ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

Spring, 1915. Armenian irregulars, provided with artillery by the Russians, open a second front behind Ottoman lines in order to facilitate
the Russian conquest o f Van.
The order issued by the Ottoman minister o f the interior resulted
in the arrests o f Armenian separatist leaders and the confiscation
o f incriminating material on April 24. It also had some
unexpected results: the discovery o f hundreds o f arms caches,
weapons and munitions depots which even included canon and
heavy mines.
What had happened in Van - the taking o f a provincial capital
by Armenian rebels behind Ottoman lines - could ju st as easily
have happened in Adana, Mara§, Ankara or Adapazari. This
would certainly have represented a deadly threat for the
Ottomans as the war progressed.
72
A group from the 8th company o f an Armenian Hunchak regiment,
which fought alongside the Russians against the
Ottomans on the Caucasian front.
uoshuL o-bunurus гъаичьиі, чи.іги.ьпгъьгпь (иц-риъчиг
— и- ii- іи іы п :ч гм ііч < м .-і;-і.
_hOOh-iliS - чпйі.иияііиіп,
These troops were said to have been organized by the
Armenian committees in Am erica and Europe, although that
may have ju st been propaganda invented for fund-raising purposes.