After Van was liberated , Khetcho and his squadron were assigned to assist self-defense efforts in Mush and Sassoun . In July 1915 , Khetcho stopped in Bitlis , where in June 1915 , during the Armenian Genocide , Turks and Kurds , led by Jevdet Bey , were known to have massacred 15,000 Armenians . In preparation for a Russian advance , the Turkish forces mounted their artillery atop a mountain with a clear path to launch a renewed offensive onto the village . Fearing an impending massacre upon the Armenian population of the village , Khetcho and his regiment led a cavalry offensive against the Turkish army pushing them higher up the mountain . However , during a counter-attack by Turkish forces , Khetcho was fatally wounded . His body was taken to Van where he was ultimately buried next to other Armenian revolutionaries
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Khetcho