Poitical movements of Armenian (1876-1909)

SUMMARY The first part of this study "Political Movements of Armenians in Istanbul between 1876-1909" covers the origin of the word "Armenia" the early periods of Armenian history, their religion, language and culture. The paper also discusses the Turkish-Armenian relationships during the State of the Grand Seljuks and Anatolian Seljuk State, the "Milet System" (Nation System) applied by the Ottoman State and the social, economic, educational, cultural and religious life of Armenians. Following the general information on Armenians, the paper concentrates on the origins of the Armenian problem. As stated in the study, bloody rebellions took place as a result of the influence of nationalist movements in Europe, the conflicts of interest of major powers in Ottoman State and the manipulation of the Patriarchate, while the Ottoman State was witnessing a depressing period, it also had to cope with the demands of major powers for reform after the Armenian rebellions. Being aware of the fact that major powers played an important role in the success of independence movements in the Balkans, especially in Bulgaria, the Armenians were convinced that neither autonomy nor independence would be possible without the interference of Europe. Therefore, in order to achieve their aim, the Armenians claimed to have been subject to massacre after the rebellions in Istanbul and various parts of Anatolia. Naturally, the geography where the rebellions took place where too much of importance not to attract the attention of major powers. Therefore comities were convinced that rebellion and demonstrations to take place in Istanbul would make their voice heard and their aims. Taking all these facts into consideration, this paper mainly discusses the Armenian movements in Istanbul, the Patriarchate approach to the Armenian problem and Abdulhamid's policies against these movements. The last part of this paper discusses the Committee of Union and Progress and Armenian committees relations, before and after the "I. Constitutional Monarchy" (I. Meşrutiyet), Armenians who held high official positions in the state between 1876-1909 and Armenians who were selected to high positions in "the 1. sth and 2.nd the Council of Constitutional Monarchy" (I. ve II Meşrutiyet Councils). VIII