The 20 Hunchakian gallows
Encyclopedia
Social Democrat Hunchakian Party
The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party , is the oldest of the Armenian political parties and was the first Socialist party in the Ottoman Empire and in Persia...
activists who were hanged in the Sultan Bayazid square of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
on June 15, 1915.
History
The 7th General Convention of the Social Democrat Hunchakian PartySocial Democrat Hunchakian Party
The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party , is the oldest of the Armenian political parties and was the first Socialist party in the Ottoman Empire and in Persia...
which was held in Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, in 1913, had a unique and great importance not only for the Hunchaks, but in the history of the Armenian people as a whole. During the Convention, members stressed their concern of the Ittihad
Ittihad
The Ittihad Party was a radical Islamist party in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1917–1920. It was formed in September 1917 in opposition to the secular Musavat Party and proposed political unity of all the Muslims of the Russian Empire...
(Young Turk) government's blatant disregard of the Armenian lives who resided in Historic Armenia. The Hunchaks feared that this disregard would only escalate as time past. The Hunchaks also stressed the importance of a United Independent Armenia which would be impossible under the racist and dictatorial Young Turk government's rule of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
.
Thus the convention adjourned with two main objectives:
I - As stated in its original program, the party was to move from licit to illicit activities, thus becoming once again a covert organization.
II - To plan and assassinate the leaders of the Ittihad (Young Turk) party, the same leaders that carried out the Adana massacres of 1909, and thus the same leaders who at that moment were planning the annihilation of the Armenian people.
Unfortunately, these secret objectives were passed on to the Ottomans by an Armenian agent for the government; consequently as soon as the delegates arrived in Constantinople, they were arrested. By the end of the year a total of one hundred and forty Hunchak leaders were arrested.
After spending two years in terrible conditions in Ottoman prisons, and undergoing lengthy mock trials, twenty prominent figures - Paramaz
Paramaz
Paramaz or Matteos Sarkissian was an Armenian fedayee, freedom fighter and political activist.Matteos Sarkissian studied at Gevorkian Seminary of Echmiadzin...
, Dr. Benne, Aram Ach'ekbashian, Vanig and others were sentenced to death by hanging. A few weeks after the beginning of the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
on June 15, 1915, all twenty men were hanged in the central square of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, known as Sultan Bayazid Square. Paramaz's last words before his hanging were, "You can only hang our bodies, but not our ideology. ...You will see tomorrow on the Eastern horizon a Socialist Armenia."
In 2001 the monument of Paramaz and his 19 Hunchakian comrades was opened in Meghri
Meghri
Meghri is a city in southern Armenia, located in the Syunik province, near the border with Iran. The city's economy is based on the food industry, and contains a bread-baking factory, canneries and a winery. Meghri has a significantly milder climate than the rest of the cities in Armenia, and...
town, Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
The list of hanged Hunchakians
- ParamazParamazParamaz or Matteos Sarkissian was an Armenian fedayee, freedom fighter and political activist.Matteos Sarkissian studied at Gevorkian Seminary of Echmiadzin...
- Բարամազ - Dr. Benne (Bedros Torosian) - Տքթ. Պէննէ (Պետոս Թորոսեան), Kharpert)
- Aram Achekbashian - Արամ Աչըգպաշեան - (Krikor Garabedian, ArabkirArabkirArapgir Arapgir Arapgir (also Arabkir, Arabgir, Arapkir is the name of a town and district of Malatya Province, Turkey. As of 2000 it had a population of 17,070 people. It is situated in the confluence of the eastern and western Euphrates river, but some miles from the right bank of the combined...
) - Kegham Vanigian - Գեղամ Վանիկեան, (Van), one of the editors of "Gaidz" youth journal
- Mourad Zakarian - Մուրատ Զաքարեան, (MushMushMush may refer to:*mush , a kind of corn pudding or porridge*mushing , a sport or transport method powered by dogs or a command to a dog team*Muş Province , in eastern Turkey**Muş , the capital of Muş Province...
) - Yervant Topuzian - Երուանդ Թօփուզեան
- Hagop Basmajian - Յակոբ Պասմաճեան
- Smpat Kelejian - Սըմբատ Գըլըճեան
- Roupen Garabedian - Ռուբէն Կարապետեան
- Armenag Hampartsoumian - Արմենակ Համբարձումեան
- Apraham Mouradian - Աբրահամ Մուրատեան
- Hrand Yegavian - Հրանդ Եկաւեան
- Karnig Boyajian - Գառնիկ Պօյաճեան
- Hovhannes D. Ghazarian - Յովհաննէս Տ. Ղազարեան
- Mgrdich Yeretsian - Մկրտիչ Երէցեան
- Yeremia Manoukian - Երեմիա Մանուկեան
- Tovmas Tovmasian - Թովմաս Թովմասեան
- Karekin Boghosian - Գարեգին Պօղոսեան
- Minas Keshishian - Մինաս Քէշիշեան
- Boghos Boghosian - Պողոս Պողոսեան
The names are written according to Teotig
Teotig
Teotig was an Armenian writer and publisher known for his Armenian language almanac, Amenun Daretsuytsi...
.
Two other prominent Hunchakian activists, Stepan Sapah-Gulian
Stepan Sapah-Gulian
Stepan Sapah-Gulian was a prominent Armenian journalist, political scientist, intellectual and leader of the Armenian Social Democrat Hunchakian Party.-Biography:...
and Varaztahd, were condemned to death in absentia.