Regional resistance to central government policies: Ahmed Djemal Pasha, the governors of Aleppo, and Armenian deportees in the spring and summer of 1915

The case study discusses Ottoman deportation policies against Armenians between April and September 1915 in the province of Aleppo and in the region of Zeitun. Focusing on the role of the provincial authorities, 4th Army commanders, and the central government the article questions notions of an alleged Armenian revolt, claims about a coherent deportation policy according to a blue print, and assertions of a unified Committee of Union and Progress leadership. It will become clear that the first deportations were initiated locally and not by the central government. Moreover, later deportations met often with resistance by provincial and military authorities who followed own their agenda. Consequently, theses suggesting long-term genocidal planning and its coherent execution at all levels of government empire-wide need to be revised.