In memory of the Armenian intellectuals killed during the Armenian Genocide

Siamanto (Atom Harjanian)-prominent Western Armenian poet, renowned public and literary figure, messenger for responding to the 1894-96 Armenian massacres, “The Poet of the Idea” fell victim to Turk Janissaries in 1915.

Ruben Sevak (Chilinkiryan)-poet, prose writer, doctor Sevak is arrested in 1915 and is killed on the road to exile along with Varujan, Siamanto and other intellectuals.

Daniel Varoujan (Chpugkyaryan)- the writer of epics and the poet that was, as Charents put it, “the one taking the ardent heart on a silver plate”, was one of the victims of the Turk barbarians when he was only 31 years old in 1915.

Grigor Zohrab-one of the brilliant figures in national, public and cultural life of the time and a brilliant Armenian intellectual of Constantinople, a well-known lawyer and attorney, architect, political figure, writer arrested in April 1915 and later brutally killed by Turk barbarians on the roads of exile.

Ruben Zardaryan-active Western Armenian writer, publisher, public and political figure arrested in April 1915 along with Varoujan, Siamanto, Ruben Sevak and others and killed on the roads of exile. The place and circumstances of his murder are still unknown.

Yerukhan (Yervand Srmakeshkhlyan)-Western Armenian writer, publicist, translator, pedagogue with the pseudonym “Migrant Troubadour” moved from Bulgaria on the days of the 1894-96 Armenian massacres, but became one of the victims of the Armenian Genocide after the deportation.

…This is only brief information about some of the numerous Armenian writers and intellectuals who were killed during the Armenian Genocide, whose gleam was and is the décor on Earth and in the heavens above…

…After killing Armenian soldiers, the Young Turks settled the score with prominent Armenian figures, including deputies of the Mejlis and major representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia. Only on the night of April 24th, police arrested 235 renowned Armenian intellectuals and writers in Constantinople, and several hundreds of others a couple of days later. All of them, nearly 600 were brutally killed on the roads of exile, without ever having reached the designated sites, that is, Angora, Konya and Diyarbekir. According to Lepsus, only 8 people were saved. Armenian intellectuals in other cities were also arrested and killed. Among them were renowned Armenian writers, artists, doctors, pedagogues and painters. In his memoirs, Talaat Pasha, the organizer of these bloody events, tried to justify himself by claiming that the Armenians arrested in Istanbul “had been executed by police officers who had to take them to Angora and hand them over to the military court”. However, Talaat’s answer to the German embassy clearly showed that the Armenian writers and famous figures were annihilated by the order of the Turkish government. It is clear that the exile and murder of the intellectuals was a veil under which it would be easier for the Young Turks to carry out their plan and settle the score with the Armenian people. Among the Armenian figures murdered in Istanbul was prominent writer, publicist, lawyer and public figure Grigor Zohrab. One of the figures of the Arab national liberation movement, Sheikh Faiz-el-Ghusein wrote the following about Zohrab: “The whole world knows who the Armenian deputy of Constantinople was. He shone as an orator with his wisdom and knowledge. He had a higher education, knew law, and nothing stood in his way when it came to defending national interests.” By eliminating the most prominent and brilliant Western Armenians, the Turkish authorities made it easier for themselves to carry out the monstrous plan to annihilate the Armenians.

…But the silence of 100 years will be heard, snow will fall during the 100 springs that the Armenians didn’t see, the wounds of 100 years won’t become scars as long as the world hasn’t recognized the Armenian Genocide, as long as the world hasn’t condemned the unprecedented crime perpetrated against the Armenians and as long as there haven’t been Reparations…The souls of the 2 million innocent martyrs demand restitution and a fair verdict for the many seasons of spring in which they didn’t live.

Karine Avagyan