SUMGAYIT

http://www.dabagyan.com/

История одного предателя http://www.yerkramas.org/2010/06/30/istoriya-odnogo-predatelya/ Житель Стамбула Левон Панос Дабагян собирается выдвинуть свою кандидатуру на предстоящих в Турции парламентских выборах. На состоявшейся не так давно конференции, посвященной противодействию международной кампании по признанию геноцида, он заявил, что усилия окажутся эффективными, только если турецкая пропаганда привлечет к сотрудничеству этнических армян. Предложив свои услуги, он дал понять, что считает себя достойным депутатского мандата. Левон Панос Дабагян уже многие годы работает на турецкую пропаганду, стремясь доказать, что геноцида не было. По образованию он историк. Специализируется на изучении роли армян в развитии османской государственности. В 2003-м выпустил книгу под названием “История армян Турции”. Как в этом, так и во всех остальных своих научных трудах он утверждает, что если в 1915-м действительно была резня, то это была резня турок, учиненная армянами. Турки же перед армянами ни в чем не повинны. “В период Первой мировой войны Турция в связи с условиями военного времени вынуждена была депортировать часть армян, проживающих на ее территории. Однако она никогда не осуществляла по отношению к армянам политику геноцида”, — пишет Дабагян. Он утверждает, что в случившемся виноваты сами армяне, так как позволили втянуть себя в организованную русскими провокацию, выступив на их стороне. “Россия и западный мир решили воспользоваться армянами и подорвать могущество Турции. Большинство вооруженных столкновений было спровоцировано именно армянами, переехавшими в Турцию из России”, — утверждает турецкий агитатор с армянской фамилией. Государственная пропагандистская машина успешно использует активность псевдоученого, полагая, что в устах армянина весь этот бред будет выглядеть более убедительно. Левона Паноса Дабагяна запускают обычно накануне обсуждения вопроса признания геноцида армян в парламенте очередной западной страны. Лучше всего он отработал после принятия Сенатом Франции закона о геноциде. Дабагян со всевозможных трибун кричал, что армяне не простят Франции то, что она взялась поссорить их с турками. Затем в этом же самом он обвинял канадцев, бельгийцев, греков, голландцев, словаков, швейцарцев, поляков, литовцев, аргентинцев, австралийцев, шведов, американцев… В последнее время он вновь активизировался. Недавно в турецком городе Ялова Дабагян выступил на конференции под названием “Армянский вопрос — исторические реалии”. Так как вокруг были все свои — то бишь турки, — он был предельно откровенным, полагая, что информация о содержании дискуссии не выйдет за пределы зала. Однако присутствовавший там корреспондент газеты “Хурриет” позволил себе в своей статье процитировать выдержку из выступления псевдоученого с фамилией на “ян”. Слова Дабагяна весьма наглядно характеризуют моральный облик этого человека. “Если даже утверждения армян о геноциде — это правда, то этот вопрос никого не должен волновать. Я не понимаю, при чем тут Армения. Мне 77 лет. 50 лет я прослужил Турции. Нас специально хотят разделить. Турки и армяне всегда жили в дружбе”, — заявил он. Обратите внимание — в кругу единомышленников Дабагян позволяет себе допустить, что геноцид на самом деле был. Но задачу свою от этого он не меняет: его миссия — доказать миру, что армяне нагло врут. Дабы подкрепить свои ненаучные измышления, Левон Панос Дабагян придумал любопытную легенду. Он взялся разделить наш народ на две части: собственно армян и “армян-еретиков”. (Последних он на мусульманский манер называет “рафизитами”.) Ко второй группе Дабагян причисляет “нечистокровных” армян, имеющих еврейское происхождение, а также последователей католической веры. В качестве таковых в пример он приводит потомков Багратидов, которые, согласно версии Мовсеса Хоренаци, происходят от иудейского царя Давида и его сына Соломона. В своей книге “Происки зла в Османской империи” Дабагян утверждает, что первое армянское восстание 1862-го года в Зейтуне было устроено не “чистыми” армянами, а потомками Багратидов, которых спровоцировали на мятеж посланные французами армяне-католики. А провал восстания он объясняет тем, что “чистокровные” армяне-григориане “не поддержали мятежников, сохранив преданность Османской империи”. То есть, согласно автору, есть два сорта армян — “неправильные”, к которым, видимо, следует отнести Андраника, Геворга Чауша, Ахпюра Сероба, и “правильные”, к коим, надо понимать, относится сам Левон Панос Дабагян. Что ж, лично я считаю, что могу гордиться тем, что Дабагян меня причисляет к “неправильным” армянам, потому как быть в одной группе с ним для меня было бы просто унизительно… Что же на самом деле движет этим странным человеком с армянской фамилией и турецкой душой? Разобраться в мотивации его действий не так уж и трудно, если ознакомиться с его биографией. Мне удалось выяснить, что еще в середине 60-х годов Левон Панос Дабагян вступил в ряды радикальной Партии националистического движения. Более того, он даже состоял в ее военизированном крыле — группировке “Серые волки”, которая прославилась благодаря многочисленным кровавым террористическим акциям, унесшим жизни тысяч людей в Турции, Европе и Америке. В числе акций “Серых волков” было и покушение на Папу Римского Иоанна Павла Второго. Говорят, Левон Панос был лично знаком с Мехметом Али Агджой, отсидевшим 19 лет за покушение на жизнь главы Католической церкви. Еще будучи активистом “Серых волков”, Дабагян начал публиковать в националистической прессе свои грязные антиармянские пасквили, отрицающие факт геноцида армян. Его инициативность высоко ценил сам лидер группировки Алпарсан Туркеш. Услугами Левона Паноса Дабагяна с удовольствием пользовались не только партийные, но и государственные органы. Два года назад ряд областных структур министерства образования Турции, в частности управление просвещения округа Адана, рекомендовали учащимся общеобразовательных школ для внеклассного чтения псевдонаучные труды Дабагяна о подрывной деятельности армян в годы Первой мировой войны. Известно, что многие книги, написанные горе-историком, были изданы на средства государства. К примеру, издание книги “Османский период правления Абдул Гамида” было оплачено Государственным сообществом историков, которое считается главным идеологическим центром турецкой политики отрицания геноцида армян. От этой же структуры Дабагян, по-видимому, и получил гонорар за свой труд, который уместно сравнить с библейскими тридцатью сребрениками. При всем при этом Дабагян имеет основания считать, что ценят его в турецком отечестве меньше, чем он того заслуживает. Даже депутатского мандата за самоотверженную деятельность не подарили. Однажды он уже пытался баллотироваться в меджлис от Партии националистического движения, но избиратель за него голосовать не стал. Видимо, это тот самый случай, когда предателями брезгуют даже те, на кого они работают. Но Левон Панос Дабагян и в свои 77 лет не теряет надежд на то, что в один прекрасный день окажется в парламенте. А пока старается продать себя подороже. На состоявшейся в конце мая конференции, организованной Союзом кемалистов и организацией “Националистический очаг”, Дабагян выступил с любопытной инициативой. Он призвал турецких правителей вовлекать во власть преданных турецкому отечеству армян, дабы они могли с самых высоких трибун говорить о недопустимости признания геноцида. Он намекнул, что сам себя очень хорошо представляет в этой роли. Что ж, быть может, действительно недалек тот день, когда с трибуны Парламентской ассамблеи Совета Европы от имени турецкой делегации выступит армянин, который расскажет миру о том, что во всех бедах региона виноваты его соотечественники-армяне. Догадайтесь, как будет звучать фамилия этого человека… Артем Ерканян, “Новое время”

Пошёл бы ты отсюда, старик. Можешь спасать армян в другом месте, здесь не получится. Для меня они вонючки и точка. Почитай историю, упырь.

Обидели твоих родственничков? Выпей солярки, поможет. Изгнанник. Беженец из Армении, потерявший всё. Это уже к тебе относится, мордоворот мордвармянский. А я простой смертный, как не удивительно.

Тема скрыта до лучших времён, которые непременно наступят. Готовлю новую тему "Армянские ублюдки". Как найду время - открою немедля. (пока занят )

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT A drastic change was witnessed in Turco-Armenian relations with the decline of the Ottoman Empire towards the end of the 19th century. As a result of activities carried out by instigators infiltrating the Ottoman territories from the West, mostly under a clerical guise, Armenians began to pull themselves away from the Turkish community in the religious, cultural, commercial, political and social fields. Armenians who used Turkish as their language, who conducted their religious sermons in Turkish and even those who had attained high positions within the Empire, such as cabinet ministers, undersecretaries and the like, collaborated with the enemy forces in a bid to attain the downfall of the Ottoman State.It is during this period that the Armenians began to present themselves as an ‘oppressed community’ and claimed that their sovereignty rights over Anatolia had been seized by the Turks, this with the aim of securing the backing of the West. States aspiring to attain their goals by exploiting the Armenians, did in fact encourage such propaganda and helped to create public opinion in a drive to have a say in the sanctions to be imposed on Turkey, and to be able to intervene when necessary. Thus, all initiatives with the pretext of supporting the Armenians and safeguarding their rights found serious backing within their own public opinion. Once they lost their privileged status, with the Reformation Bill granting equal status to muslims and non-muslims alike, the Armenians asked Russia not to withdraw from Eastern Anatolia, which she had invaded during the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian war; that autonomy be granted to these territories, or that reformation be conducted in line with their interests. These stipulations found the partial backing of Russia, and henceforward the Armenian issue began to assume an international dimension with the Yesilkoy Agreement, formerly known as the Hagia Stephanos Agreement, signed at the end of the Ottoman-Russian war and the subsequent Berlin Agreement. Thus, foreign powers aspiring o divide the country, started intervening in Turco-Armenian relations. Once, efforts to organize Ottoman Armenians to take action against the State, by means of committees set up in Anatolia as a result of activities carried out by missionaries proved futile, it was then decided that Russian Armenians set up such committees in regions outside the boundaries of the Ottoman State. Thus, the moderately militant Hinchak, with socialist tendencies, was set up in Geneva in 1887, followed by the extremist and pro-independence Tashnak Committee set up in Tbilisi in 1890, favouring terror, rebellions and struggle to achieve its goals. These committees had been targeted at ‘ liberating Anatolian territory and the Ottoman Armenians’. Attempts to launch a revolt, instigated by the Istanbul-based Hinchaks and aimed at provoking the Ottoman Armenians by drawing the attention of European nations to the Armenian issue, were followed by acts carried out by Tashnaks who had launched a political struggle. These attempts, masterminded by committees outside the Ottoman lands were supported by missionaries positioned in Anatolia.

Factors Leading to The Creation of The Issue (HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT) Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, with the encouragement of Russia, Britain, France and the Empire of Austria-Hungary, the nations which constituted the empire started struggling for liberation and they were successful. These developments set examples for the Armenians, as well. With financial and moral help of the countries, which wanted to dissolve the Ottoman Empire, they started rebellions in some regions. In this way, in the second half of the 19th century, an “Armenian question” came into being.During this period, the former Empire of Russia, which emerged gradually as an important state, accepted the Ottoman territories as a natural area of expansion through Ottoman territories and it possessed the goal of opening out to warm seas. In order to achieve this goal, its primary means was to make war. Beside this, it played the role of being the protector of the Christian communities under the Ottoman rule. On the other hand, the main powers of the period, Britain and France also aimed at securing the Armenians for Protestantism and Catholicism. In the framework of these goals, they established the Armenian Catholic Church in 1830, and the Armenian Protestant Church in 1847 in Istanbul. The real intention of this interest for the Ottoman Armenians and other Christian communities shown by Britain and France and Russia was to intervene in the interior affairs of the Ottoman State and dissolve the empire.These powers promised Armenians the establishment of the Armenian State in Eastern Anatolia. However, in the period in question the Armenian population in the region constituted only 15% of the general population. For instance, in Bitlis, where they populated mostly, they were not even 1/3 of the population of the province. The starting point for the “Armenian question” is Hagia Stephanos Agreement and Berlin Conference, signed at the end of the 1877-78 Ottoman-Russian war. The 16th article of Hagia StephanosAgreement, which the Ottoman State had to accept is as follows: “Because the evacuation of the regions in Armenia, which are under the occupation of the Russian Forces and ought to be rendered to Ottoman State, this might cause detrimental chaos in the friendly relations of the two states in these regions. The Ottoman State guarantees, without losing time, the redressing and arrangements required for the local interests in these provinces, where the Armenians live, and providing the security of the Armenians towards Kurds and Circassians.” Although in principle this provision of the agreement did not exactly satisfy the Armenians, who wished to gain their independence, it is important to note that the “Armenian question” was recorded in an international document and the region called “Armenia” was mentioned for the first time in history. Also, in 1878, the 61st article of the Berlin Agreement, which was signed at the end of the Berlin Congress, replaced the 16th article of the Hagia Stephanos Agreement and it is as follows: “The Ottoman State guarantees, without losing time, the redressing and arrangement that are required by the local interests in the provinces, where the Armenians live, and providing peace and security of the Armenians towards Kurds and Circassians. And since it shall notify the concerned states about these precautions, these states shall monitor the implementation of these precautions.” With this provision of the Berlin Agreement, the foreign powers were recognised the right of intervention to the Turco-Armenian relations.

HINCHAK (HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT) The Hinchak (Ring of Bell) Committee was established in 1886 in Switzerland by Avedis Nazarbelg, a Caucasian Armenian and a citizen of Russia, his wife Maro and other Caucasian students. In order to disseminate the idea of the committee, a newspaper called Hinchak was published. The heads and most of the members of this committee were Russian Armenians. This committee chose Eastern Anatolia as the area of operation. After some period of time, the headquarters of the committee was moved from Switzerland to London.The program of the Hinchak Committee was Socialist, Marxist and Centralist. The principles of Karl Marx were adopted as fundamental. Although the members of this committee were called themselves as social democrats their political program totally had the nature of the communist manifesto. The Committee had its headquarters primarily in Istanbul and opened branches in some states of the Ottoman country. In this way, it started its organised activities. The main political objective of this committee was to save the Armenians in Turkey from the Turks, Iranian Armenians from the Iranians and Russian Armenians from the Russians and after that, getting rid of the capitalists in these countries. PROGRAM “Labourers and productive class comprise great majority of humanity. This class shall be free from the exploitation of the wealthy, sovereign minority, which has the capital, thereby having all the power and means of production, land, plants, mines and means of transportation. The independence of the productive class means the freedom of humanity as a whole, general economic prosperity. In order to attain this objective and put this into practice actually, the productive classes in all civilised countries ought to organise in ways peculiar to themselves and materialise the communist revolution in all countries through activating the general political opportunities under their rule. Therefore, the other classes will disappear and the productive class will establish a socialist order. In this establishment, people will enact their own laws and show their power. (…) Now, the Armenians are under the rule of the classes which are dependent on autocratic regimes. Their administration, taxation and financial systems are destructive for them. One hand capitalist production methods are applied in these countries and on the other hand the old economic and management methods are being annihilated continuously.” Considering all these conditions, the provision of a general and comprising socialist rule for the Armenian social democrats and all the Armenians was accepted as a long-term objective and because of that reason all the tendencies and struggles required a short-term objective. This short-term objective was the basis for the social democrat Armenian Revolutionary Hinchak Party. These objectives were as follows: a. To revoltb. To annihilate the sovereign classes of the autocratic regimes c. To save the Armenians from the slavery d. To support the Armenians for their intervention to the political affairs e. To remove the obstacles that affect economic and cultural developments f. To prepare an environment where the working class can voice its wishes and tendencies openly g. To rearrange the heavy working conditions h. To provide information for the class so that they can organise themselves as a political unit peculiar to them i. To facilitate the activities of the people and assist them to attain the long-term objectives In accordance with this idea, the short-term objective of the Hinchak Committee was to struggle for the removal of autocratic regimes and its classes; and to replace them with constitutional regimes. Its main conditions were as follows: a. For the representation of the people, a legislative assembly ought to be established through elections, in which all the sections can vote directly. This assembly ought to have the right to examine decide on all the political and economic affairs of the country. b. Broad autonomy ought to be granted to the states c. Complete freedom ought to be provided for the people d. People ought to be able to select the government officials, all the people in public services security officials and the officials in the fields of education and justice e. Without taking nationality and class differences into consideration, all major citizens ought to have the capacity to be elected both for states and autonomous administrations f. All the citizens ought to be equal in the presence of law without taking nationality and religious differences into account g. Complete freedom ought to be granted to press, expression, conscience, organisation, establishment of association and election procedures h. All the citizens themselves and their homes ought to be protected against attacks i. The churches ought to be separated from the government; all the religious organisations ought to survive with the help of the people themselves, who are frequenting these organisations j. In peace, all the people ought to do its military service in militia forces k. Secular and compulsory education system ought to be implemented; the government ought to aid poor people Since the political rights mentioned above concern the improvement of the economic situation of the people, it is necessary to fulfil the conditions below: a. The present tax system ought to be annulled and it ought to be replaced by a tax system, which is advanced and is in accordance with the power and the payment capacity of the people.b. Indirect taxes ought to be abolished totally c. The peasants ought exempt from all kinds of debts d. Agricultural machines ought to be provided with the help of the people and the government. People should be thought how to use these machines and these ought to be delivered to the people e. Agricultural corporations among the people ought to be established. The goals of these corporation ought to be the sale of the agricultural products, purchasing and management of some products like seeds, cereals etc. f. All kind of transportation and contact means ought to be supplied g. In order to hinder the exploitation of the working people, the government ought to procure help in this respect and ought to pass laws to protect them The Turkish Armenians are the majority of the Armenians and the regions where they live, are the largest territories of our country. Thanks to the 61st article of the Berlin Agreement and the other international conditions, the struggle of most Armenians became a matter of rights and is recognised by the big European countries.The political, economic and financial disorders, the decrease, the exhaustion, the interior chaos and the disturbances in the Ottoman Empire made the collapse of the Ottoman government necessary and definite. The other European states influenced this situation as well. Some parts of the Ottoman territories in Europe were separated in a systematic way and was owned by other states. Because of this reason, the procurement of the points below became a historical necessity and requirement: a. The Armenian committee members shall exert their efforts for the defence and finalisation of the Armenian struggle in accordance with the short-term objective.b. In this context, the struggle area of the revolution shall be the region of Armenians, who are living in Turkey. c. Since the future of the Armenians shall necessitate the separation from the Ottoman State, the primary condition of short-term objective is the Armenian independence. The solutions to attain the short-term objective is to mess up and create chaos in the Armenian regions in Turkey by revolution namely by force; and to declare war against the Turkish government with a general revolt. The means of these activities are as follows: a. To make propaganda through the press, books and speeches among the people, especially the workers, to disseminate the revolution idea of the Hinchak Party, to establish some revolutionary organisations among the people and to rebelb. To punish Turkish autocrats, detectives, informers, traitors; to use terrorism as the means for the defence of the revolutionary organisations and as a shiled against the infamous and those, who oppress the people. c. To posses an active armed force for the purpose of protecting the people against the attacks of the government soldiers or tribes, to form raider troops. These troops shall play a leading role in a general revolution in the future. d. A general revolutionary organisation, which will comprise many regular interconnected groups ought to be established. This organisation will work for the common goal with unity and will apply same tactics given and directed from a single centre. e. To prepare the incidents for the implementation of an organised rebellion f. The most appropriate instant for the success of a general revolt is the time when a country has declared war against Turkey. g. To make the other minorities, which shared same destiny with the Armenians, side with us in order to make war against the Turkish Government, our joint enemy. The most important objective of the Hinchak Committee is to be free of the slavery of the Ottoman State and to establish a federation as in Switzerland. The Hinchak Committee worked according to a political program and made the Marxism propaganda, which was very attractive especially for the working class. The young people, religious leaders, adventurers and the unemployed were very eager to be a member of the committee and work with us to create chaos and revolt. The Committee executives wanted to create an Armenian Proletariat by working on the class concept. Within the context of the living standards in Turkey, these activities of the Committee could not go beyond the propaganda of socialism. A lot of people from many foreign countries especially Russia and who were familiar with these matters participated in many of the revolts organised by the Hinchak Committee.The start of the Armenian activities caused many tragic and bloody incidents, which could not be compensated for. For the foundation of the organizations of the Hinchak Committee, ?imavonfrom Tblisi, S. Danielyan, Russian citizen Rupen Hanazat and H. Megavoryan came from Geneva, Iran, Trabzon and Batum respectively. After very long discussions, the Istanbul Hinchak Committee Center was established. The other revolutionary organisations, which were established before 1890 in Istanbul, joined it as well. As we can see, the destiny of the Armenians in Turkey was left to the hands of many Russian Armenians. In the way, those, who did not enter the committee and who did not help financially were put under pressure or killed. The organisations also extended to many states in Anatolia in a rapidly. ACTIVITIES The rules and regulations, and the program of the Hinchak Association were published in 1909, in Istanbul. These rules and regulations were delivered to the Ministry of Interior in accordance with the law concerning the associations; and obtained the certificate no. 90, of February 8, 1909, of the Governor of Istanbul. The rules and regulations were composed of 5 sections. Concerning the activities of the Armenian Hinchak Committee, it was written as follows in the decision books of the years 1910,1911,1912 and 1913: a. To work for supply of arms, ammunition and explosivesb. Military Training of the arms (by Marufyan, Yavruyan, Candan) c. To speed up propaganda d. To establish contact with the Tashnak Committee e. To establish contact with the unionists f. Formation and the management of guerrillas in Van (These guerrillas are; Orsfan, Cang, Go?nak,Jura?ak, Pencak, Badami, Tejohenk, Maro and Paros) On 24 July 1914, Hinchak Committee held its Third Congress in Turkey. This congress was opened under the chairmanship of Cang?lyan and under the Secretaryship of Tancutyan with 28 delegates from 51 divisions and these decisions were adopted:“Taking the serious responsibility, that is required by our activities and objectives and the danger emanating from them into account, we have to avoid adventures and irresponsible behaviour in order to prove, that we are civilised people. The balanced influences and means, which are planned meticulously, are the only solutions to achieve our goals and our operations” Upon this, the Hinchak committee members started to leave Turkey in 1896. Disagreement occurred among the members of this committee and they were divided into two sections. Some of them were called the original Hinchaks (the supporters of Nazarbeg) and the others were called Reformed Hinchaks (Veragazmiyal Hinchak). A man, called Arpiyaryan started to lead this second group. Both committees acted in accordance with the opinions and attitude of the directors, not according to their principles and program. They gave top priority to their personal interests and they defended this point of view. This disagreement among them turned into street fights and some of them were beaten and some were killed. The Armenian people, who understood that Hinchak members were Marxist, refused the views of the members of bands. The struggles increased in 1902 and many members of the committees from both sides were killed in streets fights in Britain, Russia, Egypt, Bulgaria, the Caucasus and Iran. Although some small guerrillas were renamed as Hinchaks after the Revolt in Van, they were deprived as sufficient power. Some of the Hinchak leaders understood the disguised goal of the Russians and they derailed the way that they pursued and this played a major role in the dissolution of the Hinchak Committee. REFERENCE: Sakarya, Emg. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Genelkurmay Askeri Tarih ve Stratejik Et?t Baskanligi Askeri Tarih Yayinlari, Genelkurmay Basimevi, Ankara, 1984, 2. Edition, pp. 76-87

The Tashnak Terrorist Organization (HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT) The “Armenian Revolutionary Federation” or “Tashnak Organization” is also known as the “Tashnak Party.” In fact, after the communist takeover of the Armenian Republic, the Tashnak organization continued its existence as a party in exile, mainly in Lebanon, Iran, France, Greece and the United States. This organization has remained active up to the present day and has performed a significant role in planning and promoting the new era of Armenian terrorism, as well as forming teams and groups for carrying out terrorist operations. A move was made, later in its career, to have its name changed from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to the Armenian National Committee. The intention behind this was to achieve greater effectiveness in its propagandist activities by the removal of a name that could offend Western sensibility.The Structure of the Organization a. “Bureau”: This is the highest organ of the organization and takes the decisions that determine its administrative policies. In appearance the bureau represents collective leadership. It consists of eight members, one each from California, France and Iran and five from Lebanon. The members elect a chairman. The bureau, which was based in Lebanon until the outbreak of the Civil War, was moved from there to the United States and then to Greece and France. The regulations of the bureau and its decisions are kept secret .It is known that a person named Hrair Marukian, Persian by birth and domiciled in France, was its chairman until 1985. b. “The Central Committee”: It is the highest-level executive organ. It establishes the link between the bureau and the local groups and organizations. It is established in places where there is a sizeable Armenian population. Lebanon and France have one central committee each, whilst the United States has two, one on the eastern and’ the other one on western coasts. Under the pyramid shaped structure there are local organizations and their organs. These have different names which usually refer to various “Armenian Themes” The most important ones are: the Federation of Armenian Youth, the Youth Organization, the Armenian Boy and Girl Scouts Club, organizations for sport and cultural activities. c. There are also various offices operating under the central committees, such as those in charge of propagandist activities and publicity, as well as legal, financial, military and educational matters. These offices offer purely technical service or advice. As an example of an office rendering a specific service, we can mention the Committee for Supervising Armenian Immigration. Aims The Tashnak terrorist organization defines the meaning of the Armenian cause or “the Hay Taht” as the establishment of an independent and non-communist Armenia within the boundaries designated by the abrogated S?vres Treaty and the enforcement of payment of compensation by Turkey in return for the crimes said to have been committed against the Armenians. Tashnak publications express to this objective in the following words, “We will continue to insist on the implementation of the S?vres Treaty, as being one of the milestones in the pursuit of our cause.” In another publication, the aims of the Tashnaks are summarised as the recognition of the right of the Armenians to live in their own lands and to govern themselves. More commonly, the final aims of the Tashnaks can be summarised as “Four T Plan”: a) propaganda the recognition of the Armenian claim that genocide was committed, c) the payment of a compensation by Turkey, d) resettlement in the Armenian homelands. Strategies and Policies Although the Tashnakshave publicly declared that their strategies are directed towards the realization of their aims through “peaceful means”, neither the events of the past nor their activities in the new era of Armenian terrorism have proved this to be true. This ‘party’ which has all the characteristics of a terrorist organization, can assume, when needed, a peaceful guise and mislead the public by using propagandist tactics perfected through long years of experience. In fact, as has been said above, it was the Tashnaks who were responsible for the establishment of the “Justice Commandos for Armenian Genocide”, whose name was later changed to “the Armenian Revolutionary Army”. It is, indeed, the Tashnaks who decided upon and planned the assassinations and bomb assaults carried out by this group. These activities suffice to show that the Tashnak organization never abandoned the terrorist tendencies it possessed at its inception. Nonetheless, there is a significant difference between the strategies employed by the Tashnaksand those by ASALA. ASALA makes no distinction between the Turks and other nationalities, all of whom can figure indiscriminately as their targets, whereas the Tashnak organization and its affiliates take Turkish citizens or official representatives of Turkey as the sole targets of their deadly operations. After the killing of the Turkish Consul General in Los Angeles in 1972, the Justice Commandos announced that their targets were “only Turkish diplomats and Turkish institutions.” The same declaration of intention was made in connection with the assault carried out by the Armenian Revolutionary Army against the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon in 1983. The difference that exists between the strategies of the Tashnaksand ASALA may be explained by observing the historical development of the two organizations. As we have seen, the Tashnakstook a pro-Western stance in the 19th Century and the first two decades of the 20th Century and aimed at influencing public opinion in the West, whereas the Hinchaks turned towards Russia for protection and support. It is significant that, during the years 1973-1985, terrorism made use of both camps. The strategy adopted by the Tashnaksfinds its clearest expression in the announcement made in the wake of the Lisbon attack. According to this, “a national liberation movement has to go through two phases in order to attain its end: firstly, the phase of internal propaganda, when bases of support are secured; secondly, the phase of external publicity directed towards gaining the sympathy of the world and attracting attention for the cause: hence the necessity for organizing activities that serve as demonstrations…” For the Dashnaks, Armenian terrorism was but a form of demonstration conducted as part of their strategy. In other words, the assaults, bombings and raids that were carried out and the people who were injured, killed or trampled to death in the course of these incidents, were all considered to be the necessary elements of a scenario that made up the ‘demonstration’. The Tashnakhistorian Varandjian described the characteristics of the Tashnakterrorist organization in the words: “Perhaps no other revolutionary party, not even the Russian Narodovoletz (Narodnaya Volya) or the Charbonari of the Italians, adepts though they were at terrorism and undaunted by anything that came in their way, could breed terrorists as reckless and impassioned as the Dashnaks. Hundreds of men carrying guns, daggers and bombs are up in arms.” It is sobering to reflect that during the period we have studied the mission of these “reckless and impassioned” terrorists was to attack Turkish institutions and the Turks. The Congresses of Vienna and Munich On December 27, 1981 the following resolutions were taken in the twenty-second TashnakCongress held in Vienna: a) The Party’s goal is to secure the establishment of a united and independent Armenia. Pressure should be exerted on other Armenian organizations by the political committees to induce them to join the ranks of the Dashnaks. c) Complete agreement with the West must be secured. d) Close relations have to be established with the Soviet Union, and Armenian immigration must be stopped. In the Munich Congress held at the end of 1984 with the participation of representatives for fifteen countries, the following resolutions were passed: a) New campaigns must be launched to publicise the Armenian cause. An attempt must be made to resolve the ‘Armenian question’ through legal and other peaceful measures, for example, a campaign must be conducted to bring the issue of genocide before the United States Congress and the United Nations Committee for Human Rights so as to secure its recognition. In the declaration made at the end of the Congress, the delegates made the following announcement: “We are to continue our struggle for the recognition of the legal rights of the Armenian people and of the genocide committed by the Turks; as well as the payment of a compensation for the human, cultural and economic losses endured by our nation and the restitution of the Armenian national home which has belonged to us for thousands of years.”The resolutions taken at both Congresses are of interest in facilitating the identification of the themes that were to be used as means of propaganda by the Tashnak terrorist organization. Support and Connections The Tashnakterrorist organization derived its support largely from the United States and Europe. It operated on the basic principle of avoiding, as far as possible, contact with the other terrorist organizations. Instead, it had links with various organizations in the states mentioned, its primary source of support being the Church and the Union of Churches, as well as the Armenian lobbies and research centres. Political Developments Up to the 1970?s the “liberation and independence of Soviet Armenia” formed the basis of the policies determined and implemented by the Tashnakterrorist organization. For this reason, the Tashnaksgave priority to hostilities against the U.S.S.R. and engaged in a merciless struggle against those who supported and controlled Soviet Armenia. During Christmas worship, the Archbishop of the Holy Cross Armenian Church in New York was assassinated by a Tashnaksuicide-killer. The reason given was the Archbishop’s approval of the situation in Soviet Armenia. After the 1970?s, the break-up, due to death and other factors, of the ruling party in the Armenian Republic and the comparisons being drawn between the Third World liberation movements and the Tashnak terrorist movements led to significant changes in the Tashnak policies. Their hostility was now directed against Turkey and the Turks. “Fascist Turkey” had become the real enemy; Turkey’s ally, the United States, was also counted among their enemies. The “Justice Commandos for Armenian Genocide” (JCAG), a terrorist group established in 1972 and organized by the Tashnaks, were put into action as a result of the policy changes mentioned above. The Aztag Shapatoriag, the propaganda organ of the Tashnak sand especially of the JCAG, issued a warning of ‘terror’ when they announced that “terrorism is the last hope and the only path to follow in the liberation struggles of to-” Despite all the propaganda efforts by the Tashnak terrorist organization, the Lisbon operation was seen as a complete failure. The attempts to present the attack on the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon, as a turning point in terror did not win general acceptance. Following this, they were obliged to change the name of the JCAG to “Armenian Revolutionary Army”; even so, this did not produce the desired results. In particular, the arrest and conviction in 1984 of Sasunian, one of the Tashnak murderers, proved a great setback to Tashnak policies. The Tashnaks lost the support of American-born Armenians. According to the Armenian Reporter, the Tashnak Party had been taken over by Lebanese Armenians from abroad, and was powerless in the face of a large majority who did not support terrorism. The weakening of the- terrorist wing of the party led to increasing clashes of opinion at the highest level of the Executive Council and Central Committees. The highest officials in the party were split into two groups. Powerful members of the Executive Council, representatives of the Lebanese Central Committee and leading members of the party administration, were murdered in Beirut or disappeared without trace. By the end of 1985, it was impossible to speak of a united Tashnak Party. Two important external factors helped to create this situation within the Tashnakterrorist organization. The first was the revelation that the Tashnak leaders had had connections with secret service organizations in certain countries and that these were trying to establish control over the Armenian churches. The second was the struggle between ASALA and the Dashnaks. ASALA described the Tashnak leaders as “parasites who were sucking the blood of Armenians dry.” As a matter of fact, these developments within the Tashnak terrorist organization were not new. Whenever such conflicts and divisions arose in the past, the Tashnaks always re-emerged sometime later. In the World Armenian Congresses, the Tashnaks have always been, and will continue to be, a force to reckon with. As for the policy changes, they may be construed as being to temporary conflicts in leaderships. The Media Within the Armenian terrorist organizations, the Tashnak terrorist organization was experimenting in the field of propaganda and was giving support to that extent. They had acquired the means of constantly informing world opinion of their goals, their activities and their policy through the press and broadcasting media; for example, through various serials and feature films, through radio programmes, which they had purchased, thorough private radios, television and video films. Quite a few countries showed interest and provided the Tashnaks with special support in this area. Among the most important Tashnak publications were Hairenik and Asbarez, both published in Armenian in the United States, together with the Armenian Weekly, which was published in English. The Tashnaks also organized twenty-two world conferences in places such as Paris, Bucharest, Erevan and Munich, although the number of participants was limited. This was a tremendous propaganda and publicity effort on their part.

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE GENERAL LIST OF REVOLTS The Armenian revolts started with the Erzurum incident in 1890 and ended with Van rebellion in 1896. This period of Armenian massacres to Turks was referred as a so-called “genocide” by the Western world. Nalbadian says, ”in this period, 50.000-300.000 Armenian were killed.” David Marshall Lang writes that 200.000 Armenians were killed between 1894-96. According to Pastirmaciyan there were 100.000-110.000 dead people. Misasskian writes “At least 300.000 Armenians died.” Hepsius’s number for Armenian casualties is 88.243. However, there are some doubts about all these figures. For instance, in 1896 it is said that 20.000 people were killed in Van. But most of the bands activated in Van province came from Iran. Saadettin Pasha says that 6.000 people died in Zeytun. According to Agasi 125 people lost their lives. The British documents state that after the end of the rebellion the people, who died because of the diseases, were 3.000. Yet these deaths are not related to the rebellion. Bliss’s figure belonging to 1895 is 35.032. It is evident that the Armenian bandits and rebels killed thousands of Turks in 1890’s and the Armenian casualties during their own revolts would not be more than 20.000. Agasi’s words “We killed 20.000 Turks in Zeytun” clarify the facts. With no doubt, Muslim casualties are much more than the Armenian casualties. REFERENCE: G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara,1983,pp.167-68

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS IZMIT AND ADAPAZARI INCIDENTS When the Russian navy was bombarding Eregli in the Black Sea Region, it was found out that the Armenians in the region spied for the Russians. Especially, the Armenians in Adapazari started telling and propagating clearly that “The Russians will land on the Black Sea coast in a few days; they will come here. When they come there will be no Turks left in our region.” Upon this, the government had a search made in the region. At the end of the search a great number of explosive materials guns, pistols, soldier and gendarme uniforms, a great amount of ammunition and dynamite fuses were found. Only few of them were enough to destroy Adapazari. Another search was made in Izmit and similar things the same things were found. According to the evidence given by the revolutionists who were arrested both in Adapazari and Izmit, if the Russian occupation had taken place, in the estuary of the Sakarya River these explosives would have been used against the Turkish army and Turkish people. Therefore, a plan for massacre and total destruction was going to be put in practise. Some of the Armenians would wear uniforms of the Turkish Army and destroy the Turkish Army from within. When this plan of the Armenians was unveiled, the gang leaders escaped to Yalova and Bursa regions and they robbed and killed the Turkish people they came across. In spite of all these, the Armenians started to disseminate news and rumours, about Armenians being killed and tortured everywhere. In the end, the government had to take the fundamental measures. Some of the Armenian gangs were arrested and some of them escaped to different regions. REFERENCE: Sakarya, Em. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.238

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE URFA INCIDENTS Following the declaration of the Constitutional Regime, the Armenian committees also established an organisation in Urfa, composed of volunteers. The Armenians who were replaced in this region, were also deceived. Meanwhile, a man, who was found guilty in the Urfa revolt in 1895, was exiled to Tripoli. This man, who was discharged after the declaration of the Constitutional Regime, came back to Turkey and introduced himself as a priest. The Armenian Patriachate to Istanbul sent him to Urfa. He prepared the Armenian revolt and instilled Turkish hostility within the region. He explained to them the importance of weapons and armament. The Russians attached great importance to the Armenian preparations in Urfa; because Urfa is in a location on the main road that stretches out from Eastern Anatolia to Iskenderun. Food, which would be sufficient for the rebellions for thirty years was stored. The occupation of Van province by the Russians speeded up the provocation and the propaganda of the Armenian rebels. By putting forward that the Russians would come to Urfa by passing through Diyarbakir, and Siverek, they called Armenians for revolt. One of the most significant features of the revolt preparations was carrying water to the rebels who kept them coming from Maras and Diyarbakir, grinding the wheat to make flour, cooking bread, taking care of the patients, cleaning up the guns, receiving orders, making bullets, making speeches and forming the teams. These would be realized with an armed force, which was comprised of local volunteers and the deserters, and which would be used under the order of the commanders for Zeytun, Sason, Bitlis, Antep regions. They succeeded in materialising these preparations. While waiting for the appropriate time to start the revolt, during the collection of the weapons and the recruitment of the ones, born in 1894, the Armenian soldiers, who escaped from Zeytun, Sason, Ha?in, Diyarbakir provinces joined the rebels. The first revolts started in Germis village, 7.5 kilometers away from Urfa and on Thursday, 19 August 1915 in the center of Urfa. On the following day of the Urfa incident the Armenian soldiers of the service battalion, who were working at the Tell?llebyaz-Urfa-Siverek road attempted to kill the officers and the Turkish workers, as they had planned before. However they could not achieve this. Later on, the Armenian soldiers, who were working at the Tell?lebyaz-Urfa section, martyred Reserve Officer Ibrahim Hilmi through the pickaxes, shovels and the guns they obtained from the guard gendarmes; and they wounded four gendarmes and the alderman. After this incident on 28 August 1915, the order prevailed until 29 September 1915. Nevertheless, on 29 September 1915, 40 gunshots were made. On the following day, the police and the gendarme, who went to the Armenian quarter to investigate the incident, met the fire and one gendarme had died and two were wounded. The rebels attacked the houses of the Turks and they captured the ones, who were suitable for defence and attack; and martyred 10 women, young and old, from the Muslim families. The revolt in Urfa was planned and directed by the Armenian committees perfectly. It was established that foreign countries were involved in this incident and that they received help from them. Following the rebellion, the leaders of the Armenian gangs managed to escape to other regions. The 4th Army Commander informed the Supreme Military Command about the fight through the code number 7664 on the day it ended, 16 October 1915. REFERENCE: Sakarya, Em. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.240-243

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE SEBINKARAHISAR INCIDENT Besides the Armenian incidents, many rebellions occurred in Anatolia. One of them is ?ebinkarahisar incident on 5 June 1915. Murat (Hamparsun Boyaciyan), born in Sivas, was an Armenian band leader who attacked Shebinkarahisar with about 500 men. Since the road to transport reinforcements to the Turkish Eastern Front passed through the region, it had strategic importance. In case of an Armenian seizure of the region, the reinforcement and the back-up services of the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) would be delayed and the front operations of the Russian army would become easier. The bandits set fire to the Muslim quarters. They started to kill the Turkish people, they tortured them, first. They attacked the army and gendarmerie detachments. Reconsidering these conditions, the forces were brought from other fronts and they were sent to Shebinkarahisar. They besieged the Armenian rebels. The message that was sent to the High Command of the 10th Army Corps Headquarters in Sivas on 15 June 1915 included the statements below: “It is informed that about 500 Armenian bandits, who were collected from different places, sheltered in the old castle in ?ebinkarahisar and revolted. The Sivas Governor informed that the fights took place between the security forces and the bandits.” The message sent by the Sivas Governor to the 3rd Army Corps Headquarters on 18-19 June 1915 included the following: “It is reported that the Shebinkarahisar rebellion was suppressed; about 800 Armenian women, men and children took shelter in the castle; about 200 of the rebels were armed.” REFERENCE: Sakarya, Em. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.227-228

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS MOUNT MUSA INCIDENT Mount Musa is at the foot of the Nur Mountains. It is 1.000 meters high. It is covered with huge rocks and bushes and looks like a single block of rock. The book “40 Days at Mount Musa”, by a Jew, called Werfel, was made a film, in order to propagate the said oppression by the Armenians in America. The Governor of Aleppo of the time, General Fahrettin T?rkkan describes the incident that broke out in the World War I as follows: “During the World War I, it was rumoured that the Entente Powers would land on the shores of the Iskenderun Region. So the habitants of seven Armenian villages connected to Samandag subdistrict, did not pay their tax due. They refused to support Turkish Armed Forces. They revolted and escaped to Mount Musa. Upon this development, although the government sent some officials to talk to them and to persuade them to obey the government orders, the Armenians did not pay attention to this and defended themselves with weapons. Colonel Galip, the commander of the region could not find any other solution therefore he took the roads under the control, that were extending from Mount Musa. Although he wanted to talk to the rebellions individually for the last time, he saw that nobody was left on the mountain. At the end of the search, it was found out that the Armenians came down to the Mediterranean by the slope of a hill that was stretched out to the sea. Following the tracks, Colonel Galip climbed down to the shore and came across 20-30 animal corpses. The search unveiled that a French war ship, which was observing the shores of Iskenderun, sent a boat to the shore upon the signal given from Mount Musa. This boat carried the Armenian gang leaders and the other rebels to the ships. This information can be obtained from the official channels of the French Government. The searches made the Mount Musa revealed that there were no human corpses on the shore or , even wounded or diseased people. Within this respect, it was concluded to a conclusion that the aim of the book written by Werfel, a Jewish origin, was likely to propagate in order to create a public opinion against the Turkish people. It was translated into all languages; and was made a film.” This is the Mount Musa Incident. Its objective was to discredit and condemn the Turks. During World War I the French considered Aleppo and Hatay provinces as a significant entrance and exit to the Mediterranean and attached great importance to the Samandag region. Moreover they searched the possibility to land on this region. Because of this reason, they bombarded Iskenderun Province six times. Although they wanted make trouble for the Ottoman government by provoking the Christians, they could not find the opportunity and courage to materialise this initiative. REFERENCE: Sakarya, Em. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.245-246

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE FINDIKCIK INCIDENT While the Armenians in Zeytun region, who revolted against the Ottoman government from time to time, were being replaced in the other regions, the Armenians, who spread out to the land, in the north of the Nur Mountains, attacked the Turkish villages, the military units and the gendarme detachments and set fire, destroyed and killed. After a period of time, in Spring 1915, 600 bandits, who were Armenians from Zeytun, Saimbeyli and Maras, gathered and revolted between Maras and the Bah?e Town; and Findik?ik village, which was 30 kilometres distant from Ayvalik Subdistrict. They burned four Turkish villages nearby this village. The Armenians in Maras region also started to get together in Findik?ik, the center of the rebellion. The village was prepared for the defense. Meanwhile, although a gendarme detachment was sent to the rebellion region, no positive results were achieved. Upon this, 312th Infantry Regiment from Islahiye and infantry battalion from Belen and a mountain cannon team were sent to the Findik?ik region and the revolt was suppressed. More than 10 Turkish villages were set on fire and about 2.000 Turkish people were killed violently in this incident. REFERENCE: Sakarya, Em. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.243-244

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE BURSA INCIDENT Upon the increase of the Armenian rebellions and incidents, the Armenians gangs, who heard that at the end of the searches in Adapazari and Izmit many weapons were obtained; and who had been preparing in Chengiler, Soloz, Orhangazi, Bilecik regions for a long time, started to attack the Turkish people. Their aim was to make the government forces the gendermerie and the military units to pursue Armenians themselves. Thus forces who were fighting against the enemy on the front would be weakened and demoralised. The Armenian bands that had modern weapons and even medical equipment, started assaults everywhere in groups 60-70, by uniting with the bandits who had escaped from Izmit and Adapazari. It was established that the leaders of the Armenian gangs were the Chief Priest Vekil Barkef and his secretary Sokpas, the Principal of Bursa Armenian School, porter of the church and the religious people. REFERENCE: Sakarya, Em. T?mg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.239

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE ADANA INCIDENT Following the Armenian provocation, which lasted for days, the Armenians killed two young Muslims and when they insisted not to surrender the murderer, the demonstrations took a serious turn and extended to streets. The Muslims and the Armenians fought in the streets for 3 days. The government sent troops from Dedeagach to Adana immediately. Upon their arrival the incidents tented worsen; but they were suppressed easily. In his memoirs, Cemal Pasha said that during the Adana incident 17.000 Armenians and 1.850 Muslims died. If the Armenians had had the majority of population, in the province, these figures would have been differred. During the bloodshed, the behaviour of the parties was not different from each other. According to the research made by the Patriarchate 21.300 people died. Babikyan Efendi, the deputy of Edirne province prepared a report to be presented to the parliament, but he died shortly after the report, which stated that the number of dead was 21.001, could not be discussed in the Assembly. By taking into consideration that there was the possibility was that there might be some people, who escaped from the scene and came back later; and since the figure established by Cemal Pasha belonged to a period after the trial, it was accepted that the mu?ber of the Armenians, who died was nearly 17.000, not 21.000. After the incident, Adana was put under martial law. The Muslim and Armenians who committed crimes were sent to Court Martial. REFERENCE: G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara,1983,pp.175-76

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE YILDIZ ASSASSINATION The last initiative of the Tashnaks is the assassination of Abd?lhamid. Papazian confirms this accordingly:“The assault against Sultan Abd?lhamid’s life was the last try of the Tashnaks for the revolution on behalf of the Turkish Armenians. That was one of the splendid but useless initiative of Tashnaksutyun. Its success would not have contributed to the Armenian problem. Its failure saved our people from a great catastrophe.” Together with Krisdapor Mikaelyan, Vram ?abuh Kendiryan from Arnavutk?y, Belgian Joris and his semi-Greek wife Silvio Ris?i, Lipa-Rips born in Germany, Torkom (Ardas Ha?ik Kaptanyan), Safo (Konstantin Kabulyan), Mari Zayn, Garo (Hamparsun Agacanyan), Kris Fenerciyan, Asod (Karlo Yovanoi?) and some adventurous people coming from different parts of the Caucuses and Europe gathered in Istanbul and started to make plans for the assassination. First of all, they went to the Polonezk?y (Polish village) with 12 bombs and made some bombing experiments in Ibrahim Pasha forest. Because of his Russian Jewish merchant passport, Krisdapor went to the Sultan’s public procession ceremony with the advise received from the Russian Embassy and he made the investigation freely. He thought that it was easy to throw the bomb on the Sultan when he was passing. Yet, since the roads were covered with sand, it was possible that the bomb would not explode. Later on the plan was discussed. On fifteenth day of Ramadan during the ceremony, two men with guns would attack the Sultan, Joris proposed to rent a house on the road, from Yildiz to Dolmabahce. The men appointed to fulfil this mission were present with the guns. Yet, that day, the Sultan went to Ciragan Palace through the Yildiz Garden and the assassination attempt of the committee failed. Finally, it was planned to bomb the premises, where foreign guests were frequenting, and at the same time to explode a great bomb in a carriage. Careful studies and calculations were made and it was decided that the bombs would be prepared in foreign countries; the tests would be materialized there and the assassination would be realised with a time bomb put in a special carriage. Krisdapor continued his investigations. He went to Yildiz every week. He recorded the time when the Sultan arrived at and departed from the mosque; he measured the distance between the carriage and the mosque, the steps and the time. Finally, they decided to explode a timed-bomb in a carriage which would wait among the carriages of foreign guests. The carriage would be placed as close as possible to the Sultan and the Sultan would be killed together with the people around him . A metal chest, to be placed in the coachman’s seat was made and it would include 120 kilos of explosives. In order to inflame the explosives a clock face, a circuit of 42 seconds was prepared. It was decided that Zare Ha?ikyan, 45 years old, veteran murderer, Armenian committee member, would ride the carriage. On 18 July, in the morning the explosive material and 500 capsules were loaded in an iron chest under the driver’s seat. Having made all the preparations, on Friday, 21 July 1905, following the public procession ceremony while Sultan Hamid was going back to the Palace the bomb exploded in front of the mosque. Although everything was calculated with precision, the Sultan met Sheikh-ul-Islam after he left the mosque and talked to him. Because he was late for a few minutes the assassination failed. At the end of the investigations concerning the incident, Edouard Joris, Austrian citizen, was sentenced to death. After some time, Joris was brought to the Palace. He was appointed as an agent to work against the Armenians with the Sultan’s gift of 500 liras and was sent to Europe. (2) REFERENCE: (1) G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara,1983,pp.167 (2) Uras, Esat, Tarihte Ermeniler ve Ermeni Meselesi, Istanbul, 1987,pp.524-531

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE SECOND SASUN REVOLT As the first attack on 8 August 1895, in Sasun, could not obtain any result, the Tasnaks wanted to make the second attack on July1897. Generally, the Tashnak bands were came Turkey by passing through Iran and Van route. But the Mazrik tribe was irritating them on their road. In order to eradicate this tribe the committee members assaulted the tribe’s tents in Honasor with a gang of 250 people on July 1897, at dawn. But they could not get the result that they expected and they retreated when they had the risk of being besieged. After that date, the Tasnaks moved their activities to Sasun and Mus region. At that time Antranik took up the gang acts. Antranik, born in 1866 in ?arki Karahisar, entered the Committee at a very young age, and he was imprisoned for killing a Turk. He was smuggled from the jail by the Committee and was sent to Batum. In the World War he became famous for gang fights and he was promoted to Regiment Commandership. Towards the end of 1890s his name became known in the region. In 1901 the Ottoman government decided to establish barracks at the Taluri and Shenik hills in order to bring order to the Sasun administration; the Armenians opposed this project. The fight with the gangs under the leadership of Antranik actually started on this date. But towards the end of 1903 the real revolt started to disseminate in this region to everywhere. On 13 April 1904 the troopss were sent against the rebels and, the rebels could not resist. Nevertheless, the fights of the bands continued until August and Antranik had to escape to the Caucuses. According to the book, “Antranik Wars” written by K. K?d?lyan in Armenian and published in Beirut in 1929, during the fights on 14, 16, 22 April; 2 May; 17 July, in total 932-1132 Turks but only 19 Armenians were killed. Those are the figures announced and written by the Armenians. Sasun Revolt II resulted in the re-emergence of the so-called massacre issue on the international agenda once again. But it did not attract as much attention as in the past. As a matter of fact, a new period, when the attention of the countries was drawn on other issues was about to start. REFERENCE G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara,1983,pp.166-167

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE STORMING OF THE OTTOMAN BANK The last incident of the year 1896 was the storming of the Ottoman Bank that occurred on 26 August. This incident was the initiative of the Tashnak Committee completely. Those, directing the operation were three Armenians, Varto, Mar and Boris. Akrein Pastirmaciyan, who was using the nickname Armen Garo, was elected as deputy from Erzurum. He came from Athens to fight on the Caucasian front with his gang against Turkey during the World War I., and joined them. Esat Uras is telling how the raid developed on 26 August from Varantyan’s “Tasnaks?tyun History” in Armenian: “On 26 August, 6.30 in the morning. 6 persons were enough for the raid. The bomb sack on our shoulders, the arms in our hand, we started out. When we approached the bank we heard the noise of the bombs used by our leaders. We attacked the bank. They thought we were robbers. I told them not to be scared. The bombs had shocking results. The people, who were wounded by the bombs, did not die immediately. The bombs were tearing their hands into pieces and they were suffering with awful pain. Together with Garo we went to the office of the Director and had our conditions written. We wanted our demands to be fulfilled and wanted the rebels, who were involved in the fight, to be set free. Otherwise, we would explode the bank and kill ourselves too. 17 of us were left alive after the fight. 3 of us died and 6 of our friends were wounded. The casualty of our enemies was so great.” The conditions of the members of the gang were as follows: - A European High Commissioner shall be elected by 6 states. - Governors, Governors of the provinces and Governors of districts shall be appointed by the High Commissioner and approved by the Sultan. - Legal reform in conformity with the European system - An absolute freedom of religion, education and press - To spend ? of the country revenue for the local requirements - To abolish the accumulated tax due - Tax exemption for 5 years, allocation of the tax that shall be paid in the following 5 years to the losses caused by the recent chaos. - The return of the property, which were seized - The return of the immigrants freely - The amnesty to the Armenians who were sentenced for political offences - Founding of a provisional commission comprising of the representatives from the European countries and the provision of their control over the above mentioned issues As a result, the General Director of the Bank Sir Edgar Vincent went to the Palace with Maximoff, the Chief Interpreter of the Russian Embassy and they were authorized to solve the problem. Their right to leave Turkey freely was guaranteed. 17 gangsters with Maximoff left the bank and went to the office of Sir Edgar and than they departed to go to Marseilles with the French Ship Gironde. Thus, the raid of the bank ended, but the bombs and bullet casting of the Armenians to the soldiers, police and the people made the Muslim inhabitants of Istanbul very angry. The chaos in Istanbul continued for a few days. This is not an assault by the Muslims against the Armenians. The Armenians also continued to attack. According to western sources, the number of the Armenians who lost their lives in this incident is 4.000-6.000. In the scanned Ottoman documents no information about this incident has been found yet. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the figure, 6.000 is exaggerated. At the end of the Sublime Porte protest, the chaos continued for a few days; but the number of dead people remained 172. In order to reach the figure of 4.000-6.000, the incident should have continued for weeks. Furthermore, since all the sources recorded that the Muslims struggled with sticks and knives, it is impossible such a number of people could be killed by these means. No record could be found concerning the number of the Muslim inhabitants who died. On the other hand, it was understood from the British sources that 120 soldiers of the Grand Vizier died and 25 of them were wounded. Again this year, in the same sources, it was registered that about 300 Muslims were arrested because of this incident and that the measures taken by the government were good. Concerning this incident a special law court was established and this court tried the arrested Muslims and the Armenians. REFERENCE: G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara, 1983,pp.163-166)

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE VAN REVOLT Although rebellion of Van started in the night between 14 and 15 June 1895, the preparations of this rebellion extends to very early days. General Mayewski, who was the Russian Ambassador for City of Van, for 6 years, and later appointed for Erzurum, explains as follows: “In 1895, the rebels of Van exerted great efforts in order to attract the great attention of Europe to the Armenian question. Through the death threats, they sent letters to the rich Armenians for the pecuniary support. During this time, by the decision of Van revolution committee, some political murders were committed. One of the most important murders, took place on 6 January 1895, the most important Armenian Feast day; the murder of the Priest Bogos, who was going to the church for the sacred rite. (...) As from the spring the revolutionary preparations started. The people were talking about the corpses, which were cut in to pieces nearby the province. As the revolutionists saw that no prosecution took place, they became more and more encouraged. Besides this, as the Armenians were encouraged, the Muslims were expiring their patience.” The British Ambassador Williams were foresighted as well and he writes the following: “There are 400 members of Tashnaks in Van. They are terrorising their own co-religionists and they are provoking Muslim people by committing violent and bloody crimes acts together with the Hinchaks, whom I suppose not more than 50. They do not allow the reforms to be realised. I am sure that if those can be suppressed, the obstacle, hindering the security of the region will be eliminated.” Military Commander of Van, Saadettin Pasha, also perceived the same situation. As from October 1895 there was already individual incidents in Van and therefore it became necessary to be on the alert to any incident. The official provincial reports show that until the beginning of the rebellion, 23 incidents were recorded. Saadettin Pasha, in his big report he sent after the revolt, mentioned these issues and summarised how the events developed. The rebellion in Van continued between 15-24 June 1895. During the revolt 418 Muslims and 1715 Armenians deceased, and 363 Muslims and 71 Armenians were wounded. After that date, in Van, individual incidents continued, concerning the gangs that kept coming by passing through Iran. However, those did not turn into revolts. REFERENCE G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara, 1983,pp.161-163)

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE ZEYTUN REVOLT The most important revolt of the Hinchaks took place in Zeytun in 1895. It was informed that some of the foreign Armenians were active in the Arekin village and the government persecuted these people. It was understood that the activists, who were sent by the Hinchak Committee, were called Agasi, Hra?ya, Abah, Nisan, Melek, Garbet; and they were the Hin?ak propagandists. At that time centre of the committee was in London and the leader was Nazarbeg. The activists told the Zeytun inhabitants to arm and attack the Turkish people, the military forces around and the important towns; and that the necessary arms and money were being sent by the committee, adding that, the British fleet would arrive in Mersin and Iskenderun, as soon as the operation begins. On 16 September, 1895 an Armenian committee, which comprised of 100 persons, including the rebels of Zeytun, Partogomios, Vartabet and the representatives of the village, met in Karanlik Dere (Dark Stream) and arrived at a decision concerning how to start the rebellion. Upon these decisions revolts started everywhere, telegraph wires were cut, two thousand armed and four thousand unarmed inhabitants of Zeytun started the attacks. The rebels, who surrounded the barracks and the government office, took prisoner the district Governor, 50 officers, 600 soldiers and commanders. Later, the women from Zeytun killed the prisoners. The commander Remzi Pasha demanded to get reinforcement. Ethem Pasha came instead; but he had to demand for new reinforcement. The rebels were equipped with modern weapons. The soldiers situated in Goksun attacked the rebels and they forced them to take shelter in Zeytun. The soldiers surrounded Zeytun; and just as they were wining the fight, the consuls in Istanbul proposed the government to be the act as mediator for the Armenians in Zeytun. The palace accepted this proposal and stopped the operations. The ambassadors appointed their consuls to Aleppo for the negotiations. On 1 January 1896, six official consuls entered Zeytun and they concluded peace with rebels of Zeytun on 28 January (1). The rebels surrendered with the peace conditions, which were the submission of the weapons, that they fought with; amnesty general; the expropriation of the five members of the committee; and the exemption from the past taxes, reduction of the public tax; and the revolt ended. The Hinchak gangs, who initiated the revolt, left Zeytun under the protection of the British Embassy and they departed from Mersin to Marseilles on 12 March. With the Zeytun revolt the activity of the Hinchak Party in Turkey came to an end. The party was of the opinion that due to the activities it would attract the attention of Europe and would provide the independence for the Armenians. Because of that reason it murdered a great number of Armenians. But it could not obtain any result.(2) REFERENCE 1. Uras, Esat, Tarihte Ermeniler ve Ermeni Meselesi, Istanbul, 1987,pp.491-496 2. G?r?n, Kamuran, Ermeni Dosyasi, TTK Basimevi, Ankara,1983,pp.160-161)

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE FIRST SASUN REVOLT Sasun was a famous town its revolts. Sasun is a district of City of Siirt administratively and it is about 14 hours far from Mus. It is nearby Mutki and Garzan districts. Since its land is mountainous and steep, it is far from the government influence. The habitants including the Armenians spoke Zaza and Kurdish. A census was not fulfilled at that time; nevertheless, it was estimated that one fifth of the inhabitants were Armenian and the rest of it were Kurdish people. In these regions in 1890’s, an Armenian called Mahran Damadyan travelled around for three years and tried to make the Armenians revolt, by propagating and provoking. Upon the information given by the Sasun Armenians Damadyan was caught and brought to Istanbul to be tried and then he was set free. The Sasun revolt was arranged by the Hin?ak Committee solely to invite the intervention of the foreign countries and was fulfilled through the mediation of Murad (Kamparsun Boyaciyan). Murad was supported and aided by the Tashnak Committee to go to Sasun by passing through Caucasus. As soon as he arrived in Sasun, he gathered some of the Armenians and started to prepare the revolt plans. In fact, this revolt, which was fulfilled for the attraction of the foreign intervention by the Armenian committees and the patriarchate as being bloody and violent was announced in various capitals of Europe, the meetings, the declarations in the parliaments. The responsibility, which was assumed by Britain through the Cyprus agreement, was mentioned everywhere. English Consul to Van City, Holward wanted to go to Sasun for investigation; but since the government considered him as the provocative of the revolt, he was not allowed to. After very long correspondences. The Ottoman Goverment accepted the request that the consuls situated in Erzurum, namely France, Britain and Russia participated to the Ottoman research commission. The commission made investigation for six months, from 4 January to 21 July 1895, and held 108 meetings, and listened to more than 190 witnesses. Omer Bey from the committee was appointed for the post of Vice Governor of Bitlis. So he had to leave the commission on 29 January. On 23 August Murad, the leader of the revolt, was arrested. The Armenians had a lot of hopes concerning the Sasun revolt. They thought that, in case of a revolt in Sasun, Europe would intervene immediately, the demands of the Armenians would be supplied and considerable benefits would be obtained. In order to continue the revolt, Hinchaks collected a great amount of money in Istanbul and in the provinces through the tickets, which bore the seal of the committee. It would be sufficient to read the article published in the American newspaper, New York Herald, which can not be accused of not being neutral concerning how the incident took place. “The European investigation showed that the Armenians revolted with the assistance of the provocateurs who came from foreign countries. The rebels did everything with the modern weapons. In addition to arson, murder and the pillage, they revolted against the regular soldiers and resisted them and than they retreated to the mountains. The interrogation committee established that by sending soldiers against the rebels, the Ottoman government used its most legal right. These soldiers were able to defeat these rebels only after bloody fights. About 3 thousand fully armed rebels, who sheltered in the mountains, could not be defeated by convincing words, and articles in the newspapers. 3000 Armenians gathered in Mount Anduk. 500-600 of them wanted to besiege Mus district. With this objective, they attacked the Delican tribe in the south of Mus. They killed some of them and pillaged their properties. The belief of the Muslims, whom they caught, was despised and the Muslims were killed violently. These rebels attacked at the regular soldiers near Mus, too. However, because of the great number of the soldiers there, they could not occupy Mus district. The rebels organized the gangs with the ones in Mount Anduk. These gangs committed awful murders and plundered. They burned the nephew of ?mer Agha alive. They raped the Muslim women in the region, which was three-four hours far from to Gulli Guzat village and strangled. They picked out the eyes and cut the ears of most of the Muslims. The Muslims were insulted severely and shamefully and were forced to be converted to Christianity and to kiss the Cross. Towards the end of August, the Armenians attacked the Kurdish people near Mus and burnt the G?lli G?zat village. As to the 3000 Armenian rebels in Talori, after terrorising and making the Muslims and the Christians mourn, they refused to abandon their weapons and continued to pillage and murder. Then army soldiers were sent to these places to prevent these atrocities. Hamparsun, who was one of the rebels, escaped to the high mountains with eleven accomplices. He was caught alive. Nevertheless two men of his men were killed and six of them were wounded. At the end of August all of the rebellion gangs were dispersed. The Turks treated the women, children, old people, the disabled in accordance with the Islamic and humanistic norms. The rebels, who died, were the ones who refused to surrender and preferred to fight against the legal sovereignty. REFERENCE: Uras, Esat, Tarihte Ermeniler ve Ermeni Meselesi, Istanbul, 1987,pp.471-477

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE KUMKAPI DEMONSTRATION (July 1890) One of the most important incidents, which the Armenian committees used as a propaganda was the Kumkapi Demonstration. H. Cang?lyan, who administered this protest, about which the Armenians claimed that they had protested without a weapon, is explaining it as follows: “Because of the Musa Bey Question in Istanbul and Erzurum Incident, if a contrary move was not made, the Armenians would have thought that they were forgotten. That’s why a reprisal was required. The murders, which would be committed in Anatolia, would not concern even Europe. Because of that reason in order to arouse the interest of Europe a complaint should be made in front of the ambassadors. If the Armenian enthusiasm were solely and completely dependent upon the Armenians, this would attract the attention of Russia. Russia would be suspicious this and conquer Armenia one - If the action were in the other provinces and in the center, this would attract the attention of the other states as well. In this case, since we found Britain closer to us than Russia, it would be more beneficial to shape the Armenian question within the framework of our national interests. The situation, which was that the people were living with the other races in a dispersed and mixed way in the motherland, would cause the future actions fail only in the motherland. Because of this, the Armenian operations should be fulfilled outside the Armenian borders. For this reason, it would be impossible not to consider Istanbul as a convenient action centre. Including the bachelors and the other people who come from other cities, there were 200.000 Armenians in Istanbul. The source of evil was in Istanbul. Consequently, it would be appropriate to fulfil the action very near the Palace. When a revolution and rebellion spirit was aroused among a people, who lived under slavery for five-six centuries, it was necessary that the rebels should benefit from this, and should make this emotion much stronger, concrete and widespread. To disseminate the revolution among the people and to transform it to a much more fruitful way were among the objectives of their revolutionary activities. The Turkish government and Turkish people believed that the sprit of unity among the Armenians, and a blow to Armenia atempted by these people by them would have negative effects in the other parts especially in Istanbul, where the international interests gathered. And if they see this, they will pursue a cautious policy. They will not dare to organise a new massacre.” Before the Kumkapi incident, the notables of the committee met at the home of a Russian citizen, Megavoryan, who was living at the house of a foreigner, in the back streets of Beyoglu. Two persons were elected to administer the protest, which would be materialized in Kumkapi on 15 July. Cang?lyan assumed the responsibility to bring the Party to the palace and Murad to read the declaration. On the day when the incident occurred, the telegram lines were cut and the Hin?aks gathered in the church. The declaration was copied in handwriting and distributed to people. During the ceremony Cang?lyan attacked the dais air and read the declaration. The patriarch Asikyan, who was presiding the ceremony, escaped and took shelter in the patriarchate. He did not consent to go to the Palace together with the committee members. The Hin?ak committee members occupied the patriarchate and guns were shot. All the windows and the ceiling of the building were broken to pieces. At last the patriarch Ashikyan was persuaded by force and was put in a carriage to go to the Palace. The people and the member of the committee, who gathered were crying, “God save the Hin?ak Committee, God save the Armenian nation, God save Armenia, God save Liberty”. However since Dacad and Mampra Vartabets informed the government, the carriage, which the patriarch Asikyan was in, was stopped by the military forces. Upon this, the members of committee opened fire on the soldiers. Cangulyan was told this scene as follows: “Our men were shooting at the soldiers continously and violently. The soldiers were trying to arrest those who were shooting. 6-7 soldiers were seriously wounded. 10 of them were slightly wounded. Two of us died.” The Kumkapi incident, which was alleged to be the “protest with no arms” by the Hinchaks, ended by this way. REFERENCE: Uras, Esat, Tarihte Ermeniler ve Ermeni Meselesi, Istanbul, 1987,pp.461-463

HOW THE ARMENIAN ISSUE CAME ABOUT ARMENIAN REVOLTS THE ERZURUM INCIDENT The Erzurum revolt occurred on 20 June 1890. Samih Pasha, the Governor of the time, and the other relevant persons were informed that the Armenians brought weapons and ammunition and they hid those in Sansaryan school and churches. In that year, during July the gendarme and the police wanted to search the church thoroughly; but since the Armenians were informed of this attempt in advance they made the necessary arrangements and prepared to resist. Upon the first command the Armenian committee members shot on the soldiers and killed one officer and two soldiers, who came to the incident area. The Church could be searched at the end of the operation, in which a policeman was killed. An Armenian, who witnessed the incident in person explains to a newspaper published in America, called Hayrenik in Armenian in 1927 on of the anniversary of the Erzurum incident: “The founder of the Sanasaryan School died in 1890. In order that this person might rest in peace the ceremony was made and we mourned. The government was informed that there was an arm atelier in the school. The Armenian Catholic priests were thought to be the informers. Before the search a man called "K?pek Bogos" (Dog Bogos), who was the member of “defender citizens” informed that the school would be searched in two hours. The national history books and registers and the things that could attract attention at first sight were removed immediately. At the end of the search nothing could be found. The Armenians were crying out that “the entrance of the Turks into the church is filthy and dirty.” Later on, the men of Gergesyan, who was one of the founding members of “Defender Citizens Association” and who was killed by the decision of the Tashnak Committee Erzurum headquarter, started provoking the people. The shops were closed. The ceremonies were forbidden and the bells were not allowed to ring. The Armenians were dominating the situation. In this occasion, the rebels were yelling “the Armenians are free for three days, we will protect this freedom with arms.” They wanted the government to decrease the taxes, abolish the military cost, burn the churches, the holiness of which was violated and to reconstruct them and materialise the article 61. They stayed in the cemetery, the church and the court of the school for three-four days. The Armenian notables, who were the dispersion of the Armenians were beaten. The order of the Government, which said that people should be interested in their own matters only, was not obeyed. The committee members were going to some regions and were encouraging the people. Meanwhile, the brother of Gergesyan shot and killed two soldiers. A short fight between the two sides took place for two hours. In the following day, the consuls visited the city. More than 100 people died and about 200-300 people were injured. Aslanyan, the physician, who gave reports to the consuls on behalf of the Armenians, escaped from the city because he was wanted by the government. While these incidents were taking place, a foreign wind, the wind of north was blowing. As a consequence of the protest by the Armenians, the Russian consul, Tevet, visited the Governor and he said, “If such rebellious people were in Russia, they would be smoothed” and to the Armenians, he said “To live under such a barabarian rule like Turkey is not worthy.” REFERENCE: Uras, Esat, Tarihte Ermeniler ve Ermeni Meselesi, Istanbul, 1987, pp. 458-459