Armenians in Turkey
Armenians in Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Ermenileri; Armenian: Թուրքահայեր or Թրքահայեր, T’urk’ahayer lit. 'Turkish Armenians'), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 50,000 to 70,000,[5] down from a population of over 2 million Armenians between the years 1914 and 1921. Today, the overwhelming majority of Turkish Armenians are concentrated in Istanbul. They support their own newspapers, churches and schools, and the majority belong to the Armenian Apostolic faith and a minority of Armenians in Turkey belong to the Armenian Catholic Church or to the Armenian Evangelical Church. They are not considered part of the Armenian Diaspora, since they have been living in their historical homeland for more than four thousand years.[6][7][8]
Until the Armenian genocide of 1915, most of the Armenian population of Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire) lived in the eastern parts of the country that Armenians call Western Armenia (roughly corresponding to the modern Eastern Anatolia Region).
Armenians are one of the four ethnic minorities officially recognized in Turkey, together with Jews, Greeks,[9][10][11] and Bulgarians.[12][13][14]
In addition to local ethnic Armenians who are Turkish citizens, there are also many recent immigrants from Armenia in Istanbul.[1] There is also an unknown number of officially Muslim citizens of the Republic of Turkey who have recently started to identify as Armenians based on their Armenian roots, after being Islamised decades or centuries earlier.[15] They are referred as crypto-Armenians.
Turkey's Armenian community faces educational problems due to the steadily decreasing number of students every school year and lack of funding. The number of Armenian schools decreases year by year. This number has fallen from 47 to 17 today with currently 3,000 Armenian students, down from 6,000 Armenian students in 1981.[3] Schools are kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12), kindergarten through 8th grade (K-8) or 9th grade through 12th (9–12). Ermeni İlköğretim Okulu means "Armenian primary+secondary school". Ermeni Lisesi means "Armenian high school".
The Armenian schools apply the full Turkish curriculum in addition to Armenian subjects, mainly Armenian language, literature and religion.
In September 2011, the Turkish government recognized the right of immigrant families from Armenia to send their children to schools of the Turkey's Armenian community. This move came as a result of lobbying of Deputy Patriarch Aram Ateşyan, according to whom there were some 1,000 children of Armenian immigrants in Turkey at that time.[59] However, as they are not Turkish citizens, at the end of the school term, they do not receive diplomas.[60]
Among other institutions, Turkish Armenians also have their own long-running hospitals:
Istanbul was home to a number of long-running and influential Armenian publications. Very notable now-defunct daily newspapers included Arevelk (1884–1915), Puzantyon (1896–1908), Sourhantag (1899–1908), Manzoume Efkyar (1912–1917), Vertchin Lour (1914–1924). Outside Istanbul, the notable daily publications included Arshalouys (1909–1914), Tashink (1909–1914) and Van (1908–1909).
Presently, Istanbul has two Armenian language dailies. These two newspapers, Jamanak (established in 1908) and Marmara also have a long tradition of keeping alive the Turkish Armenian literature, which is an integral part of the Western Armenian language and Armenian literature.
Other Armenian media titles include: Sourp Pergiç (St. Saviour) the magazine of the Armenian Sourp Pergiç (Pergitch) Hospital, also Kulis, Shoghagat, Norsan and the humorous Jbid (smile in Armenian)
In September 2011, the Turkish government granted some financing to Jamanak, Marmara and Agos as part of a wider campaign in support of existing minority newspapers in Turkey.[73] The Turkish Press Advertisement Agency also declared intention to publish official government advertisements in minority newspapers including Armenian ones.[74]
Turkish Armenians in the diaspora[edit]
Despite leaving their homes in Turkey, the Turkish Armenians traditionally establish their own unions within the Armenian diaspora. Usually named "Bolsahay Miutyun"s (Istanbul-Armenian Associations), they can be found in their new adopted cities of important Turkish-Armenian populations. Among them are the "Organization of Istanbul Armenians of Los Angeles", the "Istanbul Armenian Association in Montreal", etc.
The Turkish Ambassador to Germany, Hüseyin Avni Karslıoğlu, inaugurated in December 2012 at the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp a memorial stone with bronze letters (third of its kind after the Polish and Dutch similars) to the memory of eight Turkish citizens killed during the Holocaust, one of whom is a Turkish Armenian with the name Garabed Taşçıyan.[75]
This article contains some text originally adapted from the public domain Library of Congress Country Study for Turkey.
General
Media