Population Structure:

Size of the Ottoman Armenian population before WW I is reported as:
- 1,555,000 - The French Yellow Book
- 1,500,000 - Encyclopedia Britannica
- 1,295,000 - Official Ottoman Census Statistics for 1914
- 1,056,000 - Annual Register (London)

British General Baker Pasha:
"The Armenians are everywhere in a minority, generally, comprising only one-third to one-fifth of the inhabitants." [1]

[1] Foreign Office. Further Correspondence Respecting the Administrative Reforms in the Asiatic Provinces of Turkey, Part II, January-June 1880, Printed for the use of the Foreign Office, London: 1880, No. 94/1

Sir A.H. Layard reports to Lord Derby, the British Foreign Secretary:

"Of all the Christian communities subject to Turkish rule, the Armenian has been most disposed to live peacefully with her Mohammedan fellow-subjects, and even to amalgamate with them. The Armenians of Constantinople, speaking Turkish language, are brought, more than the Greeks, into intimate relations with the Turks. It is greatly to the interest of the Porte to encourage the Armenians, to treat them with justice and liberality, so as to satisfy them, and to prevent their turning to Russia for help and protection. England might contribute materially to this end. To give autonomy to a province which is at present quite incapable of self-government, would probably lead to more harm than good, and to results which would be far from favorable to British interests." [2]

[2] Foreign Office. 424/68: Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of Turkey, Part XXIII, April 1878, Confidential (3625), London, May 1878, No. 107 (excerpt by Bilal Simsir in "The Genesis of the Armenian Question" pp. 10)

President of the Armenian National Bureau in Tiflis declares to Czar Nicholas II:

"From all countries Armenians are hurrying to enter the ranks of the glorious Russian Army, with their blood to serve the victory of Russian arms... Let the Russian flag wave freely over the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. Let, with your will, great Majesty, the peoples remaining under the Turkish yoke receive freedom. Let the Armenian people of Turkey who have suffered for the faith of Christ receive resurrection for a new free life under the protection of Russia." [3]

[3] Shaw Stanford J., Shaw Ezel Kural. (1979). From History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey, Vol. II, Cambridge University Press: London.

Boghos Nubar, Armenian Leader:

"But I must emphasize the fact unhappily known to few, that ever since the beginning of the war the Armenians fought by the side of Allies on all fronts... In the Caucasus, without mentioning the 150,000 Armenians in the Russian armies, about 50,000 Armenian volunteers under Andranik, Nazarbekoff, and others not only fought for the cause of Entente..." [5]

[5] The Times of London. (January 30, 1919). p.6.

"Intercommunal war erupted when the Ottoman Empire entered World War I. Armenian Revolutionaries, many trained in Russia, attempted to seize main Ottoman cities in Eastern Anatolia. They took the city of Van and held it until Russian invaders arrived, killing all but a few Muslims of the city and surrounding villages." [6]

[6] McCarthy, Justin. (May 15, 1996). In the report presented to the Committee on International Relations.

Tevfik Pasha, former Grand Vizier, in an interview:

"The Ottoman army, attacked in front by the armies of Czar, saw itself also attacked by the Armenian bands. Consequently, the Supreme Command ordered the deportations." [4]

[4] The New York Times. (March 13, 1919).

"... The Armenians should be allowed and authorized to take away with them everything they want... Make sure that they are provided with food and other things they need, with all the expenditures incurred in this way being paid out of government allotments... Soldiers and their families, Protestants and Catholics must be left in their places of residence... Sick people, poor people, women and children must be sent by rail... Each convoy should be accompanied by a detachment of the guards... In cases where immigrants are attacked, they must be repelled immediately. Officials who receive bribes or who abuse women will be immediately recalled.." Compiled from the deportation decision of the Ottoman Cabinet and telegrams sent from the Ministry of Interior. [12]

[12] The Prime Ministry, General Directorate of the State Archives, Directorate of Ottoman Archives. Armenians in Ottoman Documents (1915-1920).
[Online]. Available:
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/Yayinlar/Erm-osm/default.htm (1997).

Tevfik Pasha, former Grand Vizier, in an interview:

"Unfortunately this order was executed under bad conditions. Crimes were here committed by both sides. The Mussulman criminals have been arrested and will be punished, as public opinion in Turkey demands, with the extreme rigor of law. I demand, however, that the heads of the Armenian bands, who were guilty of all kinds of crimes and destruction among the Mussulman population of a million souls, shall also be judged and punished. Justice must make no difference between Christians and Mussulmans. It must be the same for all." [4]

[4] The New York Times. (March 13, 1919).

"It was in fact in the regions where Ottoman control was weakest that columns of Armenian deportees suffered most. The stories of the time give many examples of columns of hundreds of Armenians guarded by perhaps two government guards. When the columns were attacked by tribesman or bandits, Armenians were robbed and killed. It must be remembered that these tribes were those who themselves had suffered greatly at the hands of Armenians and Russians. Were the Ottomans guilty? They were guilty of not properly protecting their citizens. Given the situation of the time, with Turks and Kurds fighting for their lives against Russians and Armenians, this is understandable, although it is never excusable for a government not to protect its people." [6]

[6] McCarthy, Justin. (May 15, 1996). In the report presented to the Committee on International Relations.

"Of the masses of secret deportation orders seen to date, not one orders murder. Instead, they order Ottoman officials to protect deported Armenians. It has been argued that the Ottomans must have sent out another set of secret orders, contradicting the first set of secret orders, which were a subterfuge. This assumes that the Ottomans deliberately confused their own officials in wartime so that future historians would be fooled- a more than unlikely preposition." [6]

[6] McCarthy, Justin. (May 15, 1996). In the report presented to the Committee on International Relations.

"Large Armenian populations, such as those of Istanbul and other major cities remained throughout the war. These were the areas where Ottoman power was the greatest and genocide would have been easiest. If the case against a genocide of Armenians needed any further proof, one would only need to have to look to Istanbul, the capital of the Empire and the area most under government control. In Istanbul, to the shame and guilt of Ottoman government, perhaps 200 Armenian politicians were executed without trial. But all the rest of the Istanbul Armenians, who presented no threat to the Ottomans, lived through the wars. Their sons and daughters live in Istanbul today. Considering actual genocide in its worst manifestation, Nazi Germany, can one imagine Hitler sparing the lives of all the Jews in Berlin?" [7]

[7] McCarthy, Justin. (1984). "Armenian Terrorism: History as Poison and Antidote", Proceedings of Symposium on International Terrorism, pp.85-94, Ankara University Press: Ankara.

At the Paris Peace Conference Boghos Nubar and his Armenian Delegation claimed that 280,000 of his people remained in the Ottoman Empire, while 700,000 emigrated. [8]

[8] Ozbekhan, Hasan. The Real Facts Concerning the Alleged Armenian Genocide.

Boghos Nubar Pasha stated in an official memorandum to the French Foreign Ministry on December 11, 1918, that "6 - 700,000 Armenians" were transferred and a total of "390,000" reached their destinations in the Caucasus, Iran, Syria, Palestine, Mousul and Bagdad. Even in this important ARMENIAN DOCUMENT the average loss is 260,000. This official Armenian memorandum can be found in the French Archives.

Source: Archieves des Affaires Etrangeres de France,
Serie Levant, 1918-1929, Sous Serie Armenie, Vol. 2, Folio 47.

Paris, le 11 Decembre 1918

Mon Cher Ministre,

Ainsi que vous m'en avez exprime le desir, j'ai l'honneur de vous donner ci-dessous une evalution approximative que nous avons des deportes et refugies armeniens de Turquie, qui sont dans un complet denuement et ont besoin d'etre secourus d`urgence.

Il s'en trouve environ 250,000 au Caucase
40,000 en Perse
80,000 en Syrie-Palestine
20,000 a Mossoul-Bagdad
--------
Total 390,000

Le nombre total des deportes a ete evalue de 6 a 700,000 ...

The demographic study in [9] shows that Armenian deaths during the period in question did not exceed 600,000 and resulted from the same wartime conditions of starvation, epidemic disease, and inter-communal warfare which accounted for the loss of 2.5 million Muslim lives in the same period.

[9] McCarthy, Justin. (1983). Muslims and Minorities: The Population of Ottoman Anatolia and the End of the Empire, pp. 47-88. New York University Press: New York and London.

"Talat Pasha telegrams" which are commonly used as evidence of "genocide orders" are shown to be forgeries and published with examples from authentic documents in [10].

[10] Ataov, Turkkaya. (1985). Documents on the Armenian Question: Forged and Authentic. Barak Ofset: Ankara.

"It was asserted that Talat Pasha, the Ottoman Interior Minister, had written telegrams ordering the murder of Armenians, but these proved to be forgeries. It was asserted that statistics supposedly "from the Armenian Patriarchate" proved that Armenians were a majority in Eastern Anatolia, but these statistics were found to have been created, without reference to any actual records, by a writer in Paris. It was asserted that letters published during World War I by the British Propaganda Office showed Turkish guilt, but these have proven to have been sent by missionaries and Armenian revolutionaries, both of whom were less than neutral sources." [6]

[6] McCarthy, Justin. (May 15, 1996). In the report presented to the Committee on International Relations.

Heath Lowry:

"As well, the Turks have greatly streamlined application procedures for application procedures for archival access, which have reduced a 6-12 month waiting period to 1 day, and likewise opened all previously cataloged materials for the years 1914-1939. To date [Nov. 1989], well over 50 scholars have applied for and received permission to conduct research. Not a single applicant has been denied permission." [11]

[11] The Wall Street Journal. (Nov. 15, 1989).

Despite the Armenian allegations that Ottoman archives have remained closed except to a few researchers, the archives are available to all who are interested in the subject. The Prime Ministry General Directorate of the State Archives of Turkey has even made some of these archives available on the Internet in a Web page titled: "Armenians in Ottoman Documents." The URL for the Web page is as follows:
http://www.mfa.gov.tr/Yayinlar/Erm-osm/

"The Turkish Armenians try to make the world understand that Armenian terrorists are not entitled to present the Armenian community, and that the terrorist acts bring shame on the Armenians.
The Turkish Armenians have recognized Turkey as their own country, the Turkish nation as their own nation and the Turkish flag as their own flag: and they are not going to change this attitude."

Dikran Kevorkyan
Secretary General of the Armenian Board of Consultation
Turkey, 1984

Quoted from Richard Hovannisian, Armenia on the Road to Independence-Berkeley 1967 p:41-42 (Any relations?)

A. Lalayan, _Revolutsionniy Vostok (Revolutionary East)_ No: 2-3, Moscow, 1936.
-One of the architects of the Armenian genocide of 2.5 million Muslim people_

_I killed Muslims by every means possible. Yet it is sometimes a pity to waste bullets for this. The best way is to gather all of these dogs and throw them into wells and then fill the wells with big and heavy stones, as I did. I gathered all of the women, men and children, threw big stones down on top of them. They must never live on this earth._

_San Francisco Chronicle_ (December 11, 1983)

_We have first hand information and evidence of Armenian atrocities against our people (Jews). Members of our family witnessed the murder of 148 members of our family near Erzurum, Turkey, by Armenian neighbors, bent on destroying anything and anybody remotely Jewish and/or Muslim...Armenians were in league with Hitler in the last war, on his premise to grant themselves government if, in return, the Armenians would help exterminate Jews. Armenians were also hearty proponents of the anti-Semitic acts in league with the Russian Communists._

Signed Elihu Ben Levi, Vacaville, California.

"U.S. Library of Congress" _Bristol Papers_ - General Correspondence Container #34.

_While the Dashnaks [x-Russian Armenian Government] were in power they did everything in the world to keep the pot boiling by attacking Kurds, Turks and Tartars; by committing outrages against the Moslems; by massacring the Moslems; and robbing and destroying their homes. During the last two years the Armenians in Russian Caucasus have shown no ability to govern themselves and especially no ability to govern or handle other races under their power._

_Bristol Papers_, General Correspondence: Container #32: Bristol to Bradley Letter of September 14, 1920.

_I have it from absolute first-hand information that the Armenians in the Caucasus attacked Tartar (Muslim) villages that are utterly defenseless and bombarded these villages with artillery and they murder the inhabitants, pillage the village and often burn the village._

US High Commissioner Ambassador Mark bristol stated :

"I see that reports are being freely circulated in the United States that turks massacred thousands of Armenians in the Caucasus. Such reports are repeated so many times that it makes my blood boil. The Near East Relief has the reports from Yarrow and our own American people which show absolutely that such Armenian reports are absolutely false."

Harvard diplomatic historian, William L. Langer in his The Diplomacy of Imperialism, (Alfred A. Knopf) 1960, pp.157-160, wrote that:

"Europeans in Turkey have agreed that the immediate aim of the agitators was to incite disorder, bring about inhuman reprisals, and so provoke the intervention of the powers. For that reason, it was said that, they operated by preference in areas where the Armenians were hopelessly in minority, so that reprisals would be certain. One of the revolutionaries told Dr. Hamlin, the founder of Robert College of Istanbul, that Henchak bands would:

"watch their opportunity to kill Turks and Kurds, set fire to their villages, and then make their escape into the mountains. The enraged Moslems will then rise, and fall upon the defenseless Armenians and slaughter them with such barbarity that Russia will enter in the name of humanity and Christian civilization and take possession."

When the horrified missionary denounced the scheme as atrocious and infernal beyond anything ever known, he received this reply:

"It appears so to you, no doubt; but we Armenians have determined to be free. Europe listened to Bulgarian horrors and made Bulgaria free. She will listen to our cry when it goes up in the shrieks and blood of millions of women and children... We are desperate. We shall do it."