The incident
here was merely the banning of Armenian committees and the
arrest of the culprits. Yet, the Armenians endeavoured to
display it as a massacre and to rally the United States and
Russia into their ranks.
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