Azkakh was a village in southeastern Turkey with a population of 1,000 Assyrian inhabitants (both Catholic and Orthodox), which became the protagonist of a story of heroism in the face of annihilation. Aziz Feyzi Pirinççizâde, a Kurdish member of the Committee of Union and Progress (the ruling political party of the Ottoman Empire during World War I), was sent in April 1915 to the region where Azkakh was located to incite the local Kurdish tribes to massacre the non-Muslim populations of the area (mainly Assyrians, with a few Armenians as well).
The Assyrians of the area, fearful at the (slow but steady) mobilization of the Kurds to attack, and fearing the worst, sought refuge in the village of Azkakh. Not only them, but also some Armenians from the area seeking protection alongside their fellow Christians, joined the “Christ’s Feday” (Those who sacrifice for Christ), a group created by Işo Hanna Gabre, the village mayor, with the intention of keeping themselves safe. Those who had not yet taken refuge there did so when the Kurds began massacring entire Assyrian villages throughout the region between June and July.
On August 18, the Kurds, having prepared their forces, finally launched an attack on the village, defended by 4,000 Assyrians (with a few Armenians among their ranks). The attack was quickly repelled, and the Feday (led by the mayor’s son) launched a counterattack on the night of August 26 against strategic Kurdish positions, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them to retreat. The Ottoman authorities, who under Enver Pasha had ordered that the Assyrians and Armenians be suppressed with “utmost severity,” were furious at this development and decided to send reinforcements to aid the Kurds: more than 8,000 well-armed soldiers.
Halil Kut, the Ottoman general sent to finish the job of suppressing this “rebellion that was massacring Muslim citizens,” went with a German force led by Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter to confront the Ottoman Christians. Soon, however, Scheubner-Richter decided that the Germans were not going to participate in a massacre of Christians when he determined that there was no real evidence of massacres of Muslims. When he consulted General Field Marshal Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz and the ambassador in Constantinople Konstantin von Neurath consulted with Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg on how to act in this situation, the answer was basically not take part.
On November 7, the Ottoman army began their frontal assault on the village of Azakh, but the assault turned out to be a failure with heavy losses. A surprise attack on the Turkish camp took place on November 13–14, leading to a large number of soldiers and officers were killed. This led to chaos among the surviving Turkish soldiers in the camp which led to their flight. With this victory, the Azakh Fedayi managed to capture large quantities of modern weapons that the Turkish soldiers left behind. As the Ottoman siege of the small village of Azakh had turned into a military fiasco as the hardened villagers put up a surprising resistance.
Negotiations for a truce began on November 16th after the surprise attack. Troops began to pull out of Azakh starting November 21st, and by the last week of November, they had pulled out from Azakh. The leaders of Azakh reportedly swore out, “*We all have to die sometime, do not die in shame and humiliation*.” During this month, Kâmil Pasha wrote to Enver Pasha stating that he was forced to abort the village following the defense, and argued for postponing any further engagement until a more opportune moment (which would not come before the surrender of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW1).
Fancy-Way5959 on
peak “if no one helps us, we help each other.”
Lord_of_insanity09 on
The young turks really were the epitome of incompetence.
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Azkakh was a village in southeastern Turkey with a population of 1,000 Assyrian inhabitants (both Catholic and Orthodox), which became the protagonist of a story of heroism in the face of annihilation. Aziz Feyzi Pirinççizâde, a Kurdish member of the Committee of Union and Progress (the ruling political party of the Ottoman Empire during World War I), was sent in April 1915 to the region where Azkakh was located to incite the local Kurdish tribes to massacre the non-Muslim populations of the area (mainly Assyrians, with a few Armenians as well).
The Assyrians of the area, fearful at the (slow but steady) mobilization of the Kurds to attack, and fearing the worst, sought refuge in the village of Azkakh. Not only them, but also some Armenians from the area seeking protection alongside their fellow Christians, joined the “Christ’s Feday” (Those who sacrifice for Christ), a group created by Işo Hanna Gabre, the village mayor, with the intention of keeping themselves safe. Those who had not yet taken refuge there did so when the Kurds began massacring entire Assyrian villages throughout the region between June and July.
On August 18, the Kurds, having prepared their forces, finally launched an attack on the village, defended by 4,000 Assyrians (with a few Armenians among their ranks). The attack was quickly repelled, and the Feday (led by the mayor’s son) launched a counterattack on the night of August 26 against strategic Kurdish positions, inflicting heavy casualties and forcing them to retreat. The Ottoman authorities, who under Enver Pasha had ordered that the Assyrians and Armenians be suppressed with “utmost severity,” were furious at this development and decided to send reinforcements to aid the Kurds: more than 8,000 well-armed soldiers.
Halil Kut, the Ottoman general sent to finish the job of suppressing this “rebellion that was massacring Muslim citizens,” went with a German force led by Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter to confront the Ottoman Christians. Soon, however, Scheubner-Richter decided that the Germans were not going to participate in a massacre of Christians when he determined that there was no real evidence of massacres of Muslims. When he consulted General Field Marshal Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz and the ambassador in Constantinople Konstantin von Neurath consulted with Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg on how to act in this situation, the answer was basically not take part.
On November 7, the Ottoman army began their frontal assault on the village of Azakh, but the assault turned out to be a failure with heavy losses. A surprise attack on the Turkish camp took place on November 13–14, leading to a large number of soldiers and officers were killed. This led to chaos among the surviving Turkish soldiers in the camp which led to their flight. With this victory, the Azakh Fedayi managed to capture large quantities of modern weapons that the Turkish soldiers left behind. As the Ottoman siege of the small village of Azakh had turned into a military fiasco as the hardened villagers put up a surprising resistance.
Negotiations for a truce began on November 16th after the surprise attack. Troops began to pull out of Azakh starting November 21st, and by the last week of November, they had pulled out from Azakh. The leaders of Azakh reportedly swore out, “*We all have to die sometime, do not die in shame and humiliation*.” During this month, Kâmil Pasha wrote to Enver Pasha stating that he was forced to abort the village following the defense, and argued for postponing any further engagement until a more opportune moment (which would not come before the surrender of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WW1).
peak “if no one helps us, we help each other.”
The young turks really were the epitome of incompetence.