, ▁gr en ades , ▁dynam ite ▁and ▁hand - h eld ▁bomb s ▁against ▁the ▁Ott oman ▁Bank ▁in ▁Ist an bul . ▁The ▁se iz ure ▁of ▁the ▁bank ▁last ed ▁ 1 4 ▁hours , ▁resulting ▁in ▁the ▁death s ▁of ▁ 1 0 ▁of ▁the ▁Armen ian ▁men ▁and ▁Ott oman ▁soldiers . ▁The ▁Ott oman ▁reaction ▁to ▁take over ▁saw ▁further ▁mass ac res ▁and ▁pog rom s ▁of ▁the ▁several ▁thousand ▁Armen ians ▁living ▁in ▁Constantin ople ▁and ▁Sultan ▁Abd ul ▁Ham id ▁II ▁threaten ing ▁to ▁level ▁the ▁entire ▁building ▁itself . ▁However , ▁inter vention ▁on ▁part ▁of ▁the ▁European ▁diplom ats ▁in ▁the ▁city ▁managed ▁to ▁persu ade ▁the ▁men ▁to ▁give , ▁assigning ▁safe ▁passage ▁to ▁the ▁surv iv ors ▁to ▁France . ▁Despite ▁the ▁level ▁of ▁violence ▁the ▁incident ▁had ▁wr ought , ▁the ▁take over ▁was ▁reported ▁posit ively ▁in ▁the ▁European ▁press , ▁pra ising ▁the ▁men ▁for ▁their ▁courage ▁and ▁the ▁object ives ▁they ▁attempted ▁to ▁accomplish . ▁ ▁Econom y ▁▁ ▁Econom ically , ▁the ▁emp ire ▁had ▁difficulty ▁in ▁rep ay ing ▁the ▁Ott oman ▁public ▁deb t ▁to ▁European ▁banks , ▁which ▁caused ▁the ▁establishment ▁of ▁the ▁Council ▁of ▁Administration ▁of ▁the ▁Ott oman ▁Public ▁Deb t . ▁By ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century , ▁the ▁main ▁reason ▁the ▁emp ire ▁was ▁not ▁over run ▁by ▁Western ▁powers ▁was ▁their ▁attempt ▁to ▁maintain ▁a ▁balance ▁of ▁power ▁in ▁the ▁area . ▁Both