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Which Ottoman government leaders directed the deportation of Armenians during World War I?

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

During World War I, the deportation and systematic mass murder of Armenians were directed by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) government, specifically under the leadership of a triumvirate known as the "Three Pashas": Talat Paşa, Enver Paşa, and Cemal Paşa.12

These leaders, who effectively controlled the Ottoman state after 1913, utilized the pretext of national security and alleged Armenian treachery to authorize the removal of Armenian civilians from Eastern Anatolia. In April 1915, Talat Paşa ordered the arrest of Armenian intellectuals and politicians in Istanbul, and in May, the Ottoman Parliament passed legislation formally authorizing the deportations. These actions resulted in death marches, starvation, and massacres, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands to over one million Armenians.12