I'm not entirely sure. The Ottomans were terrified of Armenian nationalism, especially because of their large population in eastern Anatolia, where it was thought they might ally themselves with the christian Russians against the empire. I'm guessing the idea with the client state was, more or less, to purge them from Ottoman territory proper, push whoever was left somewhere else, and economically exploit them.
Or it might not have been Armenian at all, but instead populated by Azeris. Either way is horrifying.
I fear that you are correct in that the Ottomans saw the Armenians as the Nazis saw the Poles: obstacles to be annihilated in the aftermath of victory.