Chronological Index:

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 The First Phase of the Destruction: Deportations and Massacres (from April to October, 1915)

The operations were structured in several phases, according to a mode of operation that was largely identical everywhere. In February 1915 (the order given by Minister Enver Pasha was dated February 25), tens of thousands of Armenian conscripts serving in the 3rd Army were disarmed and placed in labor battalions or were directly executed in isolated regions (those who originated from western Anatolia and who served in the Fourth Army based on the Palestine front, were intermittently employed in battle until 1918). After the end of April 1915, the authorities proceeded to arrest Armenian elites in Istanbul along with those in provincial towns. In May, they interned in several waves males from the ages of sixteen to sixty. In the districts most densely populated with Armenians they opted to conscript males between the age of sixteen and nineteen, while those who were forty-one to sixtee years old were released from conscription. In the six eastern provinces, these men were executed in small groups in isolated areas by Special Organization death-squads.

When the following stage—that of the actual deportations—began in May 1915, there were practically no more adult males in the Armenian regions in the east. A region-to-region survey of the process of deportation and elimination demonstrates that the populations in these six eastern provinces, which were considered to be their historical land, were guided above all by the plan to exterminate. The operations aimed at the Armenian colonies in western Anatolia, which were initiated two months later and can be considered as the final act in the program of liquidation. In the east, the plan foresaw the immediate extermination of men, conscripts or not, or their use as a labor force, as opposed to the regions of the west where men were deported along with their families. As for the rest of the population—women, children, and the elderly—one can also discern differences in their treatment. The convoys from the eastern provinces were methodically destroyed as they traversed their route and a small minority of them actually arrived in their “place of banishment”. One observes, on the other hand, that the Armenian colonies from western Anatolia or Thrace were expedited to Syria as whole families, often by train, and arrived at their deportation destinations with few losses.

Among the numerous slaughter-sites run by the Special Organization, the two most important ones were located in gorges—those of Kemah, to the south-west of Erzincan on the Euphrates, where tens of thousands of men were exterminated in May and June 1915 under the direct supervision of Dr. Bahaeddin Şakir, Head of the S.O.; and those of Kahta, in the mountains to the south of Malatya, through which 500,000 deportees passed.

1915; Night of April 24 to 25, Istanbul: Several hundred individuals—Dashnak political militants, Hentchakists, and Ramgavar, journalists, writers, lawyers, medical doctors, high-school principals, teachers, clerics, and merchants—are arrested by the General Security services and the political police in the Ottoman Capital. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 317-318).

1915; April 24 and 25, Erzerum: Two hundred locals are arrested and interned. On April 26, thirty of them are “transferred” to Erzincan, but executed en route. *** (Agouni, 1921: 139; Kaiser, 2002: 133-134; and Kévorkian, 2006: 356).

1915; April 26: Members of the Armenian elite in Istanbul are transferred under police escort to the Haydarpaşa Station on the Asian side of the Capital, and then sent by train to Ankara. The outlaws are divided into two groups: the “politicians”—around 150 people—are interned at Ayaş, and the “intellectuals”—also comprising some 150 individuals—are kept on site at Çankırı. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 318).

1915; April 28: The President of the military tribunal in Istanbul announces charges against Hentchakist leaders, who had been interned since June of 1914, of “public nuisance and rebellion”. The trial of the 28 people charged begins on May 11 in the late morning.

1915; End of April, kaza of Payas, Yumurtalık, and Hassa (province of Adana): Twenty thousand Armenians from these cantons are deported to the Syrian Desert. Around 3,500 of them—essentially those individuals deported to the Damascus region—are still alive when the armistice is signed. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 730).

1915; Beginning of May, Tokat (province of Sıvas): The four main Armenian political leaders are arrested and executed in the town’s prison. Following a visit by Governor Muammer to Tokat, which took place at the same time, all the Armenian functionaries in the police and gendarmerie are dismissed. ***(Kévorkian, 2006: 555).

1915; Beginning of May, Adapazar (mutessarifat of İzmit): Fifty of the town’s notables are arrested and deported to Sultaniye (province of Konya) and Koçhisar. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 689).

1915; May, kaza of Siverek: Five thousand four hundred fifty Armenians of the administrative center and 3,825 from the localities of Karabahçe, Çatak, Mezre, Simag, Harbi, Gori, and Oşin are victims of raids. The men are arrested and executed by the kaymakam, İhsan Bey, and Special Organization squads commanded by Yuzbaşı Şevket. The remaining population of the kaza is deported in July to Urfa and Aleppo. ** (Ternon, 2002: 101-102; Faiez el-Ghocein, 1965: 16-18; and Kévorkian, 2006: 448).

1915; May, kaza of Beşiri and Silvan (province of Diyarbekir): Around 18,000 Armenians from these two kazas are attacked by the Kurdish tribes of Belek, Bekiran, and Sego. Several thousand refugees reach neighboring Sasun, where they are executed in August 1915, along with other Armenians from the villages of the plains of Muş. ** (Kévorkian, 2006: 449).

1915; May, kaza of Divriği (province of Sıvas): After the arrest of the local Armenian elite, a second wave of arrest is organised upon the merchants and artisans of Divriği, upon which underage adolescents, comprising some 200 individuals, are mobilized. Submitted to torture for several days, these men are finally brought to the outskirts of the town, shackled, and forced to march to the gorges of Deren Dere, where they are assassinated with axes. ** (Kévorkian, 2006: 551-552).

1915; May 1, Harput (province of Mamuret ül-Aziz): Arrest of the Armenian Protestant elite, particularly the professors of the Euphrates College. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 474).

1915; May 1 and 2, Çemişgezek (province of Mamuret ül-Aziz): Raids are conducted by the authorities in schools and in the homes of Armenian functionaries. One hundred individuals are arrested and interned. The arrests last until June 20. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 517).

1915; May 2, Trabzon: Gendarmerie forces carry out systematic raids of Armenian residences in the town and in the villages, by order of Governor Cemal Azmi.

1915; May 4, sancak of Malatya: The authorities organize systematic raids of Armenian homes and proceed with the arrest of several dozen men in possession of “compromising documents”. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 501).

1915; May 5, Erzerum: The order to deport Armenians from the province is transmitted to the Governor of Erzerum. ** (Agouni, 1921: 134; and Kévorkian, 2006: 357).

1915; May 6: A governmental decree renews the order to collect weapons throughout the Ottoman territories. This measure is applied especially to the Armenian populations and takes place in the context of systematic raids, plunder and arrests. ** (Kévorkian, 2006: 324).

1915; May 9: The Young Turk daily Tanin begins the publication of a series of articles titled “The Great Plot” mentioning a project conceived by the leader of the opposition in exile, Şerif Pasha, and his followers, to bring down the Ittihadist government and assassinate the Young Turk ministers with the complicity of the Armenians. The publication of these articles linking the Hentchakists—“the Armenians”—with a plot against “the security of the State” engenders a gnawing hostility against the Armenian population of the Capital. ** (Andonian, 1925: 38-46; and Agouni, 1921: 30)

1915; May 11, Diyarbekir: Civil servants, lawyers, intellectuals, merchants, bankers, architects, engineers, landowners, and religious leaders—comprising approximately 1,000 men, are arrested and tortured by order of Governor Reşid. *** (Agouni, 1921: 63; Kieser, 2002: 265, No. 105; and Kévorkian, 2006: 442).

1915; May 12-14, Antep/Ayntab (province of Aleppo): Around 200 Armenian notables are taken in for questioning in the space of three days. ** (Kévorkian, 2006: 752).

1915; May 13: The Council of Ministers makes the official decision to deport the Armenian population of the provinces of Erzerum, Van, and Bitlis. *** (Osmanlı Belgelerinde Ermenileri 1995: 33-35).

1915; May 13, Viranşehir (province of Diyarbekir): Armenian and Syrian Catholic notables are arrested. On May 18, a second wave of arrests is carried out against adult males; on May 28, the first group of notables is executed; on June 7, “Circassians”—probably the Çerkez of Dr. Reşid—proceed with the arrest of all males from twelve to sixtee years of age, comprising a total of 466 individuals; on June 11, at dawn, the latter are escorted to Hafdemari, a nearby village, and executed; the same day, the segment of the Armenian population that remained is regrouped and conducted to caves in the periphery of the region where they are massacred; on June 14 a second convoy comprised of women suffers the same; on June 16, the third and last convoy leaves for Ras –ul-Ayn, reached by some of the survivors. ** (Armalto, 1970: 350-359; Rhétoré, ms.: 39-42; Simon, s.d.: 82-83; Ternon, 2002: 98-100; and Kévorkian, 2006: 447).

1915; May 14, kaza of Hüsn-i Mansur and Besni: Four hundred men from this region and the neighboring area of Besni are executed at Adıyaman by Special Organization bandits commanded by Haci Mehmed Ali Bey. ** (Kévorkian, 2006: 509).

1915; May 14-16: Turkish forces lift the siege at Van and depart, along with the Muslim population of the town, in the direction of the southwest of the city, before the arrival of Russian forces on May 18. *** (Rafael de Nogales, 1926: 107; Ussher, 2002, 153; and Kévorkian, 2006, 405).

1915; May 16: The 30,000 Armenian villagers from the Erzerum plain are deported in three large caravans to Mamahatun. They are exterminated near Erzincan by a Special Organization squad. *** (Kaiser, 2002: 139; and Kévorkian, 2006, 359, 366-367).

1915; May 16, province of Bitlis: After having Kurdish tribes massacred the men in the preceding days, Governor Mustafa Abdülhalik organizes the deportation of women and children from 56 localities in the kaza of Bitlis (16,651 individuals) and from 22 villages in the northern kaza of Ahlat (13,432 Armenians). In the course of the following days, 12,000 of these deportees, many of whom are wounded, are regrouped at Bitlis, and 700 of them are taken in by the American local mission. They are finally dispatched from there in several convoys to the south, and massacred. * (Knapp, 2002: 31; and Kévorkian, 2006: 416).

1915; May 18, province of Erzerum: Arrest of the 78 leading notables of Bayburt, including the chief among them, Anania Hazarabédian. On May 21, the kayamakam, Nusret, arranges for their hanging—to the beats of drums—on the banks of the Djorok River (Kévorkian, 2006: 368).

1915; May 18, sancak of Erzincan: Departure of the first convoy of deportees from the prefecture of Erzincan. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 376).

1915; May 18, Tokat (province of Sıvas): Authorities arrest all the Armenian notables and teachers of Tokat, as well as, the adolescents a bit later that day, who were imprisoned in the central food stockhouses and systematically tortured there. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 555)

1915; May 18, Amasya (province of Sıvas): Armenian notables in Amasya are taken in for questioning and tortured, then executed by axe on May 23 in an isolated region three hours from town, at Saz Mountain. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 558).

1915; May 18, province of Adana: The deportation to Syria of the Armenian population of the provincial cantons begins. Thousands of men are interned and some are executed in public. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 736).

1915; May 20, Adana: The first convoy of deportees, comprising thousands of Armenians, is sent to Syria. *** (Kévorkian, 2006 : 736)

1915; May 21, Erzincan: A list of the first convoy of deportees from Erzincan comprising 60 families is prepared by local authorities. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 376).

1915; May 21-27, sancak of Malatya: Raids are carried out on Armenian homes. All of the Armenian civil servants and notables are arrested and interned from May 22, after which the measure is extended to include all men of the town. At the end of May, 1,300 prisoners are counted. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 501).

1915; May 23-25: The mutessarif of Erzincan, Memduh, at the head of the gendarmes and bandits (some 12,000 men), takes over the Armenian villages (some 60 in number) in the region. The men are systematically shot or their throats cut in pits dug ahead of time, while the women and children are dispatched and placed in the Armenian cemetery of Erzincan. *** (Kévorkian, 2006: 376-77).

1915; May 23: The Minister of the Interior, Talat, affirms the order to deport the Armenians from the provinces of Erzerum, Van, and Bitlis, and recommends to civil officials that they apply the orders emanating from military authorities, i.e., the commander of the Third Army, Mahmud Kamil. *** (Osmanlı Belgelerinde Ermeniler, 1995: 36-37).

1915; May 23: The Directorship of the Settlement of the Tribes and Emigrants (İskân-ı Aşâyirin ve Muhâcirin Müdiriyeti), a department under the Ministry of the Interior charged with the Ittihadist Central Committee’s policy of “demographic homogenization,” informs the provinces that the deportees can be settled in the province of Mosul, with the exception of its northernmost regions, which form a border with the Van province. ** (Kévorkian, 2006: 775).

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