The Adana Massacre of 1909

In 1908, the Young Turk revolution brought great hope for many people living in the Ottoman Empire. Upon taking power, they issued a proclamation outlining their plans that declared : “Every citizen will enjoy complete liberty and equality, regardless of nationality or religion.” The reintroduction of the constitution (which the sultan had suspended in 1878), with its promises of equal rights, seemed to offer opportunities to people who had been left behind in the old system. The Young Turk vision of a strong central government promised an alternative to the corruption and disorder of the sultan’s regime. Many hoped the violence that had come to characterize the sultan’s reign would now end.

But the new leaders of the empire almost immediately faced challenges. There continued to be conflict in the Balkans. In 1908, Austria-Hungary annexed the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bulgaria declared independence from the empire, and the island of Crete broke away to become part of Greece. In the chaos that followed, Turks loyal to the sultan attempted a counter-coup to restore him to power in 1909.

It also became clear that the Young Turks’ promise of equality was celebrated by some and experienced as a loss of status and power by others. In April 1909, Armenian celebrations of their newly won freedoms were met by violence in the province of Adana. Historian Richard Hovannisian explains:

After the Young Turk revolution, many Armenians were emboldened to believe that they could now enjoy freedom of speech and assembly. . . . For Muslims, however, the new era of constitutional government undermined their traditional relationship with Armenians and threatened their legal and customary superiority.  A skirmish between Armenians and Turks [in the province of Adana] on April 13 set off a riot that resulted in the pillaging of the bazaars and attacks upon the Armenian quarters. The violence also spread to nearby villages. When the authorities finally intervened two days later, more than 2,000 Armenians lay dead.

An uneasy 10-day lull was broken on April 25 with an inferno. Army regulars who had just arrived in the city now joined the mobs. Fires set in the Armenian quarters spread rapidly in all directions. . . . Hakob Papikian, member of a parliamentary commission of investigation, reported that there had been 21,000 victims, of whom, 19,479 were Armenian, 850 Syrian, 422 Chaldean, and 250 Greek.

Thousands of widows and orphans now stood as a grim reminder of the first massacre of the Young Turk era. Several Turks and Armenians were hanged in Adana for provoking the violence, but the most responsible persons, including the governor and commandant, got off with no real punishment. ¹

• 1Richard Hovannisian, “The Armenian Question in the Ottoman Empire, 1876–1914,” in Richard G. Hovannisian ed. The Armenian People: From Ancient to Modern Times, Vol. 2 (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1997), 230–231.