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1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover |
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The 1986 Ottoman Bank Takeover was a takeover by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation of the Ottoman Bank in Istanbul, Turkey on August 26, 1896.
Events Leading up to the TakeoverContrary to Turkish claims, the Armenians suffered from persecution and forced assimilation under Ottoman rule. The Armenians lived in their own villages and city quarters, separate from the Turks. They were subjected to heavy taxes and were downgraded as a separate group of Ottoman society, called a millet. Various Armenians who were resentful of Ottoman persecution took up arms to defend their basic rights. This infuriated the Sultan "˜Abdu"™l-Hamid II who viewed the small resistance as a threat to his power. In the 1890s, up to 200 000 Armenians were massacred on orders from Sultan Hamid, massacres commonly known as the Hamidian massacres. Ottoman Bank TakeoverThe Armenian Revolutionary Federation sought to stop the murder of Armenians and planned the bank takeover to gain the attention and intervention of world powers.The brain of the operation was Karekin Pastirmaciyan. From the start, the Tashnagtsoutioun (ARF) handed out fliers to the general population of the Ottoman Empire stating that their fight was not against them but the Turkish empire's oppression. After careful and long planning, on Wednesday, August 26, 1896, 13:00 o"™clock, 26 Armenians from the Dashnak party, armed with pistols and grenades and led by Papken Siuni, attacked and occupied the Ottoman Bank of Constantinople. During the initial operation, 9 of the attackers, including leader Babgen Siuni, were killed. Armen Karo (otherwise known as Karekin Pastirmaciyan) took over as leader of the armed revolutionaries in defending the building against the government forces, who tried to gain control of the building. The decision to take over the Ottoman Bank was a strategic one as the bank held many European treasuries which would therefore grab the European attention the Armenians wanted. On the same day, the revolutionaries sent a letter to the European major powers demanding that the sultan promise to attend to their demands and hand over the solution of the Armenian Question to an international judge. Otherwise, on the third day, they would blow themselves and the bank up. After 14 hours of occupation and repelling government attempts to retake the bank, ambassadors of Europe and the director of the bank, Sir Edgar Vincent (Lord of Abernon), succeeded in persuading the occupiers to leave the bank, by promising to meet to their demands as well as grant them safe passage out of the bank.[1] Treatment of Bank PersonnelThroughout the ordeal the personnel of the bank were treated well and were told that they -the Armenians- were not robbers, were not looking to harm them, and did not want to rob the bank's money. They clarified that their goal was to simply dictate their political demands to the Ottoman and European governments. After the occupiers left, an investigation found that nothing was stolen from the vault. AftermathThe aftermath was both positive and negative for the Armenians. The ARF's goals had been accomplished in getting the attention of the major powers, but right after the takeover the Turks loyal to the government began to massacre the Armenians in Constantinople itself, murdering around 7,000 Armenians. In protest, the representatives of the major powers addressed an insulting letter to the sultan.[2] Trivia
External links
Category: History of Armenia
Source: en.wikipedia.org
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