One of the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Turkey was the province of Van, the center of which was the ancient Armenian city Van. In April of 1915, the Armenians organized self-defense in Van and in a number of other places to escape the Turkish massacres. The issue of self-defense of Van has both political and scientific significance, as it caused rupture in relations between the Armenian and Turkish peoples living in the Ottoman Empire and was one of the motives for the Armenian Genocide in 1915.

KeywordsVan “rebellion” in 1915 self-defense massacre forgery riot Pan-Turkism the Armenian Genocide Turkish diplomacy position of European diplomacy.