Operation Nemesis
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Operation Nemesis is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation code-name for the covert operation in the 1920s to assassinate the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide. It is named after the Greek goddess of divine retribution, Nemesis. The operation is also known as "The Armenian Nuremberg."
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[edit] Background
After the end of World War I, the Ottoman military tribunal convened in Istanbul and condemned to death the principal perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide, who had been extradited to Malta by British authorities.[citation needed] However, the British placed no value on the sentence, and secretly released the criminals. The executioners of the Armenian people were moving freely in the streets of Berlin, Rome, Baku, Tbilisi, and other cities.
[edit] The Verdict
At the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's 9th General Congress, which convened in Yerevan from September 27 to the end of October 1919, the issue of retribution against those responsible for the Armenian Genocide was on the agenda. Contrary to many of the Eastern Armenian delegates' vociferous objections, it was decided to deal with the reconciliation by Armenian force.
The leader of the group responsible for the work was Shahan Natalie, working with Grigor Merjanov. It is notable that ARF Bureau members, specifically Simon Vratsyan, Ruben Ter Minasian, and Ruben Darbinian, worked to hinder Natalie's operation, but which went on anyway.
[edit] The "Black List"
A "black list" contained the names of 200 criminals responsible for organizing the genocide of the Armenian people. For Shahan Natalie, the primary target was the anti-Armenian Talât Pasha, whom Shahan called "Number One." The mission to kill Talât was entrusted to Soghomon Tehlirian.
Indeed, Natalie's purpose was to turn Soghomon Tehlirian's trial into the political trial of those responsible for the Armenian Genocide. In his memoirs, Natalie revealed his orders to Tehlirian: "You blow up the skull of the Number One nation-murderer and you don't try to flee. You stand there, your foot on the corpse and surrender to the police, who will come and handcuff you."[citation needed]
[edit] Assassinations
- Talât Pasha, one of the Ittihadist triumvirates and former prime minister, was assassinated on March 15, 1921, in Berlin by Soghomon Tehlirian. Having been arrested and put to trial, Tehlirian was released with a 'not guilty' verdict by the German Court in June 1921.
- Enver Pasha, another one of the Ittihadist triumvirates, minister of war in the Young Turk government. One of the key figures in organizing the deporations and massacres of the Armenians in Anatolia. He was killed on August 14, 1922 in Tajikistan. He was celebtrating Ramadan with troops with whom he was fighting to create a Pan-Turkic Nation in Central Asia.
- Behbud Khan Javanshir, former internal affairs of Azerbaijan,Pan-Turanian, and organizer of Armenian massacres in Baku,[citation needed] was assassinated on July 18, 1921, in Constantinople, by Misak Torlakian. He was acquitted by the British forces in November of 1921.
- Said Halim Pasha, former prime minister, was assassinated on December 5, 1921, in Rome, by Arshavir Shiragian. This operation was organized by Grigor Merjanov. Shiragian was not captured and returned to Constantinople.
- Behaeddin Shakir Bey, principal organizer and executor of the Ittihadist "Special Committee,"[citation needed] was assassinated on April 17, 1922, in Berlin, by Aram Yerganian.
- Jemal Azmi, an anti-Armenian Ittihadist leader, was assassinated on April 17, 1922, in Berlin, by an agent code-named "T." who was aided by Aram Yerganian. Nicknamed "The Monster of Trebizond," Azmi was responsible for the drowning of 15,000 Armenians.[citation needed] A Turkish court-martial sentenced him to death in 1919, but the sentence was never enacted.
- Jemal Pasha, a member of the Ittihadist triumvirate and defense minister, was assassinated on July 25, 1922, in Tbilisi, by Stepan Dzaghigian and Bedros D. Boghosian along with decoys and the help of Zareh Melik-Shahnazarian of Artsakh.
- Several Armenian spies and traitors, who denounced their kinsmen to Turkish authorities and were responsible for their deaths, were also murdered: Mgrditch Haroutounian in Constanipole in 1920 by Soghomon Tehlirian, Vahe Ihssan (Yessayan) in Constanipole on March 27, 1920 in Constanipole by Arshavir Shiragian, and Hemayag Aramiantz by Arshag Yezdanian.[1]
[edit] Position of the ARF Bureau
The ARF Bureau was against these assassinations, because having been ousted from the Democratic Republic of Armenia, it was filled with anti-Soviet sentiment and was playing Turkish-spirited politics, which this campaign of assassination hindered.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- Natalie, Shahan [1928] (2002). The Turks and Us (in English). Nagorno-Karabakh: Punik Publishing.
[edit] Further reading
- Shiragian, Arshavir (1976). The Legacy, Sonia Shiragian (in English), Boston, Massachusetts: Hairenik Press. LCC 76-49796.
- Avakian, Lindy V. (1989). The Cross and the Crescent. USC Press. ISBN 0-943247-06-3.
- Derogy, Jacques (1990). Resistance & Revenge. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0-88738-338-6.
- Alexander, Edward (2000). A Crime of Vengeance. Backinprint.com. ISBN 0595088856.
- Yeghiayan, Vartkes (2006). The Case of Soghomon Tehlirian. Center for Armenian Remembrance. ISBN 0977715310.
- Yeghiayan, Vartkes (2006). The Case of Misak Torlakian. Center for Armenian Remembrance. ISBN 0977715302.
