Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915

The deportation of Armenian intellectuals is conventionally held to mark the beginning of the Armenian genocide. Leaders of the Armenian community in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul), and later other locations, were arrested and moved to two holding centers near Angora (now Ankara). The order to do so was given by Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha on 24 April 1915. On that night, the first wave of 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople were arrested. With the adoption of the Tehcir Law on 29 May 1915, these detainees were later relocated within the Ottoman Empire; most of them were ultimately killed. More than 80, such as Vrtanes Papazian, Aram Andonian, and Komitas, survived.

The event has been described by historians as a decapitation strike, which was intended to deprive the Armenian population of leadership and a chance for resistance. To commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide, 24 April is observed as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. First observed in 1919 on the fourth anniversary of the events in Constantinople, the date is generally considered the date on which the genocide began. The Armenian genocide has since been commemorated annually on the same day, which has become a national memorial day in Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh and is observed by the Armenian diaspora around the world.

Detention
The Ottoman Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha gave the detention order on 24 April 1915. The operation commenced at 8 p.m. In Constantinople, the action was led by Bedri Bey, the Chief of Police of Constantinople. On the night of 24–25 April 1915, in a first wave 235 to 270 Armenian leaders of Constantinople, clergymen, physicians, editors, journalists, lawyers, teachers, politicians, and others were arrested upon an instruction of the Ministry of the Interior. The discrepancies in numbers may be explained by the uncertainties of the police as they imprisoned people with similar names.

There were further deportations from the capital. The first task was to identify those imprisoned. They were held for one day in a police station (Ottoman Turkish: Emniyeti Umumiye) and the Central Prison. A second wave brought the figure to between 500 and 600.

By the end of August 1915, about 150 Armenians with Russian citizenship were deported from Constantinople to holding centers. A few of the detained, including writer Alexander Panossian (1859–1919), were released the same weekend before even being transferred to Anatolia. In total, it is estimated that 2,345 Armenian notables were detained and eventually deported, most of whom were not nationalists and did not have any political affiliations.

Holding centers
After the passage of Tehcir Law on 29 May 1915, Armenians left at the two holding centers were deported to Ottoman Syria. Most of the arrested were transferred from Central Prison over Saray Burnu by steamer No. 67 of the Şirket company to the Haydarpaşa train station. After waiting for ten hours, they were sent by special train in the direction of Angora (Ankara) the next day. The entire convoy consisted of 220 Armenians. An Armenian train conductor got a list of names of the deportees. It was handed over to the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Zaven Der Yeghiayan, who immediately tried in vain to save as many deportees as possible. The only foreign ambassador to help him in his efforts was US ambassador Henry Morgenthau. After a train journey of 20 hours, the deportees got off in Sincanköy (near Angora) Tuesday noon. At the station Ibrahim, the director of the Central Prison of Constantinople, did the triage. The deportees were divided into two groups.

One group was sent to Çankırı (and Çorum between Çankırı and Amasya) and the other to Ayaş. Those separated for Ayaş were transported in carts for a couple of hours further to Ayaş. Almost all of them were killed several months later in gorges near Angora. Only 10 (or 13) deportees of this group were granted permission to return to Constantinople from Ayaş. A group of 20 latecomers arrested on 24 April arrived in Çankırı around 7 or 8 May 1915. Roughly 150 political prisoners were detained in Ayaş, and another 150 intellectual prisoners were detained in Çankırı.

Court martial
Some notables such as Dr. Nazaret Daghavarian and Sarkis Minassian were removed on 5 May from the Ayaş prison and taken under military escort to Diyarbekir along with Harutiun Jangülian, Karekin Khajag, and Rupen Zartarian to appear before a court martial. They were, seemingly, murdered by state-sponsored paramilitary groups led by Cherkes Ahmet, and lieutenants Halil and Nazım, at a locality called Karacaören shortly before arriving at Diyarbekir. Marzbed, another deportee, was dispatched to Kayseri to appear before a court martial on 18 May 1915.

The militants responsible for the murders were tried and executed in Damascus by Djemal Pasha in September 1915; the incident later became the subject of a 1916 investigation by the Ottoman Parliament led by Artin Boshgezenian, the deputy for Aleppo. After Marzbed's release from the court, he worked under a false Ottoman identity for the Germans in Intilli (Amanus railway tunnel). He escaped to Nusaybin, where he fell from a horse and died shortly before the armistice.

Release
Several prisoners were released with the help of various influential people intervening on their behalf. Five deportees from Çankırı were freed upon the intervention of the United States ambassador Henry Morgenthau. In total, 12 deportees were granted permission to return to Constantinople from Çankırı. These were Komitas, Piuzant Kechian, Dr. Vahram Torkomian, Dr. Parsegh Dinanian, Haig Hojasarian, Nshan Kalfayan, Yervant Tolayan, Aram Kalenderian, Noyig Der-Stepanian, Vrtanes Papazian, Karnik Injijian, and Beylerian junior. Four deportees were granted permission to come back from Konya. These were Apig Miubahejian, Atamian, Kherbekian, and Nosrigian.

The remaining deportees were under the protection of the governor of Angora Vilayet. Mazhar Bey defied the orders of deportation from Talat Pasha, the Interior Minister, and was replaced by central committee member Atif Bey by the end of July 1915.

Survivors
After the Armistice of Mudros (30 October 1918), several surviving Armenian intellectuals came back to Constantinople, which was under an allied occupation. They started a short, but intense, literary activity that was ended by the Turkish victory in 1923. Those who have written memoirs and books about their accounts during the deportation include Grigoris Balakian, Aram Andonian, Yervant Odian, Teotig, and Mikayel Shamtanchyan. Other survivors, such as Komitas, developed serious cases of post-traumatic stress disorder. Komitas underwent 20 years of treatment in mental asylums until his death in 1935.

Day of remembrance


The official date of remembrance for the Armenian genocide is 24 April, the day that marked the beginning of the deportation of Armenian intellectuals. The first commemoration, organized by a group of Armenian Genocide survivors, was held in Istanbul in 1919 at the local St.Trinity Armenian church. Many prominent figures in the Armenian community participated in the commemoration. Following its initial commemoration in 1919, the date became the annual day of remembrance for the Armenian genocide.

Notable deportees
Below is a list of prominent Armenian intellectuals, community leaders and other public figures that were deported from Constantinople on 24 April 1915, the first wave of the deportations. The list of names are those that have been provided in the Ottoman Archives and various Armenian sources: