DROSHAK NEWSPAPER: A NEWSPAPER THAT OPENLY SUPPORTED TERRORISM (DROŞAK GAZETESİ: AÇIK AÇIK TERÖRİZMİ SAVUNAN BİR ORGAN) Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis MATTEI Historian Abstract: In this article, the author studies one of the issues of the Droshak newspaper published in January 1897. Droshak (Flag) was the official news organ of the ARF (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) or Dashnaktsutyun. This issue, in particular, mentions the Van Revolt of 1896. The issue also talks about the death of the revolutionary Bedo, who fell during the clashes. Bedo is portrayed as the “Protective Angel of the Armenians” and in the newspaper, Armenians are often called upon to exact their revenge. In fact the, Van Problem was to continue in the following years. For this reason, the Van Committee Members Aram Manukyan and Ishan were to give weapons to the Armenians and kill all of their opponents. Through such violent means, they prepared the 1915 Van Revolt. So, the Armenian thesis pretending that the revolt happened by itself is rebutted. The part of the newspaper that tells how the Priest Komitas was killed by a terrorist from Dashnaktsutiun openly shows that the Armenian terrorism was fırst of all directed against the other Armenians who refused to co-operate with the Committees. After comparing different documents, the author speaks of the efforts made by Avetis Aharonian and Kristapor Mikaelian for promoting the Droshak on the international arena. In the future, Droshak was to give birth to the French Pro Armenia that concealed its terrorist mindset, and became a tool in the hands of the Dashnaktsutyun Members. Keywords: Droshak newspaper, 1896 Van Revolt, 1915 Van Revolt, Pro Armenia newspaper. Öz: Yazar bu makalede Droşak gazetesinin Ocak 1897’de çıkan sayısı incelemektedir. Cenevre’de basılan Droşak (Bayrak), Devrimci Daşnaktsutyun/Taşnaktsutyun’un resmi basın organıydı. Söz konusu sayıda özellikle 1896’da meydana gelen Van isyanı anlatılmaktadır. Sayıda aynı zamanda çatışmalar sonucunda öldürülen Taşnak Şefi Bedo’dan bahsedilmektedir. Bedo, “Ermenilerin koruyucu meleği” gibi gösterilmekte ve gazetede sık sık Ermeniler intikamlarını almaya Review of Armenian Studies 223 No. 31, 2015 Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis Mattei çağrılmaktadır. Aslında Van meselesi devam edecek bir olguydu ve gelecekteki yıllarda intikam fikriyle hareket eden Aram Manukyan ve İşkhan gibi komiteciler, bölgedeki Ermenileri silahlandırarak ve karşı gelenleri öldürerek 1915 Van İsyanını hazırlayacaklardı. Bu vesileyle Van isyanının kendiliğinden ve hazırlıksız patladığını iddia eden Ermeni tezleri çürütülmektedir. Bir terörist/Taşnak komiteci tarafından Papaz Komitas’ın öldürülüşünü anlatan gazetenin bir bölümü şunu açıkça göstermektedir: Taşnakların terörü her şeyden önce kendi halklarına, yani Ermenilere yönelikti. Çeşitli belgelerle bir kıyaslama yaptıktan sonra yazar, uluslararası alanda Droşak gazetesinin tanıtılması amacıyla Avetis Aharonyan ve Kristapor Mikaelyan’ın çabalarından bahsetmektedir. Droşak gazetesi ilerleyen zamanlarda bu sefer Fransızca olarak çıkan, ancak terörist zihniyetini gizleyen Pro Armenia gazetesini doğuracaktı. Pro Armenia, Taşnakların elinde bir propaganda aleti şekline gelecekti. Anahtar kelimeler: Droşak gazetesi, 1896 Van İsyanı, Taşnaklar, 1915 Van İsyanı, Pro Armenia gazetesi. 224 Review of Armenian Studies No. 31, 2015 Droshak Newspaper: A Newspaper That Openly Supported Terrorism reviously, in the 42nd issue of the Ermeni Araştırmaları, I had made an analysis of a copy of the newspaper Armenia published in Armenian in PMarseille since 1885 by the founder of the Armenakan Party, Mekertich Portukalian. As a result of my analysis, I had come up with the following conclusion: Despite coming from terrorism – as in, from the Black Cross terrorist organization– and also organizing terrorist acts in the Ottoman Empire early on, Armenian leader Portukalian, on the verge of the First World War, adopted a moderate stance and cautioned his Armenian cognates not to leave the Ottoman Empire. He wrote articles titled “Turkey [he meant the Ottoman Empire] is changing after the Second Constitutional Era”. Armenia was of course not the only newspaper to defend the Armenian cause. Beginning from 1891, the newspaper Droshak (or Troshak)1 was representing the theses of the “Dashnaktsutyun”. After a humble beginning (as a matter of fact, its founders, Kristapor Mikaelian and Rosdom could not even save a copy of the first issue),2 Droshak (Flag) gained a significant importance and in time became the first reference newspaper of the Armenian revolutionaries. Instead of giving a history of the Droshak published in Tbilisi, Geneva and Paris, the purpose of this article is to see and show the contents of Droshak. Hereby, I would like to thank my dear friend Maxime Gauin who e-mailed me the January 1987 issue of Droshak. Indeed, it is very hard to find pictures of the Droshak. Recently, the administration of the Dashnaktsutyun Party, which still stands to this day, reissued several issues of the newspaper but it was not possible to attain them. Anyway, the logo of the aforementioned issue is Droshak/Troshak. Right below it is written: ““Hay Heğapokhak (an) ‘Daşnaktsutyan’ organ” (an organ of the Armenian Revolutionary ‘Dashnaktsutyun’ Party). However the name of the editor is not given. First, they break some news: “Haydukayin krrivi Basenum” (About the fight of the Armenian brigade in Pasen) 1 In Eastern Armenian it is Droshak, in Western Armenian it is Troshak. K=G, D=T, B=P, P=B. Except the section “Komitas Kahanan”, the issues of the newspaper were redacted in Eastern Armenian. Despite some differences, Armenians generally understand each other. Because she is of Eastern Armenian origin (from the old USSR), Anahide Ter Minassian always writes “Droshak” and “Dashnaktsutyun” in her books. 2 Jean-Louis Mattei, Büyük Ermenistan Peşinde Ermeni Komiteleri (The Armenian Committees’ Pursuit of a Greater Armenia), Bilgi Yayınları, Ankara, 2008, p. 147. Review of Armenian Studies 225 No. 31, 2015 Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis Mattei “At the beginning of December of 1896, a fight (krriv) broke out in Pasen3 between an Armenian brigade made of a group of supporters of Dashnaktsutyun (hump-himbi) and Kurds accompanying border guards. The fight took 4 hours and it was a great victory for our guys. One of our comrades fell during a second fight, while 5 people died and 8-10 got wounded from the soldiers’ and Kurds’ side” The newspaper continues: “1896-1897 The terrible angel of death had spread its wings above Armenia. A person could have thought that only ruins were left of our homeland and that the dark skies were painted even darker with its black smokes. The corpses of hundreds of thousands (hariyur hazar) of innocent Armenians (anmeğ Hayeri), cut down by swords were left scattered and were whispering: “Revenge!” (Vrej). A thick layer of snow was hiding the corpses from the eyes of wild animals.” The following should be immediately stated: 1) The news could be true. But there is no evidence of such news in the archives. Besides, not much detail is given on the news. 2) After five lines, the author of the article tries to shock his readers with the description of hundreds of thousands of corpses by exaggeratedly saying irrelevant things. Even if he tried to make a metaphor, was the author aware of the exaggeration in his article? The ridiculous image of corpses whispering “Revenge!” shows that the article slid from the field of news into the field of propaganda. These lines were written for this purpose: to show that the Armenians were innocent and tens of thousands of them were slaughtered. Here, what is talked about here is a time frame before the resettlement. Armenians were going to use the same tactic 20 years later: Blaming Turks and gaining the sympathy of Europeans by not to giving details, exaggerating, manipulating numbers, not proving anything, and putting forth the same sources every time. However the most discomforting point is the use of the word “vrej” (revenge). “Vrej”, revenge, should not be the rallying cry of a political party (especially 3 The village Pasen of Avnik in the Erzurum region. 226 Review of Armenian Studies No. 31, 2015 Droshak Newspaper: A Newspaper That Openly Supported Terrorism a party that is supposedly “revolutionary”). Nevertheless, “Vrej” was read on the red flag during the Dashnak Kukunyan’s 1890 expedition.4 But there is more: Even today, in the ceremonies held by the Dashnaktsutyun, flags similar to that one are still shown and the word “Vrej” can still be read on them. This should be also added: Such a rallying cry is not fitting of a community claiming to be Christian. An objection could be made to the statement above: The Dashnaktsutyun was an atheist party. But then, how could the increasing affinity between the Armenian Church and the Dashnaktsutyun be explained? Also since when did revenge become a revolutionary rallying cry? This could be interpreted as such: in reality, the Dashnaktsutyun was not an atheist, a The Dashnaktsutyun was religious or especially a revolutionary party. an atheist party. But then, Dashnaktsutyun was an opportunist how could the increasing organization that had blood on its hands. affinity between the Armenian Church and the Dashnaktsutyun be The author of the article titled “1896-1897” explained? Also since continues: when did revenge become a revolutionary “In these circumstances, the Armenians rallying cry? were facing the year 1897. The new year wasn’t promising poor Armenians any new hopes or any new life (voç nor hoys yev voç nor kyank).” Then, the responsible person for these disasters i.e. Abdul Hamid II is mentioned: “Grabbing their lyres with their bloody hands, diplomats were singing the chorus showing Abdul Hamid as the ‘protector of the Armenians’ and their chests were decorated by medals given by the most brutal sultan in the world.” This is in accord with the discourse employed by the Dashnaktsutyun: that Foreigners should not accept any medals from the Sultan. According to this discourse, a foreigner accepting a medal from the Sultan meant that he was cooperating with the “monster”.