Adana Massacre

Adana massacre
Part of the persecution of Armenians and the persecution of Assyrians
A street in the Christian quarter of Adana, photographed in June 1909.
Location	Adana Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Date	April 1909
Target	mainly Armenian civilians, some Greeks and Assyrians
Attack type	Mass murder
Deaths	Up to 30,000

The Adana massacre (Armenian: Ադանայի կոտորած, Turkish: Adana İğtişaşı) occurred in the Adana Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in April 1909. A massacre of Armenian Christians by Turkish Muslims in the city of Adana amidst the Ottoman countercoup of 1909 expanded to a series of anti-Armenian pogroms throughout the province. Reports estimated that the Adana Province massacres resulted in the deaths of as many as 20,000–30,000 Armenians. It was reported about 1,300 Assyrians were also killed during the massacres.

Turkish and Armenian revolutionary groups had cooperated to secure the deposition of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and the restoration of constitutional rule in 1908. In reaction, on 31 March 1909 (13 April by the Western calendar) a military revolt directed against the Committee of Union and Progress seized Constantinople (Istanbul after 1928). While the revolt lasted only ten days, it precipitated a pogrom and massacres in Adana Province against Armenians that lasted over a month.

The massacres were rooted in political, economic, and religious differences. The Armenian segment of the population of Adana was described as the "richest and most prosperous"; the violence included destruction of "tractors and other kinds of mechanized equipment."

The Christian-minority Armenians had openly supported the coup against Sultan Abdul Hamid II, which removed the Islamic head of state from power. The awakening of Turkish nationalism and a popular perception of the Armenians as a separatist, European-controlled entity contributed to the malevolence of their attackers.