Sasun Uprising (1904)

Sasun uprising
Date March–April 1904 Location Sason, Bitlis Vilayet, Ottoman Empire Result Uprising suppressed Thousands of Armenians massacred
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Armenian fedayees
Commanders and leaders
Wāli of Bitlis	Andranik Ozanian Hrayr Dzhoghk  †
Strength
10,000 Ottoman troops, 7,000 Kurds	1,000 Armenian irregular units, 3,000 Armenians from Sasun

The Sasun uprising or Sasun rebellion of 1904 (Armenian: Սասունի երկրորդ ապստամբութիւնը, Sasuni yerkrord apstambut'yunĕ, literally Second Sassoun resistance) was an uprising by Armenian militia against the Ottoman Empire in Turkey's Sason region in 1904. The empire wanted to prevent the formation of another semi-autonomous Armenian region in the eastern vilayets after its defeat in the First Zeitun Rebellion. In Sason, the Armenian national liberation movement recruited young Armenians.

The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation were two elements of the Armenian national movement which were active in the region. The first Sasun resistance was led by the Armenian national movement's militia, which belonged to Hunchak. According to Cyrus Hamlin, the Armenians triggered hostilities. Conflicts continued between the Armenian fedayeen (Armenian irregular forces) and the Muslim Ottomans in Armenian villages. Many Armenians were compelled to accept Islam or Orthodoxy; the latter was protected by the Russian consulate.

In spring 1902 a representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Vahan Manvelyan, was sent to Sason to negotiate a ceasefire with the Turks, to occupy the area and concentrate forces for a larger revolt to be led by Manvelyan and local activist Hrayr Tjokhk. This consolidation continued during 1902 and 1903. In May 1903, a militia led by Gorgos "Marrik" arrived in Sasun. Vahan and Hrayr considered it too small, and sent a party east with a request for more troops. In September a group of 150 fedayeen, led by Khan and Onik, was sent. At the Persian-Turkish border, it was surrounded by Turkish artillery troops and almost completely destroyed. In February 1903 in Sofia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) agreed to send troops to Sason.

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