Among the graduates of the Imperial College of Medicine were doctors who made scientific discover’es, such as Hulusi Behçet, Akil Muhtar, Celal Muhtar and Re?at Hasan S???nd?m, who diagnosed monocyter Leukaemia. Yet there were other graduates, engaged in politics such as Dr. Nihat Re?at Belger and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, who were involved with the Young Turks and the Union and Progress Party (Ittihat ve Terakki) against the despotic rule of Sultan Abdülhamid and had to flee to Paris. The lives of these two doctors, who chose to serve their country in politics show a great similarity with regard to their scientific works as well as their political views. Dr. Nihat Re?at Belger has been a prominent figure in bringing forth the Ankara Agreement with the French and also provided assistance to the Turkish Committee presided by Ismet Pasha during signing of the Lausanne Treaty. He was appointed as the Head of the newly established Hydroclimatology Department following his success in diagnosing Ataturk’s illness. Dr. Nihat Re?at Belger also served as the Minister of Health for some time. He was given an honorary doctorate in scientific field by the University of Sorbonne.[1] He had to flee to Paris due to his political views, where he specialized in Forensic Medicine and Psychiatry. With the declaration of the Constitutional Period, he returned to Istanbul in 1908, to teach at the University of Medicine, formed by the merging of the military and the civilian schools of medicine. He also joined the Central Organization of the Union and Progress Party. In 1918, following the World War I, he was forced to leave the country on November 2, 1918 along with the other members of the Party. Dr. Bahaddin ?akir was shot and killed in Berlin, Germany together with Cemal Azmi Bey, on April, 17, 1922, by Aram Yergenian and Arshavir Shirakian, members of a network called ”Nemesis” formed by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation or Dashnak Organization, as more commonly known.[2]

This tragic news was published in the magazine of the University of Medicine, where Dr. Bahaddin ?akir was once a teacher:

“We received with great sadness the news of the death of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, a former teacher at the University of Medicine. The assassination of Dr. ?akir in Berlin has caused great grief in our country. He is survived by his wife and two sons, the eldest of which, is 10 years old. We hereby extend our condolences to his grieving family.[3]

While researching for information regarding Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, all we could obtain was a short biography of his and a picture in the publications[4] of Professor Dr. Cahit Özen, Professor Dr. ?ehsuvaro?lu and Professor Dr. ?emsi Gök. As we continued our research, we received a visit from Mrs. Gülseren Yalter, who was a close relative of Dr. ?akir. Mrs. Yalter kindly gave us the copies of interviews given by Professor Halil Bertkay to Ne?’e Düzel of the daily Radikal and ?ahin Alpay of the daily Milliyet, on October 29, 2000 and October 20, 2000, respectively. During these interviews Professor Dr. Halil Berktay stated as follows: ”In 1915, Bahaddin ?akir, who was a member of the Secret Organization, coordinated some special death squads, made up of prisoners who narrowly escaped death sentences to organize the massacre of 600.000 Armenians. Those people were similar to Ye?il, Çatl? and the Hizbullah of our day. These are the clear facts. In the past, Bahaddin ?akir was what Ye?il is today”. I explained to Mrs. Yalter my long-standing interest in the subject, and about my undergoing research based on local and foreign sources.  In the meantime, the Turkish press was criticizing the interviews given by Berktay in Paris, regarding the Law for the Alleged Armenian Genocide that was under discussion in the French Parliament. Particularly, there was one interview by Berktay, published on November 9, 2000 in L’Express; the interviewer asked him if he had any proof to the fact that the genocide was organized by ‘the Secret Organization’ (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa) of the Union and Progress Party, Berktay replied: ” Of course, this task was given to the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa) to be carried out. There cannot be any written document supporting such a task. However there are some indications verifying that such an order exists”. This interview given by a historian without any concrete proof was met with great resentment in the Turkish press.[5] Furthermore, former Ambassador ?ükrü Elekda?, who is very well informed on the subject, gave the following statement to a newspaper, under the heading: ”Dr. Halil Berktay’s suggestions regarding the Alleged Armenian Genocide does not reflect the truth nor the impartial demand for proof expected of a man of science, there is no planned genocide”. Former Ambassador Elekda? continued his argument as follows:

“The allegation by Berktay that the relocation ordered by Union and Progress resulted in a genocide committed by the Secret Service (Te?kilat-I Mahsusa) is nothing more than a repetition of those claims long supported by Armenian historians.

However, the Armenians have not been able to bring forth any kind of proof with regard to this allegation. Therefore, what Berktay claims is a charge with no concrete evidence what so ever.

The Secret Service (forerunner of today’s national Intelligence Agency) was charged with the task of enlisting the assistance of Russian, Egyptian and Indian Moslems to the Ottoman State in the event of a war.”[6]

We shall try to give some insight on this subject, which we have tried to summarize, in line with the knowledge derived through local and foreign sources of information under the heading of ”The Assassination of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir in Berlin, and the Relocation of the Armenians”. 

Dr. Bahaddin ?akir and the Armenian Relocation

As far as history is concerned, the historical events have to be evaluated objectively by means of sources such as original documents, pictures and figures and within the sociological context, and through careful scrutiny of the events, which led to the final outcome.[7]

The radical concepts that stemmed from the French revolution in 1789 encouraged nationalism and led to the start of revolts in Middle Europe and the Ottoman Empire, as well as giving rise to the establishment of small nations in the Balkans. During this period, these ideas and concepts extended to the Armenians, who lived in the Ottoman Empire as ‘loyal subjects’ until then, and to those in Tsarist Russia. With the help of certain schools founded by the Americans to promote Protestantism such as Robert College in Istanbul as well as others established in Tarsus and Kayseri, and through certain hospitals in Gaziantep and Merzifon, some Armenians were taken as kids to the States, to be educated as clergymen, teachers and doctors. Thus the Armenian revolts in Eastern Anatolia, the storming of the Ottoman Bank in Karaköy on August 26, 1896 and the assassination attempt to Sultan Abdulhamid by the Armenians are episodes, which took place prior to World War I and can be identified as the start of the Armenian revolt and the Armenian terrorist movement. Only after Moslem blood was shed, could the Armenian terrorist movement, be appeased, by Hamidiye Military Corps, as well as the police forces, during the reign of Sultan Abdülhamid.[8] It is claimed by some sources that the ‘Young Turks Movement’ and the Union and Progress Party were started by Turkish intellectuals, who blamed the despotic rule of Sultan Abdülhamid for these events, in the Medical College and some other colleges long before 1889.[9]

In the meanwhile, Mehmed Bahaddin ?akir, was born in Bulgaria in 1870, as the son of Abdullah Efendi, and migrated to Istanbul with his family. He later entered the Imperial Military Medical Faculty and graduated in 1896 as a Doctor, with the military rank of Captain.9a He was appointed as an assistant-professor in 1900, as the result of an examination he had taken and passed, and the following year he became Prince Yusuf ?zzeddin’s private doctor.

However, due to his revolutionary ideas, which had started while he was a medical student, and the sympathy he felt for the Young Turks Movement and the Union and Progress Party, he refused his post as Military Doctor for the 4th Regiment in Erzurum and fled to Paris. From Paris, he secretly came to Istanbul to join the Union and Progress Party. In 1905, he travelled to France once again via Egypt to specialize in Forensic Medicine and Psychiatry in the Medical Faculty of Paris and studied under Prof. Thoinot and Prof. Brouardel. Bahaddin ?akir returned to Istanbul, following the Declaration of Constitution, and resumed his duties as an assistant professor at the Military Medical Faculty and as private doctor to Prince Yusuf ?zzeddin. In 1909, the military and the civilian medical colleges merged together to form the Medical Faculty in the new building in Haydarpa?a. At this time, his teacher Ali Rü?tü Pa?a was appointed as the Morgue Director, thus vacating his position as the Assistant Dean to the Medical Faculty, to which Bahaddin ?akir was appointed in 1910. In 1912, during the Balkan War, Bahaddin ?akir was taken prisoner while working as the Head Physician of the Edirne Hospital, when Edirne was seized by the Bulgarians, and returned to Istanbul after being freed.[10]

Dr. Bahaddin ?akir married Mü?ir Tahir Pa?a’s widow, upon his death as he had earlier fallen in love with Cenan Han?m, when he had been visiting their house as a doctor. Dr. ?akir had two sons, Alp and Celasin, both named by his close friend Ziya Gökalp. In 1913, Dr. ?akir was appointed as the Director of the Morgue, upon the death of his teacher Ali Rü?tü Pa?a, although his other duties continued. The same year, he was appointed to the posts of Physician to the Department of Justice and Head of the Medical Committee of the Department of Justice. In our archives, there is a card of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, stating the above-mentioned positions.

In 1917, the Medical Justice Department was reorganized and Dr. ?akir resigned from his posts at the Justice Department and only kept his position as a professor at the Medical Faculty. During this period, he was drawn into a more political way of life in line with his membership at the Union and Progress Party. According to Ali R?za Altogan, a student of his at the Medical Faculty, Dr. Bahaddin ?akir was a good-looking and proud teacher, who was very good at giving lessons and performing autopsies to help the pupils understand the subject thoroughly. He was also very interested in politics.[11]

We can hereby state that, on the occasion of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir’s take off on November 2, 1918, in a German submarine with the well-known members of the Union and Progress Party such as Enver Pa?a, Talat Pa?a and Cemal Pa?a, following the Mondros Armistice, and upon his assassination in Berlin on April 17, 1922 by Armenian terrorists, the below-mentioned reasons are suggested by certain sources of information:  

1- His role, as a member of the Central Committee of the Union and Progress Party (Ittihat ve Terakki), in issuing the law (May 30, 1915) to deport the Armenians from the Southern Anatolia to further southern regions.

2- His role, as a member of the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa), which, as later claimed by the Armenians as being responsible for the genocide during the relocation.

According to the available documents, we can state that the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa) was established by Enver Pa?a before the World War I, long before the Armenian events in 1915 and has no connection with the Armenian Relocation.  One of the two significant sources relating to this is the memoir of Hüsameddin Ertürk, one of the founders of the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa), which were published in 1957[12]. The other source is the book, written by a member of the Secret Organization, which was published in 1957, by the daily Vakit under the signature of A. Mil (Arif Cemil) and which also explains that the Secret Organization was in no way linked to the relocation of the Armenians.[13] According to Hüsameddin Ertürk, the main aim of the Secret Organization was to unite the Moslem population under a single flag, thus attaining a kind of pan-Islamism. On the other hand, uniting the Turkish race under a single political cause enables the realization of a pan-Turkish society. It is obviously clear that Enver Pa?a had been affected both by the pan-Islamism in Emiri Efendi’s Union and Progress Movement as well as the pan-Turkish society ideals of Ziya Gökalp. The Secret Organization was an establishment, which was highly honoured by the Union and Progress Party, and its carefully chosen, loyal members organized many movements and revolts in the Turkish and other Moslem countries before and during World War I.[14]

The first leader of the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa) was Lieutenant Commander Süleyman Askeri Bey, who was eventually killed while fighting against the British spy Lawrence in the Saudi-Arabian Front. Among the other members were Da??stanl? Nuri, who later became a General, Infantry Officer Rusuhi who afterwards became the Aide-de-Camp to Atatürk, and Hüsameddin Ertürk, who was the head official of a district.[15]

“The Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa) was active in several regions. Kara Kemal, known as Küçük Efendi, Nail Bey of Yenibahçe and Artillery Major R?za Bey from Trabzon were in control of the group dispatched to Eastern Anatolia. Also responsible for the group were Trabzon’s Governor Cemal, Erzurum’s Governor Tahsin and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir and Dr. Fuad Sabit from the Central Committee of the Union and Progress Party.”[16]

Dr. Bahaddin ?akir had been very successful in strengthening the Union and Progress Movement in Erzurum, just prior to the beginning of World War I, and took measures against the spying of the Armenian Dashnak members by having them deported beyond the frontiers with the help of gendarmerie and furthermore demanded the appointment of three Armenian policemen to elsewhere in Mid- Anatolia to stop them from spying, after he found evidence that they did so.[17]  Following the perishing of the Turkish Army of the cold and typhus fever, due to a faulty decision of Enver Pa?a’s, while fighting the Russians in the Allahuekber Mountains, the regiments of the Secret Organization under the command of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, along with the German forces commanded by Stange, defeated the Russians and took back Ardahan in December 29, 1914.17a

The documents of the Secret Organization state that the genocide of the Moslem population during the Russian occupation of Kars and Ardahan, were caused due to the Armenians:

“The provocations of Caucasian Armenians directed towards the Moslem population had no end. A Russian newspaper, named Caucus K?slova was printed in Tiflis and continuously reported that the Moslems were traitors, thus provoking the Government against the Moslems.

Due to these provocations, there were mass killings in Kars and Ardahan and the Moslems who lived near the frontier were banished to Siberia, Russia.”[18]

The same source explains the report given by Dr. Bahaddin ?akir to the Central Management of the Union and Progress Party in Istanbul as follows:

“Dr. Bahaddin ?akir had been a witness to many serious events during the four or five months he spent in Erzurum and the Caucasian Front. He had strong evidence that the Armenians were helping the Russian army and acting thoroughly against the Turks and believed that we should be just as concerned about this enemy on the inside as much as we are about the enemy outside. The Armenians were forming guerrilla teams to attack the army or to cut off its supplies.” Dr. Bahaddin ?akir informed the headquarters in order to protect the Turkish army from this danger and to enable the preparation of a suitable strategy. The negotiations regarding the strategy resulted in the issue of the relocation law.

When Dr. Bahaddin ?akir returned to the Caucasian Front once again, he immediately noticed that a new situation prevailed. However, we cannot help but mention these points. Since the relocation of the Armenians is totally beyond the action of the Secret Organization.[19]

We shall point to two matters:

1- It is stated in the last sentence that ‘the subject of the Armenian Relocation is totally unrelated to the activity of the Secret Organization, in other words has nothing to do with the Secret Organization.’

2- The Armenian Relocation Law was not issued as a result of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir’s report on the subject, there were two other reasons that brought about the Law, and these are as follows:

a- An extensive collection of documents and evidence regarding the mass killings of the Moslems was released by the Foreign Ministry (by a committee presided by Ismet Inönü) under the heading of ‘The Acts and Actions of the Armenian Rebellion: Before and After the Declaration of the Constitutional Period’. This study was first released in Turkish in 1916, then in French in 1917.[20]

b- Furthermore, as stated in the ‘Exile Memoirs of Talat Pa?a’, it was suggested by the German Army that the Armenians around the Eastern Front should be banished to other regions to cut out their extensive help to the Russians.[21]

Furthermore, in the memoirs of the high ranked officers of the German Army, it is clearly stated that the relocation of the Armenians had been the result of the Armenians helping the enemy. The Germans bitterly accused the Armenians of backing the Russians.[22]  For instance, Pomianowsky accuses the Armenians for bringing forth their own relocation, by providing assistance to the enemy. Again, according to Pomianowsky, due to the epidemic diseases spread by the Armenians, around 1.000.000 Moslems, and a great number of soldiers became victims to the diseases and died.[23]

Berktay’s claim that 600.000 Armenians died in Anatolia during the relocation and that 10.000-20.000 Turks died during the same period, as stated to Ne?e Düzel of daily Radikal is therefore altogether erroneous.

According to the official Ottoman documents, the number of Armenians in Eastern Anatolia amounted to 1.250.000. Professor Justin McCarthy increased this number to 1.500.000, (by demographic method) claiming that some of the population could have missed being counted due to the mountainous characteristic of the region. (Muslims and Minorities, New York 1983) [24] 

According to Toynbee’s blue book, the deported population accumulated in Zor, Damascus and Khaleppo is around 500.000 on April 5, 1916. Since the relocation lasted until October 1916 and as all the deportees were not sent to these three districts, the number should have increased by the end of 1916.

We have registered the number of deportees to be 702.900. If all the deportees were sent to those three regions alone, and if all deportees who were deported after that date died, then the number of deportees who died during relocation would be 200.000.[25] However, according to McCarthy, the death toll for the Turks during the World War I was around 2.500.000 and some of these deaths have occurred in Eastern Anatolia (Armenians in the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Bosphorus University Press, 1984).

In order to obtain the most reliable information on this subject, one has to check with the four-volume document called ‘Armenian Cruelties in Anatolia and Caucasus according to the Archives Documents’. In this document, it is stated that the Armenians have massacred a total of 517.955 Turks between 1914-1921.[26]

Another record that concurs with the above-mentioned facts is the report, which was written and released in French on June 7, 1919 by the Foreign Ministry. It is recorded in this report that 276.075 deportees returned to their homeland after 4.5 months of exile and were transported free by train as a gesture of goodwill. ‘Furthermore, the document states that the Moslem population living in the Eastern provinces had been subject to the cruelties and injustices of both the Russians and the Armenians, and 1.000.000 Turks were forced to migrate to the west from the regions of Erzurum, Bitlis and Erzincan, causing a death toll for 701.166 among them. These figures are official statistical figures and when added 300.000, they add up to 1.000.000. The government has protected the rights of the deportees even though this was against the benefit of the Moslem population.’ [27]

The death toll of 300.000 Turks, as indicated in the Ottoman documentation, during the relocation of the Armenians, has been confirmed by the US General Moseley, who came to Turkey to investigate the situation and stated that the Armenians had massacred 300.000 Turks.[28]

Consequently, it is evident that during the relocation resulting from the government’s obligation to protect itself, some Armenians had been killed by diseases such as typhus fever, as well as being attacked by Kurdish and nomad bandits. The government officials, who were found guilty of stealing from the Armenians or killing them, had been executed following their trials. However there is no command regarding massacre ever given either before or after the relocation.[29] A strong evidence to this is the article written by the German General Bronsart Schellendorf, who was known as Bronsart Pa?a by the Turks. The article, which was published in Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on July 27, 1921, states that the Turks did not commit any pre-planned massacre during the relocation. Moreover the decision for the relocation was taken in order to safeguard the Ottoman Army of the terror caused by the Armenian assistance to the Russians.[29a]

With regard to the developing situation, the Imperial Ottoman Army Commander-in- Chief made the following suggestion to the Ministry of Interior on May 26, 1915, for the protection of the army as well as the whole nation:

The Armenians should be deported from the Eastern Anatolian cities to the south of Diyarbak?r, the F?rat Valley and to Urfa and Süleymaniye regions. This forced migration was the result of a necessity. Otherwise, the rebellions and revolts, as well as massacres taking place in the above-mentioned regions, were endangering the movements of the army, while providing assistance to the enemy, thus causing danger.

The proposal issued by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces was enacted into law. It should be pointed out that this legislative measure, both in its scope and implementation, bears no relation to what even today is referred to as the ‘Relocation Law’. Not a single Armenian was deported. Relocation means the expulsion for various reasons from within the borders of a country of a person who has resided there for a length of time, whether he is a citizen of that country or not. It was not the Armenians who introduced the word ‘deportation’. It first appeared in 1918 in the course of a extraordinary parliamentary investigation and in a special court of justice set up at the end of the occupation in Istanbul with the purpose of humiliating the Union and Progress Party in the eyes of the world and the Turkish people, denouncing its members as traitors and throwing the blame on them for dragging Turkey into the war. In short, the term ‘deportation’ was introduced and applied by the enemies of the Union and Progress Party and by governments under the British influence after the occupation of Istanbul. For the Armenians, the term became a propaganda theme; unfortunately even today it is still used by almost everyone in reference to the Armenians. [30]

Following the signing of the Mondros Armistice on October 30, 1918, the Ottoman Empire was forced to retreat from the Caucuses and Iran into its borders before the war. In the meantime, the discredited leaders of Union and Progress Party, such as Enver Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a, and Talat Pa?a and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir had fled to Odessa by a German submarine and later took a German military train from Odessa to Berlin.[31] The Allied Forces, which occupied Istanbul after the Armistice, particularly the British were keen on catching the members of the Union and Progress Party, and looked upon them as traitors. The new Parliament Committees were assigned the job of investigation and interrogation.[32] Consequently, Talat Pa?a, Enver Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a, Bahaddin ?akir, Cemal Azmi, Naz?m, Aziz and Bedri were prosecuted with imprisonment in default. Their expulsion was demanded from Germany, with a letter dated November 22, 1918.[33] This demand was refused by the Germans. The matter was mentioned in a letter dated November 29, 1918, written by Talat Pa?a, who was in Berlin to Enver Pa?a in Crimea with the following words:

“Following our departure, the Government has asked for our expulsion from Germany to Turkey, stating that we have a great amount of money in our possession. The German Foreign Ministry has refused our extradition but declared that in line with the law of extradition of criminals, they would comply if the necessary court papers, regarding our guilt were forwarded to them. The Embassy, under the influence of some scoundrels, demanded the imprisonment of some associates, to which the German Government unfortunately consented. Now all of them are scattered to some place or other but there is no serious search being held to catch them.”[34]

According to a document (F.O. 371/4142/82794) at the British Foreign Office Archives, the alleged Armenian massacre, injustices to Arabs and the killing of British soldiers were investigated by the Ottoman Parliament, of May 29, 1919, with regard to locations where Enver Pa?a frequented.

The letter, now in the Prime Ministry Archives, demanding the return of Talat Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a and Enver Pa?a, and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, Aziz, Cemal, Bedri and Dr. Naz?m, issued by the Bab?ali Justice Department and the court order of May 29, 1919, as well as the judgement of the Court Martial are as follows:

1- Of the aforementioned persons Enver Pa?a, Talat Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a and Dr. Naz?m Efendi were prosecuted in default by the Court Martial on July 5, 1335 (1919) (Rumi Calendar), based on the fact that they personally represented the Union and Progress Party, and on their actions against the Constitution, and attempts to change and destroy the Government. They were prosecuted according to the 55th amendment of the law, with the charge of being sentenced to imprisonment and the court minutes shall be published in the Ottoman Official Gazette (Takvim-i Vekayi). In accordance with the first amendment of the mentioned law, the Court Martial is the only court that is in charge of prosecution of the performance of political crimes against the state.

2- The documents pertaining to the police inspector have been dispatched from the Court Martial to Istanbul Prosecutor’s Office on July 16, 1335 (1919) (Rumi Calendar)

3- The court has ruled in favour of the investigation to be conducted about Dr. Bahaddin ?akir for the crimes of killing and relocation as well as political crimes as he was a member of the General Management of the Union and Progress Party and also for the investigations to be conducted for Isa Hilmi Efendi .

4- Police Superintendent Aziz Bey was prosecuted for destroying important documentation. A statement of the Court Marshal, which was published in the daily Ikdam dated April 15, 1335 (1919) and numbered 7967 stated that he was also connected to the Secret Organization of the Union and Progress Party, but no evidence could be found to ascertain this connection.

5- As stated by the Government’s lawyers, the innocence and the diplomatic papers of the prosecuted persons have been established except for Trabzon’s former Governor Cemal Azmi Bey, who was sentenced to imprisonment for the crimes of murder and relocation in default by the court on May 22, 1335 (1919) (Rumi Calender). The five statements of the court are open for further discussion in a higher court.

Regarding Talat Pa?a, Enver Pa?a; Cemal and Naz?m Efendi, the necessary documents and files have been investigated and it was decided to demand their expulsion from Germany, through the Embassy in Berlin, in line with the agreement signed between Ottoman Empire and the German State. The request for expulsion was first accepted by Germany, however later the Germans declared that the accusations were of political nature and refused the expulsion of the said persons, except Enver Pa?a, who was not in Germany, anyway.

A most significant point is the fact that Dr. Bahaddin ?akir was not given a sentence of imprisonment even though he was ”prosecuted for the crimes of murder and relocation, and on the other hand, had undergone Court Martial due to his political offences as a member of the Union and Progress Party Headquarters, similarly like Hilmi Efendi.” In this document it is also stated that among those who are demanded by diplomatic means to be returned to Turkey, only the former Governor of Trabzon, Cemal Azmi Bey was found guilty of murder and relocation and had been sentenced to imprisonment in default on May 12, 1919.

On the other hand, Police Superintendent Azmi Bey was accused of being involved with the Secret Organization however no evidence regarding this connection could be obtained by the Justice Department.

The document also states an interesting phrase regarding Dr. Bahaddin ?akir’s extradition from Germany:

“The above mentioned court order dated June 16, 1335 (1919), numbered 109/16358 has been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice and since the 181st amendment of the law was mentioned in the dispatched proposal, its contents were not taken into consideration. Since the contents of this court order cannot be forwarded to the German Government, it is necessary to demand the extradition of the concerned on the basis of their imprisonment sentences.”

Consequently, despite all the prepared and submitted documents, the German Government refused to extradite any members of the Union and Progress Party, including Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, as these verdicts were based on political principles.

A letter[35] written on January 11, 1919 by Calthorpe to the British Foreign Office, which is now at the archives of the British Foreign Office, verifies that the British Government compelled the Ottoman Government to detain and penalize the members of the Union and Progress Party.[36]

It is stated in the memoirs of Hüsameddin Ertürk Bey, a member of the Union and Progress Party, that during the occupation of the Allied Forces in Istanbul, when Zaven, the Patriarch of Istanbul, informed the Grand Vizier Damat ?brahim Pa?a that a certain man had killed Armenians during relocation, the Court Martial presided by Judge Kurdish Mustafa Pasha (nicknamed Nemrud) of the First Court sentenced him immediately to death penalty.[37] Among those who were sentenced to death penalty and executed were Kemal Bey, the district governor of Bo?azl?yan and Nusret Bey, the Governor of Urfa. Due to these unjust executions, the students of the medical college and the people of Istanbul had marched to the Ministry of War in Beyaz?t, upon which the British decided to send the Turkish intellectuals, who were members of the Union and Progress Party, and were being detained in the Bekira?a Quarters to Malta to prevent further marches.[38] Hüsameddin Ertürk who helped with national struggle against the enemy in Anatolia, was caught and tried for being a member of the Union and Progress Party. When he was captured in Istanbul, he was accused with commanding Armenians to be deported and killed while he was positioned in Ankara during World War I. Four Armenians, each of whom was paid 150 liras, were brought to court to testify against him. Hüsameddin Ertürk was questioned by Judge Kurdish Mustafa Pa?a and asks him ‘I have a secret reason, could you kindly listen to me?’ The Judge invited Hüsameddin Ertürk to his chambers and Hüsameddin Ertürk said to the Judge:

“Your Excellency, during the last years of World War I, do you remember asking for a position in the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa) to Enver Pa?a, promising him that you can arrange for the Kurds to act against the Russians, as you were part of an important Kurdish clan, as well as a colonel and a diplomat?

Yes, your Excellency, I believe that you will remember this request of yours as it had been accepted by Enver Pa?a and he had written to Halil Pa?a, who then was the Commander of the Army in Baghdad. I had personally written that letter myself. However, the reply from Halil Pa?a was not affirmative. He had sent a telegram saying:

“There is no need for this now. Even so, Enver Pa?a had taken you into the Secret Organization (Te?kilât-? Mahsusa) and arranged for you to receive an allowance and gave me the duty of providing your house with food and other necessities. Now, how can it be a crime to work for the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa), how can you accuse us by organizing revolts against the government and the Sultan and thus demand our execution? I am in awe that you are actually thinking this. If it is a crime to belong to this party, then I shall be obliged to announce, before my death, that the judge of the court, which has sentenced me to death, was once a part of the same organization, as well. And I have enough evidence to prove this fact, your Excellency.”

The Judge, who was also known as ‘the Kurd’ and ‘the Cruel One’ laughed at my face and said:

“Yes, Hüsameddin Bey, all you say is true. I was a part of that organization for some time and worked for it. I know you very well indeed. You are a straight and good soldier and I am sure that you were never involved with anything other than being a soldier. I am also sure that your only aim was to unite the whole Islam world. But a Court Martial under siege acts on sentiment. This is an order that we have received from the upper echelon.  Anyhow, I shall get you of this terrible situation. I shall rule that you will be tried without being arrested. Now you can decide about the rest. I am letting off the death sentence. Get out of Istanbul, because if you came to court once more, I swear that I will hang you without batting my eye. I suggest you run and be on the look-out all your life, as you will be followed and tracked.”[39]

It is most significant that Hüsameddin Ertürk, who has been a witness to all the incidents that took place at that time, and has played a vital role in the establishment of the Secret Organization (Te?kilat-? Mahsusa), and personally controlled and commanded the Secret Organization in Anatolia (M.M.), indicates that the Court Martial under the ruling of Kurdish Mustafa Pasha had taken into account false statements in order to prosecute and condemn the heroes of the National Struggle against the enemy, on the grounds of deporting and massacring the Armenians. This was done by the influence of the occupying forces and was directed to include the members of the Union and Progress Party, as well.

Therefore, it is not possible to consider the verdicts of this court as concrete evidence to the occurrence of a massacre during the relocation of Armenians in 1915. Furthermore, a document, dated May 6, 1919 and written in French and which is in the Archives of the Prime Ministry, states: ”Two lawyers each from the countries of Denmark (April 19, 1919), Spain (March 17, 1919), Sweden (April 19, 1919) and Holland (March 17, 1919) were requested to participate in the international committee to be formed to investigate if any injustices were made during the relocation.

The delegates of the investigation committee were to visit provinces in Anatolia to make inquiries to establish any injustice that took place and to solve the matter by lawful means.

However, this venture was not realized, as the concerned nations refused to send delegates (at the requested time).[40]

The replies sent by these nations, via their embassies, are also available at the same archives. The reply sent by Holland dated March 17, 1919 is most interesting, as it states:

“The Queen’s Government, taking into account the best interest of Holland, deems it unsuitable and unnecessary to participate in such an inquiry.”[41]

Consequently, the formation of an international committee to investigate if there were any injustices held during the Armenian relocation could not be possible with the refusal of the above-mentioned neutral countries to participate in the committee. It is claimed by some sources that Tevfik Pa?a Government’s attempt to form an international investigation committee with the participation of two lawyers each from the neutral countries was deliberately prevented by the British, who in turn wished to form an International Tribunal to take legal action against Turkey. A letter, stating this wish by the British Foreign Office was forwarded on April 2, 1919 to Mr. Balfour at the Peace Conference in Paris41a. However, instead of waiting for the formation of the International Tribunal, the British exiled 78 Turks to Malta on May 28, 1919.

Moreover, one of the leading members of the Union and Progress Party, Said Halim Pasha, who was exiled to Malta, personally applied to the British Government, with the request of an international court investigation, pointing out that he and his friends had been exiled to Malta due to the biased accusations of the Armenians and the Greeks. Said Halim Pa?a requested an international court investigation to investigate if there were any evidence to these accusations. The British refused this request, as they could not find any evidence either in their archives or in the archives of the United States to support the presence of a massacre.[42]  No doubt, the refusals of Denmark, Sweden, Spain and Holland played an important role in the decision, as well.

Furthermore, the leaders of the Union and Progress Party such as Enver Pa?a, Talat Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, who are accused of issuing the law of relocation, had taken this decision to protect the army and the country, and the Armenians had been subject to relocation due to this reason and that they could, in to way, be accused of any attempt of genocide, and the relocation law was not issued with the idea of racial discrimination. The verification regarding the above stated could be summarized as follows:

1- A confirmation that the aim was not racial discrimination or genocide, as the Armenians maintain, is Talat Pa?a’s acceptance of the United States Ambassador Mongenthau’s request for the allowance of 500.000 Armenians to immigrate to the United States. However, due to the difficulties of an ongoing war, the United States Government refused this request.

2- Another testimony to the fact is the position of the Armenians in port cities like Istanbul and Izmir. If such genocide were relevant, then all of these Armenians would also be subject to the same relocation law. However, only 2345 out of 77.735 Armenians were deported from Istanbul, and none from Izmir.[43]

3- Furthermore, the United States Army Commander-in-Chief, General James G. Harbord, along with a committee of 46, came to Istanbul, via Paris on August 24, 1919, and toured Eastern Anatolia and the Caucus Region, met with Mustafa Kemal Pa?a in Sivas on September 15, 1919. The report by General Harbord, submitted on his return, states that they had not found any evidence of genocide, or any attempt of genocide, on the contrary, they had found evidence relating to the massacre of thousands of Turks as well as the destruction of 43 Turkish villages in Hasankale, Erzurum by the Armenians.[44]  

During the Paris Conference, Boghos Nubar, leader of the Armenian Delegation reported to General J. Harbord of a massacre during the relocation and the establishment of an Armenian Nation at the Eastern Anatolia. General Harbord asked Nubar if he had investigated these accusations at the places he mentioned, to which Nubar replied that he had been born in Egypt and had never been in Armenia in his life, upon which Harbord had reached the following conclusion:

“If a person who was the head of a delegation, had never actually visited the place he persisted was ‘Armenia’, this proved only one thing: That the allegation was definitely biased.”

Harbord wished to reach further evidence by contacting people who were supposed to have suffered during this incident. Out of the ones he spoke to, one Armenian stated that ”the massacre was horrible, I was massacred twice” led him to further believe that the accusations were totally unreliable.[45]

As all these evidences suggest, the claim for the “Alleged Armenian Genocide” is totally far from the reality, and that the relocation was only a result of the prevailing Armenian terrorist movement. However, the Turks never succumbed to terrorist acts even in return. Here, we quote from Heath W. Lowry, who made extensive research on the subject:

“Following the end of World War I, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, or the Dashnaks as they are more commonly known, formed a network, as ‘Nemesis’ designed to track down and assassinate former members of the Young Turk Government. Their first victim was the former Minister of the Interior Affairs, Talat Pa?a, who was gunned down on March 15, 1921, while walking on the street in Berlin. His assassin was an Armenian named Soghomon Tehlirian. Nine months later the former Ottoman Minister of Foreign Affairs, Said Halim Pa?a was assassinated by an Armenian called Arshavir Shirakian in Rome. Barely four months later, this time working with an accomplice named Aram Yerganian, Shirakian struck again. This time his victims were two former Young Turk officials, Bahaddin ?akir Bey and Cemal Azmi Bey, who were shot in Berlin on April 17, 1922. A few months later Cemal Pa?a was gunned down in Tiflis by two Armenians (Walker, 1980 p. 344). And the killing continued.”

Of more importance to us here than the assassinations themselves, was the response then and now of the Armenian community at large to these events. Tehlirian, the assassin of Talat Pa?a was arrested in Berlin and charged with murder. Within days of his arrest, a ”Soghomon Tehlirian Defense Fund” was established in Berlin, which rapidly grew as Armenians worldwide, and in particular the United States, sent their contributions to Berlin. Aided by the legal advice thus purchased, Tehlirian was acquitted after a cursory two-day trial. For the next forty years, until his death in San Francisco (1960) Tehlirian was accorded the status of an ”Armenian National hero”. Indeed, the 1968 book by James Nazer entitled: ”The First Genocide of the Twentieth Century”places this ‘title’ beneath his photograph (Nazer, 1968). The author likewise granted the epitaph of ‘Armenian National Hero’ to Shiragian and Yerganian, Tehlirian’s two fellow ‘Nemesis’ members.

Now let us switch to the present time and make a comparison between the handling of Hampig Sasunyan, who gunned down Kemal Ar?kan, the Turkish Consul to Los Angeles and the five Armenian terrorists who stormed Turkey’s Lisbon Embassy, and their forbearers, the Nemesis members.[46]

This indicates that the Turks never made a pre-planned massacre during the relocation of the Armenians, on the contrary that the Armenians together with the Russian forces conducted massacres of the Turks. Since the Turks never attempted to kill any members of the Nemesis organization, which assassinated Talat Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a, Said Halim Pa?a and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir and Cemal Azmi either during the period of the Secret Organization or afterwards when the Republic of Turkey was founded. On the contrary, even Judge Kurdish Mustafa Pa?a of the Court Martial, who gave death sentences to national heroes such as Mustafa Kemal Pa?a and Fevzi Çakmak Pa?a[47] on false charges, was not sentenced to death but granted the right to live outside Turkey along with his 150 followers, until he died a natural death at 82 years of age.

Conclusion

All the above mentioned documents and sources prove that members of the Union and Progress Party such as Enver Pa?a, Talat Pa?a and Cemal Pa?a and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir have been prosecuted under the influence of the British occupying forces and the puppet government of Damat Ferit Pa?a and sentenced by the Court Martial of Kurdish Mustafa Pa?a for relocation and massacre of Armenians, on false charges.

The attempt to form an international investigation committee to inquire about the alleged massacre during relocation could not be realized due to the refusals of Swedish, Danish, Spanish and Dutch nations to participate in such a committee. Moreover, the request for an international court to conduct investigations, made by the Union and Progress Party members, who were exiled to Malta, such as Said Halim Pa?a and his friends, was turned down by the British Government, as they could find no evidence to prove the occurrence of a massacre. That is why the deaths that might have taken place during the Armenian relocation can in no way be compared to the genocide of the Jews made by Hitler. As, the Jewish Genocide had been judged and condemned by the international court in Nürnberg.  Furthermore, the word ‘genocide’ was first legally used in the International Genocide Agreement made on December 12, 1948 and could not be valid for incidents in 1915.[47a]

The truth that emerges in the light of the above documents, leads to the fact that Dr. Bahaddin ?akir was not connected with the relocation or the alleged massacre of Armenians. During the national struggle against the enemy, in supplying weapons to the Turkish Army, and in the prevention of the assassination attempt of the British spy Mustafa Sa??r to Mustafa Kemal, the Secret Organization played a most significant role.[48] Therefore it is not fair or morally right to accuse either the Secret Organization or the National Struggle Organization, which is its continuity or Hüsameddin Ertürk, one of the members of the Secret Organization and the founder of National Struggle Organization with an alleged Armenian massacre.

Lieutenant General Bronsart v. Schelldorf, who was the highest-ranking German military officer in the Eastern Front during World War I, and also a very good friend of Talat Pa?a, was not called to testify in court in Berlin, upon the assassination of Talat Pa?a by ?. Tehlirian. The court acquitted Tehlirian upon the grounds of “profound provocation to the Armenians by the Turks” in a single sitting. Angry at not being able to testify and the truth in the court, General Bronsart wrote an article, which was published in Deutsche Allegemeine Zeitung on July 24, 1921 and stated that he had been a witness to the fact that the Turks did not commit any pre-planned massacre, on the contrary many Turks were killed as the result of the Armenian terror that reigned in that period. And the relocation law was passed in order to safeguard the Ottoman Army. [48a]

In line with these documents, it is not possible to understand the reason behind the murders of Talat Pa?a, Cemal Pa?a, Said Halim Pa?a and Dr. Bahaddin ?akir, or to proclaim their murderers as national heroes, as done by the Armenians.

Furthermore, Dr. Bahaddin ?akir was a person who was fond of Armenians. The family dentist was an Armenian named Dr. Süreyan Efendi. When his wife Cenan Han?m asked him the reason for choosing an Armenian dentist, he had replied:”He is a good dentist and a good man loyal to the Ottoman State”. Dr. Bahaddin ?akir had paid for the education and helped to raise two Armenian orphans he had brought over from Anatolia. One of them grew up to be a musician with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Istanbul. But unfortunately, he was killed in Berlin on April 17, 1922 by Armenian terrorists, before he could raise his own two sons, Alp and Celasin, when the older boy was barely 10 years old.

Following this terrible event, Atatürk immediately sent for his widow, and arranged for her to have the settlement of allowance paid to the wife of a soldier who died in battle and presented her with a four-story house in Ni?anta?? district to live in. Cenan Han?m rented the four floors of this building to renowned Obstetrician and Gynaecologist Besim Ömer Pa?a and raised her sons with the rent money she received. The first tenant of the building was the General Manager of the German Railway Company. Cenan Han?m, who used to live in ‘Soviet Apartment’ behind Konak Movie Hall, later moved to the top floor of her own building and rented the lower stories to the Post Office.  After her death in 1937, her sons were obliged to sell the building due to mortgage. This building is being used as an Armenian School now.

When the Surname Law was passed, Atatürk personally gave the surname ‘Erk’ to Cenan Han?m.[49] Atatürk had also assisted Talat Pa?a’s widow Hayriye Han?m by presenting her with a house and settling of an allowance paid to the wife of a soldier, who died in battle.

We also have to do our best for these persons who died for our country just as Great Atatürk did. Talat Pa?a and Enver Pa?a are now buried in Istanbul. However, Dr. Bahaddin ?akir is still buried in Berlin. It is the duty of the Medical Faculty of Istanbul, of which he was once a student and a member, as well as the Turkish Government to bring back his remains to be buried next to his wife in Feriköy Cemetery.

As a last word, The Turkish nation has never attempted or carried out a massacre to the Armenians who died during the relocation of 1915 and has always been respectful to human lives. The most important evidence to this are the lines by the renowned Renaissance philosopher and writer Tommaso Campanella in his well-known work ‘Civitas Solis’ (The Sun Country) on the importance the Turks gave to human rights as follows:

“I long for a”Sun Country”. There should be no nights in this country and the people should not know what the concept of darkness means. Is it possible to find”The Sun Country”on earth? The existence of the Turks who do not interfere with the freedom of thought and conscience makes me believe that - at least tomorrow-  such a country will exist, since there is a nation, which does not imprison or chain love for the truth…Why should a “Sun Country” be a reality tomorrow, a country where only the truth, justice and freedom reigns?”[50]

Dr. Bahaddin ?akir's photoraph and personal card during the years he was teaching at the Imperial Ottoman Medical Faculty and simultaneously was the Curt Physician for Prince Yusuf ?zzedin Efendi. On the card, there is a short note in French.

Letter from the Sublime Port Justice Department to the Foreign Ministry regarding the request for expulsion of Talat Pa?a, Enver Pa?a Cemal Pa?a, Dr. Bahaddin ?akir and Cemal, Dr. Naz?m, Bedri and Aziz Efendi from Germany. (Prime Ministry Archives, BOA, HR/HM?. I?O. 108/2)

The document refering to the refusal of the request form an international commitee to investigate any injustices that might have occured during the deportation of the Armenians in 1915.
Bab?ali
Foreign Ministry
Protocol of Foreign Embassies
No. 155 77
99

May 6, 1919

Referring to the appointment of delegates to form the commitee to investigate the injustices made during the deportation.
These delegates will conduct inquiries in various provinces of the Empire and investigate the injustices and will settle all matters by lawful means.
However this could not be implemented as the following states declined to participate as shown below:

Denmark	April 7, 1919
Spain	March 17, 1919
Sweden	April 19, 1919
Holland	March 17, 1919

Dr. Bahaddin ?akir's grave in the Moslem Cementry in Berlin.

[1] Terzio?lu, Arslan: Prof.Dr. Nihat Re?at Belger’in Bir Hekim ve Diplomat olarak Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’ne Hizmetleri (The Services of Dr. Nihat Re?at Belger, as a Doctor and a Diplomat, to the Republic of Turkey), Acta Turcica Historiae Medicineae IV, Published by: Arslan Terzio?lu and Erwin Lucius, Istanbul, 1997, pp.84-94.
[2] Walker, Christopher,J.: Armenia, The Survival of a Nation, New York, 1980, p.344.
[3] Darülfunun T?p Fakültesi Mecmuas? (Magazine of the University of Medicine), Volume 4, Issue 3, 1922, p 211
[4] Özen, Cahit, Bedii N.?ehsuvaro?lu: Dünyada ve Yurdumuzda Adli T?bb?n Tarihçesi (The History and Development of Forensic Medicine in the World and in our Country), Istanbul, 1974 pp.62-63. Gök, ?emsi: Adli T?bb?n Tarihçesi ve Te?kilatlanmas? (The History and Establishment of Forensic Medicine). Istanbul, 1982 p.4
[5] Çöla?an, Emin: Bay Tarihçi Hürriyet November 30, 2000.
[6] Elekda?, ?ükrü: Tasarlanm?? Katliam Yok (There was no Planned Genocide), Milliyet, October 25, 2000
[7] Artelt,Walter: Einführung in die Medizinhistorik. Stuttgart 1949 p.91, 124 Togan,Zeki Velidi:Tarihte Usul (Methods in History), Istanbul 1981 p. 75
[8] Hüseyin Naz?m Pasha: Ermeni Olaylar? Tarihi (Ed: The Prime Ministry of Turkey Government Archives General Management), Ottoman Archives, Vol. 2 Ankara 1994
[9] Kuran, Ahmet Bedevi: Inkilap Tarihimiz ve Jön Türkler (History of the Revolution and the Young Turks) Istanbul 1945 pp.169-185, Aydemir ?evket Süreyya: Suyu Arayan Adam, 11th  Edition, Istanbul 1999 p. 275
[9a] Özen, Cahit, Bedii N. ?ehsuvaro?lu: Dünya’da ve Yurdumuzda Adli T?bb?n Tarihçesi ve Geli?mesi. ?stanbul 1974. p.62. Dr.Bahaddin ?akir’s birth date is being given as 1870 without any definite proof. On his tombstone in Berlin, the date is stated as 1878, but his graduation date from the medical faculty is 1896 (1312). Since it is not possible to graduate from medical faculty at age 18, this date probably erroneous. R?za Tahsin: Mirat-? Mekteb-i T?bbiye (Medical Faculty Record), ?stanbul, 1328, Vol.II, p.128.
[10] Özen, Cahit-Bedii ?ehsuvaro?lu: op.cit., pp. 62-63; Gök, ?emsi-Cahit Özen: op.cit., p.4
[11] University of Istanbul, Medical Faculty, Archives of University Teachers, Dr. Bahaddin ?akir’s file
[12] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: ?ki Devrin Perde Arkas? (Behind the Curtains of Two Eras), Edited by: Samih Nafiz Tansu, Istanbul 1957
[13] Arif Cemil: I. Dünya sava??nda Te?kilat-? Mahsusa (The Secret Organization during World War I), First Edition, Istanbul, 1997
[14] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: : op. cit. pp 109-110
[15] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: op. cit., pp 110-111
[16] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: op. cit. pp 111
[17] Arif Cemil: op. cit. p 49
[17a] Arif Cemil: op. cit. p155
[18] Arif Cemil: op. cit.  p.167
[19] Arif Cemil: op. cit.  pp.241-246
[20] Ermeni Komitelerinin Amal ve Harekât-? ?htilayiyesi: Ilan-? Me?rutiyetten Evvel ve Sonra.(The Acts and Actions of the Armenian Movement: Before and After the Constitutional Period.) Edition in Latin Alphabet. Istanbul 1916. Aspirations et Agissements Revoltionaires des Comites Armeniens avant et après la proclamation de la Constitution Ottomane Istanbul 1917
[21] Kutay Cemal: Talat Pa?a’n?n Gurbet Hat?ralar? (The Exile Memoirs of Talat Pa?a,) Istanbul, 1983 p 1197
[22] Kress von Kressenstein, Friedrich Freiherr: Mit den Turken zum Suezcanal, Berlin 1938, p.132
[23] Pomianowsky, Joseph: Der Zusammenbruch des Ottomanischen Reiches. Erinnerungen an die Turkei aus der Zeit des Weltkrieges. Zurich 1928 p. 174. Becker, Helmut: I. Dünya Sava??nda (1914-1918) Osmanl? cephesinde Askeri Tababet ve Eczac?l?k Alman Kaynaklar?na Göre (Military Therapeutics and Pharmaceuticals in World War I According to German sources) Thesis of Doctorate accepted by the University of Istanbul, Istanbul 1983, pp.44-62
[24] Elekda?, ?ükrü: op. cit. P.22
[25] Kür?ad Cengiz: Ermeni Terörü  Ottoman Archives, Y?ld?z Section, Armenian Problem, Talori Incident, Foundation for the Establishment and Development of Historical Research and Documentation Centers, Vol. 1, Istanbul (1989) p. 25
[26] Elekda?, ?ükrü: op. cit. p. 22
[27] Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry BOA; HR, MÜ, Nr. 43/17
[28] Moseley, Brig.General George van Horn: Mandatory Over Armenia. Report made to Maj. Gen. James G. Harbord, U:S. Army Chief of the American Military Mission. On the Military Problem of a Mandatory Over Armenia. Washington. Government Printing Office 1920. with Prof Dr. Seçil Akgün. Regarding the total given during the interview for the Armenian Incidents: Çöla?an, Emin: Tarihe Dü?ülen Notler Ankara 2001 p. 99
[29] Archives of the Prime Ministry, Ministry of Interior Affairs, File 55 Orel,?-?.Yuca: Ermenilerce Talat Pa?a’ya Atfedilen Telgraflar?n ?çyüzü, Ankara 1981 p.296 document nbr:52. Regarding subject referring to many Armenian deaths due to diseases: Ataöv, T: Deaths Caused by Disease, Ankara 1985
[29a] Von Schellendorf, Bronsart: Ein Zeugnis für Talaat Pascha, Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung dated July 24, 1921, No.342.
[30] Kür?ad Cengiz: op.cit. p. 26
[31] Yamauchi, Masayuki: Ho?nut Olmam?? Adam Türkiye’den Türkmenistan’a. Istanbul 1995 P. 15
[32] The details of the interrogations were published as a volume by the daily Vakit.Aydemir ?evket Süreyya: op.cit. p.281
[33] Prime Ministry Archives BOA HR.HM?.I?O Document nbr. 108/2
[34] This document and others concerning Enver Pa?a have not been printed. They were donated by his brother in law General Kaz?m Orbay to the Turkish Historical Association (TTK) and are in its Archives.
[35] From Calthorpe to the British Foreign Office, England Istanbul January 11, 1919, PO371/4141 ; PO371/517e 6949
[36] Yamauchi, Masayuki: op. cit. p. 20
[37] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: op.cit. pp. 305-307
[38] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: op. cit. pp. 323-325 ?im?ir Bilal, Malta Sürgünleri (The Exile in Malta), Istanbul 1976
[39] Ertürk, Hüsameddin: op. cit.pp.370-373
[40] Archives of Prime Ministry, BOA HR:MÜ. 43/17
[41] Archives of Prime Ministry, BOA HR:MÜ. 43/17
[41a] ?im?ir, Bilal, op. cit. pp. 250-275
[42] An investigation requested by London was held in United States and the results were conveyed by Ambassador Sir A. Geddes to the British Foreign Office as follows: With regard to the massacre of Armenians… To be brought in court…The reports on Turks were examined. I am sorry to state that among these documents there is nothing to be held against the Turks to incriminate them.”?im?ir, Bilal, op.cit. p.270
[43] Akgün, Seçil: General Harbord’un Anadolu Gezisi ve Ermeni Meselesine Dair Raporu (The Visit of General Harbord to Anatolia and his report of the Armenian Incident), Istanbul, 1981 P. 28
[44] Harbord, Major General James G.;Conditions in the Near East report of the American Military Mission to Armenia, Washington Government Printing Office, 1920, pp.10-18
[45] Harbord, Major General James G.;Conditions in the Near East report of the American Military Mission to Armenia, Washington Government Printing Office, 1920, pp.36-37 Akgün, Seçil: op. cit. pp. 67-69
[46] Justin Mc Carthy: The Armenian Terrorism, Poison and Its Antidote, Ottoman Archives At Y?ld?z. The Armenian Incident, Talori Incident, Report of The Foundation for the Establishment of an Investigation and Documentation Center for Historical Incidents. 1989, p. 64 
[47] Death penalties given to Mustafa Kemal Pa?a and Fevzi Çakmak Pa?a : Ertürk, Hüsameddin,: op.cit. pp.353-356; 436-440
[47a] Tacar Pulat: Ermenilere Soyk?r?m Yap?ld??? Sav?n?n Hukuksal ve Ahlaki Aç?dan Incelenmesi Türk Parlementerler Birli?ince  13-14, Nisan  2001’de düzenlenen”Tarih Boyunca Türk-Ermeni ?li?kileri Sempozyumu’na verilen bildiri s.1-2. ( Dissertation given during the Symposium on Turkish Armenian relations Throughout History by the Turkish Parliament Association  on the subject of The Legal and Moral Investigation on an Alleged Armenian Genocide. The Symposium was held on April 13-14, 2001. pp. 1-2. [48] Ertürk, Hüsameddin : op. cit. 286-292
[48a] Daily Hürriyet dated April 24, 2001, reporting the article by General Bronsart published in Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on July 24, 1921 , titled The German Officers Were not Called to Testify”
[49] We hereby thank Mrs Gülseren Yalter, a close relative of Dr. Bahaddin ?akir for the valuable information.
[50] Demir, Ne?ide Kerim: Bir ?ehid Anas?na Tarihin Söyledikleri: Türkiye’nin Ermeni Meselesi. 3. Bask?. Ankara 1982, p.28.