Part 1 of 2: “THE OTTOMAN MILITARY TRIBUNALS ՕՍՄԱՆԵԱՆ ՌԱԶՄԱԴԱՏԱՐԱՆՆԵՐԸ (1918–1920): THE FIRST STATE RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN AND GREEK MASSACRES Օսմանեան Պետութեան Առաջին Պաշտօնական Վկայութիւնը Հայերու եւ Յոյներու Դէմ Գործադրուած Զանգուածային Սպանութիւններուն Մասին:”
1. Introduction: Between 1918 and 1920, the Ottoman Empire conducted a series of military tribunals that remain one of the most important legal acknowledgments of the Armenian and Greek massacres. These courts, established by the Ottoman government itself, examined the crimes committed by the leadership of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP / İttihat ve Terakki), including the organized deportations, mass killings, and wartime profiteering carried out during World War I.
Far from being a modern political interpretation, these tribunals represent the Ottoman state’s own official recognition that its leaders planned and executed the destruction of the Armenian population and committed grave crimes against Greeks and other Christian communities.
2. Collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Demand for Justice: In late 1918, the Ottoman Empire faced military defeat and internal collapse. The ruling triumvirate — Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Cemal Pasha — fled the country immediately after the Armistice of Mudros, aware that their wartime actions would be investigated.
Sultan Mehmed VI Vahdeddin, seeking to stabilize the empire and respond to international pressure, authorized a full governmental inquiry into wartime crimes.
3. Establishment of the Mazhar Commission (1918): In November 1918, the Sultan created a special governmental investigative body:
The Commission of Inquiry (Mazhar Commission), Chairman: Hasan Mazhar Bey, former governor of Ankara, Mandate: Investigate crimes committed by Ottoman officials, primarily against the Armenian population, Authority: Collect documents, telegrams, testimonies, and arrest suspects
Mazhar Bey later stated that the CUP leadership had issued orders for extermination, and that local officials carried them out with coordination and intent.
The commission gathered thousands of pages of official telegrams, eyewitness testimonies, provincial reports, financial records showing wartime profiteering and documentation of mass deportations and killings.
These materials formed the basis of the military tribunals.
4. The Ottoman Military Tribunals Begin (1919): The courts‑martial opened in early 1919 in Istanbul. They were not foreign courts, nor Allied courts — they were Ottoman courts judging Ottoman officials.
The charges included a) mass murder of Armenians and Greeks, b) violations of the Ottoman Constitution, c) abuse of governmental authority, d) illegal deportations, e) theft and speculation during wartime f) destruction of property and cultural heritage.
The tribunals concluded that the CUP leadership had formed a criminal organization within the state, using government structures to carry out extermination.
5. Key Verdict – Organized Murder Confirmed: On July 5, 1919, the main tribunal issued its historic verdict:
Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha, and Cemal Pasha were found guilty of:
premeditated mass murder, organized deportation with intent to destroy the Armenian population, crimes against the Greek population, abuse of state power and violating the Ottoman Constitution.
Sentence: DEATH PENALTY (in absentia)
This verdict is the first official state recognition of the Armenian Genocide — issued by the Ottoman Empire itself in 1919.
When the convicted officials escaped prosecution and fled to Germany, Italy, and Central Asia, avoiding their sentences; in response, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation launched Operation Nemesis, a covert operation to assassinate Ottoman figures responsible for the Armenian Genocide.
The Ottoman Military Tribunals of 1918–1920 remain one of the most powerful pieces of evidence for the Armenian and Greek genocides. They were not foreign courts, not political propaganda, and not modern reinterpretations. They were Ottoman courts judging Ottoman officials, based on Ottoman documents, testimonies, and laws.
Their verdict was clear: The CUP leadership organized the destruction of the Armenian population and committed grave crimes against Greeks and other Christian communities.
The later Kemalist reversal cannot erase this truth.
The tribunals stand as the Ottoman Empire’s own confession — a legal acknowledgment that genocide was committed.
1918–1920 թուականներուն Օսմանեան Պետութիւնը կազմակերպեց շարք մը ռազմական դատարաններ, որոնք կը կազմեն պետական մակարդակի առաջին օրէնսդրական ընդունումը՝ Հայերու եւ Յոյներու դէմ գործադրուած զանգուածային ջարդերուն եւ բնաջնջման։
Այս դատավարութիւնները՝ ստեղծուած Օսմանեան կառավարութեան կողմէ, քննեցին Իթթիհատ եւ Թերաքքի կուսակցութեան ղեկավարութեան կողմէ գործադրուած ոճիրները՝ ներառեալ կազմակերպուած սպանութիւններ, բռնագաղթ, սահմանադրութեան խախտում եւ պատերազմի ընթացքին շահագործում։
Այս դատավարութիւնները ոչ թէ նոր ժամանակներու քաղաքական մեկնաբանութիւն են, այլ Օսմանեան Պետութեան սեփական խոստովանութիւնը, որ իր բարձրագոյն պաշտօնեաները ծրագրած եւ գործադրած են Հայ ժողովուրդի բնաջնջումը եւ ծանր ոճիրներ Յոյններու եւ այլ քրիստոնեայ համայնքներու դէմ։
Prepared by Kegham Papazian
Photos;
– A court session of the Turkish courts-martial of 1919–20. The CUP’s leaders, Enver, Djemal, Talaat, among others, were ultimately sentenced to death under charges of wartime profiteering, and massacres of both Armenians and Greeks.
– A session of the Turkish courts-martial on 3 April 1919
– The main Turkish perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide Talaat, Interior Minister, Enver Minister of War and Jemal Minister of Navy
– Armenian Genocide Memorial, inside view, Yerevan, Armenia.
– 700,000 Greeks victims of Genocide and massacres committed by Ottoman Turks.
Footnotes:
a. Akçam, Taner. A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility.
b. Dadrian, Vahakn. The History of the Armenian Genocide.
c. Hovannisian, Richard. The Republic of Armenia, Vol. I.
d. Papers of the Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920.
e. British Foreign Office Records, Malta Exiles (1919–1921).
f. Ottoman Court-Martial Proceedings, December 1918.
g. Testimony of Governor Mehmet Reşid, Tribunal Records.
h. Testimony of Dr. Nazım, Tribunal Records.
I. Kevorkian, Raymond. The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History.
Armenians from Jerusalem
