Zeitun Resistance (1895)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict= Zeitun Rebellion of 1895
partof=


caption=
date=1895
place=Zeitun (Süleymanlı in Turksh) in Kahramanmaraş Province
result= Armenian victory, European intervention
combatant1=Ottoman Empire
combatant2=members of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
commander1=
commander2=
strength1=60,000 soldiers in the army, plus 600 soldiers in a nearby fort
strength2= 6,000 armed militia
casualties1=20,000 soldiers, plus 600 prisoners dead
casualties2=150 militiamen dead|

The First Zeitun Rebellion (Lang-hy|Զէյթունի առաջին ապստամբութիւնը) took place in 1895, during the Hamidian massacres.hy icon cite book | last = Kurdoghlian | first = Mihran | title = Badmoutioun Hayots, Volume III | publisher = Hradaragoutioun Azkayin Oussoumnagan Khorhourti |date= 1996 | location = Athens, Greece | pages = p. 28-29]

Between the years 1891 and 1895, Hunchak activists toured various regions of Cilicia and Zeitun/Süleymanlı to encourage resistance, and established new branches of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party. The ruler of the Ottoman Empire, Sultan Abdul Hamid II, wished to eliminate the only stronghold of Armenian autonomy during the Armenian massacres of 1895-1896.

The Armenian inhabitants of Zeitun, under the leadership of the Hunchakian Party, heard of the ongoing massacres in nearby regions, and thus started to prepare themselves for an armed resistance; 6000 young men were armed and sent to the battlefield. They started by conquering the nearby Turkish fort, took 600 Turkish soldiers as prisoners, and placed them under the surveillance of Armenian women. As claimed by the Armenian side, the prisoners tried to flee, but failed and were killed. In order to face the 6,000 Armenian militia of Zeitun, Sultan Abdul Hamid sent an army of 60,000 with cannons. The Turkish army lost and 20,000 soldiers were killed, whilst the Armenians only lost 150 fedayeen.

With the intervention of the European powers, the Armenians of Zeitun stopped the resistance, and lived peacefully until 1915.

ee also

* Second Zeitun Resistance
* First Sasun Resistance
* Second Sasun Resistance
* Hamidian massacres

Notes