Զօր. Արամ Գարամանուկեան2025-04-302025-04-301974Գարամանուկեան, Զօր. Ա., «Հայկական Լեգէոնը պատմական, իրաւական ու քաղաքական հարցերու լոյսին տակ եւ վաւերագրեր», «Հայկազեան հայագիտական հանդէս», 1974, Պէյրութ, էջ 39-90https://haigrepository.haigazian.edu.lb/handle/123456789/527After a heroic defence against the Turkish aggression, the Armenians of Moussa-Dagh were safely carried to Port Sa’id by the French navy. As a token of their gratitude, the Armenians of Moussa-Dagh volunteered to be enrolled in the French army to fight against the Turks and reoccupy their homeland. On November 15, 1916, by a ministerial decree, the French government permitted the formation of the volunteers’ regiment, which later was named the Eastern Legion. A great number of Armenians, mainly from the USA, and also from France and Egypt, joined the Eastern Legion. After being trained in Cyprus, the Eastern Legion joined the offensive in Palestine, organised by Gen. Alenby in 1918. Later in the year the Eastern Legion brought her share to the occupation of Cilicia. In the beginning of the year 1919, the Eastern Legion was divided into two units, namely, the Armenian Legion and the Syrian Legion. From the day of her formation, the Eastern Legion gave way to legal problems, related to the legionaries’ rankings, rights of order, payments and pensions. It also had her political problems. The triple agreement of London in the year 1916, had the intention of creating an autonomous Cilicia for the Armenians, and the Legion was to be the founding stone of the Armenian Army. But the Anglo-French conflict in the Middle East jeopardized the initial plan. At first, on legal bases, France was able to reject an English demand for dissolving the Legion. But later, because of her own political gains and lead by a turkophile policy, France, in Sept. 1920, ordered the dissolution of the Armenian Legion. (In pages 60-89, the author gives the numbers and the contents of those documents concerning the Legion. These are found in the archives of Foreign Ministry of France, and the Historical Service of French Army).