SURVIVING ARMENIA: A Conversation with My Father (4)

Want to start from the beginning?  Read the Introduction to the series & Part 1 of "A Conversation with My Father."

ON ASSASSINATING SULTANS

We began this series with, "A Converstion with My Father," because we looked into some of my own family's story, through the eyes of my Dad. After he and I initially spoke, my father remembered one more piece of family history that is quite interesting and that also happens to be a flashback episode in the novel, “A Perfect Armenian.”

The conflict between the Turkish and Armenian peoples had existed long before 1915. Between 1894 and 1897, over 100,000 Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks, with an expected 50,000 orphans left behind. These killings are known as the Hamidian Massacres, and are named after Sultan Abdul Hamid II. My father’s grandfather had many siblings. One of them was part of a group that tried to kill the Turkish sultan using homemade grenades. The grenades were primitive compared to our standards today and one of them went off prematurely killing some of these would-be assassins. Those who survived the faulty grenade were caught by the Turkish army and hung from a bridge in Constantinople. Back then, the Sultan was feared and hated by most Armenians because of the periodic massacres and his reign of terror.

As this series honors the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 on April 24, 2015, so we also honor those who have been fighting for the lives and freedom of Armenians - and all people - for centuries.

Read The Rest of "A Conversation with My Father"

My Grandmother and the Death March (1)

My Grandfather, The Invisible Man (2)

German Missionaries and German Spies (3)