- Yıldız Attempt
Yıldız Attempt (Armenian: _hy. Եըլտըզի Մահափորձը; Turkish: "Yıldız suikast teşebbüsü") was an assassination attempted on Sultan
Abdul Hamid II by theArmenian Revolutionary Federation atYıldız Mosque inJuly 21 ,1905 in the Ottoman capitalIstanbul (modern-dayTurkey ).Preceding events and planning
The events of the
Hamidian massacres and Sultan Abdul Hamid II's continued anti-Armenian policies [The Armenian Massacres, 1894-1896: 1894-1896 : U.S. media testimony - Page 33 by A. Dzh. (Arman Dzhonovich) Kirakosian] gave way for the Armenian Revolutionary Federation to plan an assassination attempt on the sultan to enact vengeance. Dashnak members, led by ARF founderChristapor Mikaelian , secretly started producing explosives and planning the operation inSofia ,Bulgaria .Abdul Hamid would pray every Friday at the Yildiz mosque and would usually leave around the same time each time, creating a pattern in his movement. Taking advantage of this, the ARF planned to hide timed explosives in a carriage parked outside the mosque which were to explode at the time that Abdul Hamid would leave the mosque. It was decided that Zareh, a
fedayee and participant in theOttoman Bank takeover , would drive the carriage.During planning, Kristapor Mikaelian, alongside his friend
Vramshabouh Kendirian , died in an accidental explosion while making the explosives at the improvised bomb-making factory in the village of Sablyar, near the Bulgarian town ofKyustendil . Despite losing the brainchild of the operation, it continued as planned.The attempt
Zareh drove the carriage in front of the mosque and set the timer for a planned 42 seconds. But Abdul Hamid failed to show up because he got caught in a conversation with
Sheik ul Islam , making him appear a few minutes later than planned. The bomb went off killing many with it including Zareh, but sparing the life of the sultan. The attempt prompted the Sultan to stop his massaces temporarily.References
* Translated from the Armenian: Mihran Kurdoghlian, Badmoutioun Hayots, C. hador [Armenian History, volume III] , Athens, Greece, 1996, pg. 48.
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