Sarkis Torossian

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Sarkis Torossian as the commander of the Arab troops in Damascus during the First World War

Sarkis Torossian ( Armenian Սարգիս Թորոսեան , Turkish Sarkis Torosyan * 1891 in Everek in Kayseri , Ottoman Empire ; † 17th October 1954 in the Bronx , New York City ) a highly decorated Ottoman commander was of Armenian origin. According to his memoir, Torossian was the person who sank the first British ship at the Battle of Gallipoli .

Sarkis Torossian , who comes from today 's Kayseri province , wanted to become a soldier at an early age , but Ottoman-Turkish law forbade all non-Muslims from military service and possession of weapons - until the Young Turkish Revolution in 1908.

At the Battle of Gallipoli in 1915, the trained pharmacist was in command of an Ottoman coastal battery. Cevat Pasha praised Torossian's actions, stating that the military efforts to destroy British ships were most effectively under Torossian's command. For his services in battle, Torossian was awarded medals (Osmanlı Devleti harp madalyası) by Enver Pasha . However, the name and successes of Sarkis Torossian in the Battle of Gallipoli are kept secret in official Turkish historiography due to his Armenian origin.

According to his own account, he deserted after his family was murdered in the Armenian genocide and served the British in Palestine in 1918 .

Fonts

  • From Dardanelles to Palestine. A true story of five battle fronts of Turkey and her allies and a harem romance. Meador, Boston 1947.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Wilson last = Pierce: Story of Turkey and Armenia . Ed .: James Wilson Pierce. RH Woodward Company, 1896, p. 26 ( here in the Google book search - Indeed, the government goes so far as to prohibit Armenians from possessing arms of any kind.).
  2. ↑ a b Robert Fisk : The Armenian hero whom Turkey would prefer to forget . The Independent. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  3. ^ Sarkis Torossian Debate . Retrieved May 13, 2013
  4. ↑ Torosyan neden ihanet etti? (Turkish). Radical. Retrieved May 12, 2013
  5. ↑ Torosyan ve mıntıka temizliği zorunluluğu ( Memento of the original dated December 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Turkish). Taraf. Retrieved May 12, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.taraf.com.tr
  6. ^ Mehmet Beşikçi: The Ottoman Mobilization of Manpower in the First World War. Between Voluntarism and Resistance. Brill, Leiden 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22520-6 , p. 256.
personal data
SURNAME Torossian, Sarkis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Torosyan, Sarkis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Captain of the Ottoman Navy
DATE OF BIRTH 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Everek near Kayseri , Ottoman Empire
DATE OF DEATH 17th October 1954
Place of death Bronx , New York City