French ambassador to Armenia recalls Vice-Admiral Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet`s role in saving Armenians of Musa Dagh during Armenian Genocide

ArmInfo. French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies recalled the role of Vice-Admiral of the Third Squadron of the French Naval Forces to the East Louis Rene  Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet in saving the Armenians of Musa Dagh  during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire.

"On February 16, 1940, Admiral Louis Dartige du Fournet passed away.  In September 1915, together with his sailors from the 3rd French  Fleet in the Mediterranean, he extended a helping hand to save more  than 4,000 Armenians of Musa Dagh, allowing them to escape the  genocide.

A decision that Louis Dartige du Fournet made without instructions,  remaining faithful only to his conscience and the honor of a French  officer," the French diplomat wrote on his Twitter microblog (X).

Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet gave an unauthorized  order in the autumn of 1915 to evacuate more than 4,000 Armenian men,  women, and children. If it were not for the courage of Louis Rene  Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet, these people would have perished in  the foothills of Musa Dagh in what is now southeastern Turkey. This  story began in the summer of 1915, when most of the inhabitants of  six Armenian villages refused to join the columns of Armenians who  were to be deported by order of the Turkish authorities. The few who  did obey were sent on a death march. Almost all of them died on the  way, never reaching the Syrian desert. The remaining villagers -  about 5,000 people - left their homes and took refuge in the  foothills of Musa Dagh (Mount Moses or Jebel Musa). There they  organized a militia and courageously fought off Turkish attacks for  more than fifty days. There were only 600 fighters among the  Armenians.

On September 5, when the Musa Dagh people had been fighting for a  month, the crew of the French warship Guichen saw their signals. One  of the militia members, Pierre Dimlakian, reached the cruiser,  boarded it and directly addressed the French commander asking for  help. He promised to do everything possible. 

According to the diary entry of Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du  Fournet, on September 6, 1915, the vice admiral received a telegram  describing the situation and changed the ship's course. The next day,  the flagship Saint Jeanne d'Arc approached the shore to conduct  reconnaissance. This time, one of the militia leaders, Tigran  Andreasian, boarded it. He asked to take away at least those who were  not participating in the fighting: women, children and the elderly.  He was again assured that the French fleet would come to the aid of  the Armenians.

"I realized that it was our duty to help these unfortunate people,"  wrote Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet in his diary. He  sent an urgent telegram, but was afraid that the slow bureaucracy of  the French command could turn into a tragedy for the besieged.

Risking his career, the vice-admiral, without waiting for an answer,  ordered all the ships at his disposal to head for Musa Dagh and  immediately begin the evacuation.

"There was no time to wait. Whatever the answer, everyone had to be  evacuated," wrote Louis Rene Charles Marie Dartige du Fournet, whose  words are quoted by the Aurora humanitarian initiative.