Why did the Ottoman Empire kill Armenians?

Find out more about the history of Armenian Genocide, including videos, interesting articles, pictures, historical features and more. Get all the facts on HISTORY.com. ... Though reports vary, most sources agree that there were about 2 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the massacre. read more

Modern Turkish propaganda justifies this annihilation with talk of Armenian collaboration with the forces of the Russian Empire, which did commit many massacres as they pushed the Ottomans out of Circassia, Georgia, Lazistan and Armenia, but the fact is that Ottoman Armenians in Constantinople and Cilicia and most of the six Armenian vilayets had no real contact with Russian held areas, and were killed en masse anyway. read more

Though reports vary, most sources agree that there were about 2 million Armenians in the Ottoman Empire at the time of the massacre. In 1922, when the genocide was over, there were just 388,000 Armenians remaining in the Ottoman Empire. read more

Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (or Ottoman Armenians) mostly belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian Catholic Church. They were part of the Armenian millet until the Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century equalized all Ottoman citizens before the law. read more