Abstract:

According to some sources, The Armenian Genocide Appeals (the so-called Armenian Genocide or the Unfounded Armenian Claims) indicate that the Armenian deportation, which was carried out by the Ottoman State in Eastern Anatolia for internal security reasons from May to November 1915, was aimed at destroying the Armenian community in the region, Millions of Armenians are alleged to have been killed by this reason. In the early years of the First World War, the Ottoman State while fighting in many fronts with Allied Powers, the Armenians attacked the Ottoman army jointly with the Russian army in the region up to Central Anatolia in the East, and rebelled in many cities. In order to overcome these rebellions, the Ottoman State held a joint meeting with the Armenian Patriarchs, especially the Armenian Members of the Tanzimat Parliament, and the leaders of the Armenian community, and informed them that the Ottoman State would take countermeasures if the Armenians continued to kill local Muslim people in Eastern Anatolia. On the basis of this notion, the Ottoman State in April 24, 1915 arrested 235 people who had organized the rebellions and closed down all the Armenian Committees and local organizations that supported and organized the rebellions. The Ottoman State promulgatiated the Temporary Law of Deportation, in 27 May 1915. Accordingly, it was decided some of the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia would be displaced to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. According to the Armenians' claims, massacre and genocide were carried out under the deportation title and 1.5 million Armenians were killed. This article is about the mass graves of 1.5 million Armenians which would form the basis of the massacre allegations, the size, how and by whom they were dug, how the massacred Armenians buried and how the mass graves covered with soil. The paper is written to investigate whether there are mass graves or not.

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