"Five or ten days passed. The French governor appointed in
Adana (by the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration/OETA)
arrived in Maraş. A week later a 300-man contingent of (Ottoman)
Gendarmerie troops under the command of Capt. Sıddiki Bey came,
as well. These Gendarmerie troops had been lured by excessive
payments to work in the service of the French, who even had them
wear French uniforms."
OETA click here for background.
"Together with this captain, who had been sold to the French, there
was an interpreter named Vahan and notables and clergymen from
Osmaniye that the French had accompany Siddiki Bey. This group's
mission was to advise us on French civilization and French justice
and explain how lovely it was to live under the French yoke."
"As this delegation entered the city, we ran into them. The Captain
said a few things but we pretended not to hear him. Then the
Armenian interpreter asked us where we were coming from. We said
we were coming from the medrese (theological school) and he invited
us to come to Hayırlak's house to chat."
"This Hayırak Agop was Maraş's richest Armenian who controlled all
the markets in the city. We went to Hayırlık's house, where the
governor was sitting in a corner and Sıddiki Bey was sitting opposite
us. The Osmaniye notables bent their heads, lost in thought."
"The French governor spoke first, saying 'Look honored clergymen!
This officer (Sıddiki Bey) is a Turk like you. Ask him how just the
French are and he will tell you. We do not harm any of the people
who come under our protection. You may notice that Sıddiki Bey
has a French insignia on his arm. Pay it no mind. We changed it
from the German one he had been wearing. If you have any wishes
or complaints please tell us. I will pass them along to Etur Bireyemun,
the Chief Administrator in Adana, who will address them right away.'"
"This foul fellow was trying to seduce us and have us come under the
French yoke of our own volition. But we told him that 'we have no
relationship with you. We have our own (Ottoman) government and
do not pay attention to any other.' The governor told us a few more
fairy tales, as if he was trying to dupe a child. We saw no need to
respond and departed, feeling sad about the position Sıddiki Bey had
put himself in. He is currently serving the French in Osmaniye and
they have made him a major, in command of the Gendarmerie in
Osmaniye. He had become nothing more than a French servant."
"For about five or ten days the French employed this technique to try to
seduce the populace but they were surprised when none of the Moslems
in the city fell for their ploy. So they changed tactics and on Friday, 28
November, they replaced the Ottoman flag atop the fortress with the
French flag. Seeing this, the Moslem populace became enraged, even
more than they had been. Lowering our flag was meant to signal the
end of Ottoman sovereignty and Moslem dominance here."
"Right away, all the Moslems gathered at the main mosque, saying
that 'since the infidels have lowered our flag, the symbol of Islamic
dominance, we now have no place to say Friday prayers.' This
prompted the 'hatib' (preacher) to come down from the 'minber'
(pulpit), so prayers were not said. Then, about 3-4,000 Moslems took
the flag from the main mosque, assaulted the fortress with cries of
'God is great', and planted the flag there. The 'ezan' (call to prayer)
was read and noon prayers were said at the fortress."
"From the fortress, the Moslem crowd went to the (Ottoman)
government office, along the way beating up the interpreter Vahan
who tried to intervene. This outrage by the Moslem populace
shocked the French, who then realized that we would risk everything,
come what may. The Armenians were frightened by it, as well."
//END of PART FIVE//
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder