Aram Manukian, reformed spelling: Արամ Մանուկյան, and he is also referred to as simply Aram. (19 March 187929 January 1919), was an
Armenian
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
community organizer
Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest.
Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...
. During the first months of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he worked with local Ottoman officials to de-escalate rising tensions until mid-April 1915, when Turkish forces laid siege to the city. He led the successful Armenian civilian self-defense of Van. As a result, tens of thousands avoided being deported and massacred by the Turkish government while the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
was underway. He briefly served as the head of the provisional government in Van.
Following the Russian Revolution and the collapse of the Caucasian front in 1917–18, Aram was "popular dictator" of the unconquered area around the city of
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
. In May 1918, he helped organize the defense against the advancing Turkish army, which was effectively stopped at the
Battle of Sardarabad
The Battle of Sardarabad ( hy, Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ, translit=Sardarapati chakatamart; tr, Serdarabad Muharebesi) was a battle of the Caucasus campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad, Armenia, from 21 to ...
, preventing the complete destruction of the Armenian nation. Manukian played an important role in the establishment of the First Republic of Armenia and served as its first minister of internal affairs. He died of
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
in January 1919, short of his 40th birthday.
Aram Manukian was an advocate for self-reliance. He was noted for his ability to unite different sections of society for a common cause. He is widely considered by scholars to be the founder of the First Republic of Armenia. During the Soviet period, he, along with other prominent Dashnaks, was largely disregarded. Since 1990, attempts have been made to revive his memory in independent Armenia.
Early life
Aram Manukian was born Sargis Hovhannisianview online /ref> on 19 March 1879, either in Zeyva village in
Zangezur
Zangezur ( hy, Զանգեզուր) is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar I ...
(modern-day Davit Bek, in Armenia's Syunik Province) or in
Shushi
/ hy, Շուշի
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg
, image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...
, the largest city of Karabakh at the time. His father, Harutyun, was a gunsmith; his mother, Sona, was a housewife. He was the youngest of five children. He received primary education at the Agulyats School in Shushi. Starting in 1895 he attended the city's diocesan school, where he joined the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
, the main driving force of the
Armenian national liberation movement
The Armenian national movement ( hy, Հայ ազգային-ազատագրական շարժում ''Hay azgayin-azatagrakan sharzhum'') included social, cultural, but primarily political and military movements that reached their height during Worl ...
. In the spring of 1901, Manukian was expelled from school for revolutionary activities and moved to
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
, where he continued his education at the local diocesan school. He graduated two years later, in May 1903. In 1903, Manukian went to Baku where he took part in strikes and later in the Armenian resistance against the confiscation of
Armenian Church
Armenian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent
** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
properties by the Russian government. He was briefly in Elisabethpol to organize the Armenian resistance there. In mid-1903 he moved to Kars, where he actively took part in the formation of armed groups. In September 1903, within a group of 150 men, Aram Manukian tried to cross the Russian-Turkish border to transfer weaponry to the '' fedayi'' in Sasun; however, he returned to Kars due to illness.
Activities in Van
Manukian settled in the city of Van in February 1905. Because he spent most of his political career, except the last few years, in Van Aram became associated with the city and came to be known as "Aram of Van". He soon became the head of the local party branch and sought to strengthen its influence in Van. Manukian was convinced that if Armenians were going to revolt against Ottoman rule, it needed to be a well-organized and widespread revolt and not a local one, such as the failed uprising in Sasun in 1904. He engaged in community organizing and transfer of weaponry (particularly rifles and bullets) to Van from Russia and Iran. In 1906 alone more weapons were transferred to Van than in the previous 15 years. Prior to the Young Turk Revolution, the party branch in Van had around a thousand members. He also sought to minimize the Ottoman government interference in internal Armenian matters. The ARF effectively established unofficial courts for Armenians, who were mistreated by the Turkish judiciary. In 1907, during the ARF Congress in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, where he was the delegate from Van, Aram expressed skepticism about the declared goals of the Turkish emigre political movements in Europe that the ARF was cooperating with, particularly the Young Turks. He said that they are "for the most part, palace revolutionaries who in one sense or another have dynastic interests." Manukian claimed that if they "begin with them, we are going to encounter a great many problems." A year later the Young Turks ousted Sultan Abdul Hamid II from power and restored the constitution. Ottoman Armenians reacted positively to the overthrow of the sultan.
After the revolution, Manukian taught at a school in
Ordu
Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey, historically also known as Cotyora or Kotyora ( pnt, Κοτύωρα), and the capital of Ordu Province with a population of 229,214 in the city center.
Name
Kotyora, the ori ...
. He returned to Van in late 1912. Meanwhile, the Adana massacre of 1909 largely ended the Armenian hopes of reforms by the Young Turks. However, Manukian continued to work with local Ottoman officials and other Armenian parties, especially the
Armenakan Party
The Armenakan Party (in Armenian Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն) was an Armenian political party established in Van, Ottoman Empire in 1885 by Mekertich Portukalian as an underground organization against the ruling system. It is ...
, to improve the condition of the Armenians. He became the leader of the ARF in the Van region along with Ishkhan and
Arshak Vramian
Arshak Vramian ( hy, Արշակ Վռամյան, Arshag Vramian, born Onnik Derdzakian; 1871 – 4 April 1915) was an Armenian revolutionary and a leading member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation; he was a member of the party's Central Commi ...
. He took an active role in the Armenian community by teaching at schools, communicating with the press and promoting Armenian youth circles.
In December 1912, Aram Manukian became a suspect in the murder of the mayor of Van,
Bedros Kapamajian
Bedros Kapamajian (Armenian: ) (1840 – 1912 in Van), was an Armenian citizen of the Ottoman Empire, a textile importer, member of the Van Executive Council, and mayor of the town of Van.
Life
Kapamajian was appointed the mayor of Van on Februa ...
, an Armenian loyalist to the Ottoman government. He was arrested along with several other notable ARF members "as encouragers for the murder" according to Turkish sources. He was later released.
Committee of Union and Progress
The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقهسی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...
) government of the Ottoman Empire planned and carried out the
Armenian genocide
The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...
, the systematic extermination of the Armenians living in their ancestral lands. In the spring of 1915 Van became the only location where Armenians organized a major resistance. Aram Manukian played a key role in this resistance, widely seen as self-defence.
In late 1914, during the first months of the war, tensions in the Van Vilayet had been kept low by the cooperation of the Dashnak leaders Manukian, Ishkhan, Ottoman parliament deputy
Arshak Vramian
Arshak Vramian ( hy, Արշակ Վռամյան, Arshag Vramian, born Onnik Derdzakian; 1871 – 4 April 1915) was an Armenian revolutionary and a leading member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation; he was a member of the party's Central Commi ...
and local Young Turk officials and Van governor
Tahsin Bey
Hasan Tahsin Bey (27 August 1878 – 5 December 1939; surnamed Uzer after 1934 Surname Law, 1934) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman and later Turkish bureaucrat and politician. Throughout his career as a politician, Tahsin served as a governor to se ...
, who was considered a moderate. In early August, a general mobilization took place, during which some problems arose that were solved by the cooperation of these parties. An important event occurred in September, when Cevdet, the radical brother-in-law of Minister of War Enver Pasha, was appointed governor. According to Raymond Kévorkian, Cevdet's appointment "was probably calculated to make it easier to implement a policy of provocation." "Several more or less serious incidents occurred in the vilayet of Van between December 1914 and March 1915. Each time, the Armenian leaders had to step in to pour oil on troubled waters." In Van city, local prominent Armenians, such as Aram Manukian (Sergei Hovhannisian, 1879-1919), one of the principal Dashnakist leaders there, sought to calm the public—Armenian and Turk alike—through negotiations with the governor.
Clashes between Armenians and Turks in the Van Vilayet became more frequent in March and April 1915. In late March and early April, Cevdet, Aram Manukian, Vramian and other major figures met to discuss the tensions. In mid-April, an incident took place in Shatakh. On the night of 16 April, Ishkhan, who was assigned a mediator's role, was killed by a group of
Circassians
The Circassians (also referred to as Cherkess or Adyghe; Adyghe and Kabardian: Адыгэхэр, romanized: ''Adıgəxər'') are an indigenous Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation native to the historical country-region of Circassia ...
while staying in a Kurdish friend's house in a nearby village. According to Kévorkian, "There is every reason to believe that none other than Cevdet, the superior of these Çerkez ircassians had ordered these killings. He had probably come to the conclusion that he could accomplish nothing in a city with an Armenian majority unless he first got rid of the three Dashnak leaders. His behavior the following day tends to confirm this suspicion." The next morning, Cevdet invited both Aram and Vramian to his konak. Aram did not go upon Vramian's advice. Vramian was subsequently murdered in a location near
Bitlis
Bitlis ( hy, Բաղեշ '; ku, Bidlîs; ota, بتليس) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The city is located at an elevation of 1,545 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis R ...
. "The news shocked and dismayed the rmenianpopulation. The American missionaries in Van, Dr.
Clarence Ussher
Clarence Douglas Ussher (September 9, 1870 – September 20, 1955) was an American physician and missionary in the Van region during the Armenian genocide, where he reported that 55,000 Armenians had been killed. In 1917 Ussher published a memoir ...
and Miss Grace Knapp, who were eyewitnesses to these events, provide us details that leave little doubt as to the vali's evdetintentions."
On 18 April, Cevdet demanded all Armenians turn in their arms. Kévorkian suggests,
rmeniansknew that they were doomed if they obeyed; yet, if they failed to, they would provide the vali with the pretext he needed to attack the city's Christian quarters and the rural areas. In other words, the Armenian leaders' strategy of temporization had become obsolete. The murder of Ishkhan on the night of 16 April and the arrest of Arshag Vramian – Van still did not know that he had been murdered – probably convinced the last Armenian leader left alive, Aram Manukian, to reject the authorities' injunctions and prepare the city for an attack that was now certain to come.
With Ishkhan and Vramian assassinated, Manukian remained only major Armenian leader in Van. Turkish forces attacked Aygestan, the old city of Van with a mixed Armenian-Turkish population, on 20 April. Aram "had already made preparations to ward off an attack and was able to prevent the Turkish troops from entering the quarter." In the following days, around 15,000 Armenian villagers poured into the old city quarter.
With the Russian-Armenian forces reaching Van, the Muslim population and Ottoman forces began to evacuate Van on 14 May, with the last troops leaving on 16 May after burning down their barracks. On 18 May, Armenian volunteers under Vardan entered Van, followed by Russian troops under Major-General Nikolayev. During this time, Nikolayev selected Manukian as the provisional governor of Van, allowing him to establish a provincial government. Manukian's administration lasted until the end of July. His first orders were to allow the looting and burning of houses belonging to Muslims to discourage their inhabitants from returning.
Yerevan
Turkish offensive
Between October 21, 1917 and April 14, 1918 Manukian edited the newspaper ''Ashkhatank'' (Աշխատանք, "Labor") in Yerevan.
Following the February Revolution of 1917 the Armenian-populated areas formerly controlled by the Russian Empire had no effective political administration. In Yerevan, Bishop Khoren sponsored the establishment of a provincial council in December 1917. Aram was sent by the Tiflis-based Armenian National Council to head the civil administration of the city. Miller writes that the "choice was well calculated, for the hero of Van was a veteran organizer, fully aware of the strengths and shortcomings of his people." Aram arrived in Yerevan in early January 1918 and organized a committee which served as an unofficial administration. His committee established law and order in the city by expelling several Armenian bandit groups, imposing special taxes and confiscating materiel abandoned by the Russian troops.
In early 1918 Manukian and Dro established what historians describe as a "popular dictatorship" in the areas around Yerevan. Aram was popularly proclaimed "dictator of Yerevan" in March, thereafter consolidating all power in his hands. An effective military dictatorship was established in the last surviving pocket of unconquered Armenian-populated territories.
Turkish forces, in violation of the Armistice of Erzincan, moved towards Eastern Armenia in the spring of 1918. Aram's popular dictatorship is credited with successfully stopping the Turkish forces at the
Battle of Sardarabad
The Battle of Sardarabad ( hy, Սարդարապատի ճակատամարտ, translit=Sardarapati chakatamart; tr, Serdarabad Muharebesi) was a battle of the Caucasus campaign of World War I that took place near Sardarabad, Armenia, from 21 to ...
in late May 1918. A number of documents show that Aram headed the Armenian defense against the Turks. The battle is widely seen to have prevented the complete destruction of Armenians within their homeland.
Minister of internal affairs
On June 30, a five-member cabinet was formed by
Hovhannes Katchaznouni
Hovhannes Kajaznuni or Katchaznouni (; 14 February 1868 – 15 January 1938) was an Armenian architect and politician who served as the first Prime Minister of the First Republic of Armenia from June 6, 1918 to August 7, 1919. He was a member of ...
in Tiflis with Manukian being appointed minister of internal affairs. On July 19 Aram, General Nazarbekian and Dro greeted the Katchaznouni-led cabinet arriving in Yerevan. According to Hovannisian, "even after the cabinet had begun to function in the capital, here weremany who believed that Aram Manukian, the Minister of Interior, operated as a virtual dictator."
Hovannisian described the ministry as "strong, pervasive, effective, or contentious" under Aram. "The controversial and extra-legal activities of his department provoked the ire of parties both to the right and to the left of Dashnaktsutiun. Aram's impatience with the fetters of parliamentary government was evident, and, under the conditions then existing in Armenia, it was not difficult to find ample justification for strong centralized control or even a dictatorial regime." Ronald Grigor Suny wrote that Aram was supported by those who "insisted that the times required dictatorial rule", while "the champions of democracy in the legislature frequently criticized the highhanded methods of the interior ministry under Aram Manukian's direction."
Aram advocated for total
disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as ...
of the Armenian population "as a necessary step toward establishing law and order. Others, however, contended that a people who had experienced turmoil and treachery for years would not comply with orders to surrender their arms, and insisted instead on allowing the armed population to contribute to the defense of the nation."
Between November 15 and December 13, 1918, Manukian acted as minister of labor after Minister Khatchatur Karchikian was killed.
Death and funeral
With a large number of Armenian refugees settled in Yerevan, a
typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
epidemic spread in the city during the winter of 1918–1919. Around two thousand orphans and refugees perished. Aram Manukian contracted the typhus in December 1918 when he was visiting the camps of refugees from the genocide. He died on 26 January 1919. He was living in extreme poverty and "refused to take medicine and gave it away to the poor, he wore old shoes and clothes." His death came as a shock and his funeral became a national day of mourning with thousands of Yerevan residents attending it. His biographer, Arshaluys Astvatzatrian, has left the following description of his burial:
According to
Richard Hovannisian
Richard Gable Hovannisian ( hy, Ռիչարդ Հովհաննիսյան, born November 9, 1932) is an Armenian American historian and professor emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is known mainly for his four-volume history o ...
the death of Aram—the "invincible leader"—"deepened the gloom" in Yerevan. Manukian was initially buried at the Mler cemetery (now
Komitas Pantheon __NOTOC__
Komitas Park and Pantheon ( hy, Կոմիտասի անվան զբոսայգի և պանթեոն) is located in Yerevan's Shengavit District, on the right side of the main Arshakunyats Avenue, in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron off ...
). In the 1930s, during the large-scale reconstructions in Yerevan (including the destruction of religious and historic buildings), his remains were moved to Kozern cemetery, which was soon turned into a park, and was eventually reburied at the Yerevan City Cemetery (popularly known as Tokhmakh).
In 1979 a group of Armenian patriots found Aram's tombstone and in August 1982 put a '' khachkar'' made by Garnik Amirjanyan on it.
Personal life
Manukian married Katarine Zalyan in Yerevan in 1917. They met at an orphanage, where she worked as a doctor. Their only daughter, Seda, was born in 1918. Katarine was one of three females elected to the Armenian parliament in 1919. Upon Aram's death and Armenia's takeover by Bolsheviks, she found herself an unemployed single mother. She settled in Krasnodar, Russia, but returned to Soviet Armenia in 1927 to fill the shortage of doctors. She died in 1965. Their daughter, Seda, lived in Yerevan until 1976 when she moved to Moscow. She was married to the son of the prominent fedayiKhansori Vardan. She died in 2005.
Legacy and public image
During his funeral Minister of Culture and Education Nikol Aghbalian stated: "Ask yourselves if you have worked for the Armenian people as much as Aram, ask yourselves if you have been as selfless as Aram and have you given your life to the Armenian people as much as Aram."
Simon Vratsian
Simon Vratsian ( hy, Սիմոն Վրացեան; 1882 – 21 May 1969) was an Armenian politician and activist of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He was one of the leaders of the First Republic of Armenia (1918–1920) and served as its las ...
, the First Republic's last Prime Minister, said of Aram that he "never betrayed the people, remained within the people and made superhuman efforts in easing their pain."
As a result of the 70-year-long anti-Dashnak propaganda in Soviet Armenia, Aram Manukian and other key ARF members who played major roles in modern Armenian history were largely discredited and forgotten. While some of the heroes of Sardarapat were allowed to be talked about beginning with the 1960s, any publication on Aram was strictly restricted.
Historical assessment
Aram Manukian is now almost universally considered the founder of the First Republic, including by historians Richard G. Hovannisian,
Gerard Libaridian
Gerard Jirair Libaridian ( hy, Ժիրայր Լիպարիտեան, born 1945 in Beirut, Lebanon) is an Armenian American historian and politician.
Biography
From 1991 to 1997, he served as adviser, and then senior adviser to the former President of ...
, Armen Asryan, Amatuni Virabyan, and Levon Shirinyan. Historian Harutyun Turshian described him as "one of the few realist figures in Armenia's entire history" and opined that "a distance in time is necessary to see his greatness and correctly evaluate him."
Revival in interest
Efforts were made by politicians to revive Aram's memory after Armenia achieved independence from the Soviet Union. To symbolize the revival of Armenian statehood, the initial declaration of the independence of Armenia from the Soviet Union on 23 August 1990 was read by
Aram Manukyan
Aram Manukyan ( hy, Արամ Մանուկյան; born March 9, 1957) is an Armenian politician.
Early life
Born in Vanadzor, Manukian graduated from the Hovhannes Tumanyan State Pedagogical University with a degree in physics. Between 1978 and 1 ...
, a member of the parliament who was chosen only because he bore the same name as the founder of the First Republic. However, in 2009 an ARF member of parliament noted that he was not widely known to the Armenian public.
Scholar-turned-political activist Rafael Ishkhanyan highly praised Aram Manukian in his 1989 essay "The Law of Excluding the Third Force", written at a time of the Soviet Union's disintegration and the national awakening associated with the
Karabakh movement
The Karabakh movement ( hy, Ղարաբաղյան շարժում, also the Artsakh movement Արցախյան շարժում) was a national mass movement in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh from 1988 to 1991 that advocated for the transfer of the ma ...
. Aram, in Ishkhanyan's words, is the prime example of an individual who ruled out any reliance on foreign powers and founded a new Armenian state without foreign support. His son, Avetik Ishkhanyan, a human rights activist, also highly praised Aram Manukian as the "greatest and most powerful politician of modern Armenian history." Avetik Ishkhanyan also opined that Aram belongs to the Armenian people and not just the ARF.
Modern leading ARF politician
Vahan Hovhannisyan
Vahan Hovhannisyan ( hy, Վահան Հովհաննիսյան; August 16, 1956 – December 28, 2014) was an Armenian politician of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF).
Tributes
On July 17, 2018 Aram Manukian's statue was officially unveiled near the Republic Square metro station in attendance of ARF leader
Hrant Markarian
Hrant Hovsepi Markarian ( hy, Հրանտ Հովսեփի Մարգարյան; born 1958) is an Armenians, Armenian politician who previously served as the head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation party's top executive body, the ARF Bureau.
Ma ...
, Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinyan
Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan ( hy, Նիկոլ Վովայի Փաշինյան, ; born 1 June 1975) is an Armenian politician serving as the prime minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018.
A journalist by profession, Pashinyan founded his own newspaper in ...
, President
Armen Sarkissian
Armen Vardani Sarkissian ( hy, Արմեն Վարդանի Սարգսյան; also written as Sarksyan and Sargsyan) (born 23 June 1952) is an Armenian politician, physicist and computer scientist who served as the 4th president of Armenia from 9 ...
and Catholicos
Karekin II
Catholicos Karekin II ( hy, Գարեգին Բ, also spelled Garegin; born 21 August 1951) is the current Catholicos of All Armenians, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. In 2013 he was unanimously elected the Oriental Orthodox he ...
. In his speech, Pashinyan called Aram the "greatest apostle of our modern history." The choice of the statue and location were criticized and both the Ministry of Culture and the Urban Development Committee declared their reservations.
Aram Manukian's bust was unveiled before the Armenian police headquarters in 2009 due to the fact that he was Armenia's first Interior Minister, which includes the police department. The ARF-affiliated Yerkir Media criticized the Armenian government, saying: "Find another nation, which pays tribute to the founder of their statehood by a bust, yet alone before the police headquarters, just because Aram Manukian was the Minister of Internal Affairs of the First Republic." Historian Tigran Petrosyants suggested that the Yerevan Municipality erect a statue of Aram in the city.
In Kapan, a neighborhood is named after him. In 2009 Aram's bust was unveiled in the city.
In May 2018, on the occasion of the centennial of the First Republic of Armenia the busts of Aram Manukian and Nikol Aghbalian were unveiled at the Sardarapat Ethnography and Liberation Movement History Museum, adjacent to the Sardarapat Memorial near
Armavir, Armenia
Armavir ( hy, Արմավիր), is a town and urban municipal community located in the west of Armenia serving as the administrative centre of Armavir Province. It was founded in 1931 by the government of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. ...
. A year later, a monument dedicated to the 140th anniversary of Manukian's birth was unveiled at Sardarapat, where one part of his remains were interred.
A medal of the Armenian Police named after Manukian is "awarded to a Police employee for significant contribution to the Police system operations development, strengthening law and order, combatting crime, maintenance of public order and security protection, staff education."
In 1989 a volunteer regiment Aram Manukian was founded in the city of Ararat, which took part in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
The Canadian branch of the
Armenian Youth Federation
The Armenian Youth Federation (AYF) ( hy, Հայ Երիտասարդական Դաշնակցութիւն) is the youth organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. Founded in 1933, the AYF became a global Armenian organization and stands ...
named its
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, located at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers. The city had a population of 138,479 as of the 2021 census. Along with Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridg ...
chapter after Aram Manukian.
Manukian's house in Yerevan
When Manukian moved to Yerevan in 1917, one of Yerevan's wealthiest citizens, Fadey Kalantarian, donated to him a two-story house in the center of the town, built in 1910 by the architect Boris Mehrabian. In 1919 the street where his house was located was renamed
Aram Street
Aram Street ( hy, Արամի Փողոց), is a street at the central Kentron district of the Armenian capital Yerevan, named after Aram Manukian; the leader of the Van Resistance of 1915 and one of the founders of the First Republic of Armenia. ...
. After Soviet rule was established it was renamed after the Bolshevik Suren Spandaryan. In 1991, after independence, it was again renamed Aram Street.
The house, located at 9 Aram Street, is now a roofless shell and "ignored" by the authorities. The property is owned by Glendale Hills real estate development company since 2005. According to reporter Tatul Hakobyan, the house is owned by the Swiss-Armenian businessman Vartan Sirmakes, who is the CEO of the watchmaking company
Franck Muller
Franck Muller is a Swiss luxury watch manufacturer, named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were €290 million in watches with an average unit price of €38,000. Franck Muller's watches are worn by various ...
irst printing in Armenia
An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters.
IR ...