1.5 million : The Puzzle in Remembrance Day Statements

National Archives, Washington DC

Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated as president on  January 20, 2009 and he made his first statement concerning 1915 three months later, saying "Ninety four years ago, one of the great atrocities of the 20th century began. Each year, we pause to remember the 1.5 million Armenians who were subsequently massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire."

Upon these words Bruce Fein said that the President had stumbled. Referring to Armenians' own sources he explained that before WWI there were 1.5 million Armenians altogether in the Ottoman Empire and after the war "280,000 remained in the Empire and 700,000 had emigrated elsewhere"¹.

Yet, on 24 April 2010 the President said:

"On this solemn day of remembrance, we pause to recall that ninety-five years ago one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century began.  In that dark moment of history, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire."

On 24 April 2011 the President said:

"We solemnly remember the horrific events that took place ninety-six years ago, resulting in one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.  In 1915, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their death in the final days of the Ottoman Empire."

On 24 April 2012 the President said:
"Today, we commemorate the Meds Yeghern, one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century. In doing so, we honor the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who were brutally massacred or marched to their deaths in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire."

On April 24, 2013 the President said:

"Today we commemorate the Meds Yeghern and honor those who perished in one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.  Ninety-eight years ago, 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire."

I appreciate the sensitivity of the President concerning genocide as a crime against humanity in general, and his honesty  in saying that his own view has not changed. However, there are a few points that puzzle me and I keep pondering over them. One of them is how come and why the President persistently repeat the figure of 1.5 million concerning the number of Armenians who lost their lives during relocation while even Armenians themselves do not have such an assertion*?

Correspondence from Consul, Aleppo

The White House Officials who write these statements surely must have access to US Archives which contain documents such as  the one sent by the Consulate in Aleppo to the American Embassy in Istanbul on February 8, 1916 after the relocation, reporting that 486.000 Armenians had arrived their destinations and aid*** was received and distributed, however the quantity of food being send was not sufficient and should have been increased.

Documents such as Patriarchate's statement that 644.900 Armenians returned home following Mudros Armistice --surely dead bodies would not be able to return--; reports on Armenians who have immediately set up business in their new towns where they were relocated, locations of camps, hospitals built in the camps are all available in the US Archives. If Turkish historian Yusuf Halaçoğlu reached them as he referred to in his study titled "Ermenilerin Suriye'ye nakli : Sürgün mü, soykırım mı?" (Transfer of Armenians to Syria*: Relocation or genocide?), they should also be equally accessible to the White House Officials. Although the text of Halaçoğlu's study which is available online is in Turkish, copied documents appended in  Belgeler (Documents ) Section of the work are in their original language and can be perused through in the second half of the document if the title above is clicked².

Armenian Girls in Aleppo 1919

Despite these documents in the US Archives, why the President persistently keeps to the figure of 1.5 million, I wonder why.

If I thought  99.999 individuals would join me in asking this question to the President of the United States I would prepare a petition immediately for the We the People petitions page at the White House web site. Is there anyone who thinks that we could have reached 100.000 signatures  out of  6 billion human beings living on this earth to ask this question?

Archival materials from US Archives referred to by Halaçoglu in his study:

NARA 867.4016/193: Copy no: 484; NARA 867.4016/816 Jan 10,1923; NARA, Microfilm No. T 1192, Roll 8; NARA, T 1192 R2.860J/395; NARA 867.4016/251; NARA, Inquiry Report No. 90. s. 56; RG 84 Box 19. No: 414. From J.B. Jackson to Mr. L. R. Fowle. June 14, 1917-; Department of State Papers..., 86oJ.5811; Near East Foundation Archives, American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief Minutes, 1915-1919; Annual Report of the Commissioner General of Immigration to the Sec of Labor, Government Printing Office, beginning 1895-1932;

The New Near East, Vol.6, Nu.7, Genel Nu. 31, 23 Ocak 1920, s.28.

Notes

*   Armenians say 1.5 million too, but they are talking about a period from 1915 to 1923, ei. that ends by the foundation of the Turkish Republic. This implies a claim that Turks continued killing civil Armenians during the War of Independence while they were trying to save their skins.   I have earlier covered this topic in my post titled Just “1915 Armenian Genocide” or “1915-1923 Armenian Genocide”?.  If we return to the figures, as stated by several scholars it is impossible to work out the exact figures, but very roughly what I gather is that it was intended to relocate nearly 1 million Armenians out of a population of 1.5 million. 284.000 were exempted from relocation as they were not conspiracy  suspects,  290.000  went to Caucasus and Iran on their own choice, and some 100.000 or may be more converted to Islam or were hidden by neighbours and thus stayed back. By the time the operation was ended those who were relocated were  about 500.000.  This calculation leaves us with some 300.000 missing. This is certainly still a high number. However, there was a war going on and since Armenians were belligerents on the side of the Allies in Russian, French and Greek armies, attacking the Ottoman Empire they must have some casualties as all parties of WWI. There was starvation, there was epidemics and everyone, including Ottoman Army soldiers and Muslim or Christian all civil people were under the same threat and many lost their lives naturally.  Irregulars were all around and they were dangerous since they wanted to take revenge. In view of the fact that 800.000 Muslims were also on the move in a similar way but towards inner Anatolia and that the losses of Turks and other Muslims living together with them from late 1800s to 1922  was 5.5 million, one can easily see that there is no such thing which can be called genocide.  Armenian losses soon after the war were estimated between 250.000 - 750.000.

**  Syria was not an independent country but an Ottoman province at that time. Deir el Zor which is today a province of Syria was also one of the Ottoman Provinces.

*** Talat Pasha, the Grand Vizier, ei. Prime Minister who was held responsible for the alleged genocide, personally helped in aid to reach the needy. It is worth comparing this with the situation of Jews in the hands of Nazis during WWII, their lot was not food and business but gas to die. Armenian assassins killed Talat Pasha in Germany.

Statements of President Barack Obama on Armenian Remembrance Days:

April 24, 2009          

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Statement-of-President-Barack-Obama-on-Armenian-Remembrance-Day.

April 24, 2010.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/statement-president-barack-obama-armenian-remembrance-day.

24 April, 2011.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/23/statement-president-armenian-remembrance-day .

24 April, 2012.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/24/statement-president-armenian-remembrance-day.

24 April, 2013.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/04/24/statement-president-armenian-remembrance-day

References

Fein, Bruce. "Lies, Damn Lies, and Armenian Deaths". The Huffington Post, June 4, 2009. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bruce-fein/lies-damn-lies-and-armeni_b_211408.html

Halaçoğlu, Yusuf. Ermenilerin Suriye'ye nakli : Sürgün mü, soykırım mı?" [Transfer of Armenians to Syria*: Relocation or genocide?]  http://www.ttk.org.tr/templates/resimler/File/01.pdf

Armenian Holocaust:My Story blog by Selma Aslan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Gayriticari-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.