The Armenian matters in Siirt and its surraundings (1876-1914)

Province of Siirt, Siirt, which has an ancient history, is geographically located at an important crossroads with its lands, some of which fall into the Southeast Anatolia and some of which fall into the East Anatolian region. The lands, including Siirt, remained under the rule of the Mongols and Byzantium for a long time after the Seljuk and Principalities periods. After the emergence of the Ottoman Empire as a mighty world state, the Safavids were defeated by the Battle of Çaldıran on August 24, 1514, during the reign of Yavuz Sultan Selim. Thus, the Turkish domination, which was interrupted in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia region, including Siirt, was re-established. With the French Revolution of 1789, the Ottoman Empire was also affected by nationalism, independence, etc. Some uprisings and turmoils occurred in the Ottoman country due to tax discontent, banditry or dissatisfaction with local administrators in the regions that dominated a wide geography and were under its domination from time to time due to its cosmopolitan structure. After the French Revolution, these uprisings and turmoils got out of this narrow framework with the intervention of the great European states and went to the phase of independence and state formation for direct political administration. In the Ottoman Empire, which ruled its subjects with justice with a policy of tolerance, every nation lived and preserved their religious belief, culture and language freely. However. As a result of the revolts and uprisings that started in the Balkans with the influence of the Great European Powers from the end of the 19th century, these nations would begin to disintegrate after they first gained their independence after making concessions such as autonomy and autonomy. One of these nations was the Armenians, who achieved the comfort and peace within the Ottoman State, which they could not obtain in any other state before. With their loyalty and devotion to the state, Armenians served as the Nation-i Sadıka and became one of the most important Christian elements of the Ottoman Empire. However, Armenians also saw the Ottoman Empire's entry into the First World War as an opportunity and, taking advantage of the difficult situation of the Ottoman Empire, they rebelled against their dreams of independence as a result of provocations in the Great European states. These uprisings of the Armenians will constitute the beginning of an Armenian Question that will continue until today. Armenians could not constitute a majority anywhere in the Ottoman Empire. However, they mostly lived in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions. Siirt's location at the crossroads of places where the most important Armenian events took place, such as Bitlis, Sason, Muş, Diyarbakır and Van, caused Siirt to be directly affected by these events and to be at the center of events. Accordingly, events caused by Armenians took place in Siirt as well.