At the outbreak of World War I, the Ottoman Turkish Empire aligned itself with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Early in the war, a segment of the Armenian ethnic population deserted, gaining support from France and Tsarist Russia, both adversaries of the Ottoman Empire. The nationalist political organization, the Young Turks, feared that the Armenian population might side with Tsarist Russia, as the Russian army was largely composed of Armenians; therefore, they decided to orchestrate what is now recognized as the first genocide of the modern era. On May 29, 1915, the Turkish Council of Ministers approved the Tehcir Law, authorizing the deportation of the Armenian population residing within the empire. The deportations began with the targeting of 250 Armenian intellectuals, aiming to eliminate the cultural elite. It is estimated that approximately 1.5 million lives were lost within a year of deportations. As mentioned, the motivations behind the law were primarily political: Armenians opposed the empire’s involvement in the war and could have allied with Russia; however, ethnic factors were undeniably also at play. According to many scholars, the Young Turks' objective was to establish an ethnically homogeneous state and definitively resolve the Armenian question. To this day, numerous countries, including Turkey, do not officially recognize the intent to exterminate the Armenian population, often framing the act as a necessary measure to maintain stability during wartime. Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was established in 1975 and is observed every April 24, the date when the first intellectuals were deported.