Armenian Massacres (1909)

Armenian Massacres (1909)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Turkish mob and army vs.
Armenian minority

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Present-day southern Turkey

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: The suppression
of rebellion by the Armenians against the Ottoman
Empire

OUTCOME: Tens of thousands of Armenians were killed,
and, once again, the nationalist movement was
temporarily suppressed.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Unknown

CASUALTIES: 20,000 Armenians

TREATIES: None

The YOUNG TURKS’ REVOLT during July 1908–April 1909,
which resulted in the overthrow of the Ottoman sultan
Abdul Hamid II (1842–1918) and his replacement by
Enver Bey (1881–1922) on April 25, 1909, created general
disorder and turmoil. In this climate, Armenian revolutionaries
rose up in Adana and other cities and towns of
the province of Cilicia. The response among locals was
mob violence. Aided and encouraged by the Turkish army,
Islamic extremists slaughtered some 20,000 Armenians in
the province.

See also ARMENIAN MASSACRES (1894–1897); ARMENIAN
MASSACRES (1915).

Further reading: Vahakn N. Dadrian, The History of the
Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia
to the Caucasus (New York: Berghahn Books, 1995).