Kum Kapu demonstration

The Kum Kapu demonstration occurred in the Kumkapı district of Constantinople on July 27, 1890. It ensued in skirmishing where several persons, including a police officer were killed. Many more were wounded.

Background

Towards the close of the nineteenth century, Armenian revolutionary societies began to agitate for reform and renewed European attention to the Armenian question. The Hnchak party in particular utilized the tactic of mass demonstration to hasten the process. They had been suspected to be behind the earlier protest in Erzerum in June of 1890 that resulted in .

July 27, 1890

On 27 July 1890, Harutiun Djangulian, Mihran Damadian and Hambartsum Boyajian interrupted the saying of mass to read a manifesto and denounce the indifference of the Armenian patriarch and Armenian National Assembly.

They soon forced the patriarch to join the procession heading to the Yildiz Palace to demand implementation of Article 61 of the 1878 Treaty of Berlin. Even as the procession was gathering, police surrounded the crowd, and shots were fired that resulted in the deaths of several, including a policeman. Many more were wounded.

Result

The event alarmed both the patriarch and sultan. It showed that even peaceful demonstrations in repressive societies would end in violence. At the same time, while there was no clear result from the event, the Hnchak press praised the courage shown during the event. Similar demonstration on a lesser scale followed throughout most of the 1890s. [Hovhanissian, Richard G. (1997) "The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times." New York. St. Martin's Press, 218-9]

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