Detention
Minister of the Interior Mehmed Talaat Bey gave the detention order on April 24, 1915. The operation commenced at 8 p.m. At Constantinople, the action was operated by Chief of Police of Constantinople Bedri Bey.
On the night of 24–25 April 1915, in a first wave 235 to 270 Armenian leaders of Constantinople, clergymen, physicians, editors, journalists, lawyers, teachers, politicians, etc. were arrested upon an instruction of the Ministry of the Interior. The differences in number may be explained by the uncertainties of the police as they imprisoned people with the same names.
There were further deportations from the capital. The first task was to identify those imprisoned. They were held for one day in a police station (Ottoman Turkish: Emniyeti Umumiye) and the Central Prison. A second wave brought the figure to 500–600.
In the end of August 1915 about 150 Armenians with Russian nationality were deported from Constantinople to holding centers. Few of the detained were released the same weekend as writer Alexander Panossian (1859–1919) before even being transferred to Anatolia.
Read more about this topic: Deportation Of Armenian Notables In 1915
Famous quotes containing the word detention:
“I would like you to understand completely, also emotionally, that I’m a political detainee and will be a political prisoner, that I have nothing now or in the future to be ashamed of in this situation. That, at bottom, I myself have in a certain sense asked for this detention and this sentence, because I’ve always refused to change my opinion, for which I would be willing to give my life and not just remain in prison. That therefore I can only be tranquil and content with myself.”
—Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)