Exodus From Mousa Dagh (1939)

The Franco -Turkish Treaty of Paris in 1938 had conceded the Turkish Sanjak vilayet to Turks and the Armenian population had to leave the area based on the terms of this treaty. On July 14, 1939, the Mousadaghians started packing and leaving on trucks via Kessab (Syria) to a seemingly pleasant Syrian seashore, called Basit. Large numbers of Mousadaghians followed to the same seashore by walking through dangerous Turkish villages. Some basic goods were loaded on cargo ships and unloaded at Bassit. On July 23, 1939, all the villages were empty of their inhabitants. Only a handful of Mousadaghians stayed in Vakif .
The Mousdaghians chose to forgo their homeland, their earthly wealth, made out of decades of hard work. Freedom of thought, belief and culture were worth more than their precious homeland.