Sebastatsi Murad

Murad of Sebaste (Armenian Սեբաստացի Մուրատ Sebastazi Murad, Turkish Sivasli Murat, also Murad Murad Chrimjan or Akopjan; * 1874 in the village Govdun, Sivas Vilayet, Ottoman Empire; † August 4, 1918 in Baku, Azerbaijan) was an Armenian Fedayeen at the time of the Armenian genocide and hero of the Armenian national liberation movement in the Ottoman Empire.

Life

He near the town of Sivas ( Sebaste earlier ) was born into a rural family ( hence its name Sebastazi ). During his childhood, he was a cattle keeper. In his teens he moved to Constantinople Opel, where he worked as a loader and Sunday school attended. He initially joined the Hunchak party, then the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

In 1890 he took part in the Kumkapı demonstration against the treatment of the Armenians as second class citizens. Later, he also joined fedayeen units and took part as a response to the massacre of the Armenians from 1894-1896 to guerrilla activities. He has held a leadership role in Sasun Revolt in 1904. Then he started to operate also in the van. During the Armenian - Tatar War 1905-1907, he was appointed leader of the defense of Sangesur: By he gathered a group of 50 riders around him, he defended the Armenian population of Kapan ago massacres. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 Murad worked in Van and Sivas. In particular, he participated in the organization of a network of schools, charitable societies and women's organizations and taught at Armenian schools co-education, physical education, and theater arts.

At the beginning of the Ottoman genocide of the Armenians in 1915 were Murat and his comrades in Sivas. When the deportations were arranged gendarmes were sent to take Murat. Ottoman authorities promised the Armenians established that they were spared from deportation if they would deliver Murat. Many Armenians, especially the elderly, who would not give up their property and home, began to inform Ottoman authorities on his property. Murad defended himself with his countrymen for one and a half years. In 1916 he moved to Samsun and traveled with a sailboat to the Russian port of Batumi. He led voluntary associations in the Battle of Erzincan. On August 4, 1918, he died in fighting in the Battle of Baku.