ABSTRACT
Most of the Turks had no qualms about the slaughter at Urfa. Their next item of business was the appropriation of the confiscated property of the Armenians. The commission was to sell the "abandoned" properties of the Armenians, and to collect the outstanding bills of Armenian merchants and pay their debts. The Turkish government, supported by Herr Eckart, tormented him more and more as they also escalated their persecution of the Armenians. Just before the battle, when the Armenians were convinced that they would be deported as were their compatriots in other cities, they looked for safe places to deposit their money, jewelry, and other valuables. The Turkish soldiers drove all the Armenians who had taken refuge there out into the desert. The stores and shops of the Armenians were in the central shopping area of the city, so were still intact. The shattered Armenian quarter never included any business establishments.
