Armenian resistance is a name given to the military and political activities of the Armenians under the Armenian political parties of Henchak , Armenakan , Dashnaktsutiun against the Ottoman Empire during World War I , considered a struggle for freedom and resistance to the Armenian Genocide by the Armenian combatants , but high treason by the Ottoman Empire . These Armenian national organizations established Armenian fedayeen ( ) generally referred to as Armenian irregular units and the Russian Empire formed Armenian volunteer units , which recruited Ottoman Armenians from behind the Ottoman lines , to help the Russian Caucasus Army against the Ottoman Empire . During this period the Siege of Van on April 20 , 1915 , and consequent establishment of the Administration for Western Armenia were significant events . The Ottoman Minister of Interior Mehmed Talat Pasha considered the Armenian population a fifth column within the Empire , blaming the rise of the Armenian national liberation movement for the overall unrest inside the Empire in his order on April 24 , 1915 that ended with arrests in Red Sunday
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Armenian resistance during the Armenian Genocide