• am
  • ru
  • en
print version
06.04.2010

ON PERCEPTION OF THE ISSUE OF THE ISLAMIZED ARMENIANS

   

Ruben Melkonyan

Alongside with the stirring up the study of the issue of the Islamized Armenians the following question has also appeared before the scholastic discourse in Armenia: Do we have to preference to ethnicity or religious stripe while identifying the Armenian? We very often incline to believe that only a Christian can be considered an Armenian and, correspondingly, the idea of the Armenian of other religion or converted Armenian has been excluded. Meanwhile, the existence of the Islamized Armenians and their generations is a fact and it will be at least unfair to ignore people who preserved the memory of their Armenian decent while passing through various troubles. In this issue both unreasonably negative and irrelevantly optimistic estimates are reprehensible. We should be guided not by the desirable but by the reality which was imposed to us. And the reality is that there is a stratum of the Armenians or the people of the Armenian decent who are outwardly or truly Muslims.

Particularly, in the intra-Armenian discourse the issue of the term is discussed, whether it is right to say “Muslim Armenian”. The main argument is that Armenian must be Apostolic Christian and those who are not Apostolic Christians are not Armenians or they are Armenians with some provisos. We find it necessary to mention that though the Armenian Apostolic Church played very important and unique role in the history of our nation and identity, but the ethnicity and religious stripe are, nevertheless, different and we were Armenians even before 301. Raffi, who was one of the broad-minded persons in this issue, while speaking about the religious or confessional unity mentioned: The variety of the confessions does not annihilate the national unity; we should seek for the unity in the harmony of those parts and its main motive should be the nationalism in its highest sense.

Being a realist Raffi offers to stick to the tactics which derives from the existing realities and not to pass the desirable for reality. It is very painful to see the part of the Armenians in Turkey separated from the rest of the nation due to the religion. But as it is a historically formed reality it means that we have to look for the ways for consolidation and not to expand the gap. To continue to propagate with musty nationalism the trite theme saying that we are a religious nation, that our nationality is identified through our church, that those who are not Apostolic Christians cannot be considered Armenians and etc. May be there was a day we needed such propagations but today they are rather outdated.

Not religious but the national identity can be a basis for the national consolidation and in this regard Raffi said: “Catholicism, Protestantism and even Islam do not deprive the Armenian of being an Armenian and the adherence to the Apostolic Church do not entitle us to be Armenians. We consider the enemy of our nation those short-sighted nationalists who do not recognize any other Armenian but the Apostolic one”.

The well-known writer Levon Shant, touching on that issue, also mentioned that being important, however, religion cannot be the connection which “would part the people”, because it happened that different parts of the same nation belonged to different churches. Summarizing his recollections on that issue Shant comes to the conclusion: “One people differs from the other by its national identity and different segments of the nation and individuals are connected with each other by the national deeds”.

In our opinion, while dealing with this issue we should hold to two approaches – the long-term and short-term. Our long-term purpose is the returning of the Islamized Armenians to their roots where the Apostolic Christianity takes important place and at present while communicating with them we should adhere to more flexible policy and to take them as they are. Besides, the adoption of Islam was temporary and they aimed to reconvert to Christianity at the first opportunity, simply to some of them circumstances allowed doing it and to some did not. E.g. Ervand Otyan surviving after the deportation and reaching somehow Arab vilayets, particularly Hamai, had to renounce and to adopt Islam. He even changed his name and became Aziz Nouri, but as he confessed “nobody seriously considered us as Muslims”.

It is much spoken about the threats that, e.g. Islamized Armenians will come to Armenia and open here the mosques. Firstly, let us say that we are not going to move those people to Armenia because they mostly live in their historical motherland and they do not want to leave it. During our conversations with them when we said that they did not stand by their faith they argued that they remained loyal to their land. Thus we all need to communicate with each other because our essence has been distorted somehow, in one case, because of the loss of the motherland, in the other case, because of the loss of religion. Studying the Islamized Armenians we also aim to restore our distorted identity because they stayed at the part of our motherland which has been lost for us, they have visited and visit secretly our desecrated sanctuaries… The consciousness of that distortedness can also be found among the converted Armenians. Particularly, when we were walking around Yerevan with one of the Islamized Hamsheni Armenians from Turkey he entered into conversation with passing woman and when he mentioned that he is from Turkey, that woman said: “What a pity that our lands stayed there” on what he answered “Don’t worry mother, we are still there. We are not like we have to be but we are still there”.

The issue of the apostate Armenians is also important in the context of specifying the exact resources of the Armenians. An orientslist and historian Ara Papyan writes: “Not overestimating the role and importance of the Armenians speaking other languages or Armenians of other religion or confession it is necessary, however, to underline their significance in the context of lobbying the interests of the Armenian statehood and their inclusion in some programmes under the favourable conditions. Any state, no matter how powerful it is, needs friendly groups in other states. The USSR made it by establishing communist parties, Americans make it disseminating mass culture and we can do that with the help of the Armenians spread all over the world and through the revival of the Armeniancy.

The viewpoints that the Islamized Armenians and their generations do not want to preserve their language, culture and ethnicity do not square with reality, to say the least, and the facts of marriages inside the communities, the searching of the roots and other processes refute those viewpoints, at least partially.

Or, they say to mention one example when the Islamized Armenian took part in the Armenian liberation movement and they answer the question at once: “There are no such examples”. Or “There are no examples when the Muslim Armenian at the crucial moment realized his national identity”. In order to avoid senseless discussion let us bring a couple of examples when the Islamized Armenian participated actively in the Armenian liberation movement or in other issues regarding Armenians. Particularly, teacher Avetis, from the village of Bulamiz of Taron, was a member of the Armenian revolutionary struggle at the end of the 19th century and due to this he was arrested and put to torture. Being unable to stand the torments, Avetis converted to Islam and even more, became a policeman and held a high position, becoming “bas komiser Mehmed Efendi”, i.e. the chief commissar. He outwardly became the enemy of the Armenians and used all his leverages to struggle against them. The important episodes of his secret life were told by Rouben Ter-Minasian who collaborated with “bas komiser Mehmed” at different stages of the revolutionary struggle. While speaking about the apostate Avetis Rouben wrote: “Outwardly he was a Muslim but he remained a Christian. His wife and sons also were fervent Christians”. A. Astvatsatrian wrote an article about Mehmed Efendi in “Hayreniq” magazine. He wrote that it was a great tragedy for Mehmed Efendi because he continued being fervent Muslim for his surroundings and at nights he preyed in a secret church made at his house: “The real life of this unhappy family was at nights”. Rouben Ter-Minasyan, speaking about the pro-Armenian activity of Mehmed Efendi and his outwardly anti-Armenian image, wrote: “That lie, however, was honest; that was a forced disguise. Under the police uniform of Mehmed Efendi the same freedom-loving, patriotic and revolutionary Armenian was hidden”. Sometimes Mehmed Efendi fall under the suspicion, but he went on serving truly to the Armeniancy choosing that tactics. Later on Mehmed Efendi moved to Istanbul and the most interesting is that through Patriarch Zaven he christened his children thus reconverting to Christianity, while he remained Muslim till the end of his days.

There are some facts regarding the Islamized Armenians in archimandrite Grigorios Balakian’s book and it is remarkable that Armenian clergyman described how the outwardly converted Armenians tried to help deported Armenians. In the chapter entitled “The selflessness of the Islamized Armenian women of Cesaria” he describes how forcibly Islamized Armenian women fetched necessary food to the strings of the deported people thus endangering their own lives.

There were also the cases when Hamsheni Muslims saved their Christian brothers during the Genocide. Hovakim Hovakimyan in his “History of Armenian Pontos” wrote: “During the Genocide Muslim Armenians mostly helped those Armenians who found shelter in the mountains”.

The categorical, denying statements in the address of forcibly Islamized Armenians jeopardize the revival of the Islamized Armenians and there are already the first “results”. Particularly, the director of “Hamshen” center in Krasnodar Tigran Tavadyan while speaking about the Islamized Hamsheni Armenians who emigrated from the Central Asia to Krasnodar and their revival said: “Saying “there is mo Islamized Armenian” we impede the work which should be carried out with the Islamized Armenian”.

Summing up, we would like to quote from the article published in 1969 in the official newspaper of the Armenians Evangelistic Church “Banber” where it is written about our obligations towards the assimilated Armenians. The author of the article Paggalian calls to the action saying: “Today we have an occasion and opportunity to help them. If we miss this chance too, one day the Lord will ask us: “Where is your brother…?”


Return
Another materials of author