Deportations, Mass Killings, and the Syrian Desert

Removal from homes

Beginning in 1915, Ottoman authorities ordered mass deportations of Armenians from towns and villages. Families were separated, property was confiscated, and entire communities were emptied.

Deportation routes

Many deportees were forced to walk long distances under guard. They endured inadequate food and water, disease, exposure, robbery, assault, and killing. Some were massacred near their home districts before any journey began.

The Syrian desert

Deportation routes and holding sites extended toward Aleppo, Ras al-Ayn, and Deir ez-Zor. Conditions at these locations were catastrophic, and further massacres occurred.

Policy and outcome

The widespread and repeated character of the killings, deportations, and deliberate deprivation is central to historians’ understanding of the genocide. The experience differed by province and locality, but destruction of Armenian communal life was a common outcome.