Arakel “Sarsap” Meloyan – Armenian Fedayi

Arakel Meloyan was born in 1872. He received his nickname Sarsap – “horror” in Armenian – for his exceptional brutality against his enemies. It is not known for certain what he did to them, but judging by the expression of the face of our today’s hero, the Turks with the Kurds did not feel anything pleasant when they came into contact with Mr. Sarsap.

In his youth, Sarsap joined the Armenian fedayi units. Already at the age of 18, he became the commander of a fedayi unit. Among the Armenian population, Sarsap enjoyed the reputation of an honest and righteous person.

Numerous Turkish and Kurdish detachments pursued to eliminate Sarsap and his fedayis. To accomplish their mission, they asked the authorities for additional forces, but Sarsap was always ahead of them.

On a deep night, the fedayis under the command of Sarsap attacked the Turkish-Kurdish army. The battle lasted two days. Sarsap and his unit showed incredible courage and forced their opponent to retreat to the mountains.

Sarsap advanced towards Manakert where they got surrounded by numerous Turks and Kurds. Again, the fedayis’ enemies were shamefully defeated.

Later, Sarsap and his warriors would participate in absolutely all major clashes between the Armenian fedayis and Turkish troops. His group along with Torgom’s (another renowned Armenian fedayi) unit on the way to Sardarapat crushed the remains of the Turkish and Transcaucasian Tatar troops in Kars, Gyumri, Aparan, Etchmiadzin, and Yerevan.

Prior to this, Sarsap had been involved in the revenge for the murder of Serob Aghpyur. As a result, the murderer of Serob Kurd Khalil Bey had been killed and beheaded.

But on this, the revengeful path of Sarsap did not end. He also undertook a revenge on the traitor Avera (who had poisoned Serob), deciding to kill not only him but also his entire family. However, Sarsap would die from the hands of Avera.