The Armenian Genocide survivors are the Western Armenians who were not killed in the Genocide of 1915. The total number of Armenians who survived the Genocide is 880,000. Most of the Genocide survivors (about 810,000) became refugees and migrated to other countires. Only 70,000 Armenians remained in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul.
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The following table shows the distribution of Armenian refugees from Turkey according to Justin McCarthy's Muslims and Minorities book.[1]
| Country/region | Number of Armenian refugees | Main destination centers |
|---|---|---|
| Russian Empire | ||
| Russian Empire | 400,000 | Eastern Armenia, Caucasus, Black Sea coast |
| Middle East | ||
| Syria | 100,000 | Aleppo, Deir ez Zor |
| Lebanon | 50,000 | Beirut |
| Iran | 50,000 | Tehran |
| Egypt | 40,000 | Cairo, Alexandria |
| Iraq | 25,000 | Baghdad, Mosul, etc. |
| Israel and Jordan |
10,000 | |
| Middle East | 175,000 | |
| Europe | ||
| Greece | 45,000 | Athens |
| France | 30,000 | Marseilles |
| Bulgaria | 20,000 | Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas |
| Cyprus | 2,500 | Nicosia, Larnaca |
| Other European countries | 2,000 | Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, Italy, United Kingdom |
| Europe | 99,500 | |
| Other countires | ||
| / North America | 35,380 | |
| Others countries | 1,000 | Japan, China, India, Latin America |
| Other countries | 36,380 | |
| TOTAL | 810,000 | |
According to the US State Department, there were 817,873 Armenian refugees from Turkey in 1922.[2] The figures were based upon information furnished by the British Embassy, Constantinople, and by the agents of the Near East Relief Society, in 1921. The total given does not include able-bodied Armenians, who are retained by the Kemalists, nor the women and children, - approximately 95,000, - according to the League of Nations – who have been forced to embrace Islam.
According to the same source there were 231,000 Armenians left in Turkey in 1921: 150,000 In Constantinople (Istanbul) and 131,000 in Asia Minor.
There was also an Armenian settlement problem that brought conflict with other ethnic residents. In all, there were over 300,000 embittered and impatient Armenian refugees escaping from the Ottoman Empire which were now the DRA government's responsibility. This proved an insurmountable humanitarian issue. Typhus was a major sickness, because of its effect on children. Conditions in the outlying regions, not necessarily consisting of refugees, weren't any better. The Ottoman governing structure and Russian army had already withdrawn from the region. The Armenian government had neither time nor resources to rebuild the infrastructure. The 393,700 refugees were under their jurisdiction as follows:
| Districts | Number of refugees |
|---|---|
| Yerevan | 75,000 |
| Ejmiatsin | 70,000 |
| Novo-Bayazit (Gavar) | 38,000 |
| Daralagyaz (Vayots Dzor) | 36,000 |
| Bash-Abaran (Aparan) | 35,000 |
| Ashtarak | 30,000 |
| Akhta - Yelenovka (Hrazdan - Sevan) | 22,000 |
| Bash-Garni (Garni) | 15,000 |
| Karakilisa | 16,000 |
| Dilijan | 13,000 |
| Armenia | 350,000 |
The government of Hovhannes Kachaznuni was faced with a most sobering reality in the winter of 1918-19. The newly formed government was responsible for over half a million Armenian refugees in the Caucasus. It was a long and harsh winter.[3] The homeless masses, lacking food, clothing and medicine, had to endure the elements. Many who survived the exposure and famine succumbed to the ravaging diseases. By the spring of 1919, the typhus epidemic had run its course, the weather improved and the first American Committee for Relief in the Near East shipment of wheat reached Batum. The British army transported the aid to Yerevan. Yet by that time some 150,000 of the refugees had perished. Vratsian puts this figure at around 180,000, or nearly 20% of the entire nascent Republic. A report in early 1919 noted that 65% of the population of Sardarabad, 40% of the population of eight villages near Etchmiadzin and 25% of the population of Ashtarak had died.
