The Genocidal Actions Against Armenians in the Aghbak Sub-District in 1914-1915
Aghbak sub-district in Van province contained 36 Armenian villages; Matosyan uses six as case studies to document the massacres, violence and forced deportations of 1914–1915, working predominantly from archival sources. The evidence shows the systematic character of the atrocities and the active involvement of both local Kurdish tribes and Ottoman authorities. She argues Aghbak was targeted for its economic significance and its exposed position on trade routes near the Persian border. The article positions these events among the first genocidal actions undertaken by the Ottoman Empire in the First World War. That is, preceding the canonical April 1915 start date.