The Hamidian massacres came when some 4,000 Armenians in the Sasun district of Bitlis Vilayet in 1894 rebelled against Kurdish nomadic tribes , who demanded traditional taxes from them . Local authorities reported this to the Sultan as a major revolt . The Sultan responded by sending the Ottoman army supported by the Hamidiye cavalry and local Kurdish tribes . After clashing with the Armenian rebels , the Kurds descended upon Armenian villages in the regions of Sasun ( Sassoun ) and Talori , between Muş and Silvan , massacring its inhabitants and burning several Christian villages . More than 7,500 Armenians died as a result , and an intervention by European powers lead to the dismissal of the Governor of Bitlis , Bahri Paşa , in January 1895 . Three European Powers - Britain , France and Russia - thinking that reform of the Ottoman local government would help to prevent violence as occurred in Sasun , proposed to Sultan Abdul Hamid II a reform plan , planning control of the Kurds and the employment of Christian assistant-governors . The Sultan was unwilling to yield to the desires of the Powers . During the Spring and Summer of 1895 months of unfruitful negotiations passed . After a demonstration in Constantinople on September 30 , 1895 , organised by the Armenian Hunchakian Party to ask for speedy enactment of the reforms , Christian neighbourhoods in the city were attacked by angry Muslim mobs and the city descended into chaos . The massacre in Constantinople was followed by more Muslim-Armenian conflict in other areas , always costing the lives of vastly more Christians than Muslims . Western pressure on the Sultan increased , and he eventually gave in to their demands and a Firman of the reforms was issued in October 1895 . In retrospect , the announcement of the reforms only exacerbated the already heated atmosphere in the Ottoman Empire . As news of clashes and massacres spread throughout the empire Diyarbekir also took its share , with Muslim-Christian distrust reaching unprecedented levels . Generally Muslims had a distorted view of what the European-inspired reforms would mean . Muslims , also in Diyarbakır , thought that an Armenian Kingdom was about to be created under protection of European Powers and the end of Islamic rule was imminent . Muslim civilians bought large amounts of weapons and ammunition . The influential Kurdish Sheikh of Zilan , who played an important role in the massacres of Armenians in Sasun and Mush in the previous year , was present in the city inciting the Muslims against Christians . It was rumoured that Kurdish tribal leaders outside the town had promised to send 10,000 Kurdish fighters to avenge themselves . Muslim notables in Diyarbakır , who had lost their trust in the Sultan , telegraphed him that : On 4 October 1895 , Mehmed Enis Pasha , an official highly disliked among the city 's Christians for his alleged role in a fire that destroyed Christian shops in Mardin , was appointed the governor of the city . The governor tried to force the Christian notables and communal leaders to sign telegrams of gratitude to Constantinople for his appointment . This provoked a harsh reaction from the Armenians and the Assyrians ; Armenian shops were closed down , people protested in their churches , prevented masses , and continuously rang the bells " for three days and three nights " . A petition was signed by 1200 people and was sent to the Armenian Patriarchate to protest their support for the governor , the Assyrian bishop of the city was forced to seek refuge in the French consulate . The protests continued until a response was received from the Patriarchate , which took ten days
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Massacres of Diyarbakır (1895)