The Armenian Genocide

Tested against the primary record

1. ContradictedThe relocation was ordered for the Armenian population residing in or near the war zone, away from the supply routes and army transport lines, and some Armenians living away from the front who were reported or suspected of collaboration were also included.

   Rests on documents from: German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; Scholarship; Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; United States government.

   The German ambassador reported on 7 July 1915 that the Porte had extended the measure to Trebizond, Mamuret-ul-Aziz and Sivas although those provinces were threatened by no enemy invasion; the American ambassador reported on 10 July that the deportations were directed from Constantinople often in districts where no military operations were likely, and on 11 August that Ada Bazar, Izmid and Bardizag, some 50 miles from the capital, were being cleared; the consul at Samsun on the Black Sea reported countermeasures apparently valid for all Anatolian Vilayets and the expulsion of every Armenian there; and the German embassy's own memorandum of 9 August told the Porte it had extended the banishment order to the other provinces of Asia Minor and emptied the Armenian villages of the Izmid district. The position, stated in full, allows for some Armenians away from the front, suspected of collaboration, being included; what the ally and the neutral record is a wholesale extension to provinces and towns far from any front, not a selection of suspects. Two producers contradict the claim on that point.

   The 8 extracts it rests on

   1. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 433, Pera, 7 July 1915, with the memorandum...¶ 2

      Die Austreibung und Umsiedelung der armenischen Bevölkerung beschränkte sich bis vor etwa 14 Tagen auf die dem östlichen Kriegsschauplatze benachbarten Provinzen und auf einige Bezirke der Provinz Adana; seitdem hat die Pforte beschlossen, diese Maßregel auch auf die Provinzen Trapezunt, Mamuret-ul-Aziz und Siwas auszudehnen, und mit der Ausführung begonnen, obwohl diese Landesteile vorläufig von keiner feindlichen Invasion bedroht sind.

   2. Wolfgang Gust and Sigrid Gust (eds.), translated by Linda Struck (translation sponsored by the Zoryan Institute), From the Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to... (2012)¶ 2

      The expulsion and relocation of the Armenian people was limited until 14 days ago to the provinces nearest to the eastern theatre of war and to certain areas in the province of Adana; since then the Porte has resolved to extend these measures also to the provinces of Trebizond, Mamuret-ul-Aziz and Sivas and has begun with these measures even though these parts of the country are not threatened by any enemy invasion for the time being.

   3. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1400 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/74 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , July 10, 1915, 9 a. m. [ Received July 14, 10.20 a. m. ] 841. My 778, June 18, 6 p. m. Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand, but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place. The Moslem and Armenian populations have been living in harmony, but because Armenian volunteers, many of them Russian subjects, have joined Russian Army in the Caucasus and because some have been implicated in armed revolutionary movements and others have been helpful to Russians in their invasion of Van district, terrible vengeance is being taken. Most of the sufferers are innocent and have been loyal to Ottoman Government. Nearly all are old men [and] women. All the men from 20 to 45 are in Turkish army. The victims find themselves dispossessed of their homes and sent on foot to be dispersed in districts where they are unknown, and no provisions have been made to lodge or to feed them. We have in several places been refused permission to relieve their misery or to have access to them. In some few instances where they opposed these measures and took refuge in the mountains and some arms or bombs were found, it provoked the authorities to further cruelties which they attempt to justify by the opposition. Untold misery, disease, Starvation, and loss of life will go on unchecked. Consul Davis of Harput reports: Professors American College have been tortured. Some others have died under torture or lost mind. Many hundred young Armenian men originally taken as soldiers, some of whom were students American College, have been sent away without food, clothing, or money. Night of June 23 several hundred other Armenians recently arrested, including professors American College, were sent away in the middle of the night without food, clothing, or money. Many deaths are reported en route in both lots of prisoners. Preparations are being made apparently to send away many more. I was informed confidentially to-day that an enormous sum of money is now being demanded of the local Armenians. There seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race. All things make us apprehend permanent closing of American schools. That only refers to one place. Many Armenians are becoming Moslems to avoid persecution. In addition to humanitarian considerations we have a real interest through the fact that certain objectionable Armenians involved in these forced dispossessions and deportations are naturalized citizens of the United States and that the charitable and educational work of the American Board will suffer considerably and in many places will cease altogether. The only embassy here which might assist in lessening these atrocities is the German, but I believe it will simply content itself with giving advice and a formal protest probably intended for record and to cover itself from future responsibility. German Ambassador is about to leave on a six weeks’ vacation. Have impressed on him that he and his Government will have considerable share in the odium. Immediately upon arrival of his substitute I shall make herculean efforts to enlist his sympathies. Austrian Ambassador has promised me to try to influence Minister of the Interior. I have repeatedly spoken to the Grand Vizier and pleaded earnestly with Minister of the Interior and Minister of War to stop this persecution. My arguments were unavailing except as to Constantinople. The men in authority are revolutionists and displaced the Hamidian Government with the cooperation of some Armenian revolutionists who know their method and are feared by them as a possible nucleus of a [counter-revolution?] against the present authorities. They admit that they will resort to any and every means to prevent their losing control of Government. They state that it is the Union and Progress committee’s nationalistic policy which they refused to modify even when Russia, France, and Great Britain threatened Ottoman Cabinet Ministers with personal responsibility. Turkish authorities desire to avail themselves of present conditions when three of the great powers are at war with them, Italy in strained relations, and the two others are their allies and therefore will not interfere when they are successfully defending the formidable attack at the Dardanelles. I have conferred with various American missionaries now here [from] Tajmarsovan [Marsovan?], Beirut, Bardizag, and Constantinople, and all agree that present crisis is worse than 1895 and 1896 massacres, but none of them could suggest any further steps than those I have already taken. They fear that the matter will have to run its course. Turkish authorities have definitely informed me that I have no right to interfere with their internal affairs. Still I desire to ask whether you have any suggestions. American Ambassador

   4. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1406 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/90 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , August 11, 1915, 6 p. m. [ Received August 16, 7.45 p. m. ] 924. My telegrams numbers 841 and 858. 1 Turkish anti-Armenian activities continue unabated. Reports, of which you will receive copies, are constantly received from our consuls and others, of horrors to which large numbers of innocent and helpless people of this race are being subjected. Armenian population is fast being swept from the Ada Bazar and Izmid. Bardizag, some 50 miles from Constantinople, has been lately threatened, but the Minister of State has granted two weeks’ delay, and unless something can be done to arrest this atrocious campaign, these people also will be forced from their homes and herded like cattle into the arid and hostile wastes of the interior, where the greater number, possibly excepting those who in desperation embrace Mohammedanism, will doubtless perish by murder or slow starvation. Minister of Trade and Commerce and Minister of the Interior have promised me permission for Armenians in Constantinople to leave the country on agreement never to return. Minister of the Interior says that he realizes no Armenians can remain friendly to Turkish Government after present treatment and hints at drastic measures against all in Constantinople if slightest offense is committed against Government. In view of the ease with which pretexts are created in this country, these statements cause me uneasiness. The German and Austrian Ambassadors have promised me to exert their influence, but I doubt the efficacy of their representations unless they are specifically instructed by their Governments to insist on the cessation of the acts now being perpetrated and the taking of strong protective measures for the thousands already on the way to their doom. There remain a considerable number of American missionaries at various points in the interior and though these people are prevented from rendering any adequate assistance to the Yakutsk victims and are viewed with considerable suspicion on account of their sympathies, yet I do not think they are in any personal danger now. I have this phase of riots constantly in mind and will take every measure possible for their protection and departure, should events necessitate. For the present I am inclined to think with Peet and others, that it is better for them to remain where they are in case of possible relief measures. I earnestly beg the Department to give this matter urgent and exhaustive consideration with a view to reaching a conclusion which may possibly have the effect of checking this Government and certainly provide opportunity for efficient relief which now is not permitted. It is difficult for me to restrain myself from doing something to stop this attempt to exterminate a race, but I realize that I am here as Ambassador and must abide by the principles of non-interference with the internal affairs of another country. Unless you should deem this such an exceptional state of affairs, the Department will direct me to register an unequivocal protest on behalf or our Government. I offer for serious consideration the following suggestions in the hope that they may be of assistance in reaching a conclusion in the matter which is at once urgent and delicate and further complicated by our representation of so many other foreign interests: (1) That the United States Government on behalf of humanity urgently request the Turkish Government to cease at once the present campaign and to permit the survivors to return to their homes if not in the war zones, or else to receive proper treatment; (2) That if our present relations permit, an official appeal be made to the Emperor of Germany to insist on Turkey, his ally, stopping this annihilation of a Christian race; (3) That a vigorous official demand be made without delay for the granting of every facility to Americans and others to visit and render pecuniary and other assistance they may desire to Armenians already affected by Government deportation. I believe the third suggestion might prove the most acceptable under the circumstances and that a strong and unyielding stand in this matter of our right to advance immediate aid to these helpless people will in itself imply our protesting attitude. The advance of such assistance might be the means of saving thousands during this period of the war tension, after which the situation may assume more hopeful proportions. Morgenthau Latter not printed. ↩

   5. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler, enclosing Vice-Consul Kuckhoff's report from Samsun of 4 July 1915, Report No. 449, Pera, 16 July 1915¶ 13

      Die getroffenen Gegenmaßregeln - anscheinend für alle anatolischen Wilajets gültig - sind jedoch von einer Härte und dem Menschlichkeitsgefühl so widerstrebend, daß sie nicht gleichgültig hingenommen werden können: Es handelt sich um nichts weniger als um die Vernichtung oder gewaltsame Islamisierung eines ganzen Volkes, dessen Angehörige zum größten Teil an der revolutionären Bewegung keinen direkten Anteil hatten, also unschuldige Opfer sind. Die Art der Ausführung des Verbannungsbefehls droht Formen anzunehmen, die nur in der Judenverfolgung Spaniens und Portugals ein Gleichnis finden: Die Regierung entsandte fanatische, strenggläubige mohamedanische Männer und Frauen in alle armenischen Häuser behufs Propaganda für den Übertritt zum Islam, selbstverständlich unter Androhung der schwersten Folgen für diejenigen, die ihrem Glauben treu bleiben. Soviel mir bekannt, sind bis heute hier schon viele Familien übergetreten und täglich vermehrt sich deren Zahl. Die Mehrheit der Unglücklichen widerstand bis jetzt den Lockungen und wurde täglich gruppenweise ins Innere getrieben. Fast keinem verblieb Zeit zur Regelung seiner Angelegenheiten. Nur mit dem Notdürftigsten versehen, mußten sie ihr Heim und Hab und Gut im Stiche lassen. Wie ich erfahre werden sie an nicht entfernten Punkten jetzt zurückgehalten, um dort noch gründlicher für den Islam bearbeitet zu werden; einige von ihnen kehrten zu diesem Zwecke auch nach hier zurück. In der Umgebung von Samsun sind alle armenischen Dörfer mohamedanisiert worden, ebenso in Uniah. Vergünstigungen wurden, ausser den Renegaten, niemandem zu Teil. Alle Armenier ohne Ausnahme: Männer, Frauen, Greise, Kinder, bis zum Säugling, Altgläubige, Protestanten und Katholiken - welch letztere sich nie einer nationalen revolutionären Bewegung anschlossen und auch von Hamid verschont wurden - mußten fort. Kein christlicher Armenier darf hier bleiben; selbst nicht solche ausländischer Staatsangehörigkeit; letztere sollen ausgewiesen werden. Der Bestimmungsort der Samsuner Verbannten ist nach Aussage des Mütessarifs Urfa.

   6. Wolfgang Gust and Sigrid Gust (eds.), translated by Linda Struck (translation sponsored by the Zoryan Institute), From the Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to... (2012)¶ 13

      However, the countermeasures taken — apparently valid for all Anatolian Vilayets — are of a severity and so conflicting with all humanitarian feelings that they cannot simply be treated with indifference: they involve nothing less than the destruction or enforced Islamization of a whole people, whose relatives for the greatest part did not even participate in the revolutionary movement and are therefore innocent victims themselves.

   7. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1416 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/173 The German Ambassador ( Bernstorff ) to the Secretary of State J. Nr. A 5952] Cedarhurst, N. Y. , October 8, 1915 . [ Received October 16 .] My Dear Mr. Secretary : I have the honor to enclose for your confidential information a copy of a memorandum handed to the Imperial Ottoman Government by the acting Imperial Ambassador at Constantinople on August 9 about the expulsion of the Armenians. The Imperial Ottoman Government has informed the German Government that it will take the measures necessary to prevent the repetition of excesses. I am [etc.] J. Bernstorff [Enclosure—Translation] The German Embassy in Turkey to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Memorandum By its memorandum of July 4, the German Embassy had the honor to acquaint the Sublime Porte With the views of the Imperial German Government concerning the banishment of the Armenian inhabitants of the Anatolian provinces and to draw its attention to the fact that the measures had been attended in several places by acts of violence such as massacres and plundering which the end sought by the Ottoman Imperial Government could not justify. The German Embassy regrets to state that it appears from information received subsequently from impartial and trustworthy sources that incidents of that character, instead of being prevented by the local authorities, have regularly occurred upon the expulsion of Armenians, so that most of them perished even before reaching their destination. These are reported mainly from the provinces of Trebizond, Diarbekr and Erzerum. In some places, at Mardin for instance, all the Christians without distinction of race or faith have had the same fate. At the same time the Ottoman Imperial Government saw fit to extend the banishment order to the other provinces of Asia Minor, and quite recently the Armenian villages of the Izmid district were emptied of their inhabitants under like conditions. In the presence of those events the German Embassy, by order of its Government, is constrained to remonstrate once more upon those horrible deeds and to decline any responsibility for the consequences they may involve. It finds itself under the necessity of drawing the attention of the Ottoman Government to that point all the more as public opinion is already inclined to believe that Germany as a friendly power allied to Turkey may have approved or even instigated those acts of violence. Pera [Constantinople] , August 9, 1915 .

   8. Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Events of 1915 and the Turkish-Armenian Controversy... (undated)¶ 6

      In response, the Ottoman Government ordered in 1915 the Armenian population residing in or near the war zone to be relocated to the southern Ottoman provinces away from the supply routes and army transport lines on the way of the advancing Russian army. Some Armenians living away from the front, yet were reported or suspected to be involved in collaboration, were also included in mandatory transfer.

2. QualifiedNo authentic evidence exists to support the claim that there was a premeditated plan by the Ottoman Government to kill off Armenians.

   Rests on documents from: German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; Scholarship; Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; United States government.

   The free record holds no Ottoman order to kill and no Ottoman archival file; the Ottoman archives, the interior ministry's ciphered telegrams and the 1919 court-martial verdict could not be read free, and that gap is stated in the record. What it holds is the German ambassador's report of the interior minister's own words to an embassy official, that the Porte meant to use the war to make a clean sweep of its internal enemies, and the two ambassadors' independent readings of measures directed from the capital with the eradication of the Armenians as their purpose. That is evidence of intent recorded by the ally and by a neutral, not the plan itself; the position's word authentic goes to documents this record does not hold, so the verdict stops at qualified.

   The 5 extracts it rests on

   1. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 372, Pera, 17 June 1915¶ 4

      Daß die Verbannung der Armenier nicht allein durch militärische Rücksichten motiviert ist, liegt zutage. Der Minister des Innern Talaat Bey hat sich hierüber kürzlich gegenüber dem zur Zeit bei der Kaiserlichen Botschaft beschäftigten Dr. Mordtmann ohne Rückhalt dahin ausgesprochen "daß die Pforte den Weltkrieg dazu benutzen wollte, um mit ihren inneren Feinden - den einheimischen Christen - gründlich aufzuräumen, ohne dabei durch die diplomatische Intervention des Auslandes gestört zu werden; das sei auch im Interesse der mit der Türkei verbündeten Deutschen, da die Türkei auf diese Weise gestärkt würde."

   2. Wolfgang Gust and Sigrid Gust (eds.), translated by Linda Struck (translation sponsored by the Zoryan Institute), From the Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to... (2012)¶ 4

      It has come to light that the banishment of the Armenians is not only motivated by military considerations. The Minister of the Interior, Talaat Bey, recently spoke about this without reservation to Dr. Mordtmann, who is currently employed by the Imperial Embassy. He said “that the Porte is intent on taking advantage of the World War in order to make a clean sweep of internal enemies - the indigenous Christians - without being hindered in doing so by diplomatic intervention from other countries. Such an undertaking will serve the interest of the Germans, the Allies of Turkey, which thus in turn could be strengthened."

   3. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 433, Pera, 7 July 1915, with the memorandum...¶ 3Exhibit 1

      Dieser Umstand und die Art, wie die Umsiedelung durchgeführt wird, zeigen, daß die Regierung tatsächlich den Zweck verfolgt, die armenische Rasse im türkischen Reiche zu vernichten.

   4. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1400 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/74 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , July 10, 1915, 9 a. m. [ Received July 14, 10.20 a. m. ] 841. My 778, June 18, 6 p. m. Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand, but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place. The Moslem and Armenian populations have been living in harmony, but because Armenian volunteers, many of them Russian subjects, have joined Russian Army in the Caucasus and because some have been implicated in armed revolutionary movements and others have been helpful to Russians in their invasion of Van district, terrible vengeance is being taken. Most of the sufferers are innocent and have been loyal to Ottoman Government. Nearly all are old men [and] women. All the men from 20 to 45 are in Turkish army. The victims find themselves dispossessed of their homes and sent on foot to be dispersed in districts where they are unknown, and no provisions have been made to lodge or to feed them. We have in several places been refused permission to relieve their misery or to have access to them. In some few instances where they opposed these measures and took refuge in the mountains and some arms or bombs were found, it provoked the authorities to further cruelties which they attempt to justify by the opposition. Untold misery, disease, Starvation, and loss of life will go on unchecked. Consul Davis of Harput reports: Professors American College have been tortured. Some others have died under torture or lost mind. Many hundred young Armenian men originally taken as soldiers, some of whom were students American College, have been sent away without food, clothing, or money. Night of June 23 several hundred other Armenians recently arrested, including professors American College, were sent away in the middle of the night without food, clothing, or money. Many deaths are reported en route in both lots of prisoners. Preparations are being made apparently to send away many more. I was informed confidentially to-day that an enormous sum of money is now being demanded of the local Armenians. There seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race. All things make us apprehend permanent closing of American schools. That only refers to one place. Many Armenians are becoming Moslems to avoid persecution. In addition to humanitarian considerations we have a real interest through the fact that certain objectionable Armenians involved in these forced dispossessions and deportations are naturalized citizens of the United States and that the charitable and educational work of the American Board will suffer considerably and in many places will cease altogether. The only embassy here which might assist in lessening these atrocities is the German, but I believe it will simply content itself with giving advice and a formal protest probably intended for record and to cover itself from future responsibility. German Ambassador is about to leave on a six weeks’ vacation. Have impressed on him that he and his Government will have considerable share in the odium. Immediately upon arrival of his substitute I shall make herculean efforts to enlist his sympathies. Austrian Ambassador has promised me to try to influence Minister of the Interior. I have repeatedly spoken to the Grand Vizier and pleaded earnestly with Minister of the Interior and Minister of War to stop this persecution. My arguments were unavailing except as to Constantinople. The men in authority are revolutionists and displaced the Hamidian Government with the cooperation of some Armenian revolutionists who know their method and are feared by them as a possible nucleus of a [counter-revolution?] against the present authorities. They admit that they will resort to any and every means to prevent their losing control of Government. They state that it is the Union and Progress committee’s nationalistic policy which they refused to modify even when Russia, France, and Great Britain threatened Ottoman Cabinet Ministers with personal responsibility. Turkish authorities desire to avail themselves of present conditions when three of the great powers are at war with them, Italy in strained relations, and the two others are their allies and therefore will not interfere when they are successfully defending the formidable attack at the Dardanelles. I have conferred with various American missionaries now here [from] Tajmarsovan [Marsovan?], Beirut, Bardizag, and Constantinople, and all agree that present crisis is worse than 1895 and 1896 massacres, but none of them could suggest any further steps than those I have already taken. They fear that the matter will have to run its course. Turkish authorities have definitely informed me that I have no right to interfere with their internal affairs. Still I desire to ask whether you have any suggestions. American Ambassador

   5. Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Events of 1915 and the Turkish-Armenian Controversy... (undated)¶ 7

      Ottoman Government took a number of measures for safe transfer during the relocation. However, under war-time conditions exacerbated by internal strife, local groups seeking revenge, banditry, famine, epidemics, and a failing state apparatus (including unruly officials who were court-martialed and sentenced to capital punishment by the Ottoman Government in 1916, much before the end of the War) all combined to produce what became a tragedy. Nevertheless, no authentic evidence exists to support the claim that there was a premeditated plan by the Ottoman Government to kill off Armenians. Moreover, the Ottoman socio-cultural fabric did not harbor racist attitudes that would facilitate such a horrific crime. Loss of life, regardless of numbers and regardless of possible guilt on the part of the victims, is tragic and must be remembered. However, it is factually problematic, morally unsound and legally unfounded to call this episode a “genocide.”

3. Cannot be tested from the free recordGreater numbers of Turks died or were killed in the years leading to and during the War.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   No document in the free record counts the Muslim dead of the war, so the claim's comparison of two counts cannot be tested against artifacts that count neither.

   The extract it rests on

   1. Republic of Türkiye, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Events of 1915 and the Turkish-Armenian Controversy... (undated)¶ 4

      Türkiye does not deny the suffering of Armenians, including the loss of many innocent lives, during the First World War. However, greater numbers of Turks died or were killed in the years leading to and during the War. Without belittling the tragic consequences for any group, Türkiye objects to the one-sided presentation of this tragedy as a genocide by one group against another.

Tested against the primary record

1. SupportedThe deportation was a means of killing, not a relocation: the columns were attacked on the road and the destination could not sustain life.

   Rests on documents from: German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; Scholarship; UK government; United States government.

   The German ambassador wrote that the transport to a destination many hundreds of kilometres away, without means of transport, through country offering neither shelter nor food and infested with typhus, was bound to claim numerous victims, and that from Erzincan the deportees were left to run the gauntlet of Kurdish bands; the American ambassador wrote that those herded into the arid and hostile wastes of the interior would doubtless perish by murder or slow starvation; the German administrator at Erzurum counted between 10 and 20,000 killed on the road to Erzincan against the government's 3 to 4,000; and the deported woman's own narrative from Moush records the company of 8,000 to 10,000 diminished by half. Three producers, the ally, a neutral and the survivors as a British ministry printed them, carry the claim.

   The 5 extracts it rests on

   1. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 433, Pera, 7 July 1915, with the memorandum...¶ 6

      Im Ganzen werden allein im Vilajet Trapezunt rund 30000 Personen betroffen, die über Erzindschan nach Mesopotamien abgeschoben werden sollen. Ein solcher Massentransport nach einem viele hunderte Kilometer entfernten Bestimmungsorte, ohne genügende Transportmittel, durch Gegenden, die weder Unterkunft noch Nahrung bieten und von epidemischen Krankheiten, namentlich vom Flecktyphus, verseucht sind, dürfte besonders unter Frauen und Kindern zahlreiche Opfer fordern. Außerdem führt der Weg der Umgesiedelten durch die kurdischen Distrikte von Dersim, und der Vali von Trapezunt erklärte offen dem Konsul, der ihm auf diesseitige Weisung hin darüber Vorstellungen machte, daß er nur bis Erzindschan für die Sicherheit des Transportes garantieren könnte. Von da ab läßt man die Auswanderer durch die Banden der Kurden und anderer Wegelagerer förmlich Spießruten laufen. So sind zum Beispiel die aus der Ebene von Erzerum ausgetriebenen Armenier auf dem Wege nach Charput angefallen worden, wobei die Männer und Kinder niedergemacht und die Frauen geraubt wurden. Der Kaiserliche Konsul in Erzerum gibt die Zahl der bei dieser Gelegenheit umgekommenen Armenier auf 3000 an.

   2. Wolfgang Gust and Sigrid Gust (eds.), translated by Linda Struck (translation sponsored by the Zoryan Institute), From the Ambassador in Constantinople (Wangenheim) to... (2012)¶ 6

      Besides this, the route for the deportees led through the Kurd district of Dersim, and the Vali of Trebizond made an open declaration to the Consul, who had pointed such observations out to him at my instructions, that he could only guarantee the safety of the transport as far as Erzindjan. From that point onwards, they are letting the deportees practically run the gauntlet through bands of Kurds and other highwaymen. For example, the Armenians who had been expelled from the plain of Erzurum were ambushed on the way to Harput whereby the men and children were butchered and the women carried away. The Imperial Consul in Erzurum claims the number of Armenians killed there to be 3,000.

   3. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1406 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/90 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , August 11, 1915, 6 p. m. [ Received August 16, 7.45 p. m. ] 924. My telegrams numbers 841 and 858. 1 Turkish anti-Armenian activities continue unabated. Reports, of which you will receive copies, are constantly received from our consuls and others, of horrors to which large numbers of innocent and helpless people of this race are being subjected. Armenian population is fast being swept from the Ada Bazar and Izmid. Bardizag, some 50 miles from Constantinople, has been lately threatened, but the Minister of State has granted two weeks’ delay, and unless something can be done to arrest this atrocious campaign, these people also will be forced from their homes and herded like cattle into the arid and hostile wastes of the interior, where the greater number, possibly excepting those who in desperation embrace Mohammedanism, will doubtless perish by murder or slow starvation. Minister of Trade and Commerce and Minister of the Interior have promised me permission for Armenians in Constantinople to leave the country on agreement never to return. Minister of the Interior says that he realizes no Armenians can remain friendly to Turkish Government after present treatment and hints at drastic measures against all in Constantinople if slightest offense is committed against Government. In view of the ease with which pretexts are created in this country, these statements cause me uneasiness. The German and Austrian Ambassadors have promised me to exert their influence, but I doubt the efficacy of their representations unless they are specifically instructed by their Governments to insist on the cessation of the acts now being perpetrated and the taking of strong protective measures for the thousands already on the way to their doom. There remain a considerable number of American missionaries at various points in the interior and though these people are prevented from rendering any adequate assistance to the Yakutsk victims and are viewed with considerable suspicion on account of their sympathies, yet I do not think they are in any personal danger now. I have this phase of riots constantly in mind and will take every measure possible for their protection and departure, should events necessitate. For the present I am inclined to think with Peet and others, that it is better for them to remain where they are in case of possible relief measures. I earnestly beg the Department to give this matter urgent and exhaustive consideration with a view to reaching a conclusion which may possibly have the effect of checking this Government and certainly provide opportunity for efficient relief which now is not permitted. It is difficult for me to restrain myself from doing something to stop this attempt to exterminate a race, but I realize that I am here as Ambassador and must abide by the principles of non-interference with the internal affairs of another country. Unless you should deem this such an exceptional state of affairs, the Department will direct me to register an unequivocal protest on behalf or our Government. I offer for serious consideration the following suggestions in the hope that they may be of assistance in reaching a conclusion in the matter which is at once urgent and delicate and further complicated by our representation of so many other foreign interests: (1) That the United States Government on behalf of humanity urgently request the Turkish Government to cease at once the present campaign and to permit the survivors to return to their homes if not in the war zones, or else to receive proper treatment; (2) That if our present relations permit, an official appeal be made to the Emperor of Germany to insist on Turkey, his ally, stopping this annihilation of a Christian race; (3) That a vigorous official demand be made without delay for the granting of every facility to Americans and others to visit and render pecuniary and other assistance they may desire to Armenians already affected by Government deportation. I believe the third suggestion might prove the most acceptable under the circumstances and that a strong and unyielding stand in this matter of our right to advance immediate aid to these helpless people will in itself imply our protesting attitude. The advance of such assistance might be the means of saving thousands during this period of the war tension, after which the situation may assume more hopeful proportions. Morgenthau Latter not printed. ↩

   4. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, Administrator of the Consulate at Erzurum, to the Ambassador on Extraordinary Mission (Hohenlohe-Langenburg), Secret report No. 23, Erzurum, 5 August 1915¶ 5

      Zu Beginn des Mai führten die bekannten Vorgänge von Wan dazu, dass die Regierung und die Militärbehörden zu scharfen Massregeln gegen die Armenier griffen. Alle noch mit der Waffe dienenden Armenier wurden aus dem Heere entfernt und in Arbeiter-Bataillone gesteckt. Die Bewohner der Erserumer und der Passin Ebene, die nur noch aus Frauen, Kindern und alten Männern bestand, wurden aus ihren Dörfern vertrieben und sollten zwangsweise nach Mesopotamien gebracht werden. Diese mit militärischen Rücksichten begründete Massnahme wurde mit unnötig rücksichtsloser und grausamer Weise durchgeführt. Auf dem Wege nach Ersindjan wurden die Betreffenden bei Mamachatun, Sansar, Euphrat Brücke und Päräz von Kurden und türkischen Freiwilligen überfallen, beraubt und getötet. Die Zahl der Umgekommenen dürfte zwischen 10 - 20000 betragen, nach Angabe der Regierung nur 3 bis 4000.

   5. Arnold J. Toynbee (ed.), with a preface by Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-16 (1916)p. 92

      24. MOUSH DISTRICT : NARRATIVE OF A DEPORTED WOMAN, RELATED BY HER TO MR. VARTKES OF MOUSH*, RECORDED BY HIM ON THE 25th JULY, 1915, AND PUBLISHED SUBSEQUENTLY IN THE ARMENIAN JOURNAL “ VAN-TOSP.” To-day I heard a terrible story. All the Armenians who were deported from Moush were either killed or drowned in the Mourad Riverf. Among these were my mother and three sisters with their children. This news was brought to us by a woman who came here at midnight. We thought she was a ghost, as she seemed like one coming from the grave. She had saved her two-year-old boy. She immediately asked for bread. We had not any, as we were living on raw grain and meat, but we gave her what we had. After she had had enough, we asked her all kinds of questions. She was from the village of Kheiban, and was one of the deported. This is what she told us : The Turks collected all the women and children of the villages of Sordar, Pazou, Hassanova, Salekan and Gvars, and after keeping them for five days they brought them to Ziaret. Here the inhabitants of Meghd, Baghlou, Ourough, Ziaret and Kheiban joined them, and they were all taken towards the bridge over the Mourad River. On the way the families from the villages of Dorn, Hergerd, Norag, Aladin, GomsJ, Khashkhaldoukh, Souloukh, Khoronk, Kartzor, Kizil Agatch, Komer, Shekhlan, Avazaghpur, Plel and Kurdmeidan joined the party, making altogether a company of 8,000 to 10,000 people. ££ All the old women and the weak who were unable to walk vere killed. There were about one hundred Kurdish guards over us, and our lives depended on their pleasure. It was a very common thing for them to rape our girls in our presence. Very often they violated eight or ten-year-old girls, and as a consequence many would be unable to walk, and were shot. Our company moved on slowly, leaving heaps of corpses behind. Most of us were almost naked. When we passed by a village, all the Kurdish men and women would come and rob us as they pleased. When a Kurd fancied a girl, nothing would prevent him from taking her. The babies of those who were carried away were killed in our presence. They gave us bread once every other day, though many did not get even that. When all our provisions were gone, we gathered wheat from the fields and ate it. Many a mother lost her mind and dropped her baby by the wayside.

2. Cannot be tested from the free recordSome 100,000 to 200,000 Armenian women and girls were taken into Muslim households.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   The German consul at Aleppo recorded girls of 8 to 12 sold at Tel Abiad and women dragged off by Bedouins between Mardin and Ras-ul-Ain, and Kurt describes conversion and absorption as a bureaucratic process from Ottoman directives; no document held here counts them, so the figure stands as the diaspora's estimate and cannot be tested.

   The 2 extracts it rests on

   1. Ümit Kurt, Cultural Erasure (2016)¶ 1

      The Armenian Genocide involves a combination of the above acts. During World War I, mass murder, deportation, and forced assimilation were three faces of the same process of destruction organized by the Young Turk regime. The main objective of the whole process was to demographically reduce the Ottoman Armenian community from existence to absence as well as erasing their material and cultural presence from the Ottoman heartland and eastern provinces. Whereas Armenian men were mostly perished in the eastern provinces, Armenian women and children were most often deported and absorbed into Muslim households. After enduring forced marches where they were terrorized and forced to bear witness to the execution of their elders, these young women and children were left isolated from their families and were thus deemed prime candidates for absorption into Muslim households, 2 a process referred to as “conversion.”

   2. Walter Rössler, Consul at Aleppo, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report K. No. 81 / B. No. 1645, Aleppo, 27 July 1915¶ 5

      3) Das berichtete Vorbeitreiben von Leichen auf dem Euphrat, das in Rumkaleh, Biredjik und Djerabulus beobachtet worden ist, hatte, wie mir am 17. d.M. berichtet wurde, 25 Tage lang gedauert. Die Leichen waren alle in der gleichen Weise, zwei und zwei Rücken auf Rücken gebunden. Diese Gleichmässigkeit deutet darauf hin, dass es sich nicht um Metzeleien, sondern um Tötung durch die Behörden handelt. Es heisst und ist wahrscheinlich, dass die Leichen durch Soldaten in Adiaman in den Fluss geworfen worden sind. Wie weiter unten zu berichten sein wird, hat das Vorbeitreiben nach einer Pause von mehreren Tagen von neuem begonnen und zwar in verstärktem Masse. Diesesmal handelt es sich hauptsächlich um Frauen und Kinder.

3. Cannot be tested from the free recordThe Ottoman court-martial pronounced death sentences on Talât, Enver, Cemal and Nazım on 5 July 1919.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   The verdict is known here only as an Armenian scholar summarises it from the gazette; the Treaty of Sèvres, which this record holds, obliges Turkey to hand over those responsible for the massacres to an Allied tribunal but does not recite the Ottoman sentences, so nothing in the Tier A record can test the claim.

   The extract it rests on

   1. Meline Anumyan, The Modern-Day Significance of the Young Turks' Trials (2025)p. 38

      Thus, on July 5, 1919, death sentences were pronounced for Talât, Enver, Cemal Pashas and Dr. Nazım. Cavid, Mustafa Şeref, Sheik-Ul-Islam Musa Kazim were sentenced to 15 years in exile; Rifat and Hashim were acquitted (Ibid.). Of 63 court cases related to the abovementioned charges a total of 20 death sentences were pronounced. Remarkably, only 3 sentences were actually carried out.

Tested against the primary record

1. QualifiedThe Ottoman ministers made no particular attempt to conceal, in their conversations with the ambassador, that the deportation was the death warrant of a race.

   Rests on documents from: German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; Henry Morgenthau; United States government.

   The ambassador's own telegrams of 1915 record the Grand Vizier resenting foreign interference and the ministers justifying the measures on the ground of military necessity, which is concealment rather than candour; the German record carries the interior minister's blunt words to an embassy official, that the Porte would use the war to make a clean sweep of its internal enemies. The memoir's claim is borne out by the German file and not by the ambassador's own contemporaneous file, so the verdict is qualified: candour to the German embassy, pretext to the American.

   The 4 extracts it rests on

   1. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1399 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/70 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgentau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , June 18, 1915, 6 p. m. [ Received June 21, 8.30 a. m ] 778. Your 715 communicated on June 3 to the Grand Vizier who expressed regret at being held personally responsible and resentment at attempted interference by foreign governments with the sovereign rights of the Turkish Government over their Armenian subjects. Meanwhile persecution against Armenians increasing in severity. Three prominent deputies, Zjrabvart, Brandie, Cherajian, have been arrested and twenty Armenians have been hanged here on ostensible charge of separatist conspiracy. Further executions said to be impending. My unofficial efforts, though frequent and persistent, have resulted in occasionally mitigating the hardships but have failed to dissuade them [from] their course which they attempt to justify on the ground of military necessity. American Ambassador

   2. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1400 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/74 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , July 10, 1915, 9 a. m. [ Received July 14, 10.20 a. m. ] 841. My 778, June 18, 6 p. m. Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand, but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place. The Moslem and Armenian populations have been living in harmony, but because Armenian volunteers, many of them Russian subjects, have joined Russian Army in the Caucasus and because some have been implicated in armed revolutionary movements and others have been helpful to Russians in their invasion of Van district, terrible vengeance is being taken. Most of the sufferers are innocent and have been loyal to Ottoman Government. Nearly all are old men [and] women. All the men from 20 to 45 are in Turkish army. The victims find themselves dispossessed of their homes and sent on foot to be dispersed in districts where they are unknown, and no provisions have been made to lodge or to feed them. We have in several places been refused permission to relieve their misery or to have access to them. In some few instances where they opposed these measures and took refuge in the mountains and some arms or bombs were found, it provoked the authorities to further cruelties which they attempt to justify by the opposition. Untold misery, disease, Starvation, and loss of life will go on unchecked. Consul Davis of Harput reports: Professors American College have been tortured. Some others have died under torture or lost mind. Many hundred young Armenian men originally taken as soldiers, some of whom were students American College, have been sent away without food, clothing, or money. Night of June 23 several hundred other Armenians recently arrested, including professors American College, were sent away in the middle of the night without food, clothing, or money. Many deaths are reported en route in both lots of prisoners. Preparations are being made apparently to send away many more. I was informed confidentially to-day that an enormous sum of money is now being demanded of the local Armenians. There seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race. All things make us apprehend permanent closing of American schools. That only refers to one place. Many Armenians are becoming Moslems to avoid persecution. In addition to humanitarian considerations we have a real interest through the fact that certain objectionable Armenians involved in these forced dispossessions and deportations are naturalized citizens of the United States and that the charitable and educational work of the American Board will suffer considerably and in many places will cease altogether. The only embassy here which might assist in lessening these atrocities is the German, but I believe it will simply content itself with giving advice and a formal protest probably intended for record and to cover itself from future responsibility. German Ambassador is about to leave on a six weeks’ vacation. Have impressed on him that he and his Government will have considerable share in the odium. Immediately upon arrival of his substitute I shall make herculean efforts to enlist his sympathies. Austrian Ambassador has promised me to try to influence Minister of the Interior. I have repeatedly spoken to the Grand Vizier and pleaded earnestly with Minister of the Interior and Minister of War to stop this persecution. My arguments were unavailing except as to Constantinople. The men in authority are revolutionists and displaced the Hamidian Government with the cooperation of some Armenian revolutionists who know their method and are feared by them as a possible nucleus of a [counter-revolution?] against the present authorities. They admit that they will resort to any and every means to prevent their losing control of Government. They state that it is the Union and Progress committee’s nationalistic policy which they refused to modify even when Russia, France, and Great Britain threatened Ottoman Cabinet Ministers with personal responsibility. Turkish authorities desire to avail themselves of present conditions when three of the great powers are at war with them, Italy in strained relations, and the two others are their allies and therefore will not interfere when they are successfully defending the formidable attack at the Dardanelles. I have conferred with various American missionaries now here [from] Tajmarsovan [Marsovan?], Beirut, Bardizag, and Constantinople, and all agree that present crisis is worse than 1895 and 1896 massacres, but none of them could suggest any further steps than those I have already taken. They fear that the matter will have to run its course. Turkish authorities have definitely informed me that I have no right to interfere with their internal affairs. Still I desire to ask whether you have any suggestions. American Ambassador

   3. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 372, Pera, 17 June 1915¶ 4

      Daß die Verbannung der Armenier nicht allein durch militärische Rücksichten motiviert ist, liegt zutage. Der Minister des Innern Talaat Bey hat sich hierüber kürzlich gegenüber dem zur Zeit bei der Kaiserlichen Botschaft beschäftigten Dr. Mordtmann ohne Rückhalt dahin ausgesprochen "daß die Pforte den Weltkrieg dazu benutzen wollte, um mit ihren inneren Feinden - den einheimischen Christen - gründlich aufzuräumen, ohne dabei durch die diplomatische Intervention des Auslandes gestört zu werden; das sei auch im Interesse der mit der Türkei verbündeten Deutschen, da die Türkei auf diese Weise gestärkt würde."

   4. Henry Morgenthau, Ambassador Morgenthau's Story (1918)p. 309

      The real purpose of the deportation was robbery and destruction; it really represented a new method of massacre. When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact.

2. SupportedGermany, the Ottoman Empire's ally, protested and did not stop the deportations.

   Rests on documents from: Deutscher Bundestag; German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; United States government.

   The German embassy's memoranda of 4 July and 9 August 1915 are in the American file, sent by the German ambassador in Washington; the German ambassador at Constantinople wrote that he handed the first to the Grand Vizier to answer later accusations of complicity; by December 1916 his own consul reported the Turkish Armenians as good as wiped out outside the large cities; and the Bundestag's resolution of 2016 states that the Reich did not try to stop it. Three producers, the German files, the American file and the German parliament, agree.

   The 5 extracts it rests on

   1. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1416 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/173 The German Ambassador ( Bernstorff ) to the Secretary of State J. Nr. A 5952] Cedarhurst, N. Y. , October 8, 1915 . [ Received October 16 .] My Dear Mr. Secretary : I have the honor to enclose for your confidential information a copy of a memorandum handed to the Imperial Ottoman Government by the acting Imperial Ambassador at Constantinople on August 9 about the expulsion of the Armenians. The Imperial Ottoman Government has informed the German Government that it will take the measures necessary to prevent the repetition of excesses. I am [etc.] J. Bernstorff [Enclosure—Translation] The German Embassy in Turkey to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs Memorandum By its memorandum of July 4, the German Embassy had the honor to acquaint the Sublime Porte With the views of the Imperial German Government concerning the banishment of the Armenian inhabitants of the Anatolian provinces and to draw its attention to the fact that the measures had been attended in several places by acts of violence such as massacres and plundering which the end sought by the Ottoman Imperial Government could not justify. The German Embassy regrets to state that it appears from information received subsequently from impartial and trustworthy sources that incidents of that character, instead of being prevented by the local authorities, have regularly occurred upon the expulsion of Armenians, so that most of them perished even before reaching their destination. These are reported mainly from the provinces of Trebizond, Diarbekr and Erzerum. In some places, at Mardin for instance, all the Christians without distinction of race or faith have had the same fate. At the same time the Ottoman Imperial Government saw fit to extend the banishment order to the other provinces of Asia Minor, and quite recently the Armenian villages of the Izmid district were emptied of their inhabitants under like conditions. In the presence of those events the German Embassy, by order of its Government, is constrained to remonstrate once more upon those horrible deeds and to decline any responsibility for the consequences they may involve. It finds itself under the necessity of drawing the attention of the Ottoman Government to that point all the more as public opinion is already inclined to believe that Germany as a friendly power allied to Turkey may have approved or even instigated those acts of violence. Pera [Constantinople] , August 9, 1915 .

   2. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1400 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/74 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , July 10, 1915, 9 a. m. [ Received July 14, 10.20 a. m. ] 841. My 778, June 18, 6 p. m. Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand, but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place. The Moslem and Armenian populations have been living in harmony, but because Armenian volunteers, many of them Russian subjects, have joined Russian Army in the Caucasus and because some have been implicated in armed revolutionary movements and others have been helpful to Russians in their invasion of Van district, terrible vengeance is being taken. Most of the sufferers are innocent and have been loyal to Ottoman Government. Nearly all are old men [and] women. All the men from 20 to 45 are in Turkish army. The victims find themselves dispossessed of their homes and sent on foot to be dispersed in districts where they are unknown, and no provisions have been made to lodge or to feed them. We have in several places been refused permission to relieve their misery or to have access to them. In some few instances where they opposed these measures and took refuge in the mountains and some arms or bombs were found, it provoked the authorities to further cruelties which they attempt to justify by the opposition. Untold misery, disease, Starvation, and loss of life will go on unchecked. Consul Davis of Harput reports: Professors American College have been tortured. Some others have died under torture or lost mind. Many hundred young Armenian men originally taken as soldiers, some of whom were students American College, have been sent away without food, clothing, or money. Night of June 23 several hundred other Armenians recently arrested, including professors American College, were sent away in the middle of the night without food, clothing, or money. Many deaths are reported en route in both lots of prisoners. Preparations are being made apparently to send away many more. I was informed confidentially to-day that an enormous sum of money is now being demanded of the local Armenians. There seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race. All things make us apprehend permanent closing of American schools. That only refers to one place. Many Armenians are becoming Moslems to avoid persecution. In addition to humanitarian considerations we have a real interest through the fact that certain objectionable Armenians involved in these forced dispossessions and deportations are naturalized citizens of the United States and that the charitable and educational work of the American Board will suffer considerably and in many places will cease altogether. The only embassy here which might assist in lessening these atrocities is the German, but I believe it will simply content itself with giving advice and a formal protest probably intended for record and to cover itself from future responsibility. German Ambassador is about to leave on a six weeks’ vacation. Have impressed on him that he and his Government will have considerable share in the odium. Immediately upon arrival of his substitute I shall make herculean efforts to enlist his sympathies. Austrian Ambassador has promised me to try to influence Minister of the Interior. I have repeatedly spoken to the Grand Vizier and pleaded earnestly with Minister of the Interior and Minister of War to stop this persecution. My arguments were unavailing except as to Constantinople. The men in authority are revolutionists and displaced the Hamidian Government with the cooperation of some Armenian revolutionists who know their method and are feared by them as a possible nucleus of a [counter-revolution?] against the present authorities. They admit that they will resort to any and every means to prevent their losing control of Government. They state that it is the Union and Progress committee’s nationalistic policy which they refused to modify even when Russia, France, and Great Britain threatened Ottoman Cabinet Ministers with personal responsibility. Turkish authorities desire to avail themselves of present conditions when three of the great powers are at war with them, Italy in strained relations, and the two others are their allies and therefore will not interfere when they are successfully defending the formidable attack at the Dardanelles. I have conferred with various American missionaries now here [from] Tajmarsovan [Marsovan?], Beirut, Bardizag, and Constantinople, and all agree that present crisis is worse than 1895 and 1896 massacres, but none of them could suggest any further steps than those I have already taken. They fear that the matter will have to run its course. Turkish authorities have definitely informed me that I have no right to interfere with their internal affairs. Still I desire to ask whether you have any suggestions. American Ambassador

   3. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 433, Pera, 7 July 1915, with the memorandum...¶ 10

      Um eventuellen späteren Invektiven unserer Feinde, als seien wir mitschuldig an dem rigorosen türkischen Vorgehen, wirksam entgegentreten zu können, habe ich es daher für geboten erachtet, die Pforte darauf aufmerksam zu machen, daß wir die Deportation der armenischen Bevölkerung nur insofern billigen, als sie durch militärische Rücksichten geboten ist und zur Sicherung gegen Aufstände dient, daß aber bei Ausführung dieser Maßregel die Deportierten vor Plünderung und Metzeleien zu schützen seien. Um diesen Vorstellungen den nötigen Nachdruck zu geben, habe ich sie schriftlich in Form eines Memorandums zusammengefaßt, das ich am 4. d.M. dem Großwesir persönlich überreicht habe; Abschriften dieses Memorandums habe ich nachträglich den Ministerien des Äußern und des Innern übergeben lassen.

   4. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report Tgb. Z. 243, Munich, 4 December 1916¶ 22

      Die in meinem Bericht aus Erserum ausgesprochene Befürchtung, dass die Aussiedelung der Armenier ihrer Vernichtung gleichkommen werde, bezw. dieselbe bezwecken sollte, hat sich leider bewahrheitet. Was von den Ausgesiedelten dieses Volksstammes noch in Mesopotamien lebt, befindet sich in einem trostlosen Zustande. Es ist nicht zuviel gesagt, wenn man ausspricht, dass die türkischen Armenier mit Ausnahme einiger Hundert Tausenden in Konstantinopel und anderen grösseren Städten Lebender, so gut wie ausgerottet sind.

   5. Deutscher Bundestag (CDU/CSU, SPD and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Erinnerung und Gedenken an den Völkermord an den... (2016)p. 1

      Deutscher Bundestag Drucksache 18/8613 18. Wahlperiode 31.05.2016 Im Auftrag des damaligen jungtürkischen Regimes begannen am 24. April 1915 im osmanischen Konstantinopel die planmäßige Vertreibung und Vernichtung von über einer Million ethnischer Armenier. Ihr Schicksal steht beispielhaft für die Geschichte der Massenvernichtungen, der ethnischen Säuberungen, der Vertreibungen, ja der Völkermorde, von denen das 20. Jahrhundert auf so schreckliche Weise gezeichnet ist. Der Bundestag bedauert die unrühmliche Rolle des Deutschen Reiches, das als militärischer Hauptverbündeter des Osmanischen Reiches trotz eindeutiger Informationen auch von Seiten deutscher Diplomaten und Missionare über die organisierte Vertreibung und Vernichtung der Armenier nicht versucht hat, diese Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit zu stoppen.

      Void translation, not a published quotationGerman Bundestag. Printed paper 18/8613. 18th legislative period. 31.05.2016. On the orders of the Young Turk regime of the day, the planned expulsion and destruction of over one million ethnic Armenians began on 24 April 1915 in Ottoman Constantinople. Their fate stands as an example of the history of the mass destructions, the ethnic cleansings, the expulsions, indeed the genocides, by which the 20th century is so terribly marked. The Bundestag regrets the inglorious role of the German Reich, which, as the principal military ally of the Ottoman Empire, despite unambiguous information, from German diplomats and missionaries among others, about the organised expulsion and destruction of the Armenians, did not try to stop these crimes against humanity.

Tested against the primary record

1. SupportedMass murder, deportation and forced assimilation were three faces of the same process of destruction.

   Rests on documents from: German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; Scholarship; UK government; United States government.

   The consul at Samsun in July 1915 described the measures as nothing less than the destruction or forced Islamisation of a whole people; the administrator at Erzurum in August called the expulsion a campaign of revenge, destruction and robbery; the same man in December 1916 wrote that his fear that evacuation would be tantamount to annihilation had come true; the American ambassador in September 1915 telegraphed that the destruction of the Armenian race was progressing rapidly; and the British compilation's convoy figures show columns of 18,000 reduced to 150. Three producers carry the three faces the scholarship names.

   The 6 extracts it rests on

   1. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report Tgb. Z. 243, Munich, 4 December 1916¶ 22

      Die in meinem Bericht aus Erserum ausgesprochene Befürchtung, dass die Aussiedelung der Armenier ihrer Vernichtung gleichkommen werde, bezw. dieselbe bezwecken sollte, hat sich leider bewahrheitet. Was von den Ausgesiedelten dieses Volksstammes noch in Mesopotamien lebt, befindet sich in einem trostlosen Zustande. Es ist nicht zuviel gesagt, wenn man ausspricht, dass die türkischen Armenier mit Ausnahme einiger Hundert Tausenden in Konstantinopel und anderen grösseren Städten Lebender, so gut wie ausgerottet sind.

   2. Wolfgang Gust and Sigrid Gust (eds.), translated by Vera Draack (translation sponsored by the Zoryan Institute), Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter to the Reichskanzler... (2012)¶ 22

      The fear I spoke of in my report from Erzurum, namely that the evacuation of the Armenians would be tantamount to their annihilation resp. that this was the purpose behind it, has unfortunately turned out to be true. Those evacuees of this tribe who are still living in Mesopotamia are in a desolate condition. It would not be saying too much if I tell you that the Turkish Armenians, with the exception of several hundred thousand living in Constantinople and other larger cities, have been practically wiped out.

   3. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1410 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/117 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , September 3, 1915, 9 a. m. [ Received September 6, 9 a. m. ] 1005. Minister of War has promised to permit departure of such Armenians to the United States whose emigration I vouch for as bona fide . Destruction of Armenian race in Turkey is progressing rapidly. Massacre reported at Angora and Brusa. Will you suggest to Cleveland Dodge , Charles Crane , John R. Mott , Stephen Wise , and others to form committee to raise funds and provide means to save some of the Armenians and assist the poorer ones to emigrate, and perhaps to enlist California, Oregon, and Washington to transport some of these people direct to their shores via Panama Canal? Morgenthau

   4. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler, enclosing Vice-Consul Kuckhoff's report from Samsun of 4 July 1915, Report No. 449, Pera, 16 July 1915¶ 13

      Die getroffenen Gegenmaßregeln - anscheinend für alle anatolischen Wilajets gültig - sind jedoch von einer Härte und dem Menschlichkeitsgefühl so widerstrebend, daß sie nicht gleichgültig hingenommen werden können: Es handelt sich um nichts weniger als um die Vernichtung oder gewaltsame Islamisierung eines ganzen Volkes, dessen Angehörige zum größten Teil an der revolutionären Bewegung keinen direkten Anteil hatten, also unschuldige Opfer sind. Die Art der Ausführung des Verbannungsbefehls droht Formen anzunehmen, die nur in der Judenverfolgung Spaniens und Portugals ein Gleichnis finden: Die Regierung entsandte fanatische, strenggläubige mohamedanische Männer und Frauen in alle armenischen Häuser behufs Propaganda für den Übertritt zum Islam, selbstverständlich unter Androhung der schwersten Folgen für diejenigen, die ihrem Glauben treu bleiben. Soviel mir bekannt, sind bis heute hier schon viele Familien übergetreten und täglich vermehrt sich deren Zahl. Die Mehrheit der Unglücklichen widerstand bis jetzt den Lockungen und wurde täglich gruppenweise ins Innere getrieben. Fast keinem verblieb Zeit zur Regelung seiner Angelegenheiten. Nur mit dem Notdürftigsten versehen, mußten sie ihr Heim und Hab und Gut im Stiche lassen. Wie ich erfahre werden sie an nicht entfernten Punkten jetzt zurückgehalten, um dort noch gründlicher für den Islam bearbeitet zu werden; einige von ihnen kehrten zu diesem Zwecke auch nach hier zurück. In der Umgebung von Samsun sind alle armenischen Dörfer mohamedanisiert worden, ebenso in Uniah. Vergünstigungen wurden, ausser den Renegaten, niemandem zu Teil. Alle Armenier ohne Ausnahme: Männer, Frauen, Greise, Kinder, bis zum Säugling, Altgläubige, Protestanten und Katholiken - welch letztere sich nie einer nationalen revolutionären Bewegung anschlossen und auch von Hamid verschont wurden - mußten fort. Kein christlicher Armenier darf hier bleiben; selbst nicht solche ausländischer Staatsangehörigkeit; letztere sollen ausgewiesen werden. Der Bestimmungsort der Samsuner Verbannten ist nach Aussage des Mütessarifs Urfa.

   5. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter, Administrator of the Consulate at Erzurum, to the Ambassador on Extraordinary Mission (Hohenlohe-Langenburg), Secret report No. 23, Erzurum, 5 August 1915¶ 17

      Es ist tief bedauerlich, dass infolge der von der Militärbehörde geduldeten Haltung des Komitees und seiner dunklen Hintermänner die militärisch und politisch in mancher Hinsicht vielleicht zu begründende Massnahme der Aussiedelung der Armenier aus den Grenzgebieten in einen Rache-, Vernichtungs- und Raubfeldzug gegen sie umgewandelt wurde. Von vernünftig denkenden weiten Kreisen der türkischen Bevölkerung, besonders von den Grundbesitzern, wird diese Ausrottungspolitik auch nicht gebilligt. Diese Kreise, die mit den Armeniern zusammengearbeitet haben und gut mit ihnen ausgekommen sind, erkennen die grosse wirtschaftliche und politische Gefahr dieses neuen "Systems der Lösung der Armenier-Frage". Ich bin auch mehrfach bei meinen Fahrten durch das Land von Grossgrundbesitzern, deren Gast ich war, gefragt worden, warum denn die deutsche Regierung die türkische zu einem solchen Vorgehen gegen die Armenier veranlasst habe. Einer der Fragesteller, ein sehr angesehener und einflussreicher Bey, fügte hinzu, es habe wohl früher Armenier-Massaker gegeben, aber diese hätten sich meist auf Kämpfe der Männer beschränkt, jetzt morde man entgegen den Vorschriften des Korans zu Tausenden unschuldige Frauen und Kinder. Dieses geschehe nicht etwa von in Erregung geratenen Volksmengen, sondern systematisch und auf Befehl der Regierung - "des Komitees", wie er mit Betonung hinzufügte. Hierbei sei bemerkt, dass hier geflissentlich verbreitet wurde, die Aussiedelung geschehe auf Betreiben der deutschen Regierung. In den gebildeten türkischen und armenischen Kreisen erzählte man sich, Prf. Rohrbach hätte bei einem Vortrage beim Kaiser darauf hingewiesen, dass die Armenier ein sehr geeignetes Element zur Besiedelung der völkerarmen von der Bagdad Bahn durchquerten Gegenden Mesopotamiens seien. Daraufhin habe die deutsche Regierung die türkische veranlasst, die Armenier dorthin auszusiedeln. Diesem geschickt ausgesonnenen Geschichtchen bin ich natürlich energisch entgegengetreten, habe aber doch nicht verhindern können, dass dasselbe bei vielen Glauben fand.

   6. Arnold J. Toynbee (ed.), with a preface by Viscount Bryce, The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, 1915-16 (1916)p. 650

      Putting the communities at Constantinople and Smyrna and the refugees together at about 350,000, we shall certainly not be reckoning too low if we allow a quarter of a million for the Protestants, Catholics, converts and others who were spared, and estimate the total number of Armenians in Turkey who escaped deportation at not more than 600,000. This leaves at least 1,000,000 to be accounted for by deportation and massacre, and probably 1,200,000 or more. A large combined convoy, for instance, of exiles from Mamouret- ul-Aziz and Sivas, set out from Malatia 18,000 strong and numbered 301 at Viran Shehr, 150 at AleppoJ. In this case, however, the wastage appears to have been exceptional. We have one similar instance of a convoy from Harpout which was reduced on the way to Aleppo from 5,000 to 213, a loss of 96 per cent.§ ; but in general the wastage seems to fluctuate, with a wide oscillation, on either side of 50 per cent.; 600 out of 2,500 (24 per cent.) reached Aleppo from a village in the Harpout district] | ; 60 per cent, arrived there out of the first convoy from the village of E. (near H.), and 46 per cent, out of the second ; 25 per cent, arrived out of a convoy from the village of D. in the same neighbourhood^. We shall certainly be well within the, mark if we estimate that at least half those condemned to massacre or deportation have actually perished.

2. Cannot be tested from the free recordThe decision was a pre-war design of the Committee, or was reached in the spring of 1915 under the pressure of the war.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   The one contemporaneous statement of a programme held here is Scheubner-Richter's report of December 1916, that a large part of the Committee held the empire should rest on a purely Muslim basis and that the first item was the Armenians; it is one German officer's summary and undated as to when the programme was adopted, so it cannot settle timing, and the archival fonds that could is unreached.

   The 2 extracts it rests on

   1. Raymond H. Kévorkian, Un bref tour d'horizon des recherches historiques sur le... (2013)¶ 3

      Concernant les archives ottomanes conservées à Istanbul, il faut souligner l’ouverture en 2005 du fonds du Deuxième Bureau, attaché au ministère de l’Intérieur, comprenant les archives du Directorat pour l’installation des tribus et des émigrés (principalement étudiées et publiées par Fuat Dündar 7 ). L’étude de ce fonds a mis en lumière nombre de points obscurs du programme d’« ingénierie démographique » que le Comité central jeune-turc a mis en œuvre. Elle apporte des connaissances décisives sur la planification administrative des déportations, sur la volonté des chefs jeunes-turcs de transformer la composition démographique de l’Asie Mineure, au besoin en éradiquant les groupes susceptibles d’entraver leur projet.

      Void translation, not a published quotation3 Concerning the Ottoman archives kept in Istanbul, the opening in 2005 of the fonds of the Second Bureau, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, comprising the archives of the Directorate for the settlement of tribes and migrants (studied and published chiefly by Fuat Dündar 7), must be underlined. The study of this fonds has brought to light a number of obscure points of the programme of “demographic engineering” that the Young Turk Central Committee put into effect. It brings decisive knowledge on the administrative planning of the deportations, on the will of the Young Turk leaders to transform the demographic composition of Asia Minor, if need be by eradicating the groups liable to hinder their project.

   2. Max Erwin von Scheubner-Richter to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report Tgb. Z. 243, Munich, 4 December 1916¶ 26

      Ein grosser Teil des Jungtürkischen Komités steht auf dem Standpunkt, dass das Türkische Reich nur auf rein mohamedanischer, pantürkistischer Grundlage aufgebaut werden muss. Die nicht mohamedanischen und nicht türkischen Bewohner desselben, müssen gewaltsam mohamedanisiert und türkisiert, wo das nicht angängig, vernichtet werden.

Tested against the primary record

1. QualifiedThe tragic events in 1915-1917 involving the Armenians living in the territory of the Ottoman Empire constitute genocide within the meaning of the Convention.

   Rests on documents from: European Parliament; German Ambassador at Constantinople and German consuls; United Nations; United States government.

   Article II names killing members of a group and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, with intent to destroy the group as such; the German and American files of 1915 record measures whose purpose the ambassadors read as the eradication of the Armenian race and whose conditions they read as fatal by design. Two producers carry the acts and the purpose in the Convention's own terms. What the record does not hold is a judgment: the Convention gives the characterisation to a competent tribunal, none has ruled on these events in the free record, and a parliament's resolution is a political finding, which the Parliament's own text calls recognition. Supported in substance by the artifacts, qualified because the claim is a legal one and the tribunal is absent.

   The 5 extracts it rests on

   1. United Nations General Assembly, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime... (1948)art. 2

      In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such : (a) Killing members of the group; (£) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (e) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (rf) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

   2. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler (Bethmann Hollweg), Report No. 433, Pera, 7 July 1915, with the memorandum...¶ 3Exhibit 1

      Dieser Umstand und die Art, wie die Umsiedelung durchgeführt wird, zeigen, daß die Regierung tatsächlich den Zweck verfolgt, die armenische Rasse im türkischen Reiche zu vernichten.

   3. United States Department of State (ed.), Document 1400 (1928)whole document

      File No. 867.4016/74 The Ambassador in Turkey ( Morgenthau ) to the Secretary of State [Telegram] Constantinople , July 10, 1915, 9 a. m. [ Received July 14, 10.20 a. m. ] 841. My 778, June 18, 6 p. m. Persecution of Armenians assuming unprecedented proportions. Reports from widely scattered districts indicate systematic attempt to uproot peaceful Armenian populations and through arbitrary arrests, terrible tortures, wholesale expulsions and deportations from one end of the Empire to the other accompanied by frequent instances of rape, pillage, and murder, turning into massacre, to bring destruction and destitution on them. These measures are not in response to popular or fanatical demand, but are purely arbitrary and directed from Constantinople in the name of military necessity, often in districts where no military operations are likely to take place. The Moslem and Armenian populations have been living in harmony, but because Armenian volunteers, many of them Russian subjects, have joined Russian Army in the Caucasus and because some have been implicated in armed revolutionary movements and others have been helpful to Russians in their invasion of Van district, terrible vengeance is being taken. Most of the sufferers are innocent and have been loyal to Ottoman Government. Nearly all are old men [and] women. All the men from 20 to 45 are in Turkish army. The victims find themselves dispossessed of their homes and sent on foot to be dispersed in districts where they are unknown, and no provisions have been made to lodge or to feed them. We have in several places been refused permission to relieve their misery or to have access to them. In some few instances where they opposed these measures and took refuge in the mountains and some arms or bombs were found, it provoked the authorities to further cruelties which they attempt to justify by the opposition. Untold misery, disease, Starvation, and loss of life will go on unchecked. Consul Davis of Harput reports: Professors American College have been tortured. Some others have died under torture or lost mind. Many hundred young Armenian men originally taken as soldiers, some of whom were students American College, have been sent away without food, clothing, or money. Night of June 23 several hundred other Armenians recently arrested, including professors American College, were sent away in the middle of the night without food, clothing, or money. Many deaths are reported en route in both lots of prisoners. Preparations are being made apparently to send away many more. I was informed confidentially to-day that an enormous sum of money is now being demanded of the local Armenians. There seems to be a systematic plan to crush the Armenian race. All things make us apprehend permanent closing of American schools. That only refers to one place. Many Armenians are becoming Moslems to avoid persecution. In addition to humanitarian considerations we have a real interest through the fact that certain objectionable Armenians involved in these forced dispossessions and deportations are naturalized citizens of the United States and that the charitable and educational work of the American Board will suffer considerably and in many places will cease altogether. The only embassy here which might assist in lessening these atrocities is the German, but I believe it will simply content itself with giving advice and a formal protest probably intended for record and to cover itself from future responsibility. German Ambassador is about to leave on a six weeks’ vacation. Have impressed on him that he and his Government will have considerable share in the odium. Immediately upon arrival of his substitute I shall make herculean efforts to enlist his sympathies. Austrian Ambassador has promised me to try to influence Minister of the Interior. I have repeatedly spoken to the Grand Vizier and pleaded earnestly with Minister of the Interior and Minister of War to stop this persecution. My arguments were unavailing except as to Constantinople. The men in authority are revolutionists and displaced the Hamidian Government with the cooperation of some Armenian revolutionists who know their method and are feared by them as a possible nucleus of a [counter-revolution?] against the present authorities. They admit that they will resort to any and every means to prevent their losing control of Government. They state that it is the Union and Progress committee’s nationalistic policy which they refused to modify even when Russia, France, and Great Britain threatened Ottoman Cabinet Ministers with personal responsibility. Turkish authorities desire to avail themselves of present conditions when three of the great powers are at war with them, Italy in strained relations, and the two others are their allies and therefore will not interfere when they are successfully defending the formidable attack at the Dardanelles. I have conferred with various American missionaries now here [from] Tajmarsovan [Marsovan?], Beirut, Bardizag, and Constantinople, and all agree that present crisis is worse than 1895 and 1896 massacres, but none of them could suggest any further steps than those I have already taken. They fear that the matter will have to run its course. Turkish authorities have definitely informed me that I have no right to interfere with their internal affairs. Still I desire to ask whether you have any suggestions. American Ambassador

   4. Hans von Wangenheim, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Reichskanzler, enclosing Vice-Consul Kuckhoff's report from Samsun of 4 July 1915, Report No. 449, Pera, 16 July 1915¶ 13

      Die getroffenen Gegenmaßregeln - anscheinend für alle anatolischen Wilajets gültig - sind jedoch von einer Härte und dem Menschlichkeitsgefühl so widerstrebend, daß sie nicht gleichgültig hingenommen werden können: Es handelt sich um nichts weniger als um die Vernichtung oder gewaltsame Islamisierung eines ganzen Volkes, dessen Angehörige zum größten Teil an der revolutionären Bewegung keinen direkten Anteil hatten, also unschuldige Opfer sind. Die Art der Ausführung des Verbannungsbefehls droht Formen anzunehmen, die nur in der Judenverfolgung Spaniens und Portugals ein Gleichnis finden: Die Regierung entsandte fanatische, strenggläubige mohamedanische Männer und Frauen in alle armenischen Häuser behufs Propaganda für den Übertritt zum Islam, selbstverständlich unter Androhung der schwersten Folgen für diejenigen, die ihrem Glauben treu bleiben. Soviel mir bekannt, sind bis heute hier schon viele Familien übergetreten und täglich vermehrt sich deren Zahl. Die Mehrheit der Unglücklichen widerstand bis jetzt den Lockungen und wurde täglich gruppenweise ins Innere getrieben. Fast keinem verblieb Zeit zur Regelung seiner Angelegenheiten. Nur mit dem Notdürftigsten versehen, mußten sie ihr Heim und Hab und Gut im Stiche lassen. Wie ich erfahre werden sie an nicht entfernten Punkten jetzt zurückgehalten, um dort noch gründlicher für den Islam bearbeitet zu werden; einige von ihnen kehrten zu diesem Zwecke auch nach hier zurück. In der Umgebung von Samsun sind alle armenischen Dörfer mohamedanisiert worden, ebenso in Uniah. Vergünstigungen wurden, ausser den Renegaten, niemandem zu Teil. Alle Armenier ohne Ausnahme: Männer, Frauen, Greise, Kinder, bis zum Säugling, Altgläubige, Protestanten und Katholiken - welch letztere sich nie einer nationalen revolutionären Bewegung anschlossen und auch von Hamid verschont wurden - mußten fort. Kein christlicher Armenier darf hier bleiben; selbst nicht solche ausländischer Staatsangehörigkeit; letztere sollen ausgewiesen werden. Der Bestimmungsort der Samsuner Verbannten ist nach Aussage des Mütessarifs Urfa.

   5. European Parliament, Resolution on a political solution to the Armenian... (1987)p. 120

      2. Believes that the tragic events in 1915-1917 involving the Armenians living in the territory of the Ottoman Empire constitute genocide within the meaning of the convention on the prevention and the punishment of the crime of genocide adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1948; recognizes, however, that the present Turkey cannot be held responsible for the tragedy experienced by the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire and stresses that neither political nor legal or material claims against present-day Turkey can be derived from the recognition of this historical event as an act of genocide; 3. Calls on the Council to obtain from the present Turkish Government an acknowledgement of the genocide perpetrated against the Armenians in 1915-1917 and promote the establishment of a dialogue between Turkey and the representatives of the Armenians;

2. Cannot be tested from the free recordThe French Parliament adopted, on 18 January 2001, the bill recognising the Armenian genocide of 1915.

   Rests on an absence in the free record.

   The adoption is stated in a French political scientist's article, whose first page Persée serves; the law itself could not be read, so the claim rests on scholarship and is untestable here.

   The extract it rests on

   1. Olivier Masseret, La reconnaissance du génocide arménien de 1915 par le... (2001)p. 113

      C'est ce qui advint avec l'adoption définitive par le Parlement français, le 18 janvier 2001, de la proposition de loi reconnaissant le génocide arménien de 1915. Il n'est pas exclu que seul un acte déclaratif et symbolique ait été voulu; mais, au delà, c'est bien à une prise de position politique que l'on est arrivé, acquise contre la volonté de l'exécutif.

      Void translation, not a published quotationThat is what came about with the definitive adoption by the French Parliament, on 18 January 2001, of the bill recognising the Armenian genocide of 1915. It is not excluded that only a declaratory and symbolic act was intended; but, beyond that, it is indeed a political position that was reached, obtained against the will of the executive.