The increasingly unstable situation of the Ottoman Empire, particularly for ethnic and religious minorities who were discriminated against and persecuted, drove them to radicalize progressively.

After a gradual progression in their radicalization, the ARF members decided to assassinate the Sultan, entrusting the organization of the project to their founder and principal theorist, Christapor Mikaelian.

Assisted by Sophie Areshian, Martiros Margarian, Ardaches Seremdjian, Garabed Yeghiguian, the Belgian anarchist couple Anna Nellens-Edward Joris, and the German revolutionary Marie Seitz, Christapor Mikaelian orchestrated the attempt.

The group brought a cart loaded with melinite to the mosque, with Areshian setting the bomb’s timer to explode as the Sultan exited.

After the attack, Edward Joris was arrested and sentenced to death, sparking a significant protest movement in Western Europe that ultimately led to his release.

During the second half of the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire experienced two parallel phenomena: a growing decline coupled with the modernization of the country.

[1] The Empire faced territorial losses due to the gradual independence of several countries, such as Greece (1829) and, in the 1870s, Romania, Montenegro, and Serbia, along with a quasi-independence granted to Bulgaria.

These cultural, economic, and political shocks created an increasingly violent and volatile situation, exacerbated by the legal discrimination imposed by the Ottoman state on ethnic and religious minorities such as Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and Assyrians,[2] who were also subjected to periodic massacres.

[2] To maintain control over its colonized regions, including the Caucasus and Armenia, the Empire progressively relied on auxiliaries, typically Kurdish troops composed of pardoned criminals or tribal groups.

These forces, known as the Hamidiye, were established by Abdul Hamid II to exert more effective control over the territory, "regulate" the colonized populations,[3] and centralize his Empire.

[12] The organization was quickly influenced by the tactics of direct action, terrorism, and propaganda of the deed, which characterized anarchist movements and attacks in the West at the time.

[14] The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) began contemplating the assassination of Abdul Hamid II as early as 1896 in retaliation for the Hamidian massacres.

[14] On 22 June 1896, Hovnan Tavtian, the editor-in-chief of Droshak, who was in Geneva at the time,[14][16] wrote to Zavarian suggesting that assassinating the Sultan during the Friday prayer would be a good idea.

[14] The violence endured by Armenians during the massacres, the worsening of their situation, and the complete inaction of Western powers led ARF members to radicalize progressively.

[14] The congress entrusted the organization of the assassination to its co-founder, Christapor Mikaelian (Samuel Fein), and a small group consisting of Ardaches Seremdjian (Torkom), Garabed Yeghiguian (Achod), Martiros Margarian (Safo-Liba Ripps), and Tavtian.

[14] Tavtian quickly left the group, but Mikaelian and the remaining conspirators gathered in Piraeus in 1904, where they added more members: Vramshabouh Kendirian (Yervant) and Chris Fenerdjian (Silvio Ricci).

[20] Their tasks included transferring money, explosives, and weapons across different parts of the Empire or from abroad, as well as between the organization’s various safe houses.

[20] The group also welcomed foreign revolutionaries, such as the Belgian anarchist Edward Joris, who became aware of the Armenians’ plight through Kendirian, his coworker.

[20] Joris, soon joined by his wife, the anarchist activist Anna Nellens (Bella), was able to move freely within the Empire, transport goods, and access surveilled areas where entry was less restricted for Westerners.

[20] Mikaelian supported the idea of directly targeting the Sultan, if possible, by attacking him during one of his biannual visits to the Dolmabahçe Palace—where the commando would infiltrate and throw bombs at him.

[23] It had the advantage of minimizing civilian casualties while increasing the chances of killing the Sultan, though it also posed a significant risk to the commando members.

[23] Margarian preferred to use a cart loaded with explosives in front of the Yıldız Mosque, a strategy that could cause numerous civilian casualties and was more likely to fail, but which would provide greater safety for the revolutionaries.

[23] She declared:[23]I was astonished; how could one be a revolutionary and be afraid of sacrifice and not take advantage of all the positions available?Ultimately, Mikaelian and Margarian reached an agreement.

[22] Mikaelian, Areshian, and Kendirian left Constantinople to travel to Bulgaria in order to test explosives provided by the anarchist Naum Tyufekchiev.

[22] The group was at risk of being discovered, but Joris succeeded in concealing the contents of the caches before Ottoman police intervened on two separate occasions.

[25] The excuse chosen by the four members—Areshian, Margarian, Seitz, and the cart driver, Zareh—was to go buy flowers for Areshian, and the group headed toward the mosque.

[34] Given the difficulty of his defense, he decided to cooperate partially with the Ottoman authorities, providing them with details about the members of the commando and the group's organization.

[35][37] Grave declared:[37] Our comrades remember Joris, accused in the plot against the Yldiz-Kiosk bandit, sentenced to death by the judges of the massacrer a year and a half ago.

Not only had its founder, main organizer, and thinker, Christapor Mikaelian, died during the preparation of the assassination, but the attack itself also turned out to be a complete failure.

[39] These bombs, of poor quality, provided by Tyufekchiev and the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), were suspected by the ARF[18] and could possibly have been deliberately sabotaged to kill Mikaelian.