The city experienced a relatively tranquil period under Ottoman rule , without any significant conflicts or plights . This period of peace was finally halted when the Ottoman Empire came into conflict with the Khedivate of Egypt . During this time the city came under the rule of insurgents associated with the Milli clan . Between 1847 and 1865 the city 's population suffered from a notable cholera epidemic , with the exact number of fatalities not known . During World War I Mardin was one of the sites affected by the Armenian Genocide . On the eve of World War I , Mardin was home to over 12,000 Assyrians and over 7,500 Armenians . During the armed conflicts and plights caused by the war , many were sent to the camps of Ras al - ' Ayn , though some managed to escape to the Sinjar Mountain with help from local Chechens . Kurds and Arabs of Mardin typically refer to these events as " fırman " ( government order ) , while Syriacs call it " seyfo " ( sword ) . After the Armistice of Mudros Mardin was one of the Turkish cities that was not occupied by the troops of the Allied Powers . In 1923 , with the founding of the Republic of Turkey , Mardin was made the administrative capital of a province named after it . Many Assyrian survivors of the violence later on left Mardin for nearby Qamishli in the 1940s after their conscription in the Turkish military became compulsory
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Mardin