VAN-VASPURAKAN DURING WORLD WAR I (Summer of 1915-1917)
After the retreat of July 1915 some Armenians of Vaspurakan returned again to restore their fathernal hearths. There was no longer an Armenian authority both in Van and in the province. The internal life of Van was a little bit regulated.
In spite of many difficulties the life was getting back on its track gradually. The merchants started to make relations with Persia and the Caucasus. A group of people from Van founded a corporative company “Van”, which had to provide the population of the city with agricultural products.
The activities of reconstructing Van-Vaspurakan were continued in 1917. However, after the military units of the Caucasian Army left the Russian-Turkish front on February 1918, the Ottoman troops began a large-scale attack. In March, the Armenians of Van and the province were compelled to retreat into Eastern Armenia and Persia. There, they continued to fight against Turkish invaders.
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