The Siege of Van, Resistance at Van, Van Resistance (Armenian: Վանի Հերոսամարտ Vani Herosamart, Turkish: Van Direnişi) or Van Rebellion, Van Revolt (Turkish: Van İsyanı), Armenian Revolution at Van (Turkish: Van İhtilâli) was an insurgency against the Ottoman Empire's attempts to massacre the Armenian population in the Van Vilayet. Several contemporaneous observers and later historians have pointed out that the Ottoman government deliberately instigated the armed Armenian Resistance by enforcing the conditions on their subjects and then used this insurgency as a main pretext to justify the forced deportations of Armenians from all over the empire. However, the decisions of deportation and extermination were made before the Van resistance.
De Nogales' assessment substantiated the reports of the other witnesses who maintained that the Armenian posture at Van was defensive and an act of resistance to massacre. Based mostly in the city of Van, it was one of the few instances during the Armenian Genocide when Armenians fought against the Ottoman Empire's armed forces. The fighting lasted from 19 April to 17 May 1915, when the Ottoman army retreated as Russian forces approached the city.
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