Timeline: 1915

January 1 Van's vice governor is ordered to kill all the Armenian soldiers in the Ottoman Army who are stationed in his district.


January 8 Turkish and Kurdish chete units attack Armenian and Assyrian villages in northern Persia. Only in the city of Urumia more than 18,000 Armenians, along with several Assyrians are forced to flee from death to the Caucasus.


January 19 Now even men between the ages of 18-20 and 45-52 are drafted for military duty.


February 2 Interior Talaat tells the German ambassador, Count Hans von Wangenheim, that the war is the only opportunity to resolve the Armenian Question.


February 21 Chete units attack a village near Shabin-Karahisar, resulting in looting, murder and rape.


March 1 All Armenian soldiers in the province of Marash are stripped of their weapons and uniforms.


March 13 The Armenian population in the province of Sivas is completely disarmed.


March 18 Turkish forces in Zeytoun arrest the city's Armenian leaders and intellectuals who are tortured and murdered.


March 19 Greek recruits are massacred near the town of Smyrna.


March 26 Armenian Catholicos in Cilicia, Sahag, renews his decree to the Armenians in Zeytoun not to engage in battle.


March 28 The Governor-General in Diyarbekir, Hamid, who refused to execute the order of massacring of Armenians, is removed from office and replaced by Dr. Reshid.


March 31 The deportation of Armenians in Zeytoun begins and these are sent to Der Zor in the Syrian desert.


2 april Reports of robbery and arrests of Armenians starts coming in from all over the Bitlis and Erzurum provinces.


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April 8 The famous Armenian monastery in Zeytoun is burned down by the Turks.


April 15 Armenian refugees from villages around the town of Van begin to arrive and say that people in 80 villages throughout the province of Van have already been driven away and over 24,000 Armenians were killed during the course of three days.


April 20 The deportation of 25,000 Armenians in Zeytoun is completed.


April 24 Over 250 Armenian intellectuals and leaders of Constantinople are arrested and killed within 72 hours.


April 30 Armenian intellectuals in Erzinjan are mass arrested.


May 1 Armenian professors and teachers at universities of Kharpout are arrested.


May 3 The deportation of Armenians in the province of Erzurum is started.



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May 4 200 Armenian leaders in Erzurum are arrested.


May 14 38 Armenian leaders are arrested in the province of Kayseri and executed shortly thereafter.


May 19 Massacring of Armenians in the province of Erzurum reported.


June 13 25,000 Armenians were murdered in the period of four days in Kemakh where Turkish cavalry and army participate in the massacre.


June 14 300 Armenian leaders are arrested in Shabin-Karahisar.


June 16 3,500 Armenian men are mass arrested in the province of Sivas.


June 23 Massacres of Armenians, Maronites, Nestorians, Catholics and other non-Muslim residents are carried out on direct orders by Dr. Reshid, Diyarbekir's Vice Governor.


June 25 A decree is issued, ordering Trabizon's 30,000 Armenians to leave the city within five days.


June 25 In a decree, the Interior Ministry orders that the Armenian villages are to be settled with Muslim refugees.


July 12 Instructions on the placing Armenian orphans in Turkish homes are issued.


July 13 The holy Muslim month of Ramadan begins, during which the massacres reach their peak and spread to all provinces in Turkey.


July 28 The deportation of the Armenian population in several cities as Aintab, Kilis, Adiaman etc. starts.



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August 12 War Minister Enver reports that 200,000 Armenians have been killed to date.


August 12 Nearly 200,000 Armenian deportees were reported to be heading into the desert.


August 13 The deportation of Armenians in Izmid (Izmit), Baghchejik (Bardizag), Bursa and Adabazar begins.


August 13 to 17 15,000 imprisoned Armenian intellectuals, political leaders and other leaders who are jailed in Sivas prison are taken out and murdered in 36 different execution centers in the province.


August 13 Instructions on how Armenian property to be sold and where the money is sent are issued.


August 21 A general order is issued for the liquidation of the closed Armenian business.


September 28 A telegram states that all Armenian property now belongs to the Turkish state.


October 4 The Interior Ministry discourage opening of new orphanages that will extend the orphaned Armenian children's lives.


October 7 The number of surviving deported Armenians are is said to be at least 360,000, while the number of deaths is reported to be at least 800,000.


October 12 Prohibition against marriage with Armenian women is issued.



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October 16 Government issues immunity for persons who participated in the massacres against Armenians in Der Zor.


October 20 20,000 Armenians, who were deported from the town of Urfa and its surroundings, are murdered on the road.


October 25 Interior Ministry demands that within a week a document proving Armenian population's treason is to be compiled.


3 november Dr. Sachcht, a German military doctor stationed near the village of Der Zor, reports that he has counted 7,000 severed Armenian heads into Sabgha district close to the Euphrates River.


November 5 150,000 Armenian deportees were reported to be scattered between Adana and Aleppo and about to cross the Amanos mountain range.


November 13 20,000 Armenian deportees were reported to be en route from Hawran district of Trans-Jordan. On 15 November 1918, only 450 of these 20,000 are reported to be alive.

November 25 To date it is stated that 500,000 Armenian deportees have passed through Bozanti (northwest of Adana).


December 1 The fields around the village of Mamure (Mamura) are reported to be littered by thousands of starved Armenian corpses.


4 december 10,000 Armenians are deported from Constantinople while there are plans for deporting additional 70,000.


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December 6 A telegram is sent out, instructing that no Armenian should be living in the eastern provinces.


December 12 180,000 Armenian refugees who have reached Tiflis are reported to be in terrible distress.


December 14 A telegram is sent, instructing the murder of the Armenian priests.


December 15 A telegram clarifies that the purpose of the deportations is extermination.


December 16 Instructions are given to slow down the deportations and send the deportees out to the desert.


December 25 An order is issued to deport all Armenian children except those who no longer remember their parents.


December 29 Of the 210,000 refugees who arrived in the Caucasus, 173,000 are said to be alive, while 40,000 have died as a result of starvation and disease.


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