<p>The purpose of this essay is to examine and compare narrations by five witnesses, who has written about atrocities against Christians from 1915 to 1919 in what is today south-eastern Turkey, but what was then the Ottoman Empire. I have focused on how the roles of perpetrators, victims, spectators and protectors are featured in the witness narrations. Four questions were posed in the study: Who are portrayed as perpetrators, victims, bystanders and protectors in the various witness narrations? How are these roles expressed in the witness narrations? What differences can be found among the five selected witness narrations from Mardin and Urfa, 1915-1919? What are the explanations of the differences in the witness narrations? The method I have used has been an analysis in which I compare how the different narrations capture the events of 1915-1919. I have used three factors to look at the explanations why there may be differences in the witness narrations. The three factors are nationality, position, and religious affiliation. In the comparison and the results of the witness narrations, I have found that the three factors affect the way the authors write about the events and that these factors help to explain the differences in the witness narrations. These factors are a part of the authors’ respective worldviews. Also, local differences, power constellations, and political factors meant that witness narrations differed.</p>

The purpose of this essay is to examine and compare narrations by five witnesses, who has written about atrocities against Christians from 1915 to 1919 in what is today south-eastern Turkey, but what was then the Ottoman Empire. I have focused on how the roles of perpetrators, victims, spectators and protectors are featured in the witness narrations. Four questions were posed in the study: Who are portrayed as perpetrators, victims, bystanders and protectors in the various witness narrations? How are these roles expressed in the witness narrations? What differences can be found among the five selected witness narrations from Mardin and Urfa, 1915-1919? What are the explanations of the differences in the witness narrations? The method I have used has been an analysis in which I compare how the different narrations capture the events of 1915-1919. I have used three factors to look at the explanations why there may be differences in the witness narrations. The three factors are nationality, position, and religious affiliation. In the comparison and the results of the witness narrations, I have found that the three factors affect the way the authors write about the events and that these factors help to explain the differences in the witness narrations. These factors are a part of the authors’ respective worldviews. Also, local differences, power constellations, and political factors meant that witness narrations differed.