Davit Akelyan

“Armenian radicals mistakenly believed that the Sultan’s position was so precarious that any major crisis, especially in the capital, would entice European intervention, leading to the restructuring of the Ottoman empire. Their agitation was aimed at ensuring such an outcome, but they were unaware of the gap between the words of European statesmen and their national interests. They also did not appreciate the complexities of international relations which necessitated the survival of the Ottoman empire (and the Sultan).As to their own people, much as Armenians were struck by the heroism of the revolutionaries, repression, fear, conservatism and a lack of widespread organisation prevented them from joining the radicals en masse.”
― Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars