Armenian genocide survivors wereArmenians in the Ottoman Empire who survived theArmenian genocide. After the end ofWorld War I, many tried to return home inWestern Armenia but most were prevented by theTurkish nationalist movement which considered Armenian survivors to be a mortal threat to theTurkish state.[1][2] Thousands of Armenians who tried to return were killed.[3]
Roughly half of the survivors fled to neighboring countries in theMiddle East[4] with the other half fleeing toEastern Armenia which later became theFirst Republic of Armenia. A further wave of Armenian refugees was created by theTurkey's invasion of the new Armenian Republic, and another 100,000 Armenians were uprooted from their homes inCilicia following theFrench withdrawal in 1920.[5] Between 1922 and 1929, the Turkish authorities eliminated surviving Armenians from southern Turkey, expelling thousands toFrench-mandate Syria.[6][7] Fearing renewed persecution, the lastArmenian communities of Cilicia fled after France ceded the territory to Turkey in 1939.[8][9][10]
Many of the survivors who remained in Turkey were women and children who were subsequently enduredforcible conversions, abuse, or hard labor without pay.[11] ThoughArmenians in Constantinople faceddiscrimination, they were allowed to maintain their cultural identity,unlike those elsewhere in Turkey,[11][12] who continued to face forced Islamization and kidnapping of girls after 1923.[13][14]
According to theU.S. Department of State, in 1922 there were 817,873 Armenian refugees who had originated from Turkey.[15] This figure was based upon information provided by the British Embassy inConstantinople and 1921 data from theNear East Relief Society. The total given did not include able-bodied Armenians detained byKemalist Turkey, nor Armenian women and children – approximately 95,000, according to theLeague of Nations – who have been forced to convert to Islam.[16]
According to the same source, there were 281,000 Armenians still living in Turkey in 1921: 150,000 inIstanbul and 131,000 inAsia Minor.
By 1925, nearly 275,000 Armenian refugees had fled to Middle Eastern territories not controlled by Turkey.[17]
| Country | Refugees |
|---|---|
| Syria | 100,000 |
| Lebanon | 50,000 |
| Palestine & Jordan | 10,000 |
| Egypt | 40,000 |
| Iraq | 25,000 |
| Iran | 50,000 |
| Total | 275,000 |
An estimated 350,000[18] to 600,000[19] refugees fled from the Ottoman Empire to the new Armenian republic inEastern Armenia. In addition due to thePan-Turkic military actions, additional Armenian refugees fled fromAzerbaijan and theNorth Caucasus.[20] By late 1920, about 360,000 (almost half of Armenia's population of 720,000)[21] or 200,000 refugees remained.[22] This proved an insurmountable humanitarian issue for theFirst Republic of Armenia. Typhus was a major sickness, because of its effect on children. According to the data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 192,000 people died due to the typhus epidemic and famine by the summer of 1919.[23][citation needed]
| Districts | Number of refugees |
|---|---|
| Yerevan | 75,000 |
| Ejmiatsin | 70,000 |
| Novo-Bayazit (Gavar) | 38,000 |
| Daralagyaz (Vayots Dzor) | 36,000 |
| Bash-Abaran (Aparan) | 35,000 |
| Ashtarak | 30,000 |
| Akhta - Yelenovka (Hrazdan - Sevan) | 22,000 |
| Bash-Garni (Garni) | 15,000 |
| Karakilisa | 16,000 |
| Dilijan | 13,000 |
| Armenia | 350,000 |
The government ofHovhannes Kachaznuni was faced with a most sobering reality in the winter of 1918–19. The newly formed government was responsible for over half a million Armenian refugees in the Caucasus. It was a long and harsh winter.[24] The homeless masses, lacking food, clothing and medicine, had to endure the elements. Many who survived the exposure and famine succumbed to the ravaging diseases. By the spring of 1919, the typhus epidemic had run its course, the weather improved and the firstAmerican Committee for Relief in the Near East shipment of wheat reached Batum. The British army transported the aid to Yerevan. Yet by that time some 150,000 of the refugees had perished. Vratsian puts this figure at around 180,000, or nearly 20% of the entire nascent Republic. A report[by whom?] in early 1919 noted that 65% of the population of Sardarabad, 40% of the population of eight villages near Etchmiadzin and 25% of the population of Ashtarak had died.[citation needed]
.JPG)
.jpg)
The Armenian Christians, furthermore, were refugees of the earlier expulsions from Anatolia and had good reason to fear Turkish governance...Arabs and Armenians saw the acquiescence of the French to the annexation as a betrayal. Subsequently, large numbers of refugees left for Syria; within two months of Hatay's transfer, 22,000 Armenians, 10,000 Alevi, 10,000 Sunni Arabs and 5,000 Christians fled.
