Armenians always had a privileged position in the Ottoman Empire. In Armenian schools, where the Ottoman coats of arms and the sultan's monogram were removed and replaced by the coats of arms and weapons of independent Armenia, the Hunchakians and Dashnaks, the history books taught freely in Armenian schools talked about the oppression of the Armenians by the Turks, and the poems of Armenian bards that roused the nation and the youth were written in schools and schools. Even when it spread openly among the people, churches and schools became warehouses of weapons and ammunition, and as a result of these, small uprisings broke out in various places from time to time, the state did not intervene effectively, and it was considered tolerance and freedom of conscience not to resort to coercive measures against all these events. , accepted it as a minority right. The main focus of the Armenian events was the rebellions started by the committees. However, Armenian incidents occurred before the committees were established. Among these events, the Zeytun Incidents, which reached such dimensions that the government took drastic measures, stand out.
Today, Zeytun is a small town in Kahramanmaraş. The rebellions in this region started in 1782 with the uprising of Armenians who were disturbed by the excessive taxes and the way they were collected, and lasted for many years. The biggest rebellion in the region took place in 1895.
The aims of the uprisings launched by the Armenians during this period were as follows: To ensure the immediate implementation of the reform project determined by Article 61 of the 1878 Berlin Treaty and to break the oppressive rule of Abdulhamid II. They also had a secret and most important goal, which was to establish the independent State of Armenia.
- In 1890, it was reported that Armenians had brought weapons from Russia and were hiding them in the Sanasaryan school and churches. Thereupon, soldiers and police wanted to conduct a search. The committee members, who were aware of the situation, opened fire; an officer and two soldiers were injured and a police officer was martyred. The clashes escalated further and two soldiers on patrol were killed. Ultimately, the uprising was suppressed and guns and grenades were found in the churches.
- While the service was being held in the Ermemi Patriarchate church in Kumkapı, the members of the Hinchak Committee took action. Revolution leaflets were distributed. And these were also read from the podium. With this declaration, which also included Hinchak's wishes, the Patriarch was asked to be taken to the palace, to Abdulhamit. Collided with soldiers on the road. Blood was shed. Artin Cangülyan, one of the leaders of the Kumkapı church unrest, was sentenced to death for inciting Armenians against the state. But Abdulhamit commuted Cangulyan's death sentence to life imprisonment. Jangulyan was later pardoned by the Ottoman government. And in the Armenian events, it was used by the government against the Armenians.
- In the first days of 1893, Armenian revolutionaries wanted to spread a rebellion movement in Anatolia and thus make European states accept the existence of the "Armenian Question". This time, the Hunchak revolutionaries wanted to create the feeling that the Muslim people were also participating in the uprising. The signature of the Patriotic Muslims Committee could be seen under some of the labels stuck to the walls of the mosque. These labels also included harsh words against Abdulhamit. Armenians attacked postal drivers, committed murders, and committed robberies in the region. With the start of the rebellion movements, publications on the "Armenian Massacre" started in Europe, especially in British newspapers.
- Today, Sason is a district of Siirt province. In 1893, Armenians cut the taxes they paid to the state in the region and expelled the civil servants and gendarmes who came here with curses. The government sent military troops to the region. In the clashes, Armenians lost 5 deaths and tribes lost 4 deaths. Following these events, Armenians evacuated their villages and settled their families in safe places in the mountains. They placed their supplies in wells they dug underground. They attempted to rebel against the government with daggers, machetes, swords and axes. They tortured the Turks they captured by gouging out their eyes and cutting off their ears. They attacked women and killed pregnant women by disemboweling them. Muslim Turks were paraded through the streets with crosses tied around their necks. The Ottoman Government took action to suppress the rebellion that emerged with the provocations of the British. Since it was understood that the villagers had previously settled their families in safe places in the mountains, there was no harm in shelling the villages and half of the 5-6 hundred bandits hiding there were killed.
- Hunchak propagandists sent from the Hinchak committee headquartered in London to start a rebellion told the people of Zeytun to arm themselves and attack the surrounding Turks, military forces and important towns, and reported that the necessary weapons and money were being sent by the committee. Upon this decision, rebellions suddenly started everywhere. The people of Zeytun, two thousand of whom were unarmed and four thousand of whom were armed, started to attack. The district governor, 50 officers, 600 privates and commanders were captured. The captives were later killed by Zeytun women.
The general purpose of the Zeytun events, as in other events, was to invite the intervention of foreign states, to accelerate the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and to ensure the independence of Zeytun.
- 1895. Armenians in Istanbul, who criticize the attitudes of Abdulhamid II and England and France, will raid the Sublime Porte and thus create a big incident, drawing the attention of Europe to the Armenian problem and allowing them to intervene. Armenians started to march on Sublime Porte in September 1895. The events escalated when they wanted to take military measures against the march. Abdulhamid II was against the use of military troops against the demonstrators. Istanbul remained in anarchy for about three days and blood was shed on both sides.
- 1896. Armenian committees were stronger in Van than in other places. They brought plenty of weapons and ammunition here via Iran and the Caucasus. As a result of the rebellion of Armenians in Van, 340 Muslims died and 260 were injured. There were 219 dead and 59 injured among the Armenians.
- July 21, 1905. Abdulhamid II was assassinated in Yıldız by Armenian committee members. Nothing happened to the sultan, but the bomb exploded, killing 26 people, most of them soldiers, and injuring 58 people.
After the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy, the committee members, who were politically and revolutionary in nature, had to put an end to their work and, as the protective guardians of the Constitutional Monarchy, they should work to repair the country and raise it economically. The committees apparently agreed to this. After the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy, Armenian Committees working in Europe, political criminals, fugitives and vagabonds flocked to Istanbul.
Armenians benefit from the freedom, justice and equality rights brought by the Constitutional Monarchy and have full political rights. The committees apparently agreed and united with the Ottoman community from outside, but in reality they tried to achieve independence and develop Armenian ideals by using every means. Armenians opened libraries and clubs in Istanbul and other provinces and established village clubs and reading rooms, aiming to educate future generations in terms of thought. The books placed in libraries and made available to the public were the worst works that humiliated and insulted the Turks. Committeeist teachers taught that the Turks had taken the Anatolian provinces from the Armenians and that it was a civic and national duty for every Armenian to try to save the homeland of their ancestors from the Turkish yoke.
The freedom brought by the Constitutional Monarchy brought the following result for the Armenians: There is no place for two different nations from two different religions in this country. Anatolia, especially Eastern Anatolia from Çukurova, will belong to either Muslims or Armenians.
Despite their promises, the committees focused on these goals before the first year of the Constitutional Monarchy and started rebellion movements in various regions.
For the Armenians, it was a sacred purpose to revive Cilicia and gather some of the Armenians here. The movements and internal rebellions in Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia, Crete after the Constitutional Monarchy were good opportunities for the committees. The aim of the Armenians is to take advantage of Turkey's confused situation, to stage an uprising and thus ensure that the Cilicia region is given to the Armenians by allowing foreigners to intervene. For this purpose, a large number of Armenians were brought from different provinces to occupy empty land, and they were placed in Armenian houses in the towns in a tight manner. According to the official records of the government, 12,840 weapons entered Adana immediately after the declaration of the Constitutional Monarchy. Armenians started shooting training with these weapons in front of the government and prepared a bouncer gang of 200 people. With this gang, Armenians caused incidents in Adana on March 27, 1909. Armenians passing through the streets of Adana by car fired bullets at random, and when two Turks died, a conflict broke out between Turks and Armenians.
Regarding the events, while Armenian committee members say 30,000 people died against Europe, according to the official statement of the province, this number is 10,000, and according to La Turquie Newspaper, it is 1000 people.
During World War I, the conciliation states placed great hopes on the Armenians. They planned to use this community, which they had long used for their political interests, against the Ottoman Government. Armenian volunteer regiments were established and they began to be sent to the Caucasian and Iranian fronts, especially to take revenge on the Turks.
Throughout the war, the conciliation states not only helped the Armenian committees as much as they could, not only drove the Armenians to the front, but also wanted to cause rebellions inside by giving them plenty of money and ammunition.
After the declaration of mobilization, Armenians started to organize incidents and rebellions in Zeytun, Kayseri, Bitlis, Muş, Erzurum, Erzincan, Elazığ, Yozgat, Sivas and Van. We can briefly summarize what the Armenians did in these regions as follows:
- Attacking Turks who came to their villages, taking their money and killing them
- Attacking officers and gendarmerie units
- Attacking the government building, killing gendarmerie soldiers
to martyr
- Joining the mobilization and getting armed in the early days, then joining the enemy side and attacking our soldiers with our weapons
- Cutting telegraph lines
-Forcing Muslim youth who want to go to the front to stay with their families
- Spying on consensus states
It is possible to determine the aims of the committee members who uncovered the Armenian events that took place during World War I as follows:
- Every Armenian citizen is obliged to arm himself against his neighbors, the Turks, against the Turkish army and government.
- To assign every Armenian, far and near, to the revolution to be initiated, depending on the situation.
- Not participating in the government's mobilization call
- Those who allegedly participated in the mobilization will escape with the weapons of the Turkish army and form gangs within the country or volunteer units in the service of the Russian army.
- As a result, when the victorious states sit at the table for Turkish peace, they will receive the reward of these goals; the greatest support for independent Armenia will be received from Russia. When these events are examined in chronological order, they caused a constant increase in tension both before the Second Constitutional Monarchy and during the oppressive administration of Abdulhamid and the First World War. ; friendship and friendship had now been replaced by grudge and hatred, the events that took place in Maraş and Sason had caused reflections even in the peace village Cibi, which hosted the two communities; Hasan was no longer "hanging out" with Arogil as often as before, and even if he did, there was a possibility that his heart would be broken, due to the increasing tension, Satenik He also talked about going to Lebanon. He thought that it was wrong to establish a home under these conditions. Even though there was a peaceful atmosphere in his country, the tension outside had negative effects on people. Some of the Armenians in his country were called good Christians who were affiliated with the church of love. They were strict on poverty, work, chastity and mercy. Good Christians who had rules were vegetarians. They avoided the material world as much as possible. Those who were purified were Christians, but their real sin was that they rebelled against the Catholic church by writing the Bible in different languages.
The uprising of the Purified people definitely fed the protestant reform movement. The Purified people did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but his disciples believed in reincarnation. As a result of the Catholic attacks, the Purified buried their treasure, which still maintains its mystery. The Purified people were tried by the inquisition courts, burned alive, and thrown into wells, so some of them were new. The sect spread to Anatolia thanks to those taken by Ottoman sailors as they migrated to the world.