From: dbd@urartu.sdpa.org (David Davidian)
Subject: Addressing Turkish Genocide Apology #451
Summary: ...upon checking the reference 
Organization: S.D.P.A. Center for Regional Studies
Lines: 77

Turkish Historical Revision in auto-scribal residue <9305091835@zuma.UUCP>, 
sera@zuma.UUCP (Serdar Argic), posted the following:

[(*] Source: "Adventures in the Near East" by A. Rawlinson, Jonathan Cape, 
[(*] 30 Bedford Square, London, 1934 (First published 1923) (287 pages).
[(*] (Memoirs of a British officer who witnessed the Armenian genocide of 2.5 
[(*] million Muslim people)

Bull!

[(*] p. 184 (second paragraph)
[(*]
[(*] "I had received further very definite information of horrors that
[(*]  had been committed by the Armenian soldiery in Kars Plain, and as 
[(*]  I had been able to judge of their want of discipline by their 
[(*]  treatment of my own detached parties, I had wired to Tiflis from 
[(*]  Zivin that 'in the interests of humanity the Armenians should not 
[(*]  be left in independent command of the Moslem population, as, their 
[(*]  troops being without discipline and not under effective control, 
[(*]  atrocities were constantly being committed, for which we should 
[(*]  with justice eventually be held to be morally responsible'."

On page 184 in my copy of the Rawlinson book, we find following facsimile.
Note the word Armenian doesn't even appear!

184 ADVENTURES IN THE NEAR EAST

disposal for our journey, I foresaw it would have to become
our headquarters for a considerable time, and therefore went
to some trouble to make it habitable. We had a most peculiar
little locomotive, originally built in America for the Russian
Government, adapted to burn either wood or oil; one covered
truck as men's quarters; one similar, which I fitted up for my-
self and a railway officer; and also a truck to carry wood, three
cars being the utmost our small engine could pull. With this
small outfit we started, rumours of all kinds reaching us before
our departure indicating that the whole situation was rapidly
coming to a head, it being evident that the Turks were becoming~
more and more restive in the face of the inexplicable delay of
the Allies in reaching any definite decision with regard to the
future.

Travelling on this little "war-time" railway was indeed an
experience, and it was necessary to carry a "gauge," and to
test the rails with it frequently, for in many places, owing to
the sinking of the embankments and the washing away of the
ballast, the rails required rectification before we were able to
get our train over, even at a foot pace; each bridge also re-
quired elaborate examination before adventuring the train upon
it, and eventually we were obliged to carry large baulks of tim-
ber to temporarily shore up many of the bridges and culverts
whilst we passed over them.

Under these circumstances it may be imagined that our prog-
ress was by no means rapid, and as we had frequently to halt
also to replenish our supply of wood fuel, we considered we
had achieved wonders when, on the evening of the second day,
60 hours and 70 miles out from Erzeroum, we finally entered the
gorge of the mountains where we understood our worst troubles
to lie. This is the same gorge into which the road from
Erzeroum to Kars descends from the foot-hills to cross the
frontier; the railway, however, follows the main Aras River val-
ley till the frontier gorge enters it, whilst the road cuts off the
corner and joins the rail again at the frontier post of Zivin,
some 15 miles from the main valley.

Soon after entering the gorge, we were confronted by the
first serious fall of rock--about 2,000 tons having fallen from
the cliff face and entirely obliterated the railway track. Here,
therefore, we halted, and, sending our engine back, prepared to


-- 
David Davidian dbd@urartu.sdpa.org   | "Armenia has not learned a lesson in
S.D.P.A. Center for Regional Studies |  Anatolia and has forgotten the 
P.O. Box 382761                      |  punishment inflicted on it."  4/14/93
Cambridge, MA 02238                  |   -- Late Turkish President Turgut Ozal 
