Remembering Fall of Erzurum, 16 February 1916

Erzurum, 1918

"On January 2, 1915, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia appealed to Britain for assistance against the Ottomans, to ease the offensive in the Caucasus. Britain and other Allies began planning a naval demonstration in the Dardanelles to divert troops from the Caucasian theatre of operations [1]. Not only Gallipoli Campaign but severe winter conditions helped Russia and Sarikamish Battle was a victory for them, while Ottoman Army was defeated with heavy losses mostly because of lack of supplies suitable for winter. However, winners and losers changed roles at Gallipoli where the Ottoman Army was victorious in the Campaign which ended on January 9, 1916. Nikolai Yudenich, commander of the Russian Caucasus Army, knowing that the end of the Gallipoli Campaign would free up considerable Turkish soldiers, prepared to launch an offensive on the Caucasian Front [2]. 

Granny Nazire & the family

In January 1916, Muslim people started leaving their homes to save their lives in harsh winter conditions not to become captive of Russian Army which comprised Armenian troops and voluntary units as well. My paternal granny Nazire was among them together with her family. Those who had an ox cart or a horse were lucky, the others set to road on foot. One of my early posts is about her. The look in her eyes when she said "Biz muhacir olduk (We became mühadjir=emigrant)" never left me as she used to repeat when her memories took her to those tragic war days. My maternal granny Aysha was taken to Malatya among children of civil officers who remained on duty in the war zone as I wrote in another post.

Granny Aysha

Before this enforced migration, the population of Erzurum was 705.000. 488.000 emigrated and 217.000 remained behind in the city captured by Russia with contributions of Armenians which made Armen Garo very proud as he expressed in his writings [3]. When Erzurum was emancipated 173.000 of emigrants returned, whereas 108.000 chose to settle at their destinations. These figures leave us with 207.000 people lost during emigration only from Erzurum province, which is 42 percent of emigrants [4]. Compare this with 20 percent loss amongst Armenians relocated to Der Zor under protection and care of the state.

Erzurum unfortunately fell on February 16, 1916, 98 years ago. When Russians retreated after October 1917 Revolution, Armenians took control of the city and exerted atrocities and inflicted ethnic cleansing in an attempt to change population ratio where they held only 17 percent of the population before the war.

In 1917, 150,000 Armenians were relocated to the provinces of Erzurum, Bitlis, Muş and Van by temporary Armenian administration. Armen Garo (former Ottoman Member of Parliament Karekin Pastirmaciyan) and other Armenian leaders asked for the Armenian regulars in the European theatre to be transferred to the Caucasian front [5].

Thankfully the Ottoman Empire began to reinforce its Third Army on the eastern front and fighting began in mid-February 1918. Armenians, under heavy pressure from the Ottoman army and Kurdish irregulars, were forced to withdraw from Erzincan to Erzurum (March 12, 1918) and then to Kars and eventually evacuated this city on 25 April. 

I remember my grandparents and those who suffered and lost their lives in my hometown Erzurum where the loss rate was 31 percent and elsewhere in the war zone.

A poem in Turkish by Kemalettin Kâmi which tells how people got ready in the evening and set early in the morning in tears, leaving behind their window sills on which their elbows rested, trees in their gardens on which nightingales sang ... can be found at Erzurum Araştırmaları web site.

References
1. Gallipoli Campaign. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign. Accessed on 16.02.2014.
2. Erzurum offensive. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Erzurum_(1916). Accessed on 16.02.2014.
3. Garo, Armen. Why Armenia should be free : Armenia's role in the present war (1918). https://archive.org/details/whyarmeniashould00garo. Accessed on 16.02.2014.
4. Erzurum'un Kara Günleri. Erzurum Araştırmaları Web Sitesi. http://www.erzurumluyum.net/?q=esas-maddesi/2893%20. Accessed on 16.02.2014.
5. Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partitioning_of_the_Ottoman_Empire. Accessed on 16.02.2014.