keywords: general james g. harbord, turkey, armenia, constantinople, mosque, turkish cavalry
Synopsis: In August 1919, President Woodrow Wilson sent a fact-finding mission to the Middle East, headed by General Harbord, to investigate the feasability of the Balfour Declaration, which supported the creation of a Jewish state in the Palestine lands taken from the Ottoman Empire during the war. Harbord was also to report on Turkish-Armenian relations in the wake of the Armenian Genocide... (read more)
American Military Mission - Turkey And Armenia 1919
General James G. Harbord views Constantinople from the liner Martha Washington, inspects Turkish wheat fields, greets Armenian priests, and visits a mosque. Vendors dispense goods in Andana, Turkey. Natives wash clothes in the Sihon River.
Mission members are greeted by city officials and Arab leaders, and review parading Turkish cavalry and infantry at Mardin. Shows the mission camp and native caravans near the Devegechid River. The mission leaves the Kharput town hall, pushes cars and trucks from sand near the Euphrates River, watches Khurdish natives build a bridge, reviews Turkish troops in Sivas, and visits a Red Cross orphanage.
In Erzinjan. mission members arrive in Ezeroum and view football games, Turkish wrestling, and native dances. Armenian soldiers parade in Kars. Harbord meets Prime Minister Khatassian and reviews troops at Erivan. The Armenian cabinet poses. Shows Erivan street scenes with Mt. Ararat in the background. Mission members board the Martha Washington at Trebizond, Turkey. The ship sails through the Bosphorus Strait.