Ottoman Bank takeover

The 1896 Ottoman Bank Takeover (Armenian: Պանք Օթօմանի գրաւումը) was the seizing of the Ottoman Bank in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire on August 26, 1896 by members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnak Party). In an effort to raise further awareness and action by the major European powers, twenty-eight armed men and women led primarily by Papken Siuni and Armen Karo took over the bank which largely employed European personnel from Great Britain and France. Stirred largely due to the inaction of the European powers in regards to pogroms and massacres instigated by the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, the Dashnak members saw its seizure as their best attempt to bring full attention to the massacres. The Ottoman bank, at the time, served as an important financial center for both the Empire and the countries of Europe.

Armed with pistols, grenades, dynamite and hand-held bombs, the seizure of the bank lasted for fourteen hours, resulting in the deaths of ten of the Armenian men and Turkish soldiers. Turkish reaction to takeover saw further massacres and pogroms of the several thousand Armenians living in Constantinople and also Hamid threatening to level the entire building itself. However, intervention on part of the European diplomats in the city managed to persuade the men to give, assigning safe passage to the survivors to France. Despite the level of violence the incident had wrought, the takeover was reported positively in the European press, praising the men for their courage and the objectives they attempted to accomplish. Nevertheless, aside from issuing a note condemning the pogroms in the city, the European powers did not act on their promises to enforce reforms in the country as future massacres of Armenians continued to take place.

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