Deportation and drownings, Trabzon vilayet
Armenians of the Pontic vilayet of Trabzon were deported on 26 June 1915. A documented portion of the deportees, including women and children, were taken aboard barges and drowned in the Black Sea; this is one of the better-attested non-march execution methods of the genocide. Italian consul Giacomo Gorrini's August 1915 report is foundational primary documentation.
| Casualties | 50k 80k |
|---|---|
| Displaced | 50k 80k |
Where atlas sources disagree, the range spans the lowest credible to the highest credible estimate. Hover the inline citations above for source-by-source figures.
Account
Order from Talat Pasha 23 June 1915. Italian consul Giacomo Gorrini in Trabzon reported the city operation in detail in his 25 August 1915 dispatch to Rome (the "Gorrini telegram"), reproduced in the British Blue Book document 78. American consul Oscar Heizer reported parallel events from Trebizond. The Pontic Greek population of the same vilayet was subjected to a parallel deportation in 1916-22, related but distinct.
Further reading
- James Bryce, Arnold J. Toynbee (compilers), The Treatment of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire 1915-16: Documents Presented to Viscount Grey of Fallodon, 1916
- Raymond Kévorkian, The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History, 2011
- Taner Akçam, A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility, 2006