When we talk about the 10 disturbing facts surrounding the Armenian genocide, we step into a dark chapter of history that still echoes today. 2015 marked the hundredth year since the atrocities began, when roughly 1.5 million of the two million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire were brutally exterminated. The Ottoman Empire’s meticulous cover‑up and the sheer scale of its systematic barbarism mean the exact death toll will likely never be known, fluctuating wildly across sources. Genocide, by its very nature, strives to erase all traces of its victims. From the surviving records, we present the following ten unsettling revelations.
10 The Three Pashas Led the Ottoman Empire Into War and Enacted the Genocide
The Three Pashas is the collective nickname for Talât Pasha (Grand Vizier, equivalent to Prime Minister), Enver Pasha (Minister of War) and Djemal Pasha (Minister of the Navy) during World War I.
Talât Pasha’s animosity toward Armenians dated back years. In the memoirs of Danish philologist Johannes Østrup, Talât is quoted sharing his intent to annihilate Armenians as early as 1910, saying, “If I ever come to power in this country, I will use all my might to exterminate the Armenians.”
His ambition materialised in 1913 via a coup. The following year the Ottoman Empire entered World I, and in 1915 the systematic murder of Armenians began.
After the empire’s defeat, all three fled. The new Turkish government vilified them as the cause of the war, occasionally acknowledging their massive crimes against humanity.
Abdülmecid II, the last Caliph of Islam from the Ottoman dynasty, condemned their actions, calling them “the greatest stain that has ever disgraced our nation and race.”
9 One of Hitler’s Early Co‑Conspirators Was a Witness to the Armenian Genocide
Max Erwin von Scheubner‑Richter served as the German vice‑consul in Erzurum during the Armenian genocide, condemning Ottoman policies as a deliberate plan of annihilation in his writings.
After returning to Germany, he became deeply involved with the nascent Nazi movement, forging a close relationship with Adolf Hitler. He was killed instantly during the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch, marching arm‑in‑arm with Hitler. Hitler later dedicated the first part of Mein Kampf to Scheubner‑Richter.
On 22 August 1939, Hitler delivered a speech at his Obersalzberg residence, a week before invading Poland. According to Louis P. Lochner’s 1942 book, Hitler warned his commanders about annihilating the Poles, remarking, “Who after all is today speaking about the destruction of the Armenians?” indicating his awareness of the earlier genocide.
While the direct influence of the Armenian genocide on the Holocaust remains debated, the parallels and Hitler’s knowledge are unmistakable.
8 Able Men Were Put to Death and the Remaining Armenians Were Marched Into the Desert
The genocide’s kickoff is often dated to 24 April 1915, when up to 270 Armenian community leaders were forcibly removed from Constantinople and taken to Ankara. Even earlier, the Ottoman authorities transferred all Armenian soldiers to unarmed labor battalions, simplifying later extermination.
After executing all able‑bodied Armenian men, women, children, the infirm and the elderly were herded into the desert under the false promise of resettlement. Out of roughly two million Armenians in the empire, an estimated 1.5 million perished—about three‑quarters of the population.
Many died of starvation and dehydration. Women of all ages were routinely raped and abandoned. Mass shootings, drownings, burnings and poisonings were commonplace. Those who survived the death march were later confined to concentration camps where they were massacred.
7 ISIS Is Blamed for Destroying the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Deir ez‑Zor
Construction of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church concluded in November 1990 and it was consecrated on 4 May 1991. The site became a major pilgrimage destination, especially on 24 April each year, commemorating the genocide’s start.
Deir ez‑Zor, Syria, holds particular significance as the final destination for Armenians forced on death marches. The church was built on the former grounds of a concentration camp, killing centre and burial site for those who survived the march.
On 21 September 2014, amid Armenia’s 23rd independence anniversary and months before the centennial of the genocide, the church was blown up. ISIS has been identified as the likely perpetrator.
6 The Greek and Assyrian Genocides Happened at the Same Time
While the Armenian genocide dominates historical discussion, it occurred alongside the systematic extermination of Assyrian and Greek Christian minorities.
Assyrian deaths are estimated at around 300 000, largely occurring near the Ottoman‑Persian border. In Midyat, roughly 25 000 Assyrians were killed, and a brief uprising was swiftly crushed. Some Turkish historians label the killings as a response to rebellion, categorising them as massacres rather than genocide.
Greek deaths are estimated at about 750 000. In 1923 a population exchange between Turkey and Greece forced roughly two million people from their homes: about 1.2 million Christian Greeks were relocated from regions such as Trabzon, the Pontic Alps, the Caucasus, Asia Minor and Eastern Thrace, while around 400 000 Muslims were moved from Greece to Turkey.
5 The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Took Retaliatory Action
Known as Operation Nemesis, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) assassinated seven prominent Ottoman and Azerbaijani officials responsible for the genocide between 1920 and 1922. Among those killed were Djemal Pasha and Talât Pasha, two of the Three Pashas.
Both had fled after the war and were sentenced in absentia to death by Ottoman courts, though they never faced execution. The ARF tracked Djemal Pasha to Tiflis, Soviet Georgia, where he was shot along with two aides. Talât Pasha was assassinated by Soghomon Tehlirian in Berlin on 15 March 1921.
The ARF instructed Tehlirian not to flee after the killing, ensuring the trial would spotlight Armenian suffering. The subsequent trial attracted extensive international press, and Tehlirian was acquitted, with his defence arguing that the trauma of the genocide had impaired his mental state. He famously declared, “I do not consider myself guilty because my conscience is clear… I have killed a man but I am not a murderer.”
4 The Three Pashas Used World War I as a Smokescreen for Genocide
The Three Pashas deliberately timed the genocide to coincide with World I, exploiting the chaos of war to conceal their crimes. They believed that foreign powers would be preoccupied with the broader conflict, leaving little room for humanitarian intervention.
Talât Pasha even boasted to a German embassy official, stating, “Turkey is taking advantage of the war in order to thoroughly liquidate its internal foes, i.e., the indigenous Christians, without being thereby disturbed by foreign intervention.”
While most atrocities occurred during the war years, scholars debate the official end date, with some arguing it extended to 1923—five years after the Pashas fled following the Ottoman defeat.
3 Turkey Has Streets and Public Buildings Named After the Perpetrators of the Genocide
Denial of the genocide has become so entrenched that many Ottoman officials responsible for the extermination are commemorated in modern Turkey. The Three Pashas lend their names to boulevards, avenues, highways and municipal districts, and even schools bear their names.
In 2003, a school was named after Cemal Azmi, notorious as the “Butcher of Trabzon.” Azmi was infamous for drowning thousands of Armenian children by capsizing boats in the Black Sea and for turning a hospital into a personal “pleasure dome” where he abused Armenian girls before killing them.
Azmi was one of the seven officials assassinated during Operation Nemesis.
2 Armenians Have Not Received Reparations
The Ottoman Empire seized the money and possessions of Armenians, and to this day none of that property has been returned. The widespread destruction and enduring trauma have never been compensated in any form.
One major argument against reparations points to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, leaving no accountable state. Turkey, as the successor, is therefore viewed as responsible for repaying the debts incurred by its predecessor. All land and property stolen by the Ottomans now belong to Turkey.
There is precedent: Holocaust survivors have occasionally received compensation. Some argue that if the Armenian genocide were not recognised, survivors would not be entitled to similar legal treatment.
1 Turkey Still Deny That a Genocide Ever Happened
Turkey, the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, has consistently denied that the events of 1915 constitute a systematic genocide of Armenians. Azerbaijan is the only other nation that openly rejects the genocide label; many other countries remain ambivalent.
Turkish governments have been accused of actively suppressing the term “genocide,” urging politicians, journalists and scholars worldwide to minimise or silence its use.
Ironically, the word “genocide” was coined by Raphael Lemkin in his 1943 book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe to describe exactly these atrocities, defining it as “a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.” By this definition, the Armenian massacres fit squarely within the textbook definition of genocide.
David is a freelance writer and Creative Writing MA student. You can read more of his articles at CultureRoast // Follow him // Like him.