Message #451

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Upon my declaration of my authority as a Division Commander, my not needing any superiors, and my assertion that I
would gladly submit my resignation at once if he continued to insist;
he issued an order saying Colonel Doluhanov was appointed to
Erzurum Fortress to deal with the affairs of the artillery. He started
sending the orders and the regulations on behalf of Antranik, not in
his name.
Senior Armenian Lieutenant Canbolatyan, who was working as an
artillery battery commander in my regiment, was trying to interfere in
my affairs. When he learned about the plans made for the
transferring of the artillery guns, and about the partially broken
electric motors and projectors he said he would not allow the transfer
even of a single gun, and continued “Russian officers may or may not
stay, but the Armenians will stay no matter what the circumstances
are. They will be in need of these guns.”
It was evident that the Armenians, under the disguise of serving the
Russian interests, were actually in pursuit of taking all the command
and control into their own hands, and have all the Russian officers
execute their orders.
It gradually came to surface that they were taking steps in pursuit of
declaring free Armenian state with the help of the Russian officers
rather than working for the Russian interests. They were trying to veil
their true intentions with all their might. Otherwise, there was a
possible threat of majority, or all, of the Russian officers’ leaving at
once. The Armenians did not have any artillery officers.
The Armenians were afraid of artillery officers’ leaving their posts.
The Deputy Commander of the Caucasus Mountain Artillery Battalion
Captain Plat told me about an incident. He said that the Armenian
administrators, on learning that the Mountain Artillery units were to
be transferred to Sarıkamış from Erzurum on February 7, arrested the
Commander of the Mountain Artillery Supply Battalion on February 5
in a hurry; and released the officer upon the orders of the Army
Commander. Armenians arrested him three times afterwards, and
threatened him saying they would drench Erzurum in blood if the
Mountain Artillery would ever leave Erzurum. What he implied with
drenching Erzurum in blood, was in fact drenching it with the blood of
the Russian officers. The arrested were being released upon the
interventions of the Russian officers at the headquarters. The Army
Commander postponed the withdrawing of the Mountain Artillery.