The Status of the Ottoman Armenians

Until the late 19th century, Armenians were referred to as millet-i sadıka (loyal nation) by the Ottomans.Under the millet system of Ottoman law, Armenians (as dhimmis or recognized non-Muslims, along with Greeks, Jews and other ethnic and religious groups) were subject to separate laws from those that applied to Muslims. They had separate legal courts, although disputes involving a Muslim fell under the sharia-based laws. Armenians were exempt from serving in the military and were instead forced to pay an exemption tax, the jizya; their testimony in Islamic courts was inadmissible against Muslims; they were not allowed to bear arms, they were heavily taxed, and they were treated overall as second-class subjects, although they were one of the largest minorities in the Ottoman Empire.

The long ruling Abdul Hamid II suspended the constitution early in his reign (1876-1909) and ruled as he saw fit. Despite pressure on the Sultan from major European countries to treat Christian minorities more gently, abuses increased.

After the Russian victory over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78, the Russians took control of a large swath of territory inhabited by Armenians but ceded much of it after signing the Treaty of Berlin. The Russians claimed they were the protectors of Christians within the Ottoman Empire. The weakening control of the Ottoman government over its empire during the following fifteen years led many Armenians to believe that they could gain independence.

Before the War

Five years before World War I, the Ottoman Empire came under the control of the secular Young Turks. In an effort for constitutional reform, Abdul Hamid II was deposed and his younger brother Mehmed V was installed as a figurehead ruler. At first, some Armenian political organizations supported the Young Turks, in hopes that there would be a significant change for the better. Some Armenians were elected to the newly restored Ottoman Parliament, including Gabriel Noradoungian, who was elected by parliamentary members to briefly serve as the country's foreign minister.

However, from 1910-1912 the leadership of the Young Turks split into several parts lead by two main factions. One faction, known as the Liberal Union, remained committed to liberalizing the country and establishing equal status amongst all minorities. The second faction, the Committee of Union and Progress, was more radical and racist in its views. It was headed by a triumvirate: Ismail Enver, Mehmed Talat Pasha and Ahmed Djemal. The CUP ultimately rejected the Liberal Union's ideals and assumed full leadership of the country after assassinating the Minister of War, Nazim Pasha, a Union member in January 1913.

The Blame

In November 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers when Ottoman gunboats attacked Russian naval bases and shipping in the Black Sea. In November 1914, Enver, now the Minister of War, launched a disastrous military campaign against Russian forces in the Caucasus in hopes of capturing the city of Baku. Nearly 90% of the Ottoman IIIrd Army was destroyed by Russian forces in the Battle of Sarikamis and many more froze to death after Enver issued a retreat order in January 1915.

Returning to Istanbul, Enver largely blamed the Armenians living in the region for actively siding with the Russians. In 1914, the Ottoman Empire's War Office had already begun a propaganda drive to present Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire as a liability and threat to the country's security.

April 24, 1915

In a swift move enacted by the Ottoman government, an estimated 250 Armenians from the intelligentsia were arrested on the night of 24 April 1915.

The Act

In May, 1915, Talaat requested that government's cabinet and grand vizier pass and enact a law which would legitimize the deportations of Armenians living both near the Russian front and interior. On 29 May 1915, the CUP Central Committee passed the Temporary Law of Deportation (Tehcir Law), giving the Ottoman government and military authorization to deport anyone it "sensed" as a threat to national security. Several months later, the Temporary Law of Expropriation and Confiscation was passed, stating that all property, including land, livestock and homes, belonging to Armenians was to be confiscated by the authorities. Only one politician in the Ottoman parliament, Senator Ahmed Riza, a founder-member of the Liberal Union, protested against the legislation.

Casualties

While there is no clear consensus on how many Armenians lost their lives during what is called the Armenian genocide, there is general agreement among Western scholars that over a million Armenians may have perished between 1914 and 1918. Estimates vary between 300,000 (the Turkish claim) and 1.5 million (the Armenian claim), while Encyclopædia Britannica makes special reference to the research conducted by Arnold J. Toynbee, who was appointed by the British Foreign Office to investigate the forced deportation of the Armenians and the related casualties, and who estimated a death toll of around 600,000 to 800,000. This estimate formed the basis of the Allies' charges against the Ottoman government at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 that up to 800,000 Armenians were killed during the war.