In 1814 the population of Bitlis town was said to be 12,000 people - one half Muslim , the other half was constituted by Christian Armenians . By 1838 its population was said to be between 15,000 and 18,000 - two thirds Muslim , one third Armenian , and a small minority of Assyrians . In 1898 Lynch considered the population to be close to 30,000 , comprising 10,000 Armenians , 300 As syrians , and the rest Muslim Kurds ( both Alevis and Sunnis included ) . The Armenians had five schools for boys and three for girls . One third of the population of Bitlis was ethnic Armenian prior to World War I ( 1914 , whereas the majority of the population was Kurdish Muslim ( Alevi as well as Sunni Muslims ) . In 1915 , during the Armenian Genocide , Turks and Kurds , led by Jevdet Bey Pasha , massacred some 15,000 Armenians in Bitlis
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Bitlis