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Erzurum was the scene of massacres during the Hamidian massacres. Following the massacres of Erzeroum of October 30, 1895 , a British consul put the hand on two letters sent to his brother and to his parents by a Turkish soldier:
"My brother, if you want news from here, we killed 1 200 Armenians, all tiny rooms in pâtée for dog [... ] Mother, I am healthy and except. Father, twenty days ago, we carried out the war against the Armenian incrédules. By the grace of God, no misfortune arrived to us. The rumour says that our battalion will be dispatched in your part of the world - if it is the case, we will kill all the Armenians there. Other share, 511 Armenians were wounded, and it perishes about it one or two each day. If you want news of the soldiers and bachi bouzouks, not only one did not bleed of the nose [... ] That God blesses you." (Source: "The Graphic", 07.12.1895, Massacres of Erzeroum of October 30, 1895)
"On June 20th the soldiers were trying to disperse Armenians who were holding a meeting in a church. The soldiers began a massacre of the Armenians and the Turkish populace joined in the attack. The shops and houses of Armenians were pillaged. The sack lasted four hours. The British Consulate, at which on the same night a fete was being given for the benefit of poor Armenians, was stoned and its gates and windows broken. The Consul and members of his family took refuge in the cellars in the building and the fete was abandoned. The Armenian mission served as a refuge for fifty fugitives." (Source: Los Angeles Times Jul 26, 1890 TURKISH ATROCITIES. - DETAILS OF THE MASSACRE AT ERZEROUM)
It was also a major extermination and deportation center during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The deportation route for the Armenians of Erzurum and for many others from eastern Anatolia went through the city of Harput.
"My brother, if you want news from here, we killed 1 200 Armenians, all tiny rooms in pâtée for dog [... ] Mother, I am healthy and except. Father, twenty days ago, we carried out the war against the Armenian incrédules. By the grace of God, no misfortune arrived to us. The rumour says that our battalion will be dispatched in your part of the world - if it is the case, we will kill all the Armenians there. Other share, 511 Armenians were wounded, and it perishes about it one or two each day. If you want news of the soldiers and bachi bouzouks, not only one did not bleed of the nose [... ] That God blesses you." (Source: "The Graphic", 07.12.1895, Massacres of Erzeroum of October 30, 1895)
"On June 20th the soldiers were trying to disperse Armenians who were holding a meeting in a church. The soldiers began a massacre of the Armenians and the Turkish populace joined in the attack. The shops and houses of Armenians were pillaged. The sack lasted four hours. The British Consulate, at which on the same night a fete was being given for the benefit of poor Armenians, was stoned and its gates and windows broken. The Consul and members of his family took refuge in the cellars in the building and the fete was abandoned. The Armenian mission served as a refuge for fifty fugitives." (Source: Los Angeles Times Jul 26, 1890 TURKISH ATROCITIES. - DETAILS OF THE MASSACRE AT ERZEROUM)
It was also a major extermination and deportation center during the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The deportation route for the Armenians of Erzurum and for many others from eastern Anatolia went through the city of Harput.