Turkish opposition to the Armenian genocide

Ahmet Rıza, one of the leading founders of the Committee of Union and Progress, was one of the few Ottoman politicians who condemned the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

"Seeing the invitation of Faik Ali to Istanbul as an opportunity, Kütahya police chief Kemal Bey threatened the Armenians in the city that they would be deported if they did not convert to Islam.

[10] Today, every year on April 24, members of the Armenian community of Kütahya come to his grave and pay their respects to his memory.

Therefore, in August 1915, he was dismissed as the governor of Ankara and Atıf Bey, a prominent member of the Special Organization, was appointed in his place.

Later, Mazhar described this event as follows:[12]One day, Atıf Bey came to me and verbally conveyed the order of the authorities to kill the Armenians during the deportation.

"Mazhar reported that after his dismissal, "the looting of Armenian property in the region, both by the officials and the people, reached incredible proportions.

[8][14] Thereupon, Reshid summoned Hüseyin Nesimi to Diyarbakır to discuss the matter, but a group of Chechen soldiers hired him to stop and kill him on the way.

[5] Mehmet Celal Bey was the governor of Konya vilayet, which was the center of the roads through which Armenians were deported from northern and western Anatolia to the Syrian Desert.

In addition to these demands, he sent many telegrams and letters of protest to the Sublime Porte stating that "the measures taken against the Armenians are against the high interests of the motherland in every respect".

Calling such atrocities a national ideal is the greatest slander and insult for the nation.Celal Bey saved the lives of thousands of Armenians until he was removed from his duty as the governor of Konya on October 3, 1915.

[24] In his memoirs about the governorship of Konya, Celal Bey said the following about himself:[25] I was a person sitting by the side of a river, with absolute no means of saving anyone.

Mustafa's son, a loyal member of the Committee of Union and Progress, killed his own father "for taking care of the infidels".

[18][26] Talaat Pasha ordered the Fourth Army to bring every Muslim who cooperated with the Christians to a military court.

Similarly, the commander of the Third Army, Mahmut Kamil Pasha, told his soldiers to "hang every Muslim who protects an Armenian, in front of their house".

An example of the names known for dismissing and killing other leaders who opposed the genocide was the governor of Diyarbekir, Mehmed Reshid Bey.