a general massacre.". However, there were also reports at the same time of Turks lynching Kurdish soldiers responsible for particularly harsh atrocities. During this time, the massacres, under the pretext of an arms search, continued. Later, Armenians attacked an Ottoman patrol, to Djevdet's anger. Alarmed, Armenians in Van requested Dr. Clarence Ussher, a missionary and representative of the United States, to mediate between them and Djevdet. Djevdet attempted to violate the diplomatic immunity of Ussher's compound by trying to garrison 50 Ottoman soldiers inside. It became clear to Ussher that mediation attempts would be futile. However, reports at the time were also showing that the Armenians had begun to gather volunteers for an organized defense. On 15 April, Armenians had mustered a force at Erciş (Ardjish) by Gendarmerie. Earlier, the tax collectors, accompanied by gendarmeries, went to north Van province to count the sheep which dictated the villagers' tax rates. Erciş was an administrative unit with 80 Armenian villages at north of Van. The tax collector gave the Sultan's recital of order regarding the calculation of tax values. Disagreement ensued between the villagers and the tax collector. The disagreement turned to conflict and extended to the gendarmerie unit in Banat, reaching other centers from there. Violence in the countryside reached a peak on 19 April, where 2,500 males in Erciş killed in a single day. On 17 April, Djevdet ordered his battalions to annihilate Shatakh. The ill-disciplined force instead attacked Armenian villages located nearer to Van. On the same day, Arshak Vramian was arrested. A schoolmaster was also arrested in Shadakh in mid-April. There had been a local demonstration in his favor. Several prominent Armenians, led by Nikoghayos Poghos Mikaelian (Ishkhan), went to this town at the request of Djevdet. Nikoghayos Poghos Mikaelian and other prominent Armenians were stopped midway at Hirj and murdered on 17 April. Among the three leaders of the ARF only Aram Manugian escaped. Djevdet also took action against the leaders of the ARF in Van. For the resistance, this was a sign that the city was not safe. Djevdet was believed to have thought that, by killing leaders of the Armenian parties, he would destroy the cohesion of the resistance. The minister of interior Mehmed Talat Bey with his order on 24 April (known by the Armenians as the Red Sunday) requested the arrest of the leaders of Armenian community in the Ottoman capital and