The takeover was planned in order to raise further awareness and action by the major European powers . The bank was largely employed European personnel from Great Britain and France . Stirred by the inaction of the European powers in regards to Hamidian massacres , the Armenian Revolutionary Federation members saw its seizure as the best way to bring full attention to the massacres . The organizational planning of the takeover required Tiriakian to visit various countries around the world before the takeover took place . Tiriakian eventually took part in the seizure along with other Armenian political activists such as Armen Garo and Papken Siuni . Tiriakian describes the event as follows : After the takeover concluded , Tiriakian was one of many participants who were exiled then shipped to Marseille , France . While in exile , Tiriakian attended the Second General Congress of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation held in 1898 in Tbilisi , Georgia which had him appointed the Responsible Body for the Cilicia region . After making a brief visit to Alexandria , Egypt , Tiriakian returned to the Ottoman Empire in secret . One of the main goals of his return was to gather money from wealthy Armenians in order to help fund the Armenian revolutionary movement . However , since the Ottoman authorities had an arrest warrant for him , he was caught and sent to life imprisonment in Bodrum . After the Young Turk Revolution in 1908 , Tiriakian was set free and returned to Constantinople . In Constantinople , he became a publicist and manager of the '' Azadamard '' Armenian newspaper
Hamidian massacres
Hamidian massacres
Haig Tiriakian