"Al-Roqoud" witness to Ottoman Empire's massacres against Armenians

In spite of the great destruction, "al-Roqoud" meaning tombs in the town of Merkada of al-Hasakah canton remained a witness to the Ottoman massacre of the Armenians, and there is a symbolic tomb in one of the sites that witnessed the exclusion of the Armenians during their transfer from southern Turkey to Deir ez-Zor.

14 November, 2018 15:29

TALAL HUSIEN / AL-HASAKAH

The town of Merkada, located 90 km south of al-Hasakah. In the town, Merkada Mount is located which includes the remains of the Armenians and is called "al-Raqoud" after the massacre of the Ottomans against the Armenians in 1915.

Every year, the Armenian pilgrims in April visit the Armenian Martyrs' Church in Deir ez-Zor and then heads to Mount Merkada, located between Deir ez-Zor and al-Hasakah, which is a mass graveyard in which they search for the remains of their forefathers.

Hawar news agency met with the church's guard in Merkada Nashmi al-Salibi, who spoke about "Merkada". "This place was discovered during the excavation to create the base of a government primary school located on the highway between Deir ez-Zor and al-Hasakah, it is a plateau full of bones

He said that every year the Armenians go to "Merkada" from all over the world, in memory of their martyrs buried in there, and recite the prayers in memory of the famous Armenian massacre, and it is considered the last stage of the displacement and extermination that took place in 1915.

Al-Salibi pointed out that there is a symbolic tomb in the town in one of the sites that witnessed the liquidation of the Armenians during their transfer from southern Turkey to Deir ez-Zor, and there is the mountain of al-Hamma, "Hama Maxin."

He also noted that during the control of IS on the area, he was accused of infidelity "because I was guarding the church and beat me until they break a rib bone of my chest, and later the church and detonate it completely and from that period, the pilgrims had stopped from coming to Markada.

He called at the end of his speech the concerned parties to visit the site and reconstruct it because it is the witness to the massacres of the Ottoman occupation against civilians. "The Turkish occupation is now trying to repeat the actions of the Ottomans, and the competent parties should preserve these monuments of the Armenian massacre,"

ANHA