The number of Ottoman Armenian deaths between 1914 to 1923 during the Armenian Genocide and what followed during the Turkish War of Independence is a subject of controversy. Most estimates of related Armenian deaths between 1915 to 1918 range from 600,000 to 1.5 million. Turkish Courts-Martial of 1919-1920 were court martials of the Ottoman Empire after the armistice of Mudros during the aftermath the World War One, which the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress and selected former officials had court-martial with/including the charges of subversion of the... Operation Nemesis is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation code-name for the covert operation in the 1920s to assassinate the Turkish masterminds of the Armenian Genocide. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire is direct consequence of the World War I with the Ottomans involvement in the Middle Eastern theatre. ... Turkish Denial: To have genocide denied is to die twice — An advertisement for the Armenian Genocide Commemoration Holiday on 24th April, 2006 posted in The Times newspaper. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy [[Category:Former monarchies}}|Ottoman Empire, 1299]] Sultans  - 1281–1326... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Armenian Genocide photo. ... Combatants   Turkish Revolutionaries   Soviet Union[1][2][3] United Kingdom Greece France Armenia Ottoman Empire Georgia Commanders Mustafa Kemal Ä°smet Ä°nönü Kazım Karabekir Ali Fuat Cebesoy Fevzi Çakmak George Milne Henri Gouraud Papoulas Georgios Hatzianestis Drastamat Kanayan Movses Silikyan Süleyman Åžefik Pasha The Turkish War of Independence...

Armenian casualties from 1915 to 1917-18

Ottoman and Turkish estimates

The statistics provided by Djemal

The official Ottoman statistics compiled for the period between 1915 to 1917-18 were of 800,000 killed. This figure originates from Djemal's bureau’s. The results have been published in the official Ottoman gazette.^[1]

It was allegedly the result of a commission formed by the interior minister Mustafa Arif. It is said that they relied on reports and statistics they have compiled in a period of two months, in March 14, 1919, the results were made public by Djemal. This same figure has been mentioned in Rauf Orbay's own memoirs.^[2] The initial results apparently represented those that were “massacred” during the deportation, without any indication as to the total number of people having perished; Mustafa Kemal, during a conversation he had with Major General Harbord, the chief of the American Military Mission to Armenia, in September 1919, repeated the same number.^[3] The figure of 800,000, it should be noted, discludes Armenian soldiers liquidated from the Ottoman army in the early stages of the genocide, as well as discluding the number of women and both male and female children assimilated into Turkish families.

However, following the dissolution of the military tribunal, those figures were reinterpreted. The Turkish author Taner Akçam refers to a Turkish military published by Lt. Col. Nihat in 1928, in which the figure of 800,000 no longer represented those as "massacred" or "killed", but simply those who perished. Then the historian Bayur in a famous work wrote: "800,000 Armenians and 200,000 Greeks died as a result of deportations or died in labor brigades." Bayur concluded: "According to our official sources, these numbers are correct."^[4]

Other Ottoman sources

While the official figures were of 800,000 killed, there were many unofficial numbers presented during the war by some Ottoman authorities--Talat, for instance, presented the figure of 300,000-- but there is no indication as to how those figures were obtained. This figure is currently the one used often by the Turkish government officials.

Justin McCarthy estimates

Justin McCarthy's figures are often cited, particularly in works that could be considered to support the Turkish government thesis that the Armenian massacres do not constitute genocide. Even though Professor McCarthy is a Western academic, his numbers of Armenian casualties are derived from his statistics of Armenian population, which in turn were derived from Ottoman records (by applying correction values). Some scholars therefore consider his figures to be an Ottoman source rather than a Western one. Dr. Justin A. McCarthy is an American demographer, Ottoman expert, and history professor at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. ...

McCarthy calculated an estimate of the pre-war Armenian population, then subtracted his estimate of survivors, arriving at a figure of a little less than 600,000 for Armenian casualties for the period 1914 to 1922.^[5] But as in the cases of his population, his statistics are controversial. In a more recent essay, he projected that if the Armenian records of 1913 were accurate, 250,000 more deaths should be added, for a total of 850,000.^[6] and he is also criticized for overestimating the survivor table. Frédéric Paulin goes as far as comparing his methodology with Rassinier's method in calculating the European Jewry losses during World War II.^[7]

Ottoman allies estimates

Germany

Germany provides highest estimates of Armenian losses during the war even though they were the Ottoman Empire's ally. Some speculate that it was due to their access to murder sites. Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (Ä°stanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish Government Monarchy [[Category:Former monarchies}}|Ottoman Empire, 1299]] Sultans  - 1281–1326...

A report provided that as soon as February 1916, 1.5 million Armenians were destroyed. ^[8] A report in May 27, 1916, by Foreign Office Intelligence Director Erzberger provided the same figure,^[9] as did an October 4, 1916 report by the German Interim Ambassador to Turkey, Radowitz, again with 1.5 million as the estimate of Armenian's having perished.^[10] It seems that the generally cited 1.5 million figure had originated from those German sources. German major Endres, who served in the Turkish army, and who has estimated the number of Armenians having lost their lives during the war to be 1.2 million.^[11] The same figure was mentioned during the Yozgat trial,^[12] as well as presented during the Permanent Peoples Tribunal^[13] and often cited elsewhere.

Austria-Hungary

The Austrian consul at Trabzon and Samsun, Dr. Kwatkiowski on March 13, 1918 reported to Vienna restricting himself to the six eastern provinces, Trabzon and Samsun district, that from the million deported, most died, while Austria-Hungary's Adrianople (Edirne) consul Dr. Nadamlenzki reported that for the entire Ottoman Empire 1.5 million were already deported.^[14] The Austrian Vice Marashal Pomiankowski estimated the Armenian losses to be about a million.^[15] Trabzon, formerly known as Trebizond (Modern Greek: Τραπεζούντα, Trapezoúnta; Ancient Greek: , Trapezoûs), is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. ... Statue of Atatürk who initiated the Turkish War of Independence in Samsun on May 19, 1919 Samsun (Greek: / Sampsoúnta) is a city in northern Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea, with a population of 439,000 as of 2006. ... Selimiye Mosque, built by Sinan in 1575 Edirne (Greek: Αδριανούπολη, Bulgarian: Одрин) is a city in Thrace, the westernmost part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. ...

The allies and neutral parties

Arnold J. Toynbee

Arnold J. Toynbee, an intelligence officer of the British Foreign Office during World War I, estimated a death toll of 600,000 from a population of 1,800,000 Armenians who lived in Anatolia .^[16] but excludes most of 1916 and the following years, as professor Melson writes: "Toynbee’s description and analysis stop with the winter of 1915 and the spring of 1916, by which time the bulk of the Armenian population has been killed or deported. As valuable as it is, this work cannot take into account what subsequently happened to the deportees in 1916, nor can it take into account the Armenians who were deported from some of the major urban areas after 1916."^[17] Arnold Joseph Toynbee (April 14, 1889 - October 22, 1975) was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934-1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the United Kingdom abroad. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

The King Crane Commission

The King Crane Commission provides a million for the losses during the war in one cases in the same work, but in the same commission, it is reported that the Hamidian massacres are included. Wherever or not, the Armenian casualties were under evaluated to increase purposely the Armenian population to support the foundation of an Armenia is still a matter of debate, since the Armenian losses of a million during the war has been added for what the commission call "justice" in one cases, and in what regards the Armenian population, the Adana massacres, and Hamidian massacres resulting to what appears to be an attempt of population maximization.^[18] The Armenian estimates were on the same direction. At times, they were even as low as 500,000^[19] when the Armenian high mortality was threatening the possibility of founding an Armenia compromising as well of Ottoman territories, and in other instances to over a million.^[20] The United States figures for the period between 1915 to 1917 varies widely, but most figures contend to a million or over. Contemporary political cartoon portraying Hamid as a butcher of the Armenians During the long reign of Sultan Hamid, unrest and rebellion occurred in many areas of the Ottoman Empire. ... The Adana massacre occurred in Adana Province, in the Ottoman Empire, in April 1909. ...

League of Nations

The League of Nations provided a million as a figure,^[21] but the list of refugees in the Caucasus and Russian Armenia who were not from Ottoman Empire was not clearly defined, which suggest that the list of 400,000 to 420,000 Ottoman Armenian's^[22] could have contained Armenian's who were possibly not in proper term Ottoman Armenian, which may explain why other estimates projected the casualties over the million drawn by the League.

Armenian casualties, 1917-18 to 1923

While the Ottoman official statistics covered 1917-18, and some of German figures, most other figures excluded them. Another problem remains, as to the availability of the sources for what followed 1917. More recent scholars have called this period the second phase of the Armenian Genocide. Melson, for instance, provide' a rough estimate of 500,000.^[23] On the other hand, those estimates have no archival grounds, for this reason some researchers considers any such figures could be near to the actual casualty figures or far from it. Armenian Genocide photo. ...

Armenian casualties outside of the Ottoman borders during Ottoman invasion

Few commissions were formed though, such as the investigations for Kars and Alexandropol. The Alexandropol investigation by its nature is seen as the most serious such endeavor. It presented 60,000 as directed killed, in a total of 150,000 victims which condition would have ultimately led to their death sentences.^[24] But the investigation apparently came to an end abruptly. The Germans on the other hand, not presenting any numbers, have reported Russian Armenia condition, in what they considered as an Ottoman attempt to destroy it.^[25] Without taking in account the Ottoman excursion of what was considered as Persian Armenia.

Ottoman Armenian casualties

Most of the victims could be counted in Cilicia,^[26] as well as the Eastern zone, and without ignoring Smyrna (İzmir)^[27] during what was reported as massacres and what followed with the burning of the Armenian and Greek quarters of the city (see Great Fire of Smyrna). While the total of casualties in this category is estimated to tens of thousands to over hundred of thousand, the number of victims is not well established. Agora of Smyrna Smyrna (Greek: Σμύρνη) is an ancient city (today Ä°zmir in Turkey) that was founded at a very early period at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. ... Ä°zmir, historically Smyrna, is the third most populous city of Turkey and the countrys largest port after Ä°stanbul. ... Great Fire of Smyrna as on 14 September 1922 The Great Fire of Smyrna is the name commonly given to the fire that ravaged Ä°zmir/Smyrna starting 13 September 1922 and lasted for four days until the 17 September. ...

The Armenian genocide: total Armenian casualties, 1914 to 1923

While there is no clear consensus as to how many Armenians lost their lives during what is called the Armenian genocide and what followed, there seems to be a consensus among Western scholars with the exception of few dissident and Turkish national historians, as to when covering all the period between 1914 to 1923, over a million Armenian might have perished, and the tendency seem recently to be, either presenting 1.2 million as figure or even 1.5 million, while more moderately, "over a million" is presented, as the Turkish historian Fikret Adanir provides as estimation, but excludes what followed 1917.

Armenian casualties revisited

Far from finding the exact figure of Armenian casualties, some researchers have at least tried to provide some figures of losses during the war and what followed based on some sources. But most of it is rough estimates or are based on calculations of others. An example here might be the cases of Justin McCarthy, since he is one of the rare researcher that has worked with Ottoman records, various Ottomanists have recycled his figures. Scholarly consensus, however, has largely followed the conclusions presented by Levon Marashlian's study (arriving at a figure of 1.2 million), which claimed that McCarthy's approach suffers from a fatal methodological flaw: in basing his results on inaccurate records. Marashlian maintain there was a reciprocal undercounting on the Ottoman's government's part on the one hand, and underreporting by Armenians, on the other.^[28] McCarthy, nonetheless, claims that his results and the Ottoman adult male records were accurate. Others go on to criticize McCarthy in not only having undercounted the prewar Armenian population, but also overcounting the survivors. McCarthy, for his part, argue that his works are too easily labeled by academia as a Turkish-apologist, and complains of a lack of scholarly debate. Dr. Justin A. McCarthy is an American demographer, Ottoman expert, and history professor at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. ...

See also

• Armenian Genocide
• Ottoman Armenia
• Ottoman Armenian population
• Turkish War of Independence

Armenian Genocide photo. ... Ottoman Armenia or Turkish Armenia was the Armenian part of the Ottoman Empire. ... Please wikify (format) this article as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Combatants   Turkish Revolutionaries   Soviet Union[1][2][3] United Kingdom Greece France Armenia Ottoman Empire Georgia Commanders Mustafa Kemal Ä°smet Ä°nönü Kazım Karabekir Ali Fuat Cebesoy Fevzi Çakmak George Milne Henri Gouraud Papoulas Georgios Hatzianestis Drastamat Kanayan Movses Silikyan Süleyman Åžefik Pasha The Turkish War of Independence...

Notes