Harutiun Djangulian (Armenian: Յարութիւն Ճանկիւլեան; 1855 – 15 June 1915) was an Armenian historian, political activist, and member of the Armenian National Assembly. He was especially known for his involvement in the Kum Kapu demonstration. He spent six years in prison in exile. After his release, he continued his political activity and returned to Constantinople. During the Armenian Genocide, on 24 April 1915, Djangulian was arrested, deported, and ultimately executed.
Early life
Harutiun Djangulian was born to an Armenian family in Van, Ottoman Empire in 1855.[1][2] During that time, Van was considered one of the centers for the Armenian Revolutionary Movement.[3] While in Van, he joined the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and in 1884, Djangulian moved to Constantinople.[1] In Constantinople, Djangulian met a leading political activist Hampartsoum Boyadjian of the Hnchak party.[4] The two eventually became the chief organizers of the Kum Kapu demonstration.[4]
Kum Kapu demonstration
Towards the close of the nineteenth century, Armenian revolutionary societies began to agitate for reform and renewed European attention to the Armenian Question. The Hnchak party in particular utilized the tactic of mass demonstration to hasten the process.[5]
The Kum Kapu demonstration took place on 27 July 1890 in the district of Kumkapı in Constantinople, where the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople is located. During the saying of mass, Djangulian interrupted the session by stepping onto the altar and reading aloud a declaration of sympathy towards the maltreatment of the Armenians and denouncing the indifference of the church leadership.[6] The demonstrators then forced the patriarch to join the procession heading to the Yildiz Palace to demand implementation of reforms for the Armenian provinces.[3] Even as the procession was gathering, police surrounded the crowd, and shots were fired that resulted in the deaths of several, including a policeman.[3]
Although Djangulian was regarded as a hero of the demonstration, he was subsequently sentenced to death.[6] However, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in exile by the Sultan.[6][7][3][8] Djangulian was exiled to Akka, Palestine where he remained imprisoned in a fortress.[6] He remained there for six years until he was pardoned and released in 1896.[6] However, other sources claim that he escaped.[1]
Life after prison
From Akka, Djangulian went to Cyprus where he actively pursued to reunite the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party that had been divided over various political disagreements.[9]
From Cyprus, Djangulian moved to Cairo where he became an editor of the local Timagavor Armenian newspaper.[9] After remaining in Cairo, he moved to Europe where he actively sought to unite various Armenian political parties under one umbrella.[9] After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, he returned to Constantinople where he remained politically active in the Hunchakian Party.[1] During this time, he was elected as a deputy to the Armenian National Assembly representing the district of Gedikpaşa.[1]
In 1913, he published a four-volume publication of his memoirs on Armenian Revolutionary figures and their activities entitled Memories of the Armenian Crisis (Armenian: Հիշատակներ հայկական ճգնաժամեն).[9]
Execution
Djangulian was one of the Armenian leaders deported during the Armenian Genocide.[4] On 24 April 1915, Djangulian was arrested and sent via train to Ayaş, a village located in the interior provinces of the Ottoman Empire, where he was imprisoned along with other Armenian intellectuals.[2][10] On 2 June Djangulian along with Rupen Zartarian, Sarkis Minassian, Khachatur Malumian, and Nazaret Daghavarian were to be transferred to Diyarbakir.[2] Ostensibly, they were to undergo a court-martial in Diyarbakir;[10] however, Djangulian along with the rest were executed en route in the area of Karacur between Urfa and Severek (today Siverek).[2][4][11] The order for the execution was given from Captain Şevket to Haci Onbaşı, a member of the Special Organization.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e Lapçinciyan, Teotoros (1919). Houshartsun nahadoug medavoraganouti (in Armenian). p. 33.
- ^ a b c d e Kévorkian, Raymond H. (2010). The Armenian genocide: a complete history (Reprinted. ed.). London: I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1848855613.
- ^ a b c d Nalbandian, Louise (1963). The Armenian revolutionary movement; the development of Armenian political parties through the nineteenth century (3. pr ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0520009142.
- ^ a b c d Djeredjian, Yeghig. "Three Unpublished Letters Pertaining To The Escape Of Murad From Exile" (PDF) (in Armenian). Haigazian University. p. 307.
- ^ Nalbandian, Louis. "The Hunchakian Revolutionary Party 1887-1896". Social Democrat Hunchakian Party Official Home Page.
- ^ a b c d e Salt, Jeremy (2013). Imperialism, Evangelism and the Ottoman Armenians, 1878-1896. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. ISBN 1135191387.
- ^ Appletons' Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events, Volume 15; Volume 30. D. Appleton. 1891. p. 806.
- ^ Ternon, Yves (1990). The Armenians: history of a genocide (2nd ed. ed.). Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan Books. p. 263. ISBN 0882065084.
{{cite book}}:|edition=has extra text (help) - ^ a b c d Khudaverdian, Constantine (1996). "Harutyun Jangulyan". Հայկական Հարց Հանրագիտարան (Armenian Question Encyclopedia) (in Armenian): 292.
- ^ a b Sarafian, Ara (22 April 2013). "What Happened on 24 April 1915? The Ayash Prisoners". Gomidas Institute.
- ^ Boghosian, Khachig (21 April 2001). "My Arrest and Exile on April 24, 1915". Armenian Reporter.