The Kum Kapu demonstration occurred in the Kumkapı

Kumkapi

Kumkapı is part of the Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the Marmara Sea. Up to recent times, Kumkapı was mostly inhabited by Armenians, who still have a community school and several churches there. It is also the seat of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople...

 district of Constantinople on July 27, 1890. It ensued in skirmishing where several persons, including a police officer were killed. Many more were wounded.

Background

Towards the close of the nineteenth century, Armenian revolutionary societies began to agitate for reform and renewed European attention to the Armenian Question

Armenian Question

The term "Armenian Question" as used in European history, became common place among diplomatic circles and in the popular press after the Congress of Berlin; that in like Eastern Question, refers to powers of Europe's involvement to the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire beginning with the...

. The Hnchak

Social Democrat Hunchakian Party

The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party , is the oldest of the Armenian political parties and was the first Socialist party in the Ottoman Empire and in Persia...

 party in particular utilized the tactic of mass demonstration to hasten the process. They had been suspected to be behind the earlier protest in Erzerum in June 1890 that resulted in massacre.

July 27, 1890

On 27 July 1890, Harutiun Djangulian, Mihran Damadian

Mihran Damadian

Mihran Damadian was an Armenian freedom fighter, political activist, writer and teacher.He was educated in the Armenian Catholic Seminary at Venice, Italy. He then became a teacher in the Sassoun district. With Medzn Mourad, he led the Sassoun Resistance in 1894...

 and Hambartsum Boyajian interrupted the saying of mass to read a manifesto

Manifesto

A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...

 and denounce the indifference of the Armenian patriarch

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople

The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople also known as Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul is today head of The Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople , one of the smallest Patriarchates of the Oriental Orthodox Church but one that has exerted a very significant political role and today still exercises...

 and Armenian National Assembly

Armenian National Assembly (Ottoman Empire)

Armenian National Assembly was the governing body of the Armenian Millet established by Armenian National Constitution of 1863 under Ottoman Empire....

.

They soon forced the patriarch to join the procession heading to the Yildiz Palace

Yildiz Palace

Yıldız Palace is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman pavilions and villas in Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the Sultan and his court in the late 19th century.- Origin :...

 to demand implementation of Article 61 of the 1878 Treaty of Berlin. Even as the procession was gathering, police surrounded the crowd, and shots were fired that resulted in the deaths of several, including a policeman. Many more were wounded.

Result

The event alarmed both the patriarch and sultan. It showed that even peaceful demonstrations in repressive societies would end in violence. At the same time, while there was no clear result from the event, the Hnchak press praised the courage shown during the event. Similar demonstration on a lesser scale followed throughout most of the 1890s.