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The Tehcir Law was part of the ''special measures'' against the Armenian population taken by the Ottoman Empire during the Armenian Genocide . This was coupled by a second set of order given to the special organization for the elimination of the evacuated populationAmerica and the Armenian Genocide of 1915, by Jay Murray Winter, Cambridge University Press, (2004), pp. 94-95 also including the alleged taking care of the vaccated properties.Legislative Provisions of the Ottoman/Turkish Governments Regarding Minorities and Their Properties, Anastasia Lekka, Mediterranean Quarterly 18.1 (2007) pp. 138-139 The law was passed by the parliament on May 27 1915 and allegedly came into force on June 1 1915 , with publication in ''Takvim-i Vekayi'', the official gazette of the Ottoman State. This contradicts with the Ottoman archival records which documents that Armenians already started being evacuated as soon as March 2. 1915. The Deportation of the Armenians of Dörtyol, Ciphered telegram from the Ministry of the Interior to the Province of Adana, BOA. DH. ŞFR, nr. 50/141 The temporary law expired on February 8 1916 while evacuation and massacres still followed. A Dictionary of World History, Oxford University Press (2000), entry, Armenia THE BACKGROUND OF THE LAW Before the Ottoman parliament implemented the Tehcir Law, there was a circular by Talat Pasha Archive code BOA. DH. ŞFR, nr.52/96,97,98. THE NATURE OF THE LAW Tehcir Law was a temporary law that expired on February 8 , 1916 . It was a Civil Law , planned, implemented and enforced with an office (created by the law) to coordinate the activities under the name of “Migrant General Directorate” (Turkish: Göçmen Genel Müdürlüğü). The civil law gave the military an enforcing power only if there were opposing parties to the implementation. The rules and regulations of the law, as published in the ''Takvim-i Vekayi'' (Ottoman official newspaper), were public and they were shared with all parties. THE QUESTION OF THE LAW Tehcir Law publically was allegedly about (1) the military measures against those opposing government orders, country’s defense, and the protection of peace; and against those organizing armed attacks and resistance, and killing rebels during aggression and uprising in wartime, (2) the transfer and resettlement on a single basis or en masse, the people living in villages and towns who are found to be engaged in espionage or treason, (3) the temporary law’s effect and expiration, and (4) the definition of the responsible parties (application). One Ottoman Archival material dated July 12 suggest that massacres were part of those measures implamented against the Armenians. Ciphered telegram from the Ministry of the Interior, BOA. DH. ŞFR, nr. 54/406 The Turkish Martial martial court supports also this by refering to documents which claims that the main reason for the evacuation was annihilation.Ihsan Bey, Director of the Special Office of the Interior Ministry confirms that Abdulahad Nuri Bey, who had been sent from Istanbul to the office in Aleppo has stated: ''The main reason for the deportations is annihilation'', Takvim-i Vekayi, April 27, 1919 Number 3540 The subject of the law This law was being directed against one particular ethnic group (Armenian) while the Assyrian population also felt victim like some other Christian subject from the East. Massacres, Resistance, Protectors: Muslim-christian Relations in Eastern Anatolia During World War I By David Gaunt, Gorgias Press LLC, (2006) From the text of the law, there is no explicit mention that Armenians were the main target, it also claims that (1) the ill, (2) the blind (3) Catholics (4) Protestants (5) the soldiers and their families, (6) the officers, (7) merchants, some workers and masters were not subject to evacuation Coding Office, no 56/27; no 67/186 . If the conditions get worse, this group is ordered to be settled in the city centers Coding Office, no 56/27; no 67/186 . Those claims are rejected by most historians. and Konya see for example BOA. DH. SFR, nr. 58/2 for Konya or BOA. DH. SFR, nr.63/157 for Marash,. Rights of subject of the law |
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