Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
On 18 February 1856, thousands of citizens gathered in Istanbul to hear Sultan Abdulmecid’s Hatt-i Humayun, the second proclamation of the Tanzimat reforms. While specific points were reiterated from the 1839 Hatt-ı Şerif of Gülhane proclamation, the 1856 Hatt-i Humayun was far more in-depth and specific. For instance, this time, there was a particular reference to the need for adherence to annual national budgets, the creation of more banks, and the adaptation of a more Europeanized economic model in hopes of building a more substantial empire financially. Similarly, steps would be taken that would lead to the introduction of commercial law and the codifying of penal law within the empire while at the same time making penal reforms that would, for example, look to no longer punish apostates by death. The proclamation greatly emphasized that all citizens were now to be considered equal under Ottoman law regardless of religion. This intrinsically meant that the millet systems would have to be abandoned, and all non-Muslim communities could naturally become citizens of the Ottoman Empire. Additionally, the sultan vowed that these historic minorities would be safeguarded and offered legal protection from discrimination, with the final goal ultimately being to break down the barriers erected by the discriminatory millet system and create a brotherhood of Ottoman citizens that is both multi-ethnic and multi-national.