Harput in the context of Mamuret-ul-Aziz vilayet

The Artuqid dynasty (alternatively Artukid, Ortoqid, or Ortokid; Old Anatolian Turkish: أرتقي بيليك, Turkish: Artuklu Beyliği, Artuklular, pl. Artukoğulları) was established in 1102 as a Turkish principality of the Seljuk Empire. It formed a Turkoman dynasty rooted in the Oghuz Döğer tribe, and followed the Sunni Muslim faith. It ruled in Northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia in the eleventh through thirteenth centuries. The Artuqid dynasty took its name from its founder, Artuk Bey, who was a member of Döger branch of the Oghuz Turks and ruled one of the Turkmen principalities of the Seljuk Empire. Artuk's sons and descendants ruled the three branches in the region: Sökmen's descendants ruled the region around Hasankeyf between 1102 and 1231; Ilghazi's branch ruled from Mardin and Mayyafariqin between 1106 and 1186 (until 1409 as vassals) and Aleppo from 1117–1128; and the Harput line starting in 1112 under the Sökmen branch, and was independent between 1185 and 1233.

Elazığ (Turkish pronunciation: [eˈlazɯː]) is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. Founded in and around the former city of Harput, it is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plain on which the city extends has an altitude of 1,067 metres (3,501 ft). Elazığ resembles an inland peninsula surrounded by the natural Lake Hazar and reservoirs of Keban Dam, Karakaya Dam, Kıralkızı and Özlüce. Its population is 387,072 (2022).

In genocide studies, perpetrators, victims, and bystanders is an evolving typology for classifying the participants and observers of a genocide. The typology was first proposed by Raul Hilberg in the 1992 book Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: Jewish Catastrophe 1933–1945. Anthropologist Alexander Hinton credits work on this theory with sparking widespread public intolerance of mass violence, calling it a "proliferation of a post-cold war human rights regime that demanded action in response to atrocity and accountability for culprits.". The triad is also used in studying the psychology of genocide. It has become a key element of scholarship on genocide, with subsequent researchers refining the concept and applying it to new fields.

Initial analyses of atrocities such as the Holocaust discussed these events simply as violence by perpetrators against victims. Scholars added the category of "bystander" to include people who impact, and are impacted by, mass violence but who are not clearly perpetrators or victims. Even with this added complexity, most genocide research focuses on perpetrators, in part because evidence of their behavior is most accessible to scholars. While research about bystanders' role in violence dates to the mid twentieth century, research about their role in genocide is more recent. Just as emerging research has added complexity to the triad as a whole, it continues to recognize nuance in each of the three roles. 

Harput Castle, also known as Milk Castle (Turkish: Harput Kalesi, Süt Kalesi), is a castle located in the historical Harput neighborhood within the borders of the current Elazığ Province, Turkey. It was built by the Urartians on a rectangular plan. The castle consists of two parts, internal and external. According to legend, a scarcity of water and abundance of milk during its construction meant that milk was added to the castle's mortar, leading to it being sometimes called "Milk Castle".