ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

Beylerbey Palace on the Bosphorus, one of the masterpieces
of the Ottoman-Armenian architect, Agop Bey
Balyan, was the scene of a meeting between Sultan
Abdul Hamid and Russian Grand Duke Nicholas. At the
beginning o f the war, the Armenians had solemnly
declared their loyalty to the Ottoman Empire, but in the
Ottomans' hour of greatest need, the Armenians, who had
always been the "loyal millet" in the past, ran to the
Russians and tried to take advantage of the situation. The
Ottomans could never forget this breach o f faith.
Ottoman-Armenian relations started becoming more difficult
from that moment on.
sians, who sometimes found the Armenian minority
useful for their territorial expansion in the East.
Occasionally, they even used the Armenians as
henchmen to spread fear and panic among the Moslems
without getting their own hands dirty. (A good
example is the conquest of Erzurum in 1839 where
the Armenians were responsible for a massacre of
Moslems.)
1877 With the Balkans already given away, it became
clearer and clearer that the Russians wanted to advance
along the Erzurum-Alexandretta (today
Isken-derun) axis toward the Mediterranean. Now
the Armenians started to take on real importance for
the Russians. They were expected to serve as a Fifth
Column. At this point, the Russians no longer
restricted themselves to exploiting the Armenian
clergy. They started using the Armenian revolutionary
cadres more and more. At the same time,
the English developed an interest in the Armenians.
They came up with the idea of an Armenian buffer
state, which could serve as a check on the great
powers in the event of a collapse o f the Ottoman
Empire.
1877 April 24 saw the beginning of a new war with
Russia. It was the shortest of all the wars, but also
the most devastating for the Ottomans. "The catastrophe
of twelve-ninety-three" (that was the year
according to the Ottoman calendar) is still proverbial
for the Turks o f today. From the start, the
Russians had the advantage on the eastern front.
Kars fell on November 18. The Russians were under
the command o f the Armenian general Loris
Melikof. While Erzurum stood firm against all the
Russian attacks, the Turks suffered a disastrous
defeat near Plevne on the Balkan front.
1878 The Armistice of Edime was concluded on January
31. The fate of the Ottoman Empire appeared to be
sealed. Nothing could stop the Russians from
marching right on to Constantinople.
The Armenians now established contact with the
Russians in Edime. At the beginning o f the war,
they had stood solidly behind their Ottoman fatherland.
Now, after the catastrophe o f Plevne, the entire
Armenian camp swung over to the Russian side.
The first contacts took place in Edime. Whether and
in what way the patriarch and the catholicos were
involved in this scenario is a subject of debate. In
any case, the result of these interventions was that
the Russians interceded expressly on behalf of the
Armenians in the peace dictate of San Stefano. The
wording of the passage was, however, left entirely
non-commital since the Russians clearly had no intention
of granting independence to their own
Armenians.
Article 16 of the Treaty o f San Stefano (Yesilkoy)
states: "... la Sublime Porte s'engage a realiser sans
plus de retard les amelioration et les reformes
exigees par les besoins locaux dans les provinces
habitees par les Armeniens et a garantir leur securite
contre les Kurdes et les Circassiens."
This totally empty clause does nothing more than
demand that the Ottomans provide for the security
of the Armenians against Kurdish and Circassian attacks.
It was nevertheless a turning point. The Armenians
had now for the first time been mentioned
in an international treaty, even if it was in fact a dictate.
The Armenians appreciated it, regardless o f its
insignificance (and the Russians had good reason
for making it so insignificant).
Only too soon did it become clear that the "peace
treaty" of San Stefano was o f a very provisional nature.
Both England and Austria rejected it. Eventually
the parties agreed to Bismarck's suggestion
that a conference be held in Berlin to deal with the
Ottoman Question.
The representatives of the great powers met in Berlin
from June 13 to July 13, 1878. Aside from the
two chancellors, Gorchakov and Bismarck, those
present in the new German capital included Count
An-drassy of Austria-Hungary, Lord Beaconsfield of
Great Britain, Waddington of France, Corti of Italy,
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