A year later , the Young Turk government decided to exterminate the entire Armenian population of Turkey . The genocide that followed claimed 1.5 million victims , among them 200 of the ablest Armenian poets and authors , including a lot of the '' Mehian '' writers . Zarian was able to escape to Bulgaria before the closing of the borders in November 1914 , and then to Italy , establishing himself in Rome and later in Florence
exterminate
Armenian Genocide
Gostan Zarian