Buxton Brothers and the Balkan Commıttee from the Balkans to Van

The Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-78 ended with the Berlin Agreement. With the 23rd article of the treaty, it was recorded that the reform program would be implemented in Macedonia. During the implementation of this reform program, the British Civil Society Organization "Balkan Committee" and the members of this committee, British Deputy Noel Buxton and his brother, traveled the Balkan geography and worked for the revolt of the nations in this region against the Ottoman Empire. After the Balkans fell from the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1913, the Balkan Committee, which changed its name to the "Armenian Committee" as a result of the meeting held in the House of Commons with the participation of the representatives of the European States and the Armenian delegation, chose Eastern Anatolia as its new field of work and started to deal with the Armenian issue. British Deputy and Armenian Committee member Noel Buxton and his brother arranged a trip to Van in October 1913 to observe the Armenian reform activities envisaged to be carried out in Eastern Anatolia in accordance with Article 61 of the Berlin Treaty. In this study, the reactions of Van Governor Hasan Tahsin Bey, who is also of Balkan origin, to this trip of the Buxton brothers, were discussed.