Massacres of Armenians in Baku in exclusive German diplomatic documents

In September 1918, Turkish troops occupied Baku. After capturing the city, the Turkish-Tatar guerrilla groups under the leadership of the Turkish military began to massacre the unarmed Armenians of the city.

Apart from the Armenian sources, there are documentary materials about the massacres of Armenians in Baku in Russian sources as well. Decades later, German and Austrian sources also published exceptional documentary material. 1990  Armenian translations of German archival documents were also presented to the scientific community. In those exclusive documents, we read and learn that the massacres of Armenians in Baku were organized and carried out by Turkish-Tatar terrorist groups.

We present one of those unique documents, the author of which is the head of the German imperial delegation in the region, Von Kressy.

«Major of the General Staff of the Ottoman Empire,
General von Kress, head of the German imperial delegation in the Caucasus

Tiflis

German delegation

(20.09.1918)

Considering the unreliability of the Turkish military units, which, according to Nuri Pasha’s own admission, had to be regrouped later, it was not possible to use the Turkish military units for police purposes. A large number of Armenians, including women and children, as well as prisoners who were particularly fit for military service, were destroyed. So far, there are no exact data on several thousand. Credible locals claim that their number is much greater than the number of Armenians killed in March. The Germans, who can be believed, independently mentioned the number 10,000. The Turks claim that there were not only Tatars in the gangs, but also mostly Persians. During the battles of September 14 and 15, there were also reports of atrocities committed by Turkish soldiers. Two German settlers (these were subjects of the empire) were also killed and the wives of several German settlers (not subjects of the empire) were raped. Similar violence was committed against Austrians (subjects of the monarchy) and Russians. The Danish consul made a report on the murder of German settlers.

 

The local Danish, Swedish, Dutch and Persian consuls bitterly accepted the fact that Turkish military units were allowed to occupy Baku, which left an impression of political mystery. The neutral consuls sent a joint note to Nuri Pasha regarding the atrocities.

During the negotiations with the military fleet, which did not agree to the separation of Baku from Russia, the Turkish representative stated that the Turks attacked Baku only because the British were there, and they captured Baku only because there was no owner left in the city after the retreat of the British. Baku is now openly (though unofficially) called the capital of Azerbaijan.” (Manucharyan A. L., “1918. Armenian pogroms in Baku (documents of the political archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GFA”, Social Sciences Journal, 1990, Yerevan, p. 78-79).

 

This exclusive document emphasizes that the massacres of Armenians in Baku were organized by Turks and carried out by Turkish-Tatar thugs. The Turks themselves do not deny that they organized the massacres of Armenians. Along with Armenians, Germans, Austrians and Russians were also killed in Baku. The numbers of massacred Armenians present in the document prove that the number of Armenians killed in Baku varies between 10-30 thousand according to unofficial and official data. This document is a foreign fact that shows that the plans of the Turkish-Tatar gangs never change.

They take advantage of the opportunity and carry out their crime. There was a just, healthy and honorable peace in the region only when the Armenian army defeated the Turkish-Tatar or Turkish-Azerbaijani terrorist groups. In all other cases, behind the illusion of false peace was and remains the extermination of Armenians and the destruction of our homeland.

Z. Sh:i was late

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