In an interview published in "Berliner Tageblatt" on 4 May 1915, Talat Pasha acknowledged that when Armenians were deported, no distinction was made between "guilty" and "innocent" Armenians, because "one who was still innocent today could be guilty tomorrow". On 23 May, he ordered the deportation of the entire Armenian millet to Deir ez-Zor, beginning with the northeastern provinces. The Allies issued a condemnation of Ottoman crimes against Armenians on 24 May, leading the CUP to hastily attempt to disguise the nature of their actions. On 29 May, the CUP Central Committee passed the Temporary Law of Deportation ("Tehcir Law"), authorizing the Ottoman government and military to deport anyone deemed to be threat to national security. Deportation amounted to a death sentence; the authorities planned for and intended the death of the deportees.