Books
The Heroic Battle of Aintab
translated from Armenian and with a historical introduction by Ümit Kurt
Gomidas Institute, 2018,
286 pages, maps and photos
ISBN 978-1-909382-41-1, pb.
Price: UK£20.00 / US$30.00
To order please contact books@gomidas.org
The Heroic Battle of Aintab is an
invaluable primary source that shows the perspective of Armenians – survivors
of the Armenian Genocide – during the Franco-Turkish conflict in Aintab in 1920-1921.
Armenians were in a difficult position as they tried to negotiate a path between
their former executioners and an invading French army. They even had to resort
to arms and fight on their own account against hostile forces.
"The famous battle of Aintab … seems to have been as much the organised
struggle of a group of [Turkish] genocide profiteers seeking to hold onto their
loot as it was a fight against an occupying force. The resistance … sought to
make it impossible for the Armenian repatriates to remain in their native
towns, terrorising them [again] in order to make them flee. In short, not only
did the local … landowners, industrialists and civil-military bureaucratic
elites lead the resistance movement, but they also financed it in order to cleanse
Aintab of Armenians.”
–Ümit Kurt, The Making of
the Aintab Elite: Social Support, Local Incentives and Provincial Motives
Behind the Armenian Genocide (1890s–1920s), Ph.D.
Dissertation, Clark University, Worcester, MA
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction ix
1. Original Introduction by Kevork A. Sarafian 3
2. The Occupation of Aintab by the Entente Powers 7
3. The French Entry into Aintab 13
4. On the Eve of the Critical Days 23
5. The Three Pillars of the Heroic Battle of Aintab 37
6. April 1st 45
7. The Armenian "Revenge” Cannon 63
8. The Occupation of Sheikh Mosque 77
9. The Armenian Arms Factory 83
10. The Turkish Ultimatums 97
11. Miners 105
12. More Fires 109
13. 1st National Congress 119
14. The 3rd National Congress of June 1st and the Referendum
by Which the Armenian People Decided Their Fate 127
15. Armistice Negotiations Between the Turks and Armenians 137
16. The Armistice Period 143
17. The Turks Violate the Terms of the Armistice 151
18. French Efforts to Break Armenian Neutrality 163
19. The "Color” of the Franco-Armenian Relationship 169
20. Correspondence Between Ozdemir and Colonel Andrea 177
21. The French Oblige the Armenians to End Their Neutrality 179
22. The Final Siege of Aintab 197
23. Correspondence for Surrender 201
24. The Desperate Situation of the Turks and Their Supplicant Letters 213
25. The Capitulation of the City (February 8th) 223
26. The Treaty of London and the Evacuation of Aintab 229
Appendix
Poem: The Saga of Being a Deportee 234
Index 239
Maps
Aintab Region 2
Aintab City 40
Photographs
Aintab - panorama postcard. xi
British captain beside stockpile of firearms and ammunition. xiii
Armenian homes destroyed in Aintab after the 1915 deportations. xv
Arrival of French troops in Aintab. 15
The exchange of French for British troops at Aintab (4 Nov. 1919). 17
Kendirli Latin church. 33
Father Nerses Tavukjian and Adour Levonian. 39
Sourp Asdvadzadzin Armenian Apostolic church. 42
Armenians pulling a house apart for fortifications elsewhere. 55
Women and children help construction of defensive lines. 55
Armenian defenses during the fighting. 56
Central Supplies Committee, Aintab, 1920. 58
"Vrezh” or revenge - the Armenian cannon. 65
Repairing arms and bomb-making. 66
Aintab American Hospital. 68
Armenian fighters with machine gun. 75
Armenian orphans, Aintab, 1919. 126
Chinarli Mosque damaged during fighting. 139
Aintab in ruins. 175
Aintab Y.M.C.A. building, 5 January 1920. 214
Armenian military command and its officers, Aintab, 1920. 221
5 Jan. 1920, Armenian orphans prior to evacuation. 231
The aftermath of the fighting in Aintab. 235
About the Author 239