THE SEBINKARAHISAR INCIDENT

THE SEBINKARAHISAR INCIDENT

Besides the Armenian incidents, many rebellions occurred in Anatolia. One of them is ªebinkarahisar incident on 5 June 1915.

Murat (Hamparsun Boyaciyan), born in Sivas, was an Armenian band leader who attacked Shebinkarahisar with about 500 men. Since the road to transport reinforcements to the Turkish Eastern Front passed through the region, it had strategic importance. In case of an Armenian seizure of the region, the reinforcement and the back-up services of the TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) would be delayed and the front operations of the Russian army would become easier. The bandits set fire to the Muslim quarters. They started to kill the Turkish people, they tortured them, first. They attacked the army and gendarmerie detachments.

Reconsidering these conditions, the forces were brought from other fronts and they were sent to Shebinkarahisar. They besieged the Armenian rebels.

The message that was sent to the High Command of the 10th Army Corps Headquarters in Sivas on 15 June 1915 included the statements below:

�It is informed that about 500 Armenian bandits, who were collected from different places, sheltered in the old castle in ªebinkarahisar and revolted. The Sivas Governor informed that the fights took place between the security forces and the bandits.�

The message sent by the Sivas Governor to the 3rd Army Corps Headquarters on 18-19 June 1915 included the following:

�It is reported that the Shebinkarahisar rebellion was suppressed; about 800 Armenian women, men and children took shelter in the castle; about 200 of the rebels were armed.�

REFERENCE:
Sakarya, Em. Tümg. Ihsan, Belgelerle Ermeni Sorunu, Gnkur. Basimevi, Ankara 1984 pp.227-228