Albert J. Amateau, residing
at #413 Oak Vista Drive, in the village of Oakmont, City of Santa Rosa, County
of Sonoma in the State of California, being duly sworn, deposes that he has
prepared and hereby submits the attached statement containing (a) facts, (b)
extracts from published and/or uttered communications which disprove the allegations
of Armenians that their ethnic brethren suffered genocide by the government
of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923.
These facts are submitted
to oppose approval of resolution S.J.212, introduced by the Honorable Robert
Dole, Senator and Republican leader of the United States Senate, at the first
session of the 101st Congress of the United States. The said resolution seeks
to designate April 24, 1990, as the "National Day of Remembrance"
of the 75th anniversary of the alleged Armenian genocide of 1915-1923 perpetrated
by the government of the Ottoman Empire.
I was born in Milas,
Turkey, on April 20, 1889. In 1905 I was a student at the American Internatioal
College in Izmir (Smyrna), Turkey. At the time, The Reverend John McGlaglan
was President and I attended classes in English conducted by Professors Lawrence
and Evan-Jones. These details to make it possible to ascertain the truth of
my statements.
There, I became acquainted
and friendly with many Turkish born Armenian students, most of whom were my
seniors. Because my Grandfather, whose name I bear, had been the French Consul
in Izmir, I was mistakenly considered a Christian and a Frenchman. The Armenian
students felt that they could freely discuss their membership in Armenian
secret societies, i.e., Huntchak and Tashnak Zutiun, and their active participation
in secret military exercises to prepare themselves for military duty in their
planned subversive war against the Ottoman Empire and nation. In alliance
and collaboration with Tsarist Russia.
In 1906 a number of wealthy
Armenians in Izmir were assessinated. Mr. Hayik Balgosian and his friend,
Mr. Artin Balokian, had been shot by two men in front of the Balgosian mansion
in Karatash, an affluent section of Izmir. Days later, the large establishment
in the center of the Izmir Bazaar, the SIVRI-SSARIAN, wholesale dry goods
warehouse and store, was bombed. Mr. Agop Sivri-Ssarian and a number of his
Armenian employees were killed. The perpetrators then sent secret messages,
in Armenian printed lettering, threatening a number of Armenian merchants,
doctors, lawyers and architects - unless they "contributed" the
sums the leaders of the secret societies had assessed, the recepients would
suffer the same fate as Balgosian and Sivri-Ssarian.
A majority of these addresses
must have "contributed". A few, who evidently were satisfied with
their economic, social and political status, did not approve of the plans
for subversion and rebellion. They informed the Izmir Police of their suspicion
of the identity of the leaders of the secret societies and that the Apostoloc
Armenian church on ERMENI MAHALLESI, the main Armenian quarters in Izmir,
was possibly the repository of arms and ammunition for the planned rebellion.
I witnessed the police
raid on that church; and the truck loads of arms and ammunition which were
taken out. Also the arrest of five priests and a number of other Armenians
who were in the church at the time of the raid, including a few of my fellow
students of the American College. Evidently I had not taken the disclosures
of my fellow students seriously enough. Also, I could not understand the Armenian
logic for rebellion against a country that had given its ethnic minorities
the right to observe and practise their religion, conduct schools for the
instruction of their young in their ethnic language and favored many of them
with positions of trust. I knew of many Armenians in important positions in
the Ottoman Treasury, Foreign Affairs, and as functionaries as consuls,.
I knew of many affluent
Armenian doctors, attorneys and even a couple of bankers and architects. It
was well known that the Armenians were the merchant princes of the Empire
and that the Sultan favored them, especially because, of all the ethnic communities,
they were the only ones who spoke the difficult Turkish language as a second
language to their own Armenian.
Armenian terrorists in
the United States and their duped friends have made it a career to assassinate
Turkish consular officilas, supposedly in revenge for the alleged Armenian
massacre in 1915. Their prelates, leaders, and even our own California governor,
Mr. Deukmejian, have not seen fit to express their disapproval, and by their
silence have tacitly approved of the assassinations. The leaders of the secret
Armenian societies, Huntchak and Tashnak Zutiun, have continued their nefarious
activities by agitating for the introduction of their alleged genocide into
the instruction program of the public schools of the State of California.
They have also been able,
through their boast of one million Armenian votes, to influence State representatives
in passing laws to place their Armenian program for a motion picture into
operation.
Now they are trying to
have the Congress of the United States pass a resolution to designate April
24, 1990, as the 75th anniversary of their alleged genocide of 1.5 million
Armenians by the "Ottoman Turks in 1915". I am amazed that intelligent
and politically astute gentlemen, such as Senator Robert Dole, the leader
of the Republicans in the Senate, and others, his colleagues, have been importuned
to sponsor that resolution without any proof of the veracity of the Armenian
claims. There is no doubt in my mind that Senator Dole and his colleagues
are honest and honorable men. They have been duped to believe the Armenian
allegations as true.
To establish the truth
to the satisfaction of the Senators, I am submitting extracts from statements
- in fact, avowais - by Armenian leaders in their addresses and/or communications
with their adherents. These extracts, and the entire statements, are unimpeachable,
and the veracity of my quotes can be easily ascertained. I am also submitting
statements of others, but especially of Professor John Dewey, of Columbia
University, who investigated the Armenian claims of genocide.
a) EXTRACTS from the
November 1914 issue of the OFFICIAL ARMENIAN GAZETTE HUNTCHAK, published
in Paris, France, by the Armenian Revolutionary Committee of the ARMENIAN
NATION. This was a CALL TO ARMS! "...The entire ARMENIAN NATION will
join forces - moral and material, and waving the sword of REVOLUTION, will
enter this World conflict.... as comrades in arms of the Triple Entente,
and particularly RUSSIA. They will cooperate with the ALLIES, making full
use of all political and revolutionary means for the final victory of Armenia,
Cilicia, Caucasus, Azerbayjan.... heroes who will sacrifice their lives
for the great cause of Armenia....Armenians proud to shed their blood for
the cause of Armenia...." -Please note the date. It was even before
the declaration of war.
b) EXTRACTS from a
letter dated JANUARY 27, 1918, and published in the LONDON TIMES on JANUARY
30, 1918, signed by BOGHOS NUBAR, the recognized leader of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, TASHNAK ZUTIUN. This was a complaint that the
Allies had refused to invite the ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE HUNTCHAK
to the PEACE CONFERENCE at which the treaty between Turkey and the Allies
was signed in Lauzanne, Switzerland.
"...The unspeakable
sufferings and the dreadful losses that have befallen the Armenian Nation
by reason of their faithfulness to the Allies.... The fact well known
only to a few that ever since the beginning of the war, Armenians fought
by the side of the Allies on all fronts... Armenians have been belligerents
'de facto' since their indignant refusal to side with the Turks... our
volunteers fought in Syria and Palestine (at the time part of the Ottoman
Empire) in the decisive victory of General Allenby.... After the breakdown
of Russia, the Armenian legions were the only forces to resist the advances
of the Turks whom they held in check until the armistice was signed. Thus
they helped the British forces in Mesopotamia (at the time also part of
the Ottoman Empire) by hindering the German/Turkish forces from sending
troops elsewhere."
----Please note the
reference to refusal to side with the Turks, the nation where they were
born and of which they were a part. There is no claim of genocide.
c) EXTRACTS from the
MANIFESTO, delivered by His Excellency, HOVHANES KATCHAZOUNI, PRIME MINISTER
of the ARMENIAN REPUBLIC (established after the First World War) at the
CONVENTION of the ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FEDERATION, in Bucharest, Romania,
JULY 1923. This was in the nature of a report. "...In the fall of 1914,
when Turkey had not yet entered the war but was already making preparations,
Armenian revolutionary bands began to form with great enthusiasm...
The ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY
FEDERATION had active participation in the formation of these bands and the
military action against TURKEY... In the fall of 1914 Armenian volunteer bands
fought against TURKEY... This was an inevitable result of the psychology on
which the Armenian Nation had been nourished during an entire generation...
the winter of 1914 and the spring of 1915 were periods of great activity,
greatest enthusiasm and hopes... We had no doubt that the war would end with
complete victory for the Allies and Turkey would be defeated and dismembered,
and its Armenian population would at least be liberated... We had embraced
Russia wholeheartedly without any compun(...)... we believed that the Tsarist
government would grant us self government in the Caucasus and in the Armenian
vilayets (Turkish provinces where many Armenians resided), liberated from
Turkey, as a reward for our loyalty, our efforts and our assistance. Unfortunately
Russia did not keep its word..."
One and a half million
Armenians are claimed to have been massacred. The avowals of their leaders
prior to and after the First World War prove that there had been no massacre
- their leaders would have referred to it or claimed it as their calamity,
or at least as their contribution to the Allied cause. The allegations of
massacre and/or genocide are a later invention to compel the new Turkish Republic
to cede to them the five vilayets where they had installed the Armenian Republic,
which they later had to give up to the Turkish Republic after a brief war.
The Armenians have ever since been trying to obtain either the territory to
add to the Russian Armenian Republic, or a large sum of money as the price
for stopping the terrorism.
The Armenian people must
blame their own leaders and their secret revolutionary societies for the subversive
actions which led to their participation in the war with the Allies. They
can blame Russia for reneging on its promise, and the Allies for not giving
them due credit for their help, but they certainly have no reason to blame
the Turkish Republic and/or even the now defunct Ottoman Empire, as their
own leaders confessed. Let us now see what Professor John Dewey, of Columbia
University, has to say -a broad minded Christian gentleman who went to the
Middle East in 1928 to investigate the Armenian claims of genocide. This is
extracted from his report published in THE NEW REPUBLIC, vol. 40, November
12, 1928:
"Few Americans
who mourn, and justly, the miseries of the Armenians, are aware that till
the rise of the nationalistic ambitions, beginning with the 70s, the Armenians
were the favored portion of the population of Turkey; or that in the Great
War, they treacherously turned Turkish cities over to the Russian invaders;
that they have boasted og having raised a hundred and fifty thousand (150,000)
men to fight a civil war, that they burned at least one hundred (100) Turkish
villages and exterminated their populations. I do not mention these things
by way of appraising or extenuating blame, because the story of provocations
and reprisals is as futile as it is endless. Finally, one recalls that the
Jews took their abode in "fanatic" Turkey when they were expelled
from Europe, especially Spain, by "Saintly" Christians, and they
have lived in Turkey for some centuries, at least in as much tranquility
and liberty as their fellow Muslim Turks, all being exposed alike to the
rapacity of their common rulers. To one brought up, as most Armenians have
been, in the Gladstonian and foreign missionary traditions, the condition
of the Jews of Turkey is almost a mathematical demonstration that religious
differences had no influence in the tragedy of Turkey, only as they were
combined with the aspirations for political separation, which every nation
in the world would have treated as treasonable..."
Professor Dewey had evidently
not been told of the rejection by the Jewish Communities of Turkey of the
appeals by the European Zionists for political and financial assistance. Insofar
as the Jews of Turkey were concerned, the Zionist proposals were "subversive",
unless and until the Ottoman government agreed to them. At no time did the
Jews of Turkey nurse aspirations for political separation from their Ottoman
saviors, who had received them when no other country allowed their either
entry or residence. In 1922 in Izmir, Kemal Ataturk, when he captured 100,000
Greek soldiers who had been allowed by the Allied governments to invade and
occupy Turkey in Asia, said: "OF ALL THE ETHNIC MILLETS (Communities)
THE JEWS ELECTED TO REMAIN LOYAL TO THEIR MOTHERLAND." Now for a brief
view of Armenian atrocities against Muslim and Jews - EXTRACTS from a letter
dated December 11, 1983, published in the SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, as an answer
to a letter that had been published in the same journal under the signature
of one B. AMARIAN, claiming 1.5 million victims of genocide by the Ottoman
Turks:
"..We have
first hand information and evidence of Armenian atrocities against our people
(Jews) which preceded the so-called massacre of Armenians which you allege
in 1915. Members of our family witnessed the murder of 148 members of our
family near Erzurum, Turkey, by Armenian neighbors, bent on destroying anything
and anybody remotely Jewish and/or Muslim. Armenians should look to their
own history and see the havoc they and their ancestors perpetrated upon
their neighbors... Armenians were in league with HITLER in the last war,
on his promise to grant them self government if, in return, the Armenians
would help exterminate Jews... Armenians were also hearty proponents of
the anti-semitic acts in league with the Russian Communists. Mr Amarian!
Prove that, as you say, a large scale massacre of Armenians occured. I don't
need your bias." Signed ELIHU BEN LEVI, Vacaville, California.
Attached as the last page of this statement is proof of Armenian collaboration
with Hitler.
My friend, Franz Werfel,
of Vienna, Austria, a writer, wrote a book entitled THE 40 DAYS AT MUSSA DAGH,
a history of the massacre of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks. The story was
told him by his friend, the Armenian Bishop of Vienna and Werfel never doubted
the Bishop's account. He did not investigate what he wrote. Years later, when
the true facts about Mussa Dagh were established by the research of neutral
investigators - which was never denied by the Armenians - Werfel discovered
that he had been duped by his friend, the Bishop, with a concocted story.
Werfel confessed to me his shame and remorse for hav
THE TRUTH
Fifty thousand Armenians,
residents of villages in and around Erzurum in Turkey surreptiously ascended
a mountain called Mussa Dagh (dagh is Turkish for mountain) with arms, ammunition,
victuals and water, sufficient to withstand a siege of many days. Before ascending
that mountain, they had captured hundreds of Muslim Turks and Jews, their
fellow citizens and neighbors, with whom they were supposedly on good terms.
They murdered them all in cold blood, for no other reason than they were Muslims
and Jews. Thereafter, every night armed Armenian bands came down from that
mountain and attacked the rear of the Ottoman and German armies fighting the
Russian invaders. This was at the very beginning of the First World War, and
part of the secret plans made by the Russians and assigned to the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation. ing written that story, in which he had blamed the
Ottomans as the aggressors and terrorists.
The Turks were mystified.
The Armenian attackers would disappear. Try as they did, at first the Ottomans
were unable to trace the disappearing Armenians, but finally they discovered
that Mussa Dagh was the hiding place. The Ottomans found the mountain fortress
unassailable. They laid siege and waited 40 days before the Armenian rear
guard conceded defeat and laid down their arms. But the Ottoman forces found
the mountain empty. The large army had disappeared down the other side of
the mountain where they had found an exit to the Mediterranean. French and
British men-of-war had been signalled and they picked up the main army, transporting
the soldiers to Alexandria, Egypt, then under the control of the British.
Less than 500, the rear guard who gave themselves up, were zaptured by the
Ottomans.
Yet, in telling the story
to Werfel to write, the Bishop had claimed 50,000 victims captured and put
to death - an invented story, just as is the story of 1.5 million massacred
in 1915. If 1.5 million Armenian lost their lives during that war, they died
as soldiers, fighting a war of their own choosing against the Ottoman Empire
which had treated them decently and benignly. They were the duped victims
of the Russians, of the Allies, and of their own Armenian leaders. A few thousand
Armenians may have lost their lives during their relocation, caused by their
own subversion.
In making this expose
of the truth and disclosing my home address, I know that I risk Armenian harrassment.
I have already been subjected to telephone and written threaths! However,
the truth must be told. As one born in the Ottoman Empire, from which I emigrated
in 1910 and have never returned to live, I must declare:
1) I am not and never
have been employed or paid by any government in Turkey.
2) I am not now and
never have been financially interested in any business in Turkey.
3) My parents died
before the Second World War. My sister and brother-in-law, residents of
the Island of Rhodes, were captured and murdered by Hitler's Nazis. I have
no relatives or friends in Turkey. It should be evident that I have no motive
in taking the risk, other than my conscientious duty to tell the truth out
of my love for my native land. I beg the Honorable Senators and other government
officials to demand from the Armenians proof of their claims and explanation
of the statement of avowals made by their own leaders. Under the circumstances
and in view of the above proof, I cannot conceive that the Senators can
in good conscience pass that resolution.
It is not enough to say
that they do not mean to hurt the Turks or Turkish/American relations. By
entertaining that resolution without proof, they are actually going against
the interests of Turkey and the safety of the United States and of NATO.
Albert
J. Amateau
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