The union of the committees did not last long, as they held widely different views about the new condition of the Turkish Empire; but soon after the _Tashnaktsutioun_, the _Huntchag_, and the _Veragaznial-Huntchag_ committees were reorganised and new committees formed throughout Turkey. The _Ramgavar_ (the Rights of the People) committee was instituted in Egypt by M. Boghos Nubar after the proclamation of the Constitution, and displayed the greatest activity. This committee, in March, 1914, agreed to work on the same lines with the _Huntchag_, the _Tashnaktsutioun_, and the _Veragaznial-Huntchag_. Another committee, the _Sahmanatragan_, was also constituted. They made sure of the support of the Patriarchate and the bishops to reassert their influence and spread a network of ramifications all over the country in order to triumph at the elections. They carried on an active propaganda to conciliate public opinion, by means of all kinds of publications, school books, almanacs, postcards, songs, and so on, all edited at Geneva or in Russia. As early as 1905 the Armenian committees had decided at a congress held in Paris to resort to all means in order to make Cilicia an independent country. Russia, on the other hand, strove hard to spread orthodoxy in the districts round Adana, Marash, and Alexandretta, in order to enlarge her zone of influence on this side and thus get an outlet to the Mediterranean. At the same time, the Bishop of Adana, Mosheg, did his best to foment the rebellion which was to break out soon after. In this way the Armenian Christians contributed to the extension of the Russian Empire. In 1904-05, the Nestorians asked for Russian priests and expressed their intention to embrace the Orthodox Faith. The Armenians of Bitlis, Diarbekir, and Kharput in 1907 handed the Russian consul a petition bearing over 200,000 signatures, in which they asked to become Russian subjects. The Huntchagist leader, Sabah-Gulian, even owned in the _Augah Hayassdan_ (Independent Armenia) newspaper that the members of the committee had taken advantage of the Turks’ carelessness to open shops, where rifles were being sold at half-price or even given away. The Armenian committees took advantage of the new parliamentary elections to stir up a new agitation. They increased their activity, and, contrary to their engagements, corresponded with the members of the opposition who had fled abroad. During the Balkan war in 1913 the Tashnakist committees issued manifestoes against the Ottoman Government and the Union party. The Russian consuls at Erzerum and Bitlis did not conceal their sympathy, and at Van the Russian consul threatened to the vali to ask Russian troops to come through Azerbaïjan under the pretext of averting the fictitious dangers the Armenians were supposed to run, and of restoring order.