Aleppo

Category: Genocide

-Governor Celal of Aleppo was relieved of his duties at governor after he refused to comply with the annihilation campaign.
-Celal was not the only Turkish politician to stand up for the rights of his people. Governmor Mazhar of Ankara and Governor Reshid of Kastamonu were also dismissed from office because of their objections to the genocide.
-The orders for the annihilation campaign were coming from the Young Turk Party, one of whose leaders was Mehmed Talât. As minister of the interior during the Armenian Genocide, much of the blame has been put on Talât, who has been known to have said "Kill every Armenian man, woman, and child without concern."
-One part of the Young Turk Party’s plan to rid Turkey of Armenians was to expel the Turkish Armenians (that had not already been brutally murdered) to the Syrian Desert. Aleppo was a key location to this plan. Aleppo is located right next to the desert and served as a deportation point. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were sent to Aleppo and then expelled into the desert.
- The Young Turks plan for the expulsion of Armenians into the desert was that most people would die because of lack of food or water under the boiling sun. While marching to their death, women were raped and people beaten.

Dates
-August 1, 1915: 20,000 people arrive in Aleppo
-August 3, 1915: 60,000 people arrive in Aleppo
-August 12, 1915: 200,000 Armenians are expelled from Aleppo into the desert of Der-El-Zor
-August 26, 1915: 60,000 Armenians are deported from Aleppo into the desert region of Hawran

*There are two photos included in this marker. The first is of Mehmed Talât, the minister of the interior during the genocide. The next picture is of a exiled family, marching to their death.