During one of the secret meetings of the Young Turks, Dr. Nazim was quoted as saying, "The massacre is necessary. All the non-Turkish elements, whatever nation they belong to, should be exterminated".[14] In February 1915, two months prior to the commencement of the Armenian Genocide, Dr. Nazim declared a new government policy which would "produce total annihilation" in which would be "essential that no Armenian survives".[2] He has been noted to have said that the Ottoman Empire should be "freeing the fatherland of the aspirations of this cursed race" when referring to the Armenians.[15]