During World War I, the Ottoman government systematically deported and killed much of its Armenian Christian population.
On April 24, 1915, Ottoman authorities arrested hundreds of Armenian community leaders in Constantinople (Istanbul), marking the beginning of the genocide. Soon afterward, mass deportations expanded across the empire.
Armenians were forced from their homes and marched toward desert regions with inadequate food, water, shelter, and medical care. Many were massacred; hundreds of thousands more died from starvation, dehydration, disease, and exposure. Women and children were also subjected to abduction and forced conversion.
Approximately 1.5 million Armenians lived in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Historians estimate that at least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million Armenians died between spring 1915 and autumn 1916.
The genocide was carried out primarily by Ottoman authorities under the Committee of Union and Progress (the Young Turk government), with military forces, security organizations, and auxiliaries participating.
It is widely recognized by historians as the Armenian Genocide and is often described as the first genocide of the 20th century.
Source: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum