Özet:

Sarkis Terzian was born in Arapgir in the territory of the Ottoman Empire in 1868 and emigrated to Abyssinia due to the conflicts that occurred in the region in the following years. Terzian, who trades with the help of his relatives living in Abyssinia, soon became one of the important traders in the region. However, both the struggle of the governors in Abyssinia and the occupation of Abyssinia by the Italians upset the balance in the region. The current political situation continued until he met Sarkis Terzian and the Emperor of Abyssinia. Terzian, who had previously traded in fur and ivory, started arms trade between Europe and Abyssinia after being under the patronage of the Abyssinian emperor. Indeed, Menelik needed modern weapons manufactured in Europe to defend his country against Italy. Accordingly, he gave certain privileges to Terzian to supply modern weapons. Thus, Terzian established an arms trade network on the Marseille-Djibouti-Abyssinia line, which carried weapons to the region for many years. Terzian’s mobility in Europe also attracted the attention of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman envoys and consuls in Europe were reporting Terzian’s activities to the goverment. The fact that the Abyssinian army, equipped with weapons supplied by Terzian, defeated Italy in 1896 caused him to gain popularity all over the world. Terzian had been featured in the European and American press because of his reputation. But in 1906, the governments of Italy, Britain and France had a treaty on arms trade to Africa. The agreement made has disrupted arms trade in the region. From this date, Terzian was a merchant operating in different areas other than the arms trade. The aim of this study is to present a different perspective on the influence of Sarkis Terzian, an arms dealer, and the phenomenon of arms trade in the region.

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