Crypto-Armenians are Armenians in Turkey who have retained their Armenian ethnic identity, if not their religious identity (most are Muslims). The term was introduced by the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, who distinguished them from Turkified or Kurdified Armenians, in that they still identify as Armenians. According to the concept, although Crypto-Armenians may be Muslim, they are distinct from so-called Islamized Armenians, who chose to assimilate to Turkish ways before the hostile climate of the Armenian Genocide.[citation needed] Since the Turkish government became more liberal after the 1960s, many Crypto-Armenians have converted back to Christianity and changed their names to more typically Armenian styles.[citation needed]
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| 30,000 - 5,000,000 see below for detailed information |
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Crypto-Armenians are Armenians in Turkey who have retained their Armenian ethnic identity, if not their religious identity (most are Muslims). The term was introduced by the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, who distinguished them from Turkified or Kurdified Armenians, in that they still identify as Armenians. According to the concept, although Crypto-Armenians may be Muslim, they are distinct from so-called Islamized Armenians, who chose to assimilate to Turkish ways before the hostile climate of the Armenian Genocide.[citation needed] Since the Turkish government became more liberal after the 1960s, many Crypto-Armenians have converted back to Christianity and changed their names to more typically Armenian styles.[citation needed]
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Etymology[edit]
During his meeting with the Armenian community of Jerusalem in 1980, Shnork Kaloustian, the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, presented 4 main groups of Armenians living in Turkey at the time:[1]
- Official Armenians: the provincial Armenians that have kept their Armenian identity and constitute the majority of Armenians of Istanbul.
- Islamized Armenians (Armenian: մահմեդականացած հայեր; Turkish: İslamlaşmış Ermeniler): Armenians, who consciously and voluntarily became Muslims and have broken off from other Armenians and live within Turks. Today, they are known as Turkified Armenians (Armenian: թրքացած հայեր; Turkish: Türkleşen Ermeniler).[2][3]
- Kurdified Armenians (Armenian: քրդացած հայեր; Turkish: Kürtleşen Ermeniler): those Armenians, who were Islamized three generations ago, and live separately as Kurdish ashirets (tribes) and don't assimilate with the Kurdish mainstream society.
- Crypto-Armenians (Armenian: ծպտյալ հայեր; Turkish: Kripto Ermeniler)[4]: Armenians, living mainly in towns of eastern and central Anatolia who have gradually became Muslims, but have kept their Armenian identity and some convert to Christianity and change their names by the time they settle in Istanbul. These people are sometimes referred to as Secret Armenians (Armenian: թաքուն հայեր).
History[edit]
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During the Armenian Genocide, many Armenian orphans were adopted by local Muslim families, who sometimes changed their names and converted them to Islam.[citation needed] When relief workers and surviving Armenians started to search for and claim back these Armenian orphans after World War I, only a small percentage were found and reunited, while many others continued to live as Muslims. Additionally, some Armenian families had converted to Islam in order to escape the genocide.
Because of this, there are an unknown number of people of Armenian origin in Turkey today who are not aware of their ancestry as well as around 100,000 "secret" Armenians, called Crypto-Christians.[5] The figure [of 300,000] may have been accurate in 1915, but several generations have passed since then, so figures must be much higher, particularly for mixed heritage. The figure of just how many individuals of some Armenian descent existing in Turkey is hotly disputed, because of the natural progression of populations. But most conservative estimates would put them passed the one-million mark by the late 20th century.
Others dispute the high number of "secret Armenians" of Armenian ethnicity as this may have changed through Turkification by time and through marriage with general Turkish and Kurdish populations and borders of Armenianness may be blurred and many may actually feel more Turkish than Armenian by now.
According to an article by Zaman columnist Erhan Başyurt, İbrahim Ethem Atnur of Atatürk University alleges that the state colluded with the Armenian Patriarchate to artificially increase the Armenian population by raising orphaned Turks as Armenians.[6][7]
Reverting to Christianity[edit]
Since the 1960s, there have been some examples of Islamized Armenian families converting back to Christianity and changing their names.[8][9][10]
Number[edit]
Secret or Crypto-Armenians[edit]
The number of Crypto-Armenians is generally is estimated to be from 30,000 to 40,000 by Tessa Hofmann, a German scholar of Armenian studies and sociology, researcher at the Free University of Berlin.[1][11] The assassinated Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink suggested 50,000[12] Turkish journalist Erhan Başyurt offered their number to be between 60,000 and 300,000.[13]
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Mesrob II stated in an interview to the German weekly Spiegel Online that over 100,000 Islamized Armenians live in Turkey.[14]
Islamized and Turkified Armenians[edit]
- Note: The following numbers do not include the Hemshin peoples, who are often considered to be Islamized Armenians.
Prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink stated in one of his interviews that he believes that over 300,000 Turks, Kurds and other people of Armenian origin reside in Turkey.[15] Others have given higher numbers, such as the Turkish historian Yusuf Halaçoğlu who suggested 500,000.[16][17] Millî Gazete journalist Mehmet Şevket Eygi offered their number to be within the range of 500,000 and 1,500,000.[18] The Yerevan-based think tank Noravank Foundation gives an estimate of 700,000,[1] the Jihad Watch claims 1,000,000 Islamized and Turkified Armenians in Turkey.[19][1] The Lebanese-based ARF daily Aztag estimated 1,000,000 to 2,000,000.[20] Alie-Alis Alti, a scientific worker at the Goethe University, offered an even higher number of 3,000,000.[1] The highest estimate of Islamized and Turkified Armenians was given by Aziz Dagcı, the President of the NGO "Union of Social Solidarity and Culture for Bitlis, Batman, Van, Mush and Sasun Armenians" who suggested 3 to 5 million people in Turkey have Armenian roots.[21][22]
Distribution[edit]
Most Cypto-Armenians reside in eastern provinces of Turkey, where the pre-genocide Armenian population was concentrated. An Aksiyon (Action) weekly article published on August 27, 2007 included the list of Turkish provinces with the estimated number of Crypto-Armenians according to various organizations:[23][24]
| Province | "Official" status | Families |
| Kayseri | Turk |
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| Van | Kurd |
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| Malatya | Kurd |
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| Şanlıurfa | Kurd, Arab |
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| Kahramanmaraş | Turk, Kurd |
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| Erzurum | Turk, Kurd |
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| Sivas | Turk, Kurd |
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| Adana | Turk, Kurd, Arab |
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| Tunceli | Kurd |
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| Bitlis | Kurd |
|
| Adıyaman | Kurd |
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| Mardin | Arab |
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| Erzincan | Kurd |
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| Siirt | Arab, Kurd |
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| Hatay | Arab |
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| Elazig | Kurd |
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| Diyarbakır | Kurd, Assyrian, Alevi |
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Dersim[edit]
The Armenians of Dersim have been Islamified Armenians who continue to live in the Tunceli Province of Turkey.[25][26] Many of the Armenians in Dersim were saved by their Kurdish neighbors during the Armenian Genocide.[27] According to Mihran Prgiç Gültekin, the head of the Union of Dersim Armenians, around 75% of the population of rural Dersim are ethnic Armenians.[26][28] He reported that over 200 families have announced their Armenian descent in Dersim, but many more are afraid to do so.[26][29] According to Gultekin, "80 people joined the Union of Dersim Armenians over the past 3 months".[30] On April 2013, Aram Ateşyan, the acting Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, claimed that 90% of Tunceli's population is of Armenian origin.[4]
Notable Crypto-Armenians[edit]
- Fethiye Çetin (born 1950 in Maden, Elâzığ Province) - lawyer, writer and human rights activist
- Yaşar Kurt (born 1968), rock singer
- Rakel Yağbasan (born 1976, Silopi, Şırnak Province) - Hrant Dink's wife, a representative of the Armenian Varto clan
See also[edit]
- Minorities in Turkey
- Hamshenis, Muslim partially Armenian speaking people of the Black Sea coast
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e Khanlaryan, Karen (29 September 2005). "The Armenian ethnoreligious elements in the Western Armenia". Noravank Foundation. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ Losing the Core: As more Armenians leave the Middle East, can the diaspora be saved?
- ^ Yegparian: Non-Exclusively Christian Armenianness Armenian Weekly
- ^ a b "Tunceli'nin yüzde 90'ı dönme Ermeni'dir". İnternet Haber. 27 April 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ (Turkish) Erhan Başyurt, Ermeni Evlatlıklar. Saklı Kalmış Hayatlar [Armenian Foster Children: Hidden Lives], İstanbul, Karakulu, 2006
Prof. Cöhce ise, bu konuda daha iddialı. Ermeni mühtedi ve evlatlıklar arasında, 'Kripto Hıristiyanlar' ya da 'Gizli Ermeniler' olduğunu, bunların Müslüman görünüp Gregoryan geleneklerini sürdürdüklerini söylüyor. Cöhce, bu insanlar üzerinde son dönemlerde kimliklerine döndürmek için çalışmalar yapıldığını, yakın gelecekte bunların Ermenilerin hayallerini gerçekleştirmek için kullanılacaklarını ileri sürüyor.
Cöhce: "Türkiye'de yaklaşık 100 bin 'mühtedi' Ermeni var." - ^ (Turkish) Erhan Başyurt, Ermeni Evlatlıklar. Saklı Kalmış Hayatlar [Armenian Foster Children: Hidden Lives], İstanbul, Karakulu, 2006
Raporda, Türk çocuğu olduğu hâlde Güllü ve Cemile adındaki iki kız çocuğuyla, Çengelköy'de ikamet eden Yüzbaşı Abidin Bey'in evinden Nimet adındaki bir Türk kızının zorla alıkonarak Ermeni Patrikhanesi'nde üç gün tutulduğu, Müslüman oldukları anlaşıldıktan sonra ailelerine teslim edildikleri, fakat bir süre sonra yeniden kaçırıldıkları kaydediliyor. Yine Üsküdarlı Papaz Samayan Efendi tarafından alıkonan Cevri isimli kızın Türk ve Müslüman olduğu ispatlandığı hâlde teslim edilmediği vurgulanıyor. Türk kızların zorla Hıristiyanlaştırıldığı kaydediliyor. Amaç, Ermeni nüfusunu yüksek göstermek. - ^ İbrahim Ethem Atnur, Türkiye'de Ermeni Kadınları ve Çocukları Meselesi 1915-1923 [The Issue of Armenian Women and Children in Turkey 1915-1923], through the book, the article also quotes Şeyhülislam Mehmet Nuri Efendi as having written "Bazı kötü niyetliler tarafından birçok Müslüman kızlarının ailelerinden alınarak Patrikhane'ye, Rum ve Ermeni yetimhanelerine nakledildiği bir kısmının da Hıristiyan aileler nezdinde hizmetçi olarak kullanıldığı bilgilerine ulaşıldığını." (January 2, 1922)
- ^ Zi̇fli̇oğlu, Verci̇han (23 October 2011). "Armenians claim roots in Diyarbakır". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ "Thousands of Turkified Armenians Revert To Their Roots". PanARMENIAN.Net. 18 January 2005. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ (Turkish) "Ermeni kimliğine dönenler artıyor [The return to Armenian identity increases]". Radikal. 20 November 2011. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ Armenians in Turkey Today by Dr. Phil. Tessa Hofmann
- ^ Duzel, Nese (2005-05-23). "Ermeni mallarını kimler aldı?". Radikal (in Turkish). Retrieved 2008-08-28. "Türkiye'de Ermeniler, niye 80 yılda nüfus artışıyla birlikte bugün 1.5 milyon olmadı da, 1920'de 300 bin olan nüfus bugün 50-60 bine düştü? Çünkü azınlıkların azaltılması politikası, devlet yönetiminin temel politikasıydı. CHP'nin 9'uncu raporunu okuyun. Tek parti döneminde azınlıkların nasıl azaltılmasının düşünüldüğünü görün."
- ^ (Turkish) Erhan Başyurt, Ermeni Evlatlıklar. Saklı Kalmış Hayatlar [Armenian Foster Children: Hidden Lives], İstanbul, Karakulu, 2006, p.10
- ^ (German) Reimann, Anna (1 June 2007). "Armenischer Patriarch in der Türkei: "Die Armenier sind wieder allein" [Armenian Patriarch in Turkey: "The Armenians are alone again"]". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ (Başyurt 2005). Hrant Dink: "300 bin rakamının abartılı olduğunu düşünmüyorum. Bence daha da fazladır."
- ^ (Turkish) Prof. Dr. Halaçoğlu: Ermeniler Anadolu'da 500 Bine Yakın Türk'ü Katletti
- ^ (Turkish) “500 BİN KRİPTO ERMENİ VAR”
- ^ Milli Gazete; May 26, 2008
- ^ Jihad Watch, February 17, 2005 issue
- ^ (Armenian) «ԻՍԼԱՄԱՑՈՒԱԾ ԵՒ ԳԱՂՏՆԻ ՀԱՅԵՐԸ ՄԻԱՏԱՐՐ ՉԵՆ», ԸՍՏ ԵՐՈՒԱՆԴ ՄԱՆՈՒԿԻ Ervand Manuk: "The Islamized Armenians are not homogeneous) Aztag Daily
- ^ “Azg”: Is the awakening of Islamized Armenians in Turkey possible?
- ^ (Armenian) ՀՆԱՐԱՎՈ՞Ր Է ԱՐԹՆԱՑՆԵԼ ԹՈՒՐՔԻԱՅԻ ՄՈՒՍՈՒԼՄԱՆԱՑԱԾ ՀԱՅԵՐԻՆ Azg Daily
- ^ (Turkish) Söylemez, Haşim (27 August 2007). "Türkiye'de, Araplaşan binlerce Ermeni de var". Aksiyon. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ (Armenian) Melkonyan, Ruben (27 September 2007). "Արաբացած հայեր Թուրքիայում [Arabized Armenians in Turkey]". Noravank Foundation. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
- ^ Bruinessen, Martin van (2000). Kurdish ethno-nationalism versus nation-building states : collected articles (1. print. ed.). Istanbul: The Isis Press. ISBN 9789754281774.
- ^ a b c "Mihran Gultekin: Dersim Armenians Re-Discovering Their Ancestral Roots". Massis Post (Yerevan). February 7, 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ^ A. Davis, Leslie; Blair, notes by Susan K. (1990). The slaughterhouse province : an American diplomat's report on the Armenian genocide, 1915-1917 (2. print. ed.). New Rochelle, N.Y.: A.D. Caratzas. ISBN 9780892414581.
- ^ (Turkish) ADAMHASAN, Ali (December 5, 2011). "Dersimin Nobel adayları...". Adana Medya. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^ (Armenian) "Միհրան Գյուլթեքին. Դերսիմի մահմեդական հայերը վախ ունեն, որ քրիստոնյա հայերը կարող են լավ չընդունել իրենց". News.am. February 7, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2012.
- ^ "Dersim Armenians back to their roots". PanArmenian. February 7, 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
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