The 20 Hunchakian gallows
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The 20 Hunchakian gallows ( hy, Քսան կախաղան, , also "The 20 Martyrs" and "The 20s") is the common name for the group of Hunchakian activists who were hanged in the Sultan
Beyazıt Square Beyazıt Square ( tr, Beyazıt Meydanı) lies to the north of Ordu Caddesi in the district of Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey. Officially named ''Freedom Square'' (), it is more generally known as Beyazıt Square after the early Ottoman Bayezid II Mosq ...
of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
(now
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
) on June 15, 1915 during 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 ...
.


History

The 7th General Convention of the
Social Democrat Hunchakian Party The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...
which was held in Constanţa,
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
, in 1913, had a unique and great importance not only for the Hunchaks, but in the history of the
Armenian people Armenians ( hy, հայեր, '' hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...
as a whole. During the Convention, members stressed their concern of the
Ittihad The Ittihad Party ( az, İttihad firqəsi) was a radical Islamist party in the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1917–1920. It was formed in September 1917 in opposition to the secular Musavat Party and proposed political unity of all the Musl ...
(Young Turk) government's blatant disregard of the Armenian lives who resided in Historic Armenia. The Hunchaks feared that this disregard would only escalate as time passed. The Hunchaks also stressed the importance of a United Independent Armenia which would be impossible under the racist and dictatorial Young Turk government's rule of the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Thus the convention adjourned with two main objectives:
I - As stated in its original program, the party was to move from licit to illicit activities, thus becoming once again a covert organization. II - To plan and assassinate the leaders of the Ittihad (Young Turk) party, the same leaders that carried out the Adana massacres of 1909, and thus the same leaders who at that moment were planning the annihilation of the Armenian people.
However, these secret objectives were passed on to the Ottomans by an agent; consequently as soon as the delegates arrived in Constantinople, they were arrested. By the end of the year a total of one hundred and forty Hunchak leaders were arrested. After spending two years in terrible conditions in Ottoman prisons, and undergoing lengthy mock trials, twenty prominent figures -
Paramaz Paramaz ( hy, Փարամազ; 1863–1915), born Matteos Sarkissian, was an Armenian fedayee, freedom fighter, writer and political activist. Biography Matteos Sarkissian studied at Gevorkian Seminary of Echmiadzin. In 1880s he taught in the sc ...
, Dr. Benne, Aram Achekbashian, Vanig and others were sentenced to death by hanging. A few weeks after the beginning of 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 ...
on June 15, 1915, all twenty men were hanged in the central square of
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
, known as Sultan Bayazid Square. Paramaz's last words before his hanging were, "You can only hang our bodies, but not our ideology. ...You will see tomorrow on the Eastern horizon a Socialist Armenia."


List of the hanged Hunchakians

The names are written according to the writer and publisher
Teotig Teotoros "Teotig" Labdjindjian ( hy, Թեոդորոս "Թէոդիկ" Լապճինճեան, 1873; Üsküdar, Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire – 1928; Paris, France) was an Armenian writer and publisher best known for his Armenian langu ...
. Two other prominent Hunchakian activists, Stepan Sapah-Gulian and Varaztahd, were condemned to death ''in absentia''. #
Paramaz Paramaz ( hy, Փարամազ; 1863–1915), born Matteos Sarkissian, was an Armenian fedayee, freedom fighter, writer and political activist. Biography Matteos Sarkissian studied at Gevorkian Seminary of Echmiadzin. In 1880s he taught in the sc ...
- Փարամազ # Dr. Benne (Bedros Torosian) - Տքթ. Պէննէ (Պետոս Թորոսեան), from Kharpert) # Aram Achekbashian - Արամ Աչըգպաշեան - (Krikor Garabedian, from Arabkir) # Kegham Vanigian - Գեղամ Վանիկեան, (from Van), one of the editors of ''Gaidz'' youth journal # Mourad Zakarian - Մուրատ Զաքարեան, (from
Mush In multiplayer online games, a MUSH (a backronymed variation on MUD most often expanded as Multi-User Shared Hallucination, though Multi-User Shared Hack, Habitat, and Holodeck are also observed) is a text-based online social medium to which mul ...
) # Yervant Topouzian - Երուանդ Թօփուզեան # Hagop Basmajian - Յակոբ Պասմաճեան # Smpat Kelejian - Սմբատ Գըլըճեան # Roupen Garabedian - Ռուբէն Կարապետեան # Armenag Hampartsoumian - Արմենակ Համբարձումեան # Apraham Mouradian - Աբրահամ Մուրատեան # Hrand Yegavian - Հրանդ Եկաւեան # Karnig Krikor Boyajian - Գառնիկ Գրիգոր Պօյաճեան (from Shabin-Karahisar
Şebinkarahisar Şebinkarahisar is a town in and the administrative seat for Şebinkarahisar District, Giresun Province in the Black Sea region of northeastern Turkey. Name The 6th century Byzantine historian Procopius writes that the Roman general Pompey captu ...
) # Hovhannes D. Ghazarian - Յովհաննէս Տ. Ղազարեան # Mgrdich Yeretsian - Մկրտիչ Երէցեան # Yeremia Manoukian - Երեմիա Մանուկեան # Tovmas Tovmasian - Թովմաս Թովմասեան # Karekin Boghosian - Գարեգին Պօղոսեան # Minas Keshishian - Մինաս Քէշիշեան # Boghos Boghosian - Պողոս Պողոսեան Paramaz-1.jpg,
Paramaz Paramaz ( hy, Փարամազ; 1863–1915), born Matteos Sarkissian, was an Armenian fedayee, freedom fighter, writer and political activist. Biography Matteos Sarkissian studied at Gevorkian Seminary of Echmiadzin. In 1880s he taught in the sc ...
Dr Benne (Bedros Torosian).jpg, Dr Benne Aram Achekbashian.jpg, Aram Achekbashian Kegham Vanigian.jpg, Kegham Vanigian Mourad Zakarian.jpg, Mourad Zakarian Yervant Topuzian.png, Yervant Topuzian Hagop Basmajian.jpg, Hagop Basmajian Smpat Kelejian.jpg, Smpat Kelejian Roupen Garabedian.jpg, Roupen Garabedian Armenag Hampartsoumian.jpg, Armenag Hampartsoumian Apraham Mouradian.jpg, Apraham Mouradian Hrand Yegavian.jpg, Hrand Yegavian Karnig Krikor Boyajian.jpg, Karnig Krikor Boyajian Hovhannes D. Ghazarian.jpg, Hovhannes D. Ghazarian Mgrdich Yeretsian.jpg, Mgrdich Yeretsian Yeremia Manoukian.png, Yeremia Manoukian Tovmas Tovmasian.jpg, Tovmas Tovmasian Karekin Boghosian.jpg, Karekin Boghosian Minas Keshishian.jpg, Minas Keshishian Boghos Boghosian.jpg, Boghos Boghosian


Commemoration

Since their execution, the Twenty Martyrs have been a source of inspiration for thousands of young Armenians throughout the world, most especially to those who joined the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and fought under its banner. In 2001 the monument of Paramaz and his 19 Hunchakian comrades was opened in
Meghri Meghri ( hy, Մեղրի) is a town and the center of the urban community of Meghri, in Syunik Province in southern Armenia, near the border with Iran. As of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 4,580. According to the 2020 official es ...
,
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...
. On June 15, 2010 a panel discussion was held in Yerevan and the hanged activists were commemorated at the
Tsitsernakaberd The Armenian Genocide Memorial complex ( hy, Հայոց ցեղասպանության զոհերի հուշահամալիր, ''Hayots tseghaspanutyan zoheri hushahamalir'', or Ծիծեռնակաբերդ, '' Tsitsernakaberd'') is Armenia's official ...
genocide memorial. On June 13, 2013, a panel discussion was held in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
with the attendance of human rights organizations and Turkish intellectuals.


References


External links


The Twenty Hunchakian Gallows
* www.norserount.ca Nor Serount Canadian branch {{DEFAULTSORT:20 Hunchakian gallows, The People who died in the Armenian genocide Deaths by hanging Social Democrat Hunchakian Party