Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915 at the hands of the Ottoman Turks, whose empire was disintegrating.
Many of the victims were civilians deported to barren desert regions where they died of starvation and thirst. Thousands also died in massacres.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people were killed. Turkey says the number of deaths was much smaller.
Most non-Turkish scholars of the events regard them as genocide – as do more than 20 states, including France, Germany, Canada and Russia, and various international bodies including the European Parliament.
Turkey rejects the term “genocide”, maintaining that many of the dead were killed in clashes during World War One, and that many ethnic Turks also suffered in the conflict.
The Battle of Gallipoli, also known as Gallipoli Campaign, or the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Çanakkale was a campaign of World War I that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu in modern Turkey) in the Ottoman Empire between April 25, 1915 and January 9, 1916.
After a failed naval attack, the Allies tried to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul) via the Gallipoli Peninsula by land assault.
British, French and their dominions’ troops – including soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, India and Newfoundland – took part in the battle.
They faced months of shelling, sniper fire and dysentery, before abandoning the campaign.
45,000 Allied troops died for no material gain, although the Turkish Army was tied down for eight months.
86,000 Turkish troops died in the Battle of Gallipoli. Commander Mustafa Kemal survived and went on to found modern Turkey.
A caliphate is an Islamic state ruled by a single political and religious leader, or Caliph.
Caliphs are regarded by their followers as successors to the Prophet Muhammad and the leader of all Muslims.
The word “caliph” comes from the Arabic khalifa, meaning “successor”. Its use means the IS claims Baghdadi as the only legitimate successor to the Prophet.
Abdulmecid II was the last Sunni Caliph of Islam from the Ottoman Dynasty (photo flickr.com)
First caliphate came into being after Prophet Muhammad’s death in 632. In the centuries which followed, caliphates had dominion in the Middle East and North Africa.
Historically, caliphates involved governance under Islamic law, with the leadership elected according to Sunni practice and selected from a group of Imams under Shia traditions.
Laws under a caliphate are traditionally defined in accordance with Islamic ethics. In the past the role of caliph has largely been symbolic, leaving the day-to-day running of government down to the devolved powers of local rulers.
The last widely accepted caliphate was abolished in 1924 by Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Abdulmecid II was the last ruler of a caliphate.
In 2014, Islamist militant group ISIS has declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, appointing its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as Caliph.
Turkey has offered condolences for the first time for the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during WWI.
PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s condolences came on the eve of the 99th anniversary of the mass deportation of Armenians in 1915.
Turkey denies Armenian claims that up to 1.5 million people were killed and that it constituted an act of genocide.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the events of 1915 had “inhumane consequences”, and expressed hope that those who died were at peace.
Turkey maintains that many of the dead were killed in clashes during World War I, and that ethnic Turks also suffered in the conflict.
The exact nature of what happened remains highly contentious and has continued to sour relations between Turkey and Armenia.
In his message, Recep Tayyip Erdogan stopped short of using the term “genocide” to describe the mass killings.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan has offered condolences for the first time for the mass killings of Armenians under Ottoman rule during WWI
The prime minister struck a conciliatory tone in his statement on Wednesday, in which he offered Turkey’s condolences to the grandchildren of Armenians who lost their lives in 1915.
In the statement, which was translated into nine languages including Armenian, Recep Tayyip Erdogan described the events of World War I as “our shared pain”.
“Having experienced events which had inhumane consequences – such as relocation – during the First World War, (it) should not prevent Turks and Armenians from establishing compassion and mutually humane attitudes among towards one another,” he said.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “millions of people of all religions and ethnicities lost their lives in the First World War”.
But he said it was “inadmissible” for Armenia to use the 1915 events “as an excuse for hostility against Turkey” and to turn the issue “into a matter of political conflict”.
It is the first time a Turkish leader has formally offered condolences for the mass killings.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan also repeated calls to set up a joint historical commission into the events surrounding the killings – a request that has so far been denied by the Armenian authorities.
There has been a slight thaw in relations between Turkey and Armenia in recent years.
The governments of Turkey and Armenia agreed to normalize relations in October 2009, but peace efforts have since stalled and the border remains shut.
Last year, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called the 1915-16 events a “mistake” during Turkey’s first high-level visit to Armenia in almost five years.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-1916 as the Ottoman empire split. Turkey has said the number of deaths was much smaller.
The killings are regarded as the seminal event of modern Armenian history, uniting one of the world’s most dispersed peoples.
Among the other states which formally recognize them as genocide are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay. The UK, US, Israel and others use different terminology.
Armenians mark the date of April 24, 1915, as the start of what they regard as the genocide.
France’s President Francois Hollande has said he plans a new law to punish denial that the 1915-1916 killing of Armenians was genocide.
A previous law approved by the French parliament was struck down in February by the Constitutional Council, which said it infringed freedom of speech.
Turkey rejects the term “genocide” for the deaths of Armenians during their deportation by the Ottoman Empire.
The issue has strained Franco-Turkish relations in recent years.
Francois Hollande’s predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy had also ordered his government to draft a new law after the old one was struck down.
“Francois Hollande has again expressed his willingness to propose a bill designed to curb the denial of the Armenian genocide, as he had said during his campaign and even before,” the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organisations of France (CCAF) told the AFP news agency.
Francois Hollande has said he plans a new law to punish denial that the 1915-1916 killing of Armenians was genocide
A delegation from the CCAF will meet Francois Hollande before the end of the month to discuss what form the new law would take, French media reports say.
On Thursday, remarks by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius during a meeting with his Turkish counterpart appeared to indicate that the Constitutional Council’s ruling would make it impossible to take up the issue again.
However, Francois Hollande’s office said on Saturday: “The president expressed his commitments during the campaign. He will keep them.
“We must find a path, a road that allows for a text that is consistent with the constitution.”
The vote on the previous bill in January spurred angry protests in both in Paris and Ankara. The Turkish government suspended political and military co-operation with France.
The Turkish government argues that judging what happened in eastern Turkey in 1915-1916 should be left to historians, and that the new French law would have restricted freedom of speech.
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-1916 as the Ottoman empire split. Turkey has said the number of deaths was much smaller.
The killings are regarded as the seminal event of modern Armenian history, a tragic bond uniting one of the world’s most dispersed peoples.
Among the other states which formally recognize them as genocide are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay. The UK, US, Israel and others use different terminology.
France is home to an estimated 500,000 ethnic Armenians while about 550,000 Turkish citizens also live in the country.
Competing laws:
• Both the Holocaust and killing of the Armenians are recognized as acts of genocide in France
• Denial of the Holocaust is punishable under the 1990 Gayssot law, which is based on the findings of the Nuremberg Tribunal
• Some legal experts argue that unless the Armenian killings are formally recognized as an act of genocide by an international commission their denial cannot be made punishable
• In the absence of international certification, some legal experts argue the term “Armenian genocide” may be challenged on grounds of freedom of speech
• French MPs argued they had sufficient authority to legislate both on acts of genocide and their denial
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