Talk:Saimbeyli

= Comments =

The French Role in the Massacre at Hadjin
--82.245.112.91 (talk) 07:05, 6 November 2010 (UTC)The change in the military policy of General Gouraud, the French High Commissioner for Syria, indicated in these columns last month, was blamed by the Armenian Bureau in London for the capture of the Armenian town of Hadjin, 100 miles north of Adanain the Cilician Taurus, and the massacre of the inhabitants, 10,000 Armenians, by the Nationalists. The siege of Hadjin had been going on since March, the French column which relieved Aintabin that month having failed to relieve it.

According to the tripartite agreement, France, like Great Britain and Italy, is obliged to keep her army of occupation in her sphere until the safety of minorities shall be guaranteed and all three contracting powers shall have agreed that the Treaty of Sevres has been executed by Turkey. Nevertheless, General Gouraud shortly after his arrival at Mersina in September, finding that order had been restored over the greater part of the Cilician plain and the foothills of the Taurus and that part of the Turkish population was being kept from its holdings by Armenian " squatters," deemed that further offensive measures were unnecessary, while a peaceful, reconstructive policy might tame the Nationalists and appease the Government at Constantinople. He therefore dismissed ColonelBremond, whose policy had recently been to encourage the Armenian element; ordered the Armenian leaders to co-operate in the disarmament of the Armenian Legion (which had been trained and equipped by the French, and was about to march to the relief of Hadjin), and informed the refugees from Anatolia that they must leave Cilicia. The Armenians refused to comply, whereupon the column leaving: for Hadjin was disarmed, some Armenian notables were arrested, and about 14,000 refugees were deported into French territory in Syria. General Gouraud also informed the Armenian element that, as French troops would eventually evacuate Cilicia, Armenians resident there must choose between accepting Turkish rule or leaving the country. This is the third attempt that has been made to win the Nationalists by pacific measures. ref>Current< History A. Monthly Magazine Of The New York Times Volume XIII October, 1920—March, 1921 Published By The New York Times Company New York City, N. Y. 1921