The Armenian Genocide is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides as scholars point to the systematic, organized manner in which the killings were carried out to eliminate the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. The total number of Armenian deaths exceeded one and a half million.
The Armenian Genocide was characterized by the use of massacres, and the use of deportations involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees. Thus, the Armenians were marched out to the Syrian town of Deir ez Zor and the surrounding desert. A good deal of evidence suggests that the Ottoman government did not provide any facilities or supplies to sustain the Armenians during their deportation, nor when they arrived. Ottoman troops escorting the Armenians not only allowed others to rob, kill, and rape the Armenians, but often participated in these activities themselves. Deprived of their belongings and marched into the desert, hundreds of thousands of Armenians perished.
On 24 March, 2010, the President of the Republic of Armenia, H.E. Mr. Serzh Sargsyan, had visited the city of Deir ez Zor and maid remarks that could be found on the following internet links (see below).