THE CILICIAN MASSACRES OF 1909 ACCORDING TO DOCUMENTS FROM THE ARCHIVE OF THE FOREIN POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Abstract

The history of 1909 Armenian massacres in Cilicia is reflected in the archival documents
of the foreign policy of various countries, including the Russian Empire. Here the author found
some interesting documents in Russian and French, which were mainly addressed by Russian
diplomats to the heads of Russian diplomacy, in particular the Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Empire A. P. Izvolsky and his colleague N. V. Charikov. These documents prove
that the Armenian massacres were organized by Abdul-Hamid II in order to prevent the
intention of his enemies, namely the Young Turks to overthrow him.