The Van region had avoided the earlier stages of the Hamidian massacres in 1895 . However , by January 1896 there was increasing violence – a report by the British vice-consul in Van , W. H. Williams , said that many Armenian villages had been looted and " Armenians are everywhere in a state bordering on panic , afraid lest the spring will bring still further disasters " . The Ottoman authorities eventually sent an expedition to attack the Armenian population of Van in June 1896
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Defense of Van (1896)