Decipher
Refahiye
564/100
To: 3rd Army Command
1. Three orderly soldiers and two irregulars of different units, who had fallen captive during the battles that took place on various dates, have taken refuge in the forward stations of the 36th Division positioned in Hanzori via Mezekler Creek. They left Erzincan on January 18, 1918 and took the mountain paths to cross over this side.
2. Their testimonies, taken by the 36th Division, on Erzincan confirm our messengers’ depositions recorded on January 21, 1918, with number 56.
3. The atrocities committed to Muslims by the Armenians in Erzincan those soldiers have witnessed are as follows:
a. One night Kara Mehmet’s son, who originally happens to be a member of the Zazalar, and his four friends were taken to poppy mill and pulled to pieces there (they cannot remember the date).
b. Dursun Agha, originally from Karakilise Köyü, who happens to be living in Erzincan, takes permission to take manure to lay under his cattle from a manure depot, while he was taking manure he comes across a couple of small caliber Russian infantry rifles, and upon being seen by the Russian patrols he was condemned for stealing the rifles and was imprisoned.
c. Armenians have attacked Kurd Mehmet Agha, an irregular, around Demirciler, Erzincan. They have also abducted a Muslim woman, whose name is not known, by force.
d. Although they have taken Mehmet Effendi captive, the former clerk of the municipality, and took him from Erzincan to an unknown place and they have slaughtered his mother, his wife, and four-year-old child. 10 days ago, Armenian volunteers have attacked Cencige village where some 10 Kurds were living, the clashes lasted all day long. Nine of the Armenians were killed during the clashes.
5. Armenians, in order to find support for the independence they longed for, are helping by all means to the Kurds in Dersim, and they even blame the Turks for the atrocities committed by the Kurds to the Armenians.
6. Other information to be obtained from the interrogations of the above mentioned soldiers at the Corps Headquarters will later be presented.
7. This code is written by the 1st Division, under number “62”
January 22, 1918
1st Caucasus Corps
Deputy Commander
Rüştü
1st Division January 23, 1918
Let’s meet before His Excellencies the Pasha comes.
We shall write to the Russian commander today.
Date of the Report: January 25-26, 1918 One of the refugee soldiers was robbed by the Armenians between Polathane and Yeros Cape. 20 days ago the Armenians have attacked and pillaged a Aralıkos village, not seen in the maps, between Filtiroğlu (?) and Göğeli in the east of Görele, and the Kırıklı village which is located at a distance of 7.5 kilometers to the south of Çavuşlu. 10 days ago two Russian soldiers have martyred Salih, the mukhtar of Yeniköy which is located 5 km to the south of Yeros Cape.
