Musa Dagh (Turkish: Musa Dağı, Arabic: Jebel Musa, Armenian: Musa Ler, Մուսա Լեռ, meaning "Moses Mountain") was the site of resistance by the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide. The denizens of that region were violently expelled from their six villages (Kaboussieh, Yogohonoluk, Bitias, Wakef, Khodr Bey, Hedj Habibli) by the Ottomans in 1915. As Ottoman Turkish forces converged upon the town, the populace aware of the impending danger fell back upon Musa mountain and repeatedly thwarted assaults for fifty-three days. Allied warships, most notably French, in the Mediterranean responded to distress signals and rescued the remaining survivors just as ammunition and food provisions were being exhausted. The warships then transported them to Port Said, Egypt. A tomb exists in the city of Port Said of some martyres of Musa Dagh.
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Genocide survivors
Starting in 1918, when Hatay province became under French control, seven Armenian villages returned to their homes. On June 29, 1939, following an agreement between France and Turkey the province was given to Turkey. Afterwards Armenians in those six villages immigrated out of Hatay, while the residents of Vakıflı village chose to stay.[1] Vakıflı is the only remaining ethnic Armenian village in Turkey,[2][3] with a population only 130 Turkish-Armenians. Those who left the Hatay in 1939 immigrated to Lebanon where they founded the town of Anjar. Today, the town of Anjar is divided into six districts, each commemorating one of the villages of Musa Dagh.
The Forty Days of Musa Dagh
These historical events later inspired Franz Werfel to write his novel The Forty Days of Musa Dagh (1933), a fictionalized account based on Werfel's detailed research of historical sources. There is now a movie based on the novel.
References
- ^ Başlangıç, Celal. "Musa'dan notlar", Radikal, 2002-07-29. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. (Turkish)
- ^ Kalkan, Ersin. "Türkiye'nin tek Ermeni köyü Vakıflı", Hürriyet, 2005-07-31. Retrieved on 2007-02-22. (Turkish)
- ^ Campbell, Verity (2007). Turkey. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1741045568.
- Armenia: The Survival of a Nation By Christopher J. Walker ISBN 0-312-04230-2
See also
External links
