Britannica Sources used in this answer

How did the Armenian Genocide contribute to the creation of the Republic of Turkey?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Uncovering the history of the Armenian Genocide — Armenian Genocide Overview of the history and controversy surrounding the Armenian Genocide.

The Armenian Genocide played a significant role in shaping the demographic and political landscape that led to the formation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.12

By the end of World War I, more than 90 percent of the Armenian population that had resided in the Ottoman Empire for centuries was gone, and many traces of their historical presence had been erased. The mass deportations and killings, directed by the Young Turk government, effectively removed a large non-Muslim minority from Eastern Anatolia.1234

The resulting vacuum allowed the state to redistribute the deserted homes and property of Armenians to Muslim refugees, facilitating the creation of a more homogeneous nation-state. This demographic shift aligned with the emerging sense of Turkish nationalism that prioritized a unified Turkish identity over the multi-ethnic and multi-religious structure of the former Ottoman Empire.1253