The Hamidian massacres (1894–1896)

The Hamidian massacres of 1894–1896 were a series of mass killings of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire, organised by the government of Sultan Abdul Hamid II. In 1890 the Hamidiye cavalry was created: irregular Kurdish units named after the sultan, which were used to persecute and destroy Armenians. Massacres took place in Sasun (Sason), Karin (Erzurum), Trebizond (Trabzon), Zeitun (Süleymanlı), Sebastia (Sivas), Van, Kharberd (Harput), Marash (Kahramanmaraş) and Constantinople (Istanbul).

The self-defence of Sasun was led by Serob Vardanyan (Serob Pasha), and after his death in 1899 the struggle was continued by Andranik Ozanyan. In August 1896 an armed group of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation led by Armen Garo (Garegin Pastermadjian) and Babken Syuni seized the Ottoman Bank building in Constantinople. According to historians' estimates, 250,000 to 300,000 Armenians were killed during the massacres, and about 100,000 people were forced to emigrate.

The photograph shows a group of armed men with rifles and cartridge belts in front of a flag bearing a skull and crossbones and an Armenian inscription.