DEIR EZ-ZOR (Arabian: Deir-monastry, Zor-forest, distorted variants: Deir el Zor, Der Ez Zor, Der Zor, Ter Zor), is a city in Syria, located on the right bank of Euphrates River, in the intersection of Rakka-Baghdad and Tadmor-Fajami highway roads. It was a trading center in the middle ages. In Mesopotamia during the Turkish rule it was a part of the Aleppo province. During the First World War  (1914- 1918) by the decision of the government of the Young Turks Deir ez-Zor and its  surrounding desert became the place of concentration of the Armenians deported from the Western Armenia and Armenian populated regions of Turkey. 

In June 1915, the government body was established in Aleppo, a Committee for the Deportation of the Armenians whose task was to carry out the extermination program against Armenians in deserts. During the summer and autumn a huge number of Armenians deported from Constantinople,  Rhaedestus (Rodosto), Nikomedia, Partizak, Adapazarı, Ankara, Sebastia, Malatia, Mush, Sasun, Cilicia gathered in Aleppo, Bab, Meskene, Ras al-Ayn, Rakka and in the surrounding areas of Aleppo province.  

On September 9, 1915, the governor of Aleppo was ordered to deport Armenian men, women, elderly and children to deserts. Such commands were repeated in the following 5-6 years becoming the reason for the death of the thousand Armenians. 

It was instructed to confiscate food from refugees for making an artificial famine. People had to eat what they were able find. Turkish officials tried to put the Arabs against the Armenians. But from Aleppo till Deir ez-Zor Arabs helped and provided Armenians with shelter, especially children, saving them from the inevitable death. 

During 1915-16 about 200.000 Armenian refugees were killed in Deir ez-Zor and deserts. The few survivors later revealed the real amount of the atrocities and horrors carried out by Turks. 

 

Source -Encyclopedia "the Armenian Issue", Yerevan, 1996. 

 
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