"The centers of revolutionary activity in Turkish Armenia were Zeitun, Van, and Erzurum. The Zeitun Rebellion of 1862 was the beginning of extensive uprisings directed against the Ottoman government." (15)
C.F.Dixon-Johnson explains the fears of the Moslems from the Armenian revolts:
"In Turkey the people have a horror of secret societies and plots, founded on the experience of their own suffering at the hands of the Greek Hetairia and the Bulgarian Komitadjis. The fears of the Turks and the Kurds were genuine. They believed that the members of the once loyal 'millet-i sadzka' (the loyal nation) no longer merited that title, and that they were arming and preparing to massacre the Moslems." (16)
Hratch Dasnabedian evaluates the situation:
"Thus the eighties of the 19th century formed the period of preparation for the phase of armed struggle in the Armenian liberation movement. On both sides of the border revolutionary ferment gained momentum, and underground cells and clandestine armed organizations were formed." (17)
1. Zeitun Rebellions (1862 and 1895)
The inhabitants of Zeitun were a rebellious community where there were revolts as far back as the 1850's. The last two major rebellions in Zeitun are summarized here.
Nalbandian describes the first maj or Zeitun rebellion:
"The Zeitun Rebellion of 1862 became the first of a series of insurrections Turkish Armenia against the Ottoman regime which were inspired by volutionary ideas that had swept the Armenian world. The Zeitunli insurgents Id had direct contacts with certain Armenian intellectuals in onstantinople ... These intellectuals were members of an organization called enevolent Union ... A letter, partly written in cipher, dated May 14/28, 1862, from the Benevolent Union member Serobe Tagvorian in Constantinople, to Mikael Nalbandian in St. Petersburg indicates that there were revolutionaries in the Turkish capital who had direct contacts with the Zeitun insurgents ... Tagvorian's letter indicates that preparations for the Zeitun Rebellion (August, 1862) were probably begun as early as May,1862." (18)
On 12 October 1895 another major rebellion took place. This time the Hunchak Party guided the insurrection.
Sir Mark Sykes narrates the following about the 1895 rebellion:
"Some Revolutionary Society (The Hunchak Party) not being satisfied with the general state of affairs in Turkey and scenting collections and relief funds in the future, judged it expedient in the year of grace 1895, to dispatch certain emissaries to Armenia. On the warlike population of Zeitun they pinned leir hopes of raising a semi-successful revolution, and six of their boldest agents were accorded to that district. What the end of the revolution would be these desperadoes recked little, so long as the attention of Europe was drawn to their cause and their collection-boxes ... A number of Furnus and Zeitunli Armenians were in the habit of going to Adana for the purpose of earning money as farmers and handicraftsmen ... They were foolish enough to pillage some Turkomans on their way home ... The Turkomans addressed themselves in complaint to the Mutesarif of Marash who decided to investigate the affair. .. The gents (Armenian) saw in this move a chance of bringing matters to a crisis and ither attacked, or persuaded the villagers to attack the commission killing 'Binbashi (Major) and three of the guards, and carrying off the Christian commissioner with them. The surrounding Armenians .. joined the evolutionaries ... The revolutionists decided to attack the garrison at Zeitun in order to force that town to join a jehad against the Osmanli. Having gained a victory of some importance, the Armenian force proceeded to the Kertul district where they plundered and sacked the Konak. On their way back to Zeitun they committed some most disgraceful murders at Chukarhissar , commemoration of the decease of the late Armenian kingdom which was finaly ended at that place. (Writer's note:I was told some ghastly details, but I doubt the veracity of them, as they were related to me by a town Armenian). .. They (agents assembled the refugees driven in by Ali Pasha, and repaired with them to the Konak, where the imprisoned garrison was quartered, and proceeded to murder them with bestial cruelty ... After that foolish slaughter. .. EdhemPasha ... arrived on the scene, and with the assistance of the European Consuls concluded the honorable peace with the town: containing, alas! a clause by which the miserable causes of all this unhappiness and bloodshed were allowed to return unmolested to Europe." (19)
Aghasi, member of the Hunchak Party, who began the rebellion Zeitun recounts the insurrection in his memoirs:
"I was accompanied by my friends Apah, Meleh, and Heratchia. Towards the end of July, we arrived in Zeitun ... On August 7th, the first encounter between Armenians and the gendarmes occurred ... On October 10th the government of Zeitun (township center) had sent for the last time two gendarmes to Alabash, to examine, in secret, the situation of the Armenians, in view of a definitive attack. The inhabitants of Alabash, in an outburst of anger, tied these two gendarmes to a tree, and burnt them alive. On October 24th, we hung a red flag in the valley of Karanlik Dere. From that morning forward, the prominent leaders of all the Armenian villages started arriving with some fighters ... At noon, we began negotiating. The discussions lasted for two hours: we established the pIan of our struggle." (20)
The rebellion which began on 24 October ended on 28 January l896. The 50 officers and 600 soldiers in the barracks were taken prisoner. Aghasi tells us that most of the prisoners were killed and only 56 of them were able to escape. According to Aghasi, from the beginning until the end of the insurrection, the Turks lost 20,000 men against only 125 Armenians.
The rebellion ended with the agreement proposed by six European powers and which was accepted by the Porte. According to the agreement, the five Hunchak revolutionaries who started the rebellion left Zeitun on 13 February 1896, under the protection of the British Consulate.
2. Erzurum Revolt (20 June 1890)
Han-Azad, one of the founders of the Hunchak Party described this incident in the Hayreniknewspaperpublished in the US in 1927:
"The founder of the Sansarian School had died in 1890. The government had been informed that there was a workshop in this school which produced weapons. It was thought that the informers were the Armenian Catholic priests. Two hours before the search, an individual named, 'Bogos the dog', belonging to the 'Defenders of the Motherland Society', spread the news that the school would be searched. Immediately, national history books, notebooks, objects which would draw suspicion and curiosity were concealed. Nothing was found during the search. (The denunciation made to the Government was that weapons were produced not only in the school, but also in the Church. The Church and the school were searched in the presence of the church priest and the school president. This is the reason for the charges that the church was desecrated.) Armenians cried out that the entering of the Turks into the Church was filth and indecency. The men of Gerechian, who was one of the founders of the 'Defenders of the Motherland Society", and who was later killed by the decision of the Erzurum centre of the Dashnaktsutiun Committee the first to engage in provocations among the people. Shops were closed, worship in Church was forbidden, bells were not rung. As soon as they were in control of the situation, they seized this opportunity to yell that Armenians have been free for three days, and that they shall defend their freedom with arms. They demanded that the government reduce taxes and abolish the military conscription tax, that the Church which was desecrated be demolished and built anew, that the 61st article of the Berlin Treaty be implemented. Armenians stayed for 3-4 days in the cemetery, in the Church and in the School yard. Some prominent Armenians, who were trying to disperse the Armenians, were beaten. The order of the government, which demanded that everybody go back to their business, 1rent unheeded. The committee members went around encouraging people. Meanwhile, Gerekchian's brother shot two soldiers and fighting began in the city, and continued till evening. It was believed that there were many casualties. The following day the Consuls visited the city. There were more than 100 dead on both sides, and 200-300 wounded ... "
The British Consul, Clifford Lloyd, reports to the Embassy about the Erzurum revolt:
"The order to search the Armenian institutions in Erzurum had come from Constantinople. This search had created some discontent among the Armenians. They decided to close the shops and schools, and send a letter of protest to the Sultan. The Consul tried to pacify them, and persuaded them to open the shops. The Moslems and the local authorities saw the closing of the shops as an antagonistic act. The Governor-General discussed for this reason with the Armenian Bishop who returned to the Church advised the people, but the people began demonstrations against the Bishop. Upon this, the Bishop had asked the help of the soldiers, a battalion of soldiers had arrived, and the Armenians had opened fire on the soldiers, killing two soldiers, and wounded three. Upon this the Moslems attacked the Armenians with sticks and daggers, and chased them as far as the neighborhoods of the Consulates. The British Consul had informed the Governor-General and had asked for help. The unit arrived shortly and was in control of the situation. Meanwhile 12 Armenians were killed and 250 individuals were wounded. "(21 )
The Erzurum revolt was reported in Europe as a massacre of the Armenians. Europe accepted this as such, and the incident became to be known as the first allegations of a massacre concerning Armenian revolts."
(14) Sir Mark Sykes, The Caliph’s Last Heritage (London 1915), pp 409, 418 (15) Louise Nalbandian, The Armenian Revolutionary Movement (California 1963) p.67
(16) C.F.Dixon-Johnson, The Armenians (Blackburn, 1916), pp.24-25
(17) Hrateh Dasnabedian, History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation 1890-1924 (Milan, 1989), p.21
(18) Nalvandian, op cit., pp 71-73
(19) Dixon-Johnson, op. cit., p.33
(20) Aghasi, Zeitoun, Traduction d'Archag Tchobanian (Paris 1897), pp.186, 193, 197
(21) British Blue Books on Turkey, No.l (l889) No.85, enclosure 3
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