ARMENIAN MASSACRES.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 December 1915, Page 9 (Supplement)

ARMENIAN MASSACRES.

APPALLING SCENES IN SYRIA, EXPERIENCES OP BRITISH !' REFUGEES. Ever since war broke out with Turkey, Egypt has licen receiving thousands of refugees of every sort and kind from Egypt and Palestine. The influx has lately been increased by the arrival of thirteen thousand Armenians from Northern Syria at Port Said, who were brought thither by French warships. The American warship Chester lias arrived at Alexandria from Jana •with nearly 400 British, French, and Russian subjects, and another large batcli of refugees wa's taken by the American warship I)es Moines. The refugees include Jews, wiiii many leaders of the Zionists, who have been expelled by Djemal Pasha. The Pasha is especially annoyed because of the Zion Mule Corps, which consists of volunteers from among the refugees from Palestine, who are engaged in transport work at Gallipoli. The idea that these, Jewish refugees should be helping the Allies has infuriated him, and he is continually upbraiding the Jews with ingratitude to Turkey. The refugees declare that Djemal Pasha has announced that he will extirpate Zionism root and branch, and that not a single Jew will be allowed to re-enter Palestine.

One of the Jewish refugees. Dr. Deinard, an American subject, tells a curious tale of Turkish nervousness on the subject of Zionism. Some years ago be arrived in Palestine from the United States and settled down at Ramleh, which is an hour's journey from Jaffa. He Ibrought a library with him from America, consisting of some thousands of books. Lately the library was confiscated by the Turks, and a eommis-ion was selected to examine the works. The commissioners had hardly begun their investigations when 011 the cover of one of the books they noticed the inscription: "If .1 forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning." The Turks considered these words highly suspicious as savoring of Zionism, and gave orders to send for Dr. Dcinard, who was asked to give an explanation. He stated that he was in no way .responsible for the words, and that they bad been uttered by King David of Jerusalem. The members of the commission were aghast at this reply, and in a state of great excitement said: "So, indeed, there, is really a Zionist King of Jerusalem!" while one of the Turks seized hold of Dr. Deinard and called out: "Tell us at once where this socalled Jewish king is, for he must be found without delay, since by the arrest of this traitor we shall be able to destroy the Zionist movement." Dr. Deinard explained that the king in question wa3 dead, but this did not satisfy the Turkish commissioners, who announced that he must give satisfactory proofs that the king had really expired, with full details'as to his decease. It was only after a long explanation by Dr. Deinard," who was able to make them understand that King David had breathed his last twenty-five centuries ago, and had been buried in Jerusalem, that the commissioners were satisfied that the Zionists had not vet gone as far as to elect a monarch ol their own.

THE URIA REFUGEES. Mrs. Young, the wife of an English doctor at is amongst the latest arrivals at Alexandria from Syria, having come with a party of ladies in the American cruiser Chester. She has a dramatic but terrible tale to tell of her experiences in Syria since the war began, Some of her news is of the first importance. She was a witness" of the horrible massacre of Armenians at Urfa in August, of which comparatively few details have as yet leaked out, and she brings the first authentic news that we have had for some time of the condition of the interned civilians—British, French, and Russian—at Urfa. That city, the ancient Edessa, is 150 miles inland from Aiexandrotta, and it is here that tho civilian prisoners from Syria and Asia Minor are interned. At Damascus eighty or ninety were crowd' ed into a small hotel capable of holding twenty-five, were half starved, and were threatened with death if a single Turk was killed by the "bombardment of the coast towns, for at that time a British cruiser was off Andana anil Alexandretta. The womenfolk were sent to join the men at Urfa. Mrs. Young arrived there with the last batch on August 7, after a terrible journey, in the course of which tliey had been'compelled to spend a whole day on a railway station platform, no food being provided.

At Urfa the allied subjects, British, French, and Russian, to tiio number of about 300, are housed in an Armenian monastery, the original inhabitants of which have all ibecn killed or expelled.

GROUND DOTTED WITH CORPSES. There are. about a hundred British subjects among the prisoners, hut comparatively few are British born, Among them is Captain Gasken, British Consul at Bagdad, who was imprisoned and subjected to very bad treatment before being sent to Urfa. One can imagine, therefore, what their feelings must have been when the massacre of the Armenians at Urfa commenced 011 August 19. "The firing began about 5 p.m.," said Mrs. Young, "and we could hear it all the time we were at dinner and far into the night. We never knew when it would be our turn next, but they did not come near us."

Next day Dr. Young ventured into the town to see if he could do any good, lie found every street dotted with corpses, and had the impression that there could not be a single Armenian left in Urfa.

It seems that the massacre must have been organised, for a systematic house-to-house visitation toolc place. All the men were shot or otherwise done to death, aiuyttie women and children were turned out of the town into the desert, where most of them starved to death. Mrs. Young herself saw hundreds of emaciated dead bodies all along the road, and a few miserable survivors whose demeanour was more like that of hunted wild animals than of human beings. She describes the sight as absolutely unnerving. Nearly all the shopkeepers in Urfa were Armenians, and all of them have now been murdered, including the only chemist who was capable of making up drugs. The news of the capture of Yaij by the Russians had somehow reached Urfa, and -had apparently excited the mob. At any rate this was the official <%• planation of the massacre. Great efforts were made to conceal the traces of the massacre from the American Consul and other neutrals. The blood-stained streets were sanded over and the corpses dragged away with ropes and east into a ravins.