The Sasun uprising or Sasun rebellion of 1904 (, Sasuni yerkrord apstambut'yunĕ, literally Second Sassoun resistance) was an uprising by Armenian militia against the Ottoman Empire in Turkey's Sason region in 1904. The empire wanted to prevent the formation of another semi-autonomous Armenian region in the eastern vilayets after its defeat in the First Zeitun Rebellion. In Sason, the Armenian national liberation movement recruited young Armenians. Background The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation were two elements of the Armenian national movement which were active in the region. The first Sasun resistance was led by the Armenian national movement's militia, which belonged to Hunchak. According to Cyrus Hamlin, the Armenians triggered hostilities. Conflicts continued between the Armenian fedayeen (Armenian irregular forces) and the Muslim Ottomans in Armenian villages. Many Armenians were compelled to accept Islam or Orthodoxy; the latter was protected by the Russian consulate. In spring 1902 a representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Vahan Manvelyan, was sent to Sason to negotiate a ceasefire with the Turks, to occupy the area and concentrate forces for a larger revolt to be led by Manvelyan and local activist Hrayr Tjokhk. This consolidation continued during 1902 and 1903. In May 1903, a militia led by Gorgos "Marrik" arrived in Sasun. Vahan and Hrayr considered it too small, and sent a party east with a request for more troops. In September a group of 150 fedayeen, led by Khan and Onik, was sent. At the Persian-Turkish border, it was surrounded by Turkish artillery troops and almost completely destroyed. In February 1903 in Sofia, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) agreed to send troops to Sason. By this time, approaches to Sasun had been blocked by a division of the 4th Corps of the Ottoman army (eight battalions, later increased to fourteen). The total force comprised as many as 10,000 soldiers and policemen, in addition to 6,000–7,000 irregular Kurdish cavalry. Armenian forces consisted of 200 guerrillas under the command of Vahan, Hrayr and Andranik, along with Kevork Chavoush, Murad of Sebastia, Keri and others. Untrained peasants in 21 villages also took up arms, swelling the insurgency to 1,000. Andranik suggested inciting a general revolt in Armenia which would disperse the Turkish forces; Hrayr objected that an Armenian revolt, unsupported by other factions of the Ottoman Empire, would be doomed and suggested concentrating on the defense of Sasun. Armed conflicts The first military