The situation of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire had worsened under the reign of Abdul Hamid II , who sought to unify all Muslims under his rule . In 1882 , Andranik was arrested for assaulting a Turkish '' gendarme '' for mistreating Armenians . With the help of his friends , he escaped from prison . He settled in the Ottoman capital Constantinople in 1884 and stayed there until 1886 , working as a carpenter . He began his revolutionary activities in 1888 in the province of Sivas . Andranik joined the Hunchak party in 1891 . He was arrested in 1892 for taking part in the assassination of Constantinople 's police chief , Yusup Mehmet Beyknown for his anti-Armenianismon 9 February . Andranik once again escaped from prison . In 1892 , he joined the newly created Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( ARF or Dashnaktsutyun ) . During the Hamidian massacres , Andranik with other '' fedayi '' defended the Armenian villages of Mush and Sasun from attacks of the Turks and the Kurdish '' Hamidiye '' units . The massacres , which occurred between 1894 and 1896 and are named after Sultan Abdul Hamid II , killed between 80,000 and 300,000 people
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Andranik