“The Armenian Genocide: Breaking the Silence”. The conscription of the Armenians in the Ottoman army was for recruiting, disarming, slaughtering

Ahead of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide Aysor.am presents a special project within which we shall consider cultural, scientific and social projects implementing these days.

Today we talked to the director of “Armenpress” News Agency, PhD Aram Ananyan, who is working on a scientific research about the conscription of the Armenians in Ottoman Empire before the Genocide.

- Mr. Anayan, first of all, why is the study of this research so important?

- I have to say that over the last 100 years Genocide and its history were thoroughly investigated by both historical and legal aspects. Many archives, works are put into the scientific circulation, and reading all this I discovered that a problem still remains completely unexplored: that is the issue of Armenian soldiers’ slaughtering in the Ottoman army. The Ottoman Empire's Christian population was also drafted into the army during the First World War. It is, of course, followed by the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 and for the Armenians the recruitment in the Ottoman army was the first step which was aimed at depriving any opportunity to defend itself. I will explain why.

Until the mid-19th century non-Muslims have not had the opportunity to serve in the Ottoman army and instead have paid the poll tax. I have discovered a fact, that the Greek sailors were drafted into the navy since 1847. Then, in 1855, a decision was adopted on compulsory military service, but it caused dissatisfaction among   Muslims and Christians: so it was decided to set tax.

Thus, we must underline, that there was no regular military service for non-Muslims before the Young Turk revolution. After the revolution, in 1909, the military law was changed in Turkey. The Young Turk government eliminated the tax for exemption of military service. The terms were created for equal military service, regardless of religious affiliation. It is noteworthy that the teachers, foreign citizens and caregivers of old people could exempt from military service.

In fact, the military service could be very important for Armenians, because military affairs had been unknown for them, consequently, they were defenseless while living in the Ottoman Empire so many years. Armenian military memory had been erased for centuries. However, the Armenians even being drafted never bore arms.
According to available data, the non-Christians recruitment in the Ottoman army took place in three age groups: 20 to 45, 15 to 20 and at the end 45 to 60 age groups. That is, all the men theoretically and practically capable to capture weapons were conscripted, disarmed and subjected to brutal exploitation in labor battalions.

The information on the number of army conscripts is not ambiguous in those years. There are few data. Turks, for example, note about 50 thousand recruits, which is actually impossible. Other sources mention about 100 to 200 thousand recruits.

I would like to cite the German ambassador’s information, got from the interview with the Patriarch, just to understand the attitude towards the Armenians at the beginning of the First World War. “Men fit for military service have been drafted into the army others have been used for transfer and similar services. They are exposed to attacks by the soldiers who are involved in the theft of corpses”.

Thus, we can conclude that the goal of this recruitment was to dislodge and to kill the population who were capable of protecting.

- Mr. Anayan, what sources have you used for the research?

- I use all the sources available. Basically I want to work with the materials published by Turkey and Turkish allies. Their data may be closer to the reality, because it comes from the military, army.

It is compelling, because, for instance, I don’t know a single case when the country commits crimes against its own army. That is: the country conscripts the soldier and kills him during the military service. And this has happened in the Ottoman Empire.

There was a condition: to conscript the Armenians, disarm, exploit in the labour battalions and kill them there. This was the first phase of the organized massacres and it worked by a clear mechanism.  Even pro-Turkish historians write about these facts. There is also information that in some cases the Armenians were sent to the front, just to be killed there.

It should be noted that the massacre took place not only after the conscription, but often, during the muster.

I will cite information, which is dated on April 29, 1915, “29-year-old conscripts are called up and sent to distant province.  Their exact number is not known, but there are a few thousand soldiers”.

People were recruited and killed under the conscription pretext. In addition, there is a terrible reality, strong and snout Armenian soldiers have been used in medical experiments. They have been even subjected for Typhus vaccine testing. The test results have been published in local newspapers.

There exist many evidences about Armenian soldiers who came to the camp on vacation and could not find their families.

Armenians were used for the road and railway construction. There was an important project, the Berlin-Istanbul-Baghdad railway: Armenians have been working on the construction.

Moreover, the attempted murders against Armenian workers have been prevented by Germans for not breaching works of railway construction.

Generally I do not set a deadline to complete the work. But I think it will be another proof of the Ottoman Empire's genocidal Policy.