Arrest of Armenian Leaders Begins Genocide

Context

The Ottoman Empire entered World War I in late 1914 on the side of the Central Powers, facing military challenges on multiple fronts including Russian advances in the east. The ruling Committee of Union and Progress, often called the Young Turks, had consolidated power after the 1908 revolution and subsequent coups, promoting a program of Turkification amid rising nationalist sentiments. Armenian communities, concentrated in Anatolia and the capital, had already endured earlier episodes of violence, including mass killings in the mid-1890s and in 1909, which heightened mutual suspicions between the government and Armenian populations.

Armenian political organizations had participated in Ottoman parliamentary life and reform efforts, yet wartime defeats fueled accusations that Armenians might collaborate with Russia or form internal threats. Interior Minister Talaat Pasha and other CUP leaders increasingly framed the Armenian population as a security risk, setting the stage for coordinated measures against community elites who could organize resistance or advocate internationally. These tensions unfolded against the backdrop of the empire's multi-ethnic structure and the CUP's centralizing policies.

What Happened

On April 24, 1915, Talaat Pasha issued orders directing the arrest of Armenian notables in Constantinople. Police Chief Bedri Bey oversaw the nighttime operation that began around 8 p.m., detaining between 235 and 270 individuals including writers, physicians, journalists, lawyers, teachers, politicians, and clergy. The detainees were first held at police stations and the Central Prison for identification and processing.

A second wave of arrests followed, bringing the total detained in the capital to several hundred. Many were transferred by steamer across the Bosporus to Haydarpaşa station and then by special train toward Ankara. Upon arrival near Sincanköy, authorities divided the groups, sending some to holding sites at Ayaş and others to Çankırı. The Armenian Patriarch Zaven Der Yeghiayan and U.S. Ambassador Henry Morgenthau attempted interventions on behalf of several detainees, with limited success.

The action targeted the Armenian elite in the capital specifically, depriving communities of immediate leadership and public voices at a critical moment.

Aftermath

Following the initial arrests, Ottoman authorities expanded deportations under the Tehcir Law passed on May 29, 1915. Most of those held at Ayaş and Çankırı were later sent onward, with the majority killed in subsequent months through executions, forced marches, or attacks by irregular forces. A smaller number, including composer Komitas and several others, secured release through diplomatic pressure or local interventions and returned to Constantinople.

The roundup cleared the way for broader measures against Armenian populations across the empire, contributing to the systematic deportations and deaths that defined the remainder of 1915 and 1916.

Legacy

April 24 quickly became the annual date for Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, first marked publicly in Constantinople in 1919 and observed thereafter in Armenia and by diaspora communities worldwide. The event is routinely described by historians as a decapitation strike intended to neutralize potential leadership and resistance.

The coordinated destruction of the Ottoman Armenian population influenced later definitions of genocide, notably through the work of Raphael Lemkin, and continues to shape international debates over recognition, historical accountability, and the experiences of surviving communities.