Note 1 — Reports by Mohammedan Officers in the Turkish Army as to incidents witnessed by them.

Besides the deportation order referred to above, an Imperial “Iradeh” was issued ordering that all deserters, when caught, should be shot without trial. The secret order read “Armenians” in lieu of deserters.1 The Sultan’s “Iradeh” was accompanied by a “fetua” from Sheikh-ul-Islam stating that the Armenians had shed Moslem blood and their killing was lawful. Then the deportations started. The children were kept back at first. The Government opened up a school for the grown-up children, and the American Consul of Trebizond instituted an asylum for the infants. When the first batches of deported Armenians arrived at Gumush-Khana all able-bodied men were sorted out, with the excuse that they were going to be given work. The women and children were sent ahead under escort with the assurance by the Turkish authorities that their final destination was Mosul and that no harm will befall them. The men kept behind were taken out of town in batches of 15 or 20, lined up on the edge of ditches prepared beforehand, shot, and thrown into the ditches. Hundreds of men were shot every day in a similar manner. The women and children were attacked on their way by the “Shotas” and armed bands organised by the Turkish Government, who attacked them and seized a certain number. After plundering and committing the most dastardly outrages on the women and children, they massacred them in cold blood. These attacks were a daily occurrence until every woman and child had been got rid of. The military escorts had strict orders not to interfere with the “Shotas.”