Şebinkarahisar was one of the few locations where Armenians actively resisted the Armenian Genocide . As news of deportations and massacres in other parts of the Ottoman Empire reached the town , its Armenian population decided to make preparations for self-defence . On June 15 , 1915 some 300 Armenians , mostly wealthy merchants , were arrested . On the following day , after further attempted arrests , fighting erupted and barricades were erected in the town 's Armenian districts . By June 18 most of those districts had fallen or been abandoned . Some 5,000 Armenians from the town and nearby villages , 75 % of them women and children , retreated into Şebinkarahisar 's medieval fortress . It was then surrounded by Turkish troops , who directed heavy artillery at its walls . On the night of July 11 , with food , water , and ammunition almost exhausted , the Armenians decided to secretly evacuate the fortress . However , the attempt was discovered and all who had left were killed . On July 12 those still inside the fortress surrendered . A massacre then followed in which all Armenian men were killed . Women and children survivors were held prisoner in the town before being deported like those of other towns . According to official Turkish records , during the revolt the Armenian rebels killed 403 civilian Turkish villagers
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Şebinkarahisar