1) Enclosed please find an "Armenian letter" for your information and discussion at some point.
2) Furthermore: Talaat confirmed to me today that Turkey will cut off relations with the United States today.
3) I request that Nazim be struck off the list of decorations, as he accepts nothing on principle.
4) Finally: As Deputy Grand Vizier, Enver Pasha will strike a blow during the ceremony when the foundation stone is laid; the Turks assume and wish that Your Excellency will do the same.
Respectfully yours,
With reference to our discussion I take the liberty of informing you of the following.
From a humane as well as Christian point of view, we are constantly moved by the situation of the deported Armenians. The latest disclosures made by the Grand Vizier, Talaat Pasha, have led us to the conclusion that it should be possible at present to assist the unfortunate members of the Armenian population. More than ever before, the declaration of war made by the United States of America imposes a responsibility on Germany to relieve the suffering as much as possible. We are convinced that this is both in Germany's political interest which, especially because of the events in Armenia, is being attacked in a particularly sharp manner by its opponents, as well as in the well-understood interest of the Ottoman Empire which, due to the great financial demands made on it during wartime, can hardly be in a position to raise the immense sums that are necessary here, and for whom witnesses who are above suspicion must be very welcome in its present position on the Armenian question. I would like to emphasise that we will keep a close watch on the present situation while assisting the Armenians and, under the present circumstances, will, on our part, make neither written nor oral references to times past.
We have planned assistance in such a manner that one of our members, accompanied by a doctor and persons who already reside in areas where the deportees are to be found, will travel to the camps, distributing funds and food. Based on the information we have received, it is mainly the camps on both sides of the Baghdad Railway, to which the deportees from Armenia itself have been distributed, that are to be taken into consideration. The leader of this undertaking would have to be the signatory (after lengthy discussions with the appropriate authorities in Germany, no other person could be found for this task) together with Dr. Andreas Vischer in Basle, a Swiss national, who worked in Urfa for years and is prepared to undertake this journey. I know the gentleman mentioned personally; last October, I spoke to him at length on this matter, and I can guarantee that his understanding of the task is exactly in the sense in which I informed him of it. In addition, we are counting on the support of our Consul in Aleppo, Dr. Rössler, and that of Mr. Eckart in Urfa, whose organisational skills are well respected.
We would now like to request that you kindly arrange for permission with the decisive authorities in the Turkish government for myself and Dr. Vischer to travel to Constantinople, Aleppo and onwards to the deportation camps. You surely know that the German Foreign Office and the German Embassy in Constantinople warmly support our plan. We believe that we have very significant financial funds for this purpose at our disposal, which have been made available by German and Swiss friends of the Armenians, by the influence of the latter from other neutral countries, but especially by the Armenians outside Germany. It is not possible at present to quote the exact sum, but we take the liberty of reporting it to you by telegram to Constantinople.
[Note by Mordtmann, 23 July]
It is not as clear whether Talaat Pasha will carry out the plan he has occasionally mentioned to give up the anti-Armenian policy of the former Cabinet, as is often assumed, and by Vicar Stier as well. Nothing has as yet become known of any concrete results, while various news from the interior lead us to presume that the persecutions are still continuing, although not as extensively.
However, one can hardly expect any political gain from charitable acts carried out for the Armenians by the Germans. Our former work in this connection that went on until war broke out did not cause the Armenians to like us any more noticeably; from way back and with only few exceptions they preferred France, England, the United States and Russia, and the events of the past years have surely only assisted in strengthening these preferences.
But also from a purely human point of view it is not possible to see why, instead of being sent abroad, German money and German charity should not be put solely to use for our countrymen who have been affected by the war.
As I already remarked in the beginning, the Embassy has advised urgently against sending out Vicar Stier.
This was done on the basis of the explicit remarks made by Consul Roessler in Aleppo who, quite rightly, spoke out against any sort of public support for this relief action. An expedition consisting of several people, as suggested by Vicar Stier to visit the individual deportation centres, is completely out of the question anyway.
The British advance in Mesopotamia will surely have made the Turks even more suspicious in this respect; added to which the German mission uses mainly American funds. Therefore, we would merely serve the interests of the Armenians, who are hostile towards us, and the Americans, who are at war with us, without being able to expect any services in return whatsoever.
We would, however, should we support this American-Armenian relief action just at this time, only cause ill feelings among the allied Turkish government.
[Note by Kühlmann]
[Note by the Embassy in Constantinople]