Armenian Genocide

7 Pages 1848 Words

ative language in some places and
imposing an extortionary tax on them. They were sometimes called gavurs,
which means less than human. They were, however, allowed to attend their own
churches (The Armenian Apostolic Church).
In spite of the oppression that they faced they were able to adapt to Western
capitalism faster than their Muslim neighbors. More and more the Armenians
became the manufacturers, doctors, and teachers in Turkey. They had more
children in schools than before and their overall status in society was
beginning to rise. By the late 19th century, they began to understand the
concept of human rights. That is, people are people and one person should not
be treated better or worse than another because of their race, color, or
religion.
It was about that time, in 1891, that Sultan Abul-Hamid created the Hamidiye.
The Hamidiye were groups of Kurds armed by the government. Their official
duty was to protect the Russian border, but they spent most of their time
plundering and looting Armenian villages instead. The Armenians created
revolutionary groups called fedayees in response to this abuse.
In 1894, Armenians in Sassun refused to continue paying the extortionary tax
to the Kurdish. So Abdul-Hamid ordered Turkish along with Kurdish soldiers to
go over to Sassun and to put an end to the insubordinate uprising. The death
toll has been estimated at as low as 900 and as high as 60,000 Armenians.
International missionaries stationed in Turkey at that time reported these
atrocities to the European and American media. They (the media) in turn
demanded that Abdul-Hamid stop abusing the Armenians. Abdul...