The Armenian Rebellions (1895 - 1896)

6. The Babiali Demonstration (September 1895)

The Hunchakian Revolutionary Party organized a demonstration in Istanbul on 30 September 1895.
Nalbandian explains that months of secret preparations ended on 28 September 1895. On that day the Hunchaks sent the following letter,written in French, to the Embassies and the Sublime Porte:

"Your Excellency,
The Armenians of Constantinople have decided to make shortly a demonstration, of a strictly peaceful character in order to give impression to their wishes with regard to the reforms to be introduced in the Armenian provinces. As it is not intended that this demonstration shall be in any way aggressive the intervention of the police and military for the purpose of preventing it may have regrettable consequences, for which we disclaim beforehand all responsibility.

Organizing Committee
Seal of the Hunchak Society"

The observations of Sir P. Currie, the British Ambassador about the aims and the course of the BabIali demonstration organized by the Hunchakians clearly show the real motive of this organization:

"As I telegraphed to your Lordship on 30th ultimo, a communication bearing the seal of the 'Hindchag', the Armenian Revolutionary Committee, was addressed to the Embassies on the 28th ultimo, stating that a strictly peaceful demonstration was about to be made by the Armenians in order to express their desire for reforms ... The demonstration took place on the 30th ultimo, but unhappily it had not the peaceful character attributed to it. The demonstrators were armed with pistols and knives of a uniform pattern which had no doubt been issued to them by the organizers of the movement.
There is good reason to suppose that the object of the 'Hindchag' was to cause disorder and bloodshed with a view to inducing the Powers of Europe to intervene on behalf of the Armenians.
It is stated that 3,000 persons took the Sacrament in the varzous Armenian churches on the preceding Sunday in order to be prepared for death.
On the morning of the 30th ultimo, crowds of Armenians assembled in various quarters of the town, the largest assemblage being in the Armenian quarter of Koum Kapou. They proceeded towards the Porte in numbers, estimated by eye-witnesses at about 2,000, though this is probably an exaggeration ...
Shots were exchanged after the crowd refused to disperse, and the officer of the gendarmerie was killed. About fifteen gendarmes and sixty Armenians fell .. .It appears that the police charged the Armenians and struck them with butt of their muskets and flat of their swords, and seized upon their leaders: but thereseems no doubt that it was the Armenians who fired the first shot. "(26)

7. Armenian Armed Attacks Occurred in Various Cities in 1895

The Armenian rebels continued their armed attacks in various parts of the Empire throughout 1895-1896. Some significant ones are in the following:

In Trabzon, the former Governor-General of Van and the Trabzon commander were attacked and wounded by two Armenians on 2 October 1895.
In Erzincan, Armenian volunteers shot several moslems in the local weekly market on 21 October 1895.
In Bitlis, Armenians attacked a mosque as the Moslems were praymg on 25 October 1895.
In Maras, Armenians opened fire on Moslems on 27 October 1895.
In Erzurum, a group of armed Armenians entered the Government Office with the aim of assassinating the Governor and the staff, and killed the gendarmes who countered them on 30 October 1895.
In Diyarbakir, again shots were fired by Armenians on the Moslems praying in the mosque on 2 November 1895. Fires started later in the mosques, Muslim theological schools, and shops, ninety percent of which belonged to Moslems.
In Malatya, an Armenian barber killed a Muslim customer by cutting his throat with a razor at his shop which incited the Malatya incident on 4 November 1895.
In Harput, an Armenian fired at and wounded three Moslems which incited clashes on 7 November 1985.

8. Van Rebellion (1895-1896)

Van was the center of the revolutionary Armenian Party Armenekan. The party was organized in Van in 1886. Armenian organizations such as "The Goodwill Society" advocating revolutionary resistance which were established in Russian Armenia were also active in Van.

The Armenian revolutionaries aimed at arming the Armenians in this town.

General Mayewski, Russian Consul for six years in Van and later in Erzurum informs us about the activities ofthese groups in Van:

"In 1895, the revolutionaries of Van were working to draw the attention of Europe once again to the Armenian question. Letters were sent to wealthy Armenians asking for money, threatening them with death. During this time, some political crimes were committed by order of the revolutionary committee of Van. The most important of these crimes was perpetrated on January 6th, that is on the day of the biggest Armenian holiday, on the person of the priest Bogos, as he was on his way to church to celebrate the holy service. The poor old man had been condemned to death, as he had strongly opposed the ignominious deeds of certain revolutionaries
.
During the winter of 1895-96, young Armenians gathered in the spacious rooms of the houses near the Russian consulate (in Van), where they engaged in patrol and even detachment drills, and sometimes, transported by their zeal, they practiced shooting.
As happens everywhere, with spring, the preparations of the revolutionary movement began to gain importance. One even heard of certain attempts, such as the murder of some Kurds in the proximity of the city, whose bodies had been cut to pieces. The revolutionaries, seeing that no investigation was carried out in regard to these murders, increasingly plucked up courage. However, the patience of Moslems was being exhausted in proportion to the Armenians' audacity. "(27)

British Consul Williams informs us that the Dashnaks had 400 members in Van and the Hunchaks had around 50 members. He tells us also that the Armenians not only terrorized their coreligionists but also provoked the Muslim community with their excesses and frenzy. (28)

In June, Armenian bands fired on the gendarmes patrolling behind the Armenian quarter of the Van orchards and wounded the commander and a soldier. The next day in the afternoon, the Armenians opened fire on civilian Moslems from the houses in this quarter. The soldiers intervened to prevent further incident. The Armenians had fortified the houses and did not let anyone approach them. They refused the demand of the British, French, Iranian and Russian Consuls to lay down their arms. Instead, they escaped the city toward Iran and attacked the Shemiski tribe in the village of Salhane. Soldiers were sent to the area. The rebellion ended with an armed confrontation between the Armenians and the soldiers. As a result 340 Moslems and 219 Armenians were dead and 260 Muslims and 59 Armenians were wounded.
Armed confrontations between Armenian bands and the Moslems continued in the neighboring villages. Thus, the revolt which began on 14 June continued until the 24th. In total, 418 Moslems and 1,715 Armenians died and 363 Moslems and 71 Armenians were wounded.


(26) F.0.424/184.pp.20-22,No. 36
(27) General Mayewski, Statistique des Provinces de Van et de Bitlis, pp.33-9
(28) British Blue Book on Turkey, No.8 (1896), No.1l7, end