Minassian, Mihran2024-08-292024-08-292018Minassian, M., Unpublished Documents about the Condition of Armenians in Alexandretta Province During the Cilician Massacres, Armenians in Syria, Conference Proceedings (24-27 May 2015), HU Press, Beirut, 2018, pp. 77-132https://doi.org/10.62811/adrc.aos.mm.001https://haigrepository.haigazian.edu.lb/handle/123456789/353Relatively little has been written about the small Armenian community of the Alexandretta Sandjak. There are no separate monographs which shed light on the history of the Armenian-inhabited towns and villages of the region. Likewise, there is no separate study of the events that took place in the Sandjak during the 1909 Cilician Massacres. Though the centre of the Sandjak, the city of Alexandretta, was not directly subjected to massacres, nonetheless certain villages of the Sandjak were and had huge human and financial losses, like, for instance, the village of Kerekkhan. Most of its inhabitants was massacred, while some killings, looting and destruction took place in other villages of the Sandjak. These, however, did not become full scale carnage. After a brief overview of the Alexandretta Sandjak, the author highlights Armenian aspects of the region and produces - from the Aleppo Armenian Prelacy - three unpublished documents which shed light on the oppression and violence that the Armenians of the region faced during the Cilician Massacres. The documents are written by the local vice-prelate, Father Krikor Minasian. The first one is a letter describing the prevailing conditions in and around the cities of Alexandretta, Beylan and Chork Marzban and the massacres and looting that took place. The second document is a report about the killings that took place in the villages of the Sandjak, with the names of the victims. The third is a detailed answer to the questionnaire that was sent from Aleppo concerning the killings, looting and related acts that took place in the Sandjak during the atrocities. The documents shed new light on the events and enrich knowledge not only of the history of the Armenians of the Sandjak of Alexandretta but add up to a fuller picture and understanding of the Adana Massacres.