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Kurdish recognition of the Armenian Genocide and Assyrian Genocide is the recognition by the Kurds of their participation in the genocide of Armenians and Assyrians during World War I when Kurds, along with Turks and Muslim groups from various Caucasian tribes, attacked and killed innocent Armenian and Assyrian civilians and refugees. Throughout the Kurdish-populated regions, some Kurds participated in the genocide of the Armenians while other Kurds opposed the genocide, in some cases even hiding or adopting Armenian refugees. Kurds in prison were given amnesty and released from prison if they would massacre the Armenians.
Armenian Genocide
The genocide of Armenians by some Kurds was meticulously carried out with help from some tribal Kurds who were organized into an auxiliary force called the "Hamidiye Alaylari" or Hamidiye Brigades of the government in Constantinople.
During the Van Resistance, Armenians who left via Persia took defense positions in the Bargiri, Saray and Hosap districts of Van Province. The refugee group following the Russian forces were intercepted by Kurdish forces when they crossed the mountain passes near Bargiri Pass. At the Bargiri Pass, the Armenian refugees had many casualties.
The security of the refugees was the responsibility of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman authorities state that some groups of refugees were attacked by local tribes, both Kurdish and Arab, before they reached their destinations. These attacks mainly took place on the roads between Aleppo and Meskene, but it was also dangerous from Diyarbekir to Der Zor and from Saruc to Halep via the Menbic Road. This region is heavily populated by Kurds. Grand Vizier Mehmed Talat in his Posthumous Memoirs of Talaat Pasha claimed that:
"Although we punished many of the guilty, most of them were untouched. These people, whom we might call outlaws, because of their unlawful attitude in disregarding the order of the Central Government, were divided into two classes. Some of them were acting under personal hatred, or for individual profit. Those who looted the goods of the deported Armenians were easily punishable, and we punished them. But there was another group, who sincerely believed that the general interest of the community necessitated the punishment alike of those Armenians who massacred the guiltless Mohammedans and those who helped the Armenian bandits to endanger our national life."