The Russo-Turkish War - The Defense of Van
The Defense of Van (also known as the
Siege of Van;
Van Resistance to the
Armenians (
Armenian: Վանի հերոսամարտ)
Vani herosamart) and
Van Rebellion/
Revolution to the
Turks (
Turkish: Van İsyanı/İhtilâli), was an insurgency against the
Ottoman Empire's attempts to massacre the Armenian population in the
Van Vilayet. Several contemporaneous observers and later historians have pointed out that the
Ottoman government deliberately instigated the armed
Armenian resistance by enforcing the conditions on their subjects and then used this insurgency as a main pretext to justify the forced deportations of Armenians from all over the empire. However, the decisions of deportation and extermination were made before the
Van resistance.
The assessment of witness reports maintained that the Armenian posture at Van was defensive and an act of resistance to massacre. Based mostly in the city of Van, it was one of the few instances during the
Armenian Genocide when Armenians fought against the Ottoman Empire's armed forces.
During the late
Ottoman period, Van was an important center of Armenian cultural, social, and economic life.
Khrimian Hayrik established a printing press in Van, and thereafter launched
Vaspurakan Ardzvi (
Eagle of Vaspourakan), which was the first periodical publication in
Armenia. In 1885, the Armenakan party was established in the city of Van.
Soon after, the Hnchak and
Dashnak parties, whose missions were basically the overthrow of the
Ottoman rule in
Eastern Anatolia (
Six vilayets), established branches in the city.
Throughout
1895–96
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire suffered in a wave of violence commonly known as the
Hamidian massacres. While Van largely avoided massacres in 1895, the
Ottomans sent a military expedition in June 1896. Armenians were initially able to defend themselves in Van, but upon agreeing to disarm in exchange for safety, massacres continued, culminating in the death of over 20,
000 Armenians.
The pre-war (
World War I) demographic values of the
Van Province, Ottoman Empire had different values based on different sources. In 1914, Armenians lived on the shores of the lake Van. The major Armenian inhabited localities were the city of Van (consisted of three sub-sections which were Havasor (Gürpınar), Timar (Gedikbulak) and Archak (Erçek)). Armenians also lived in the district
Erciş (
Artchesh,
Akants) which was in the north of the province, and district Çatak (Shatakh), district
Başkale (Bashkaleh) and district
Bahçesaray (
Moks) in south of the province. In
1890 census, there were 79,998 Armenians. In 1890 census, Armenians were located in the city of Van 35%, Erciş 64%, Çatak 37%,
Bashkale 18%, Bahçesaray 48%. The 1912 local Patriarch statistic stated that Armenian population was
110,000. The original 1914 Ottoman census stated that Armenian population was 67,797 and
Muslim population was
179,422. The 1914 official census was challenged both on Armenian and Muslim population size. The original 1914 Ottoman statistics claimed to be under-representative for the children. The corrected values for
Van province stated as
313,000 Muslim, 130,000 Armenian (25%), and 65,000 or so
Syrian,
Chaldean, Nestorian and others
Population estimate for the city of Van is more difficult.
Extensive population movements in and around the city happened with the deterioration of the economic and political situation before World War I. Ottoman population count at the time recorded 79,000 Muslims and 34,000 Armenians in the city of Van including the immediate surrounding areas. The city of
Van's Armenian population was about 30,000 people in the fall of 1914.
On
30 October 1914, after an exchange of fire during the pursuit of Goeben and
Breslau, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I. The province of Van was positioned between
Persia and the
Caucasus. The most accessible routes that linked Persia,
Russia,
Mesopotamia and
Anatolia lay through this province. Van had a high strategic value as a consequence of its location.
The first engagement of the
Caucasus Campaign took place on
2 November 1914 with the
Bergmann Offensive. The
Russians had successes along the
Kara Kilise (renamed
Karaköse in November
1919, present day
Ağrı) – Beyazit (
Doğubeyazıt) line. Beyazit was located in the north of the
Province of Van and
Armenian volunteers were helpful auxiliaries in capturing these regions.