Gevork Chavush

Kevork Ghazarian (; 1870 – 28 May 1907), commonly known as Kevork Chavush or Gevorg Chaush , was an Armenian fedayee leader in the Ottoman Empire and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation.

Kevork Chavush attained a legendary status during his lifetime for his extraordinary daring and valor in defense of the Armenian peasantry against harassment by marauding Turkish and Kurdish forces. He was the undisputed leader of Armenian revolutionary forces in the region of Taron-Sasun from 1904 until his death in 1907 after being wounded in a battle with the Ottoman army. to a family of hunters in the region of Sasun, in the village of Mktink of the Psank (Psanats) district. His exact date of birth is not known, but he is believed to have been born around 1870. From 1885 to 1888, he travelled to Aleppo and found residence there. He worked to raise enough money to buy a rifle. He returned to Taron in 1890 to join his friend Hampartsoum "Murad" Boyadjian's group of Armenian fighters with the aim of defending Armenian-populated villages from Hamidian persecutions.

Revolutionary activities

In 1893, Gevorg took part in fighting which had erupted at Talvorik and was quickly noticed as a great soldier. A year later, he participated in the Sasun Resistance against Sultan Abdul Hamid II's persecution of Armenians. During the battle, Gevorg was captured and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. He managed to escape from jail 2 years later and fled to the mountains of Sasun, where he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) political party with his friends and conducted revolutionary activities targeting Turkish officials. During his career as a fedayee fighter, Gevorg worked with leaders Serob Aghpyur, Gurgen (Baghdasar Malian) and later Andranik Ozanian.

In 1901, Gevorg fought alongside Andranik at the Battle of Holy Apostles Monastery, where a small group of fedayee repelled a much larger Turkish force. That same year, he also took command in battles at Berdak and Norshen. Gevorg later participated in the Second Sasun Resistance in 1904.

Afterwards, he crossed into the region of Vaspurakan (Van) with Andranik and Hampartsoum Boyadjian, but desired to return to Sasun and did so shortly after. Gevorg and Eghso had one son together named Vartkes.

Kevork was known to have good relations with some Kurdish leaders of the region. He tried to persuade them not to obey the orders of Sultan Abdul Hamid, who enlisted many Kurds into his Hamidiye regiments. This was in vain as the Kurds ended up not joining the Armenian revolutionaries. At the Fourth World Congress of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation held in April 1907, Kevork was elected a member of the Sasun-Vaspurakan Responsible Body, which directed all of the party's military and revolutionary activities in the Armenian provinces of the Ottoman Empire.

Death Kevork and his men came to the village of Sulukh in Mush on 25 May 1907 and were joined by other fedayee the next day. His comrades left him under a bridge on the shore of the Aratsani River and told some villagers from Sulukh to watch over him. The next morning, on 28 May 1907, Kevork was found by a Kurdish chieftain named Zaynal Bek and died of his wounds shortly after asking for water. His body was later found by Turkish soldiers who transported Kevork's corpse to Mush city, where the Armenian population mourned him for three days and buried him in an Armenian cemetery in the Kogh neighborhood of the town.

Legacy Like many other fedayee leaders, Kevork entered the Armenian popular consciousness as a national hero and remains revered to this day. A number of novels and popular songs have been written about him. The Kevork Chavoush Museum is located in the village of Ashnak.

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