The 7th general convention of the Social Democrat Hunchak party had a unique and great importance not only to the party but in the history of the Armenian people as a whole. Held in Costantsa, Romania, 1913, in the convention delegates stressed their concern of the Inttihad (Young Turk) government’s blatant disregard of Armenian lives residing in historic western Armenia. The Hunchaks feared that this disregard would only escalate As time pasted. The Hunchaks also stressed the importance of a united independent Armenia which would be impossible under the racist and dictatorial Intiihad (Young Turk) regime’s rule. Thus the convention adjourned with two main objectives:

I As stated in its original program, the Hunchak Party was to move from licit to illicit activities, thus becoming once again a covert organization.

II To plan and assassinate the leaders of the Inttihad (Young Turk) party, the same leaders that carried out the Adana massacres of 1909 and the same leaders who at the that moment were planning the annihilation of the Armenian people.

Unfortunately these secret objectives were passed on to the Turks by an Armenian spying on behalf of the Inttihad regime. Consequently as soon as the delegates arrived in Constantinople they were arrested. By the end of the year all major Hunchak leaders were arrested.

After spending two years in the horrors known as Turkish jails, twenty prominent figures; Paramaz, Dr. Benne, Aram Achekbashian, Vanig and others were sentenced to death by hanging. Few weeks after the beginning of the Armenian Genocide, on June 15, 1915, all twenty men were hung in the center square of Constantinople.

The destiny of the Twenty Martyrs was intertwined with the destiny of their nation. They sensed what was coming, sounded the alarm but were betrayed by a fellow Armenian. They believed that an independent Armenia will and could be born, they were right.

Over the years the Twenty Martyrs remain a source of inspiration for the thousands of young Armenian through out the world, but most especially those who joined the ranks of the Social Democrat Hunchak party, fought under its banner, and worked for the welfare of all Armenians. Today an independent Armenian Republic is a living example of what the Twenty Martyrs and thousands of other Armenian heroes fought and died for. But the struggle must always continue to ensure the well-being of Armenians through out the world.