In April 1915 , the Ottoman government began the systematic extermination of its minority Armenian subjects , known as the Armenian Genocide . The genocide carried out during and after World War I was implemented in two phases : the wholesale killing of the able-bodied male population through executions and subjection of army conscripts to forced labour , followed by the deportation of women , children , the elderly and infirm on death marches towards the Syrian Desert . Driven forward by military escorts , the deportees were deprived of food and water and subjected to periodic robbery , rape , and massacre
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Mehmet Celal Bey