Where Was the World's Most Influential Armenian during the Armenian Genocide?

Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869–1955) was known during his lifetime as “Mr. Five Per Cent.” This was due to his personal share of Middle East oil. Gulbenkian was an Ottoman Armenian from a wealthy merchant family. Later a naturalized British citizen (or “British Subject” which was the term used at the time), he also held three other diplomatic passports and held at various stages Ottoman and Persian/Iranian diplomatic credentials. By the late 1890s, Gulbenkian had developed a reputation as a man who wove intricate and labyrinthine webs of investors and global speculators.

He remains today a very elusive historical individual, a spider at the heart of a veritable global web, an oilman and financier, who became the world’s richest man. Few escaped the consequences of his tentacles yet not many outside the corridors of power knew about his role. Which is just as he wanted it. In any case, this man—almost invisible  to the general public—eventually became the most influential and richest man of Armenian ancestry in the world.  Of course, his ethnicity had no bearing on his dealings in the world of oil. His interests were intertwined with nations and wealthy elites around the world. Most notably, before the war, Gulbenkian negotiated a five percent share of oil in the Ottoman Empire and managed to hold and add on to that share even following the fall of that empire. This fabulous "guaranteed income" would eventually allow him to become one of the greatest philanthropists in history, but not quite yet.

The Great War came.  

The Armenian people living in the Ottoman provinces of eastern Anatolia, like other non-Turkish and non-Muslim subjects of the Empire, had long suffered from systematic discrimination and, at times, harsh persecution. For them the Ottoman Empire’s entry into the Great War was to have particularly devastating consequences. Beginning in April 1915, the Ottoman authorities rounded up tens of thousands of Armenian men and had them shot. Hundreds of thousands of Armenian women and children were deported. "Deportation" being a euphemism for slow death.

Armenian Deportation, c.1915

The Armenian massacres made no impact on Gulbenkian's business dealings with Turks. Despite his clout, he apparently made no effort to  prevent the massacre of the Armenians in Turkey. With his worldwide network of informants, there can be no doubt that he knew what was happening. His biographer defends him: ". . . In 1915 Gulbenkian was not in a position to influence either the Sultan or the Ministers. Between 1914 to 1923, Gulbenkian was living in London, and he had no contact with the Turkish Regime.”

To some, Gulbenkian appeared uninterested in being a “good Armenian.” Other fellow Armenians nonetheless looked to him as a benefactor and a leader of their diaspora. There are only a few foggy and sometimes contradictory accounts of his response to such appeals. Some sources mention his support for the Armenian General Benevolent Union (ABGU), the Paris-based philanthropy, originally founded in Cairo in 1906 that sought to promote the welfare of Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. He would be appointed to the presidency of the ABGU, but there are contradictory accounts as to whether this was during the war, or sometime afterward. Nonetheless, it seems evident that Gulbenkian did support the work of the union.

In any case, the efforts of the ABGU were primarily focused without the Ottoman Empire. In the union's own history they state, "The magnitude of the Armenian Genocide atrocity meant a refugee crisis that spanned multiple countries and continents. AGBU and its  chapters worked to ensure supplies made their way into the hands of tens of thousands of survivors. After hostilities ended,  AGBU and the Allied forces worked together to tend to the needs of Armenian refugees across the Middle East."

Postwar, and as Gulbekian became increasingly wealthy, he appears to have been a remarkably generous contributor to the Armenian diaspora. He donated to schools, churches, hospitals, and scholarships. He also established the St. Sarkis Armenian church in London as a memorial.  His foundation—100 years later—promotes arts, charity, education, and science. It also funds publications and other works for Armenian communities and even sponsored events commemorating the centennial of the Armenian Genocide.

The list in the above paragraph could have been much longer.  The organizations he supported and financed, as well his surviving family, have been magnanimous beyond measure for the Armenian people and many others. This, however, still seems out of balance with his apparent lack of action when the Young Turks were murdering his people in huge numbers.  He appears to have kept silent and protected his business interests. I can't find anything to suggest otherwise.  Of course, there is no record of what Calouste Gulbenkian might have done or said behind the scenes to aid the victims.

Sources: Defense.info; The Armenian Mirror Spectator; Mister Five Percent;  Asbarez, 19 June 2019; Armenian General Benevolent Union Website