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« Reply #30 on: April 26, 2010, 12:54:07 pm » |
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At the meeting he said that the note was not a “proclamation” but a real letter he, I
mean the Commander of the Turkish Corps, personally had written.
Even if we consented to agree the Turkish requests, and regard the
letter as an anonymous or illegal letter, Colonel Morel did not have
the right to hide the signature of the commander of the regular
Turkish Forces from us and declare the letter as a “proclamation.”
The information we obtained from the Fortress Headquarters on
February 24-25 there was nothing to be worried about at the front.
We heard that a detachment sent to the environs of Tekederesi20 had
surrounded a kurdish gang. It was also said that the troops coming
from Erzurum had allegedly repulsed the enemy troops by several
vests (1 vest = 1.06 km.) in the outskirts of Ilıca.
On February 26, it came to the daylight that the Armenian
detachment sent to Tekederesi from Erzurum was surrounded, that
they were thoroughly dissolved, that the survivors fled disgracefully,
and that the Ilıca detachment retreated running.
Colonel Morel, in his verbal order told me to open fire on the
attacking Turkish troops; however, there were nobody attacking
nowhere. There were panic driven Armenian mobs retreating on the
Harput highway in a disorderly manner. There were groups retreating
calmly along the Trabzon highway just like a convoy in a state of
mobilization without stopping or spreading.
In the afternoon, it was understood that the enemy forces were
around the Gez village21 that was located at a distance of 6 vests to
the city. According to my perceptions there were units of 1.500 men.
The number was unimportant, but they did not look like untrained
kurdish bandits. It was clearly observed that they were well trained
troops conducted and steered in a highly disciplined manner. The
existence of several straggling cavalrymen next to them brought to
mind that they were roughly organized kurdish detachments rather
than orderly troops.
Turkish General Staff, Directorate of ATASE. Türk İstiklal Harbine Katılan Tümen ve
Daha Üst Kademedeki Komutanların Biyografileri [The Biographies of the Division
Commanders and Higher Ranking Generals Who Took Part in the Turkish War of
Independence]. Ankara: TGS Printing House, 1989. pp. 177-179.
20 A village affiliated to Erzurum.
21 A village affiliated to Erzurum.
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