The Armenakan Party (in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն) was an

political party established in Van,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1885 by

Mekertich Portukalian Mekertich Portukalian ( hy, Մկրտիչ Փորթուգալեան; October 21, 1848 – October 1921) was an Armenian teacher and journalist who founded the first Armenian political party, the Armenakan Party, in Van in 1885. The son of a banke ...

as an underground organization against the ruling system. It is considered the first Armenian political party. The party was founded in autumn 1885 journalist and teacher

and nine of his disciples: Meguerditch Avetisian, M. Baroudjian,

Panos Terlemezian Panos Terlemezian ( hy, Փանոս Թերլեմեզյան; 11 March 1865, Van - 30 April 1941, Yerevan) was an Armenian landscape and portrait painter; known for his support of Armenian nationalist causes. Biography His love for painting exp ...

, Grigor Adjemian, Grigor Adian, Grigor Beozikian, Rouben Chatavarian, Kevork Handjian and Garegin Manoukian. Portukalian, who was based in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, kept in touch with the leaders and published a journal of political and social enlightenment, ''Armenia'' (1885-1923). Portukalian is also cited as the father of the Armenian Patriotic Society of Europe. After Mekertich Portukalian, the Armenians of Van continued developing the political principles of

Armenian nationalism Armenian nationalism in the modern period has its roots in the romantic nationalism of Mikayel Chamchian (1738–1823) and generally defined as the creation of a free, independent and united Armenia formulated as the Armenian Cause ( hy, Հայ ...

in secret. The party's aim soon became winning the right of Armenians to rule over themselves through revolutionary armed struggle and thus liberate Armenia from the

. Its concept of

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

was distinctly limited in comparison with that of succeeding organisations; it viewed terrorism, agitation and militant demonstrations with disfavor, preferring instead to deploy Armenians trained in the use of arms as guerrillas against the

. The party's main misconception was that enemies of the Ottoman Empire would intervene and rescue the Armenian people throughout the period 1885–1918. With the turn of the century, Armenakans established cells outside Van, in other towns in the province, as well as in

Trabzon Trabzon (; Ancient Greek: Tραπεζοῦς (''Trapezous''), Ophitic Pontic Greek: Τραπεζούντα (''Trapezounta''); Georgian: ტრაპიზონი (''Trapizoni'')), historically known as Trebizond in English, is a city on the B ...

and

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

. The military structure was developed in Russian Transcaucasia, in

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and in the United States. Activities in the Ottoman Empire: * Bashkaleh Resistance: (May, 1889) * Van Rebellion : (June, 1896) * Siege of Van: (April 19, 1915 - May 6, 1915)

Merger into the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party

After the Armenian genocide, the remnants of the Armenakans joined forces with the splinter faction of the

Social Democrat Hunchakian Party The Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) ( hy, Սոցիալ Դեմոկրատ Հնչակյան Կուսակցություն; ՍԴՀԿ, translit=Sots’ial Demokrat Hnch’akyan Kusakts’ut’yun), is the oldest continuously-operating Armenian ...

known as Reorganized Hunchakian Party, the Armenian Constitutional Democratic Party, and the Popular Party, and founded the

Armenian Democratic Liberal Party The Armenian Democratic Liberal Party ( hy, Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն), the Ramgavar Party, (known before 1921 as the Armenakan party) ( hy, Արմենական Կուսակցութիւն), also known by its Ar ...

(Ռամկավար Ազատական Կուսակցութիւն (ՌԱԿ)) or Ramgavar Party) in Constantinople on October 1, 1921. The membership of the Armenakan Party was absorbed into the new party. The party went on to become one of the three traditional

Armenian diaspora The Armenian diaspora refers to the communities of Armenians outside Armenia and other locations where Armenians are considered an indigenous population. Since antiquity, Armenians have established communities in many regions throughout the world. ...

political groupings alongside the

Armenian Revolutionary Federation The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...

and the

References

{{Ottoman Empire political parties 1885 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1921 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Armenian national liberation movement Defunct political parties in Armenia Nationalist parties in Armenia Political parties disestablished in 1921 Political parties established in 1885 Political parties in the Ottoman Empire Liberal parties in Armenia

Merger into the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party

See also

References