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Armenian Homeland |
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According to the Sayce-Picot agreement, France was to get the most of the Cilician province. The French command could depend on the Armenian battalion of the Orient Legion. Instituted in 1916 upon the initiative of Boghos Nubar Pasha, its composition was 95 percent Armenians and included survivors of Musa Dagh and volunteers from Europe and the United States. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Romieu, It had fought in Palestine and Syria. In regards to the articles of the Armistice of Mudros, signed between England representing the allies with Turkey. On October 31, 1918, Anglo-French troops debarked in Alexandretta. On November 28, 1918, launched the freeing operation, aimed to create an Armenian national home in Cilicia, under French protection. The Armenian Legion followed the withdrawal of Turkish troops and entered Cilicia. Responding to the French High Commissioner George Picot, 170,000 survivors of the massacres repatriated by the French authority to Cilicia, to reorganize they're national home. The workshop of restoration and rebuilding the country was going on. The churches were reopen, the Mersin harbor repaired, the commerce and the artisan flourished. And during two years, Cilician Armenia rounded with great hope, and cheer was dominated all over the population. Alas soon after the restoration of peace, France made a secret agreement with the Turks to withdraw from Cilicia, so turned forlorn hope into despair. The withdrawal of France from Cilicia, 1921-1923, undoubtedly opens up the way for further attacks by the Turks upon unprotected Armenians in Cilicia. New massacres started again, where killed more than 40 thousand souls. After the Franco-Kemalist treaty, the Armenian survivors scattered through, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere. |
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