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Khanasor Expedition
The plain of
Khanasor geographically lies
between the district of Van and
Iran, and was once heavily populated
by Kurds.
Khanasor
Expedition
(Armenian:
Խանասորի
Արշաւանքը)
was performed by the Armenian
militia against the Kurdish Mazrik
tribe on July 25, 1897. In 1896,
during the Defense of Van, the
Ottoman-hired Mazrik tribe ambushed
a squad of Armenian defenders and
mercilessly slaughtered them. The
Khanasor Expedition was the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation's decision
to retaliate.
Merely a year after
the events of the Ottoman Bank
takeover, the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation decided to retaliate and
"punish" the Kurdish Mazrik tribe
for their role in the Hamidian
massacres and their ambush on the
defenders of Van. The Mazrik tribe
were settled in the fields of
Khanasor, near Avarayr.
The ARF, with the
support of the Hunchakians and the
Armenakans, organized an attack on
the tribe. The operation was the
brainchild of Nigol Douman alongside
"Khanasora" Vartan Mehrpanian and
Ishkhan Arghoutian, all of whom
participated as commanders of the
operation. On July 25, 1897, at
dawn, 150 fedayees attacked the
Mazrik tribe, killing all the men
and sparing only the women and
children. Mazrik commander Sharaf
Beg managed to escape through the
darkness. The attack ended on July
27, 1897.
Although ARF founder
Rosdom's brother Garo and 25 other
fedayees were among the casualties,
the Khanasor expedition was a small
triumph for the Armenians,
militarily and morally. As a result,
Armenians built up their
self-confidence; their belief in
their ability to defend themselves
was now reinforced. To this day, the
ARF remembers the event in
commemorative ceremonies honoring
the expedition as an important event
in the history of the Armenian
struggle for freedom.
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