On August 26, 1896, at 6:30 in the morning, the first recorded act of
urban terrorism of the world took place. Twenty six armed Armenian
Tashnaksutyun terrorists raided the Ottoman Bank’s Galata Branch in
Istanbul, throwing bombs and opening fire on the unsuspecting guards
and employees inside. After gaining control of the perimeter, the
attackers published a list of political demands from the Ottoman
Government. Following a day of standoff, 17 raiders left the Bank and
were sent to France after the intervention of Sir Edgar Vincent, the
Bank’s President with Maximoff, the Russian Embassy’s head dragoman,
who represented the Powers. None of the demands of the assailants were
met but a model had been created for all future terrorist raids,
complete with hostage-taking, forced publication of a list of demands, and permission for the terrorists to leave the country – plus all the
PR that accompanies an action of this type.