Khanasor Expedition

About a year after the events in Van, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation decided to retaliate and "punish" the Kurdish Mazrik tribe for its role in the Hamidian massacres and its ambush of the defenders of Van. The Mazrik tribe were camped in the fields of Khanasor, near Avarayr. The ARF, with the support of the Hunchakians and the Armenakans, organized an attack on the tribe. The operation was planned by Nikol Duman alongside "Khanasora" Vartan Mehrpanian and Ishkhan Arghoutian, all of whom participated as commanders of the operation. Among the Armenian soldiers also there were disagreements. For their settlement the party sent in Tavriz Harutiun Shahrigian and as a result they come to conclusion of holding an action. On 25 July 1897, at dawn, the 250 Armenian fedayees attacked and killed the fighting men of Mazrik tribe, sparing the women and the children, among whom the Mazrik chief, Sharaf Bey, learned Armenians were coming earlier and managed to escape by wearing women's clothing, leaving the women and children behind. The attack ended on 27 July 1897.{{cite book|last1=Tasnapetean|first1=Hrach|title=History of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Dashnaktsutiun, 1890–1924|date=1990|publisher=Oemme Edizioni|page=50|quote=On July 25, the Mazrik fighters - nearly all the adult men in the tribe - were annihilated. A Turkish lieutenant visiting Sharaf was also killed; but Sharaf, disguised as a woman, managed to flee. By the strict order of the ARF commanders, all women and children were spared.}}

Although ARF founder Rosdom's brother Garo and 25 other fedayees were among the casualties,{{Cite book |last=Habeshian |first=Vahe |url=https://www.google.am/books/edition/Voices_from_the_Past/aI1eAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Khanasor+expedition&pg=RA1-PT21&printsec=frontcover |title=Voices from the Past: Excerpts from Writings of Armenian Revolutionaries |date=2014-04-16 |publisher=Hairenik Association |isbn=978-1-940573-09-0 |language=en}} the Khanasor expedition was a small triumph for the Armenians, both militarily and morally.{{Cite book |last=Caprielian |first=Ara |url=https://www.google.am/books/edition/The_Armenian_Revolutionary_Federation/bdQlAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Khanasor+expedition&dq=Khanasor+expedition&printsec=frontcover |title=The Armenian Revolutionary Federation: The Politics of a Party in Exile |date=1984 |publisher=New York University |pages=86 |language=en |year= |publication-date= |access-date=2011-07-14}} As a result, Armenians built up their self-confidence; their belief in their ability to defend themselves was now reinforced. To this day, the ARF remembers the event in commemorative ceremonies honouring the expedition as an important event in the history of the Armenian struggle for freedom.

Gurgen Mahari, as part of a critique of the effectiveness of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, had a character in his novel The Burning Orchards question whether the high moral and strategic significance the Dashnaktsutyun gave to the Khanasor Expedition's results was justified, or whether the expedition, and other acts like the Ottoman Bank siege, were just isolated incidents whose sum total did not relieve the oppression of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.Marc Nushanian, The Flames of Van, in Armenian Van / Vaspurakan, p280.

• Armenian resistance
• Armenian fedayi

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Category:Armenian Revolutionary Federation

Category:Conflicts in 1897

Category:Battles involving Armenia

Category:1897 in the Ottoman Empire

Category:19th century in Armenia

Category:Van vilayet

Category:History of Van Province

Category:July 1897

Category:Armenian national liberation movement