Message #457

[Mod_1]

It is your internal affair. We, the Russians, have nothing to do here!”
morally.
Finally he said, “If we, as human beings, really want to put an end to
massacring of the civilians determinedly; then we, with all our
characteristics as human beings, should continue to stay in Erzurum
to prevent the Armenian mobs from massacring the Muslims in
Erzurum.”
Doctor Zavriyev’s words did not have any repercussions at all. After
the meeting he told me that there were no signs of hope and that all
the officers would leave soon.
I found an opportunity to read several documents 10 days after the
Turkish forces’ delivering Erzurum from occupation. In those
documents I saw that our suspicions on the declaration of the
Armenian autonomy with the help of the Russian officers were not
groundless at all. In those documents Dr. Zavriyev was explicitly
talking about the intentions of establishing an autonomous Armenia.
The document was bearing a much earlier date than Zavriyev coming
to Erzurum.
Dr. Zavriyev was not mistaking in his evaluations of the morale state
of the Russian officers. Our intentions of leaving could be seen on our
faces. It was evident what the Armenians asked for, and why they
needed the Russian officers.
We were all soldiers, and we did not have any intentions in dealing
with politics. We could never have considered the Armenian partisan
engagements as our own.
Antranik’s words proved to be nothing more than vain promises.
People did not believe in them. The market places were closed.
Everybody was in fear. There was nobody in the streets of the Muslim
districts of the town. Only one or two shops near the town hall were
open. Only a few Turks would come together during the day light. No
Armenian was sentenced to death. Armenian plan worked as follows:
“There are no criminals. Show us the murderer. So we can send him
for trial immediately. How can we punish a person without knowing
who the criminal is?”
In spite of the Armenians’ claims, the Armenians were told
unceasingly that the Russian officers had shown them lots of criminal
Armenians who were released without being punished; that finding of
the Armenians sought by the police was not the Russian officers’ duty; that if the Armenians were really in pursuit of finding the criminals
they had the means of finding them in no time.