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Reverend George Hepworth traveled through the Asiatic provinces of Turkey as a commissioner for the New York herald in 1897. His job was to make an impartial assessment of the Massacres which were perpetrated against the Armenians, he had the authority and confidence of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. He was to travel with a freind of the Sultan, Mr Sydney Whitman as well as 2 Turkish Gendarmes provided by the Sultan. In his book "Through Armenia on Horseback" published in 1898, Mr. Hepworth made 3 unbelievably prophetic statements 17 years before 1915, they are as follows:
"I have been more and more deeply convinced that the future of the Armenians is extremely clouded. It may be that the hand of the Turk will be held back through fear of Europe, but I am sure that the object of the Turk is extermination, and it will pursue that end if the opportunity offers. He has already come very near to its accomplishment, for the Armenians of today are an impoverished people, hopeless and in despair". Page 147.
"Way down in the bottom of his heart, the Turk hates the Armenian. He will swear to the contrary, but I am convinced that the statement is true nevertheless. The reasons for this are abundant, as I have tried to show in other chapters of this book. The Turk is extremely jealous of the Armenian, jealous of his mental superiority, of his thrift and business enterprise. He has therefore resorted to oppression, and his steady purpose has been, and is now, to keep his victims poor. Equal opportunities for all are a delusion and a snare. They do not exist, and it is not intended that they shall exist. If the Turk could have his own way, unhampered by the public opinion of Europe, there would neither be an Armenian nor a missionary in Anatolia at the end of twenty years…..When the lapse of time brings inevitable forgetfulness of past horrors, when the Powers have too much business on hand to give attention to Turkish affairs, the sword will once again be unleashed. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but when an avalanche has started, and it is stopped half-way by some obstacle, it is logical to declare that the avalanche will continue its destructive journey whenever the obstacle is removed. The desire to destroy remains in the avalanche all the time, and our only hope, therefore, rests on the obstacle" page 341.
"The hills and valleys of Armenia echo with the cries of the tortured who never lifted a hand against the government, who were as loyal as any Turk in the empire. That is why Turkey is hated. Why should we not tell her she is hated, and will be hated as long as such cruelties are permitted? The deliberate attempt to exterminate a race is not sanctioned by the spirit of this century. That attempt has been made, and unless all signs fall it will be made again when Europe shall so far forget the past as to render immunity probable." page 344.
George Hughes Hepworth. "Through Armenia on horseback". New York, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1898.
"I have been more and more deeply convinced that the future of the Armenians is extremely clouded. It may be that the hand of the Turk will be held back through fear of Europe, but I am sure that the object of the Turk is extermination, and it will pursue that end if the opportunity offers. He has already come very near to its accomplishment, for the Armenians of today are an impoverished people, hopeless and in despair". Page 147.
"Way down in the bottom of his heart, the Turk hates the Armenian. He will swear to the contrary, but I am convinced that the statement is true nevertheless. The reasons for this are abundant, as I have tried to show in other chapters of this book. The Turk is extremely jealous of the Armenian, jealous of his mental superiority, of his thrift and business enterprise. He has therefore resorted to oppression, and his steady purpose has been, and is now, to keep his victims poor. Equal opportunities for all are a delusion and a snare. They do not exist, and it is not intended that they shall exist. If the Turk could have his own way, unhampered by the public opinion of Europe, there would neither be an Armenian nor a missionary in Anatolia at the end of twenty years…..When the lapse of time brings inevitable forgetfulness of past horrors, when the Powers have too much business on hand to give attention to Turkish affairs, the sword will once again be unleashed. I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but when an avalanche has started, and it is stopped half-way by some obstacle, it is logical to declare that the avalanche will continue its destructive journey whenever the obstacle is removed. The desire to destroy remains in the avalanche all the time, and our only hope, therefore, rests on the obstacle" page 341.
"The hills and valleys of Armenia echo with the cries of the tortured who never lifted a hand against the government, who were as loyal as any Turk in the empire. That is why Turkey is hated. Why should we not tell her she is hated, and will be hated as long as such cruelties are permitted? The deliberate attempt to exterminate a race is not sanctioned by the spirit of this century. That attempt has been made, and unless all signs fall it will be made again when Europe shall so far forget the past as to render immunity probable." page 344.
George Hughes Hepworth. "Through Armenia on horseback". New York, E.P. Dutton & Company, 1898.
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