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  • The Exodus Of Musa Dagh Armenians From The Sanjak Of Alexandretta To

    THE EXODUS OF MUSA DAGH ARMENIANS FROM THE SANJAK OF ALEXANDRETTA TO ANJAR, LEBANON, IN 1939
    By Vahram L. Shemmassian

    http://massispost.com/archives/7619
    November 27th, 2012

    The Sanjak of Alexandretta/Iskenderun was an autonomous province within
    Syria during the interwar years. Its inhabitants included a significant
    number of Armenian natives and refugees, among them the indigenous
    population of Musa Dagh near Antioch. A political crisis beginning in
    1936 shook Sanjak society to its core, as winds of change from French
    mandate to Turkish suzerainty increasingly caused panic. The turmoil
    grew to alarming proportions for the Arabs, Alawites, and Christians
    when a farcical "election" in the summer of 1938 installed a Turkish
    majority in the Sanjak's legislature. A year later Turkey annexed
    the area. This was the final straw that compelled the overwhelming
    majority of Armenians, among other groups, to seek refuge in other
    parts of Syria as well as Lebanon, refusing to live under Turkish rule.

    During the period between summer 1938 and summer 1939, socioeconomic
    life in Musa Dagh deteriorated rapidly. Exports-imports from and into
    the Sanjak were drastically reduced. Merchants conducting business
    with Aleppo were obliged to deposit with the Hatay government a sum
    equal to the value of their merchandise as collateral. After selling
    the goods the merchants had to convert the Syrian lira to the Turkish
    lira in order to be able to carry their money back into the Sanjak.

    Besides, the merchants were able to regain only 70 percent of the
    collateral they had deposited at the time of export, that is to
    say, the government kept 30 percent as tax on profits, in addition
    to customs fees. As a result unemployment in Musa Dagh rose to 90
    percent. Construction was halted. Artisans sold their merchandize
    for 25 percent less and bought other necessities for 25 percent more.

    Poverty and misery became rampant.

    What was more, beginning in late spring 1939 Turkish police posts were
    set up in and near the Armenian villages. There was also an attempt
    to establish Turkish Halkevleri (nationalistic people's houses, i.e.,
    clubs) with the help of Armenian collaborators, described as "paid
    enthusiastic Kemalist propagandist agents." They reported regularly
    on compatriots who remained opposed to the emergent Turkish regime,
    and even sent representatives to propagandize about the Sanjak
    (then called Hatay Republic) among Musa Dagh expatriates in Aleppo,
    Damascus, and Beirut.

    When in April 1939 two French senators who were also members of the
    French Mediterranean Committee opposed to the Sanjak's annexation to
    Turkey visited Musa Dagh, they received an immense popular reception.

    After their departure, a number of Armenians were arrested. Serop
    Sherbetjian was sacked of his Musa Dagh governorship. Tateos Babigian
    from Vakef replaced him as an appointee of the Turkish regime in
    Antioch.

    On June 30, 1939 the Armenian National Union (ANU) in Beirut sent
    High Commissioner Gabriel Puaux a letter, signed by the political
    and religious leaders including the Primate of the Aleppo Ardavazt
    Surmeyian. They expressed with sadness the fact that efforts in Paris
    had failed to save the Sanjak; that the Armenians and especially
    those of Musa Dagh would be the biggest losers; that they wanted to
    leave under French protection given Turkey's record of persecutions
    and massacres; that the Musa Daghians must be settled as a group in a
    mountainous area in Lebanon reminiscent of Musa Dagh and affording
    agricultural opportunities; and that France should assume the
    transportation expenses.

    Four days later, on July 4, Bishop Surmeiyan sent Puaux a letter to the
    effect that, since "the question of selling their [the Musa Daghians']
    houses is dead," they should at least be allowed to carry their movable
    belongings. He similarly asked that the goods be inspected when packed
    in the villages rather than at the border customs to avoid long lines
    and undue delays, that laissez-passers be issued free of charge,
    and so on.

    When rumors reached Col. Philibert Collet, the French officer in charge
    of the Armenians' exodus, that the Musa Daghians were contemplating
    to burn their homes before departure, he issued a call for them to
    leave their doors open and their homes and orchards intact. Those
    rumors proved unfounded.

    Collet similarly instructed Prelate Khat Achabahian of Sanjak
    Armenians to form special committees to determine the number of
    persons, livestock, and the weight of movable belongings that would
    be transported. The Musa Dagh survey revealed the following results:
    1,272 families or 7,888 persons, 3,232 animals, and 781 tons of
    luggage. These figures were later adjusted at the Ras al-Basit
    encampment as follows: 1,204 families (68 families less), 5,125 persons
    (2,763 persons less), approximately 1,850 tons of goods (nearly 2.5
    times more than the initial amount). The reasons for these changes
    will be discussed in a more comprehensive study.

    Those Who Stayed Behind Not all Armenians elected to leave Musa
    Dagh. Such cases numbered 68 families or 384 persons, constituting
    about 6 percent of Musa Dagh's total population. The breakdown was as
    follows: 4 families/12 persons in Bitias; 1 family/8 persons in Haji
    Habibli; 4 families/28 persons in Yoghunoluk; 4 families/27 persons in
    Kheder Beg; 3 families/15 persons in Kabusiye; 11 families/64 persons
    in Zeituniye in the nearby plain of Svedia; and 41 families/232 persons
    in Vakef. Most of these lived together as a group in Vakef. Presently
    Vakef is showcased as the sole Armenian village left in Turkey.

    Several reasons existed for their staying behind. To begin with, those
    Armenians believed that they could live peacefully and harmoniously in
    republican Turkey; intense Turkish propaganda aided in shaping this
    favorable opinion. Second, it was emotionally and psychologically
    difficult for them to abandon their ancestral lands, which torment
    certainly applied equally to those who elected to depart. Third,
    the stayers also entertained the false hope that they would be able
    to acquire the fixed properties abandoned by the goers.

    Fourth, those who stayed behind belonged to that political
    faction-mainly members and sympathizers of the Social Democrat
    Hunchakian Party-which had failed to break the Armenian Revolutionary
    Federation's hold on the governance of Musa Dagh during the interwar
    years. Therefore, by staying they would be able to rid themselves
    of the ARF's dominance. That being said, most others with similar
    anti-ARF sentiments still decided to leave the area.

    The Exodus The exodus from Musa Dagh took place from July 15-20. The
    goods were shipped by boat to Ras al-Basit, between Kesab and Latakia,
    the women, children, and the elderly rode trucks and buses, and the
    men walked, some of them accompanying the animals. Turkish soldiers
    manning border checkpoints inspected the goods strictly in search of
    weapons especially. Some Turkish civilians attacked the caravans and
    stole about 340 animals and killed 4 pigs. They also took 330 Syrian
    liras. Turkish gendarmes succeeded in retrieving just 63 animals,
    and only a fraction of the money.

    When the refugees arrived at the Armenian enclave of Kesab, the
    locals welcomed them in open arms by offering food, water, and tan
    (yogurt juice). Then, at Qastal Muaf, en route to Ras al-Basit,
    they were vaccinated against typhoid.

    The Camp at Ras al-Basit The first batch of refugees arrived at Ras
    al-Basit on July 18 and camped in the open, no shelter whatsoever
    being available. As the rest joined them, they congregated as groups
    according to their villages. Families built sheds with branches and
    whatever they could muster, hoisting the French flags on them. They
    similarly made water sources in the immediate vicinity operational
    with pumps, and opened ditches just 50 meters away from the camp to
    be used as restrooms.

    This unsanitary arrangement attracted "millions" of flies, which caused
    serious health problems. The women cooked food outdoors, while the
    men herded the animals and opened makeshift stores. People commuted to
    Latakia to purchase necessities. The French government paid 25 Syrian
    liras per adult and 10 liras per child under ten beginning on August 7.

    Social life resumed to some degree. The various denominations from
    each village grouping worshipped in their respective "churches."

    The political parties held their own meetings. Some voluntary
    associations likewise tried to keep a semblance of normalcy. For
    example, the annual meeting of the Union of Former Legion Armenienne
    Combatants took place on August 24 in the presence of 173 members. An
    executive committee was elected unanimously. A report of activities
    read revealed the type and amount of donations that the Union had
    received beginning in the second half of 1938 from the Syrian Armenian
    Relief Cross in Aleppo (one box of medicines) and Union affiliates
    in France (1,600 FF) and the United States ($240).

    A Central Relief Committee approved by the French and Vicar General
    Bedros Sarajian of the Catholicosate of Cilicia at Antelias, Lebanon,
    managed all refugee affairs. The Armenian General Benevolent
    Union (AGBU) Central Executive in Paris cooperated by forming an
    Extraordinary Central Fundraising Committee on July 21. In turn, the
    Harach (forward) newspaper in Paris made its front pages available
    to publish the lists of donors from Armenians in Europe and North
    Africa. Compatriots from the United States likewise contributed.

    Due to exposure and unsanitary living conditions diseases increased
    to an alarming degree, afflicting children especially. Torrential
    rains from August 22-24 soaked the campers wet, exacerbating the
    situation by causing untold misery. Col. Collet sent twelve tents to
    shelter the children. A French military doctor established a six-bed
    infirmary. An Armenian pharmacist from Aleppo donated 100 Syrian
    liras worth of medicines. A maternity with twenty beds was likewise
    opened in Latakia with a midwife sent by the Syrian Armenian Relief
    Cross. By August 30 some180 sick and elderly people were admitted. A
    French military health inspector, upon visiting Ras al-Basit, ordered
    the transfer of some sixty sick children together with their mothers
    to Beirut to be placed under the care of the Armenian National Union
    (ANU). The government-run trade school building was placed under the
    ANU's disposal, with its chair and Lebanese Armenian Relief Cross
    representative Dr. Onnig Gergerian managing it.

    In Search of A Final Settlement Site The Turkish Government asked
    the French not to install the Armenians near the Syrian-Turkish
    border. The French obliged, and initially considered four possible
    sites in Lebanon: 1) in the mountains overlooking Tripoli, especially
    around the villages of Sir and Bakhune; 2) in the district of Hermel,
    along the Orontes River; 3) in the west of Baalbek, around the
    villages of Shemestar, Hadith, and Budaye; 4) in south Lebanon,
    in the foothills of Hermon, between the cities of Marjayun and
    Rashaya. Among those places Hermel was regarded as the most suitable
    one not only because of the available land, but also because the
    Armenians "would constitute a moderating element and a factor of
    appeasement, in a corner which troubles, permanently, the dissentions
    between Christians and non-Christians."

    For various reasons, none of these places were selected.

    The High Commission ultimately negotiated with a retired Turkish
    military officer named Rushdi Hoja Tuma, who owned a 1,540 hectare
    domain at a place called Anjar in the Bekaa valley. Although Rushdi Bey
    asked for 10 million FF, he was willing to accept, out of "patriotic
    sentiments," an "important reduction" if the Turkish government asked
    him to. The land was purchased at a reduced price.

    To Anjar Relocation from Ras al-Basit to Anjar took place from
    September 3-16.

    The refugees were shipped to Tripoli and thence entrained to Riyaq,
    where they received food, fruit, and refreshments on the part of
    a local Armenian reception team. From Riyaq they were transported
    aboard trucks to their final destination of Anjar. This was a rocky
    and thorny terrain with no dwellings whatsoever. Because the refugees
    received an inadequate number of tents (that could accommodate twelve
    persons each), ordinary linen was additionally distributed for the
    uprooted to make their own shelters. As in Ras al-Basit, here too
    the population stuck together in compact groups according to their
    villages of origin. Given the inhospitable geographical milieu,
    scores fell ill and/or died. With the cold winter fast approaching,
    some 1,778 women and children were dispersed among fourteen villages
    and towns in the general vicinity and housed in vacant buildings
    or among Christian families with accommodation possibilities. The
    men in turn stayed at Anjar to construct stone dwellings that the
    French had planned. The original project would give each family a
    house consisting of two rooms, a kitchen, and a restroom on a 400
    sq. meter lot. But as France entered World War II with its finances
    earmarked for that effort, the original plan was reduced to a single
    room with an outdoor restroom. Each adult male received an addition
    parcel of land for farming. By spring 1940 the Armenians occupied their
    new houses. The three religious communities (Apostolic, Evangelical,
    and Catholic) in turn received specific plots within the village to
    build their churches and schools on. A new life in a new country thus
    began to take shape for the Armenians from Musa Dagh.

    Today Anjar is a 73-years-old beautiful, thriving town with all kinds
    of community facilities and businesses. Notwithstanding, given the
    political turmoil in the Middle East, its future status and that of the
    Armenian communities in the region as a whole remain tenuous at best.

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