Ottoman labour battalions (, , , , ) was a form of unfree labour in the late Ottoman Empire. The term is associated with the disarmament and murder of Ottoman Armenian soldiers during World War I, of Ottoman Greeks during the Greek genocide in the Ottoman Empire and also during the Turkish War of Independence. Overview During World War I, the Ottoman Empire relied on the labor battalions for the logistical organization of the army. The Empire had a scarce railway infrastructure at the time. According to Hilmar Kaiser, to men assigned to the battalions varied between 25,000 to 50,000, depending on whether it was war or peace. The laborers were assigned to perform construction works on the roads and railways and to transport the supplies the army needed in the battle front. Most of the recruits were Christians, amongst which the Armenians were the largest contingent besides the Greeks and Syriac Christians. Armenians in labour battalions Armenians did not serve in the armed forces in the Ottoman Empire until Young Turk revolution. On 25 February 1915, following the defeat of the Ottomans in the Battle of Sarikamish, the Ottoman General Staff released the War Minister Enver Pasha's Directive 8682 which stated that as a result of Armenian attacks on soldiers and the stockpiling of bombs in Armenian houses, "Armenians shall strictly not be employed in mobile armies, in mobile and stationary gendarmeries, or in any armed services." Enver Pasha explained this decision as "out of fear that they would collaborate with the Russians." The Armenians which before were deployed in the Battle of Sarikamish were disarmed and included into the labor battalions. Traditionally, the Ottoman Army only drafted non-Muslim males between 20-45 years old into the regular army. Younger (15–20) and older (45–60) non-Muslim soldiers had always been used as logistical support through the labour battalions. Conditions for the Armenian labourers were harsh. They had little food, and guards beat them frequently. Many suffered from disease. Before February, some of the Armenian recruits were utilized as labourers (hamals); they would ultimately be executed. Greeks in labour battalions Anatolian Greeks, like the Armenians, were forced into labour battalions. Christians were first drafted in 31 March Incident. The government was ambivalent about drafting Christians: on one hand, they needed a large army with conflicts and war brewing on all fronts; on the other hand, many Ottomans believed that Christians were sympathetic