In 1915, armenian soldiers in the ottoman military forces were assigned to work in the labor battalions instead of fight because ottoman military leaders thought that armenian soldiers would be likely to a) side with the russians. b) kill other armenians. c) defend their homes. d) commit war crimes.

The answer is A) Side with the Russians. The Young Turks sided with Germany in World War I and they lost heavily. They blamed the Armenians and accused them of siding with the Russians. Hundreds of intellectual Armenians were arrested and later executed. Those in the military were divested of their weapons and transferred to the labor battalions where they were either killed or worked to death.