Sarkis Torossian

Sarkis Torossian (, also spelled Torosian, 1891 – August 17, 1954) was a decorated Ottoman Armenian captain who fought in the Gallipoli campaign and, according to his memoirs, was the first person to sink a British battleship. After the Armenian genocide, however, when most of his family was massacred, he switched sides and joined the fight against the Ottoman Empire. In anticipation of the publication of Torossian's memoirs in Turkey by Ayhan Aktar, Torosian's descendants were discovered by local historian Paul Vartan Sookiasian. From there, Taner Akçam interviewed Torossian's granddaughter, who described her grandfather's life in detail.

Life Sarkis Torossian was born in the Armenian-populated village of Everek (present-day Develi), near Kayseri, in 1891. He attended the local Armenian Parochial School. At an early age, Sarkis Torossian wanted to become a soldier; however, Ottoman Turkish law forbade any non-Muslims to become soldiers, until the Young Turk Revolution in 1908. Torossian continued his education in Adrianople (Edirne), where he befriended an Arab named Muharrem, whose father was a brigadier general in Constantinople (Istanbul). In the morning of September 29, 1915, Torossian received word that Muharrem was critically injured during battle and rushed to see him. Just before Muharrem died, he made a confession about his sister Jemileh. According to Torossian's diary the confession is written in his diary as follows: However, the governor of the Kayseri province, Salih Zeki Bey, ignored Enver Pasha's orders and continued with the deportation of Torossian's family. Torossian's father, Ohannes, and mother, Vartuhi, were murdered, and only his sister Bayzar survived. Upon hearing the stories of his sister and having lost his father, mother, sister, and fiancée, Torossian vowed for "revenge" against the Turkish government.

Arab campaign In September 1918, during the Battle of Nablus, Sarkis Torossian defected to the British and fought along with Arab rebels against the Ottoman Army. In his memoirs, Torossian writes, "I wanted to break the waist of the Turkish Army". Sarkis Torossian soon led a platoon of Arab soldiers in Palestine and was in charge of 6,000 Arab horsemen in Damascus. For his bravery and leadership in Palestine, the British bestowed him with medals.

French Armenian Legion The French Armenian Legion was a foreign legion unit within French Army. The Armenian legion was established under the goals of the Armenian national liberation movement and was an armed unit besides the Armenian volunteer units and Armenian militia during World War I and later the Franco-Turkish War which fought against the Ottoman Empire. Sarkis Torossian used the opportunity of the French Armenian Legions to fight against the Turkish army. The Turkish guerrillas under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal forces pushed back much of the French and Armenian forces in Cilicia and gain control of the region. Torossian suspected, as he noted in his diary, that the French forces gave weapons and ammunition to the Kemalists to allow the French army safe passage out of Cilicia. Having felt betrayed, Torossian emigrated to the United States, where he met his relatives. The French, however, decorated Torossian with medals as well.

Later life in America Sarkis Torossian settled in Philadelphia. In 1927, he published his memoirs in Boston called From Dardanelles to Palestine: A True Story of Five Battle Fronts of Turkey, which describes his life and achievements in detail. His memoir has been used by historians to further analyze and research about World War I and the Armenian genocide. Sarkis Torossian died on October 17, 1954, in the Bronx, New York, at the age of 63 and is buried at Arlington Cemetery in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

Legacy According to author Ayhan Aktar, who edited and published Torossian's memoirs into Turkish, the Turkish official history erased Torossian's name from records and ignored his successes in the Gallipoli campaign owing to his Armenian origin.