In 1908, a new regime was imposed in the Ottoman Empire, the Young-Turk government took power through a revolution that was considered as “bloodless.”

In 1909, Armenians started manifesting in support to the new governments policies of more rights and freedom, provoking many Abdul Hamid loyalist and residual bureaucrats eager to maintain their jobs. They started organizing massacres, known as the “twin massacres” forming what is known as the massacres and the Adana holocaust(April 1/14-April 14/27, 1909). The Grand Vizier Hilmi Pasa scorned about those events: “the reactionary, criminal scoundrels who were bent on massacring and plundering the Armenians through a surprise attack.”

During the event, thousands of Armenians were locked in schools, hospitals and churches and burned en mass.

England, France, Italy, Austria, Russia, Germany and the United States had warships stationed at Adana's port city Marsin. They have witnessed Armenians burned in mass without intervening, leaving thousands and thousands to be consumed by fire.

The Ottoman government did send an Army, that was supposed to bring peace, by many in uniform were still supporter of the old regime, and if not left passive watching the crime perpetrated, even participated indirectly. Adana being one of the only places, where Armenians were not targeted in the 1894-1897 massacres, the new government profited a lot, by reducing the Armenian economical presence from the area.

Ottoman sources for the number of victims are around 15,000, while most Western sources estimates the Armenian losses to be from 20,000 to 30,000.