Murder of Talaat Pasha and Raffi Hovannisian's rally

On March 15, 1921 Soghomon Tehlirian shot the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Turkey, Talaat Pasha in Berlin. In 1921 Berlin court acquitted Tehlirian. The operation was called "Nemesis", sponsored by Armen Garo and Shahan Natalie. IX Congress of the Dashnak Party, held in autumn in 1919, decided to give sentences of executed Young Turk leaders. 650 names of performers and supporters of Genocide were considered, 41 main culprits were chosen.

Soghomon Tehlirian- (April 2, 1897 – May 23, 1960) was an Ottoman Armenian known for assassinating the former Grand Vizir Talaat Pasha in Berlin in the presence of many witnesses on March 15, 1921 as an act of vengeance for Talaat's role in orchestrating the Armenian Genocide. It was a part of the Dashnak Party's Operation Nemesis.

Soghomon Tehlirian was born in the village of Nerkin Bagarij in the Erzurum villayet of Western Armenia. He received his primary education in his birthplace and afterwards graduated in the Getronagan (Central) Lyceum of Constantinople. After graduation, he returned to his native Erzincan. In June of 1915, the Turkish local police ordered the evacuation and deportation of all the Armenians in Erzincan. He along with his mother, three sisters, his sister's husband, his two brothers, and a two year old niece were forced to be deported. After marching for several hours, they heard gunfire coming and Turkish troops suddenly descended on the deportees. His mother was immediately shot dead. His sisters were dragged behind the bushes and raped. Next he watched a man cleave his brothers skull in front of him and then something smashed Tehlirian's head and he was knocked unconscious. After he awoke from unconsciousness, he escaped to Tbilisi where he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. He eventually participated in General Antranik's voluntary military detachments. In 1921 he joined the Operation Nemesis covert assassination operation.

The trial examined not only Tehlirian’s actions but also Tehlirian's conviction that Talaat Pasha was the main author of the Armenian deportation and mass killings. The defense attorneys made no attempt to deny the fact that Tehlirian had killed a man, and instead focused on the influence of the Armenian Genocide on Tehlirian's mental state. It took the jury slightly over an hour to render a verdict of "not guilty" on grounds of temporary insanity.

To note, today at 17:00 ex-presidential candidate and leader of the "Heritage" party Raffi Hovhannisyan will hold his rally at Liberty Square. On the eve of Raffi Hovannisian in his speech said that he has chosen this day, as Soghomon Tehliryan made his heroic act on March 15.