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28.07.2011

DEVELOPMENTS AMONG THE ASSIMILATED ARMENIANS IN TURKEY: DYARBAKIR

   

Ruben Melkonyan

The city of Dyarbakir, where many Armenians used to live, today also plays rather remarkable role in Turkey in the context of the development of the ethnic identity. Today, according to various sources, in the city, which is mostly populated by the Kurds, the generations of forcedly Islamized Armenians live. Back in 1894-95 during the Hamidian massacres about 25 thousand Armenians were forcedly Islamized in Dyarbakir. Though a part of them reclaimed Christianity later, but some of them continued to live under the veil of the Muslim. In 1915 during the Armenian Genocide forcible conversion of a number of the Armenians, which later resulted in Kurdization, also took place in Dyarbakir. We can meet in different sources that even today Muslim society in Dyarbakir distinguish between the generations of the Islamized Armenians and call them “fila” (Armenian).

The recent processes connected with the ethnic identity in Turkey have rather eagerly been manifested in Dyarbakir either. Let us remember that after re-opening of Surb Khach (St. Cross) church on the island of Akhtamar on Lake Van several families from Dyarbakir stated that they were Armenians and expressed a wish to be baptized as the Armenian Christians. At present reconditioning works of Surb Kirakos (St. Kirakos) church – the biggest Armenian Church in the Middle East, which is situated in Dyarbakir – are proceeding and those works are supported by the Kurdish mayor of Dyarbakir who is well known for his positive statements about the Armenians. This all is a kind of impulse for the generations of converted Armenians living in the city populated by the Kurds to reclaim their identity.

Several years ago a Kurdish woman from Dyarbakir who arrived to Yerevan to participate in the conference, confessed in a personal conversation that she had Armenian roots. Her story, as she told it, was very typical for many converted Armenians from Dyarbakir which was later proved by our studies. That Kurdish woman of the Armenian descent told: “I always knew my grandfather by my father’s side was an Armenian. We all knew but we never talked about it. Of course he could not live as an Armenian and he feigned Kurd. He had never spoke Armenian to anyone, but when we asked him something sometimes he answered in Armenian”. It is remarkable that grandfather told his family about the Genocide in details and entrusted them: “This is pain that cannot be cured even in 100 years”.

Over the recent period converted Armenians from Dyarbakir also agreed to state about themselves through mass media and the discussions round the ethnic identity has been stirred up by new aspects. Recently an article about crypto-Armenian from Dyarbakir has been published in Turkish “Radikal” newspaper. Marie Eskici who now lives in Istanbul told some episodes from their life in Dyarbakir: “Very often we were obliged to live like Muslims. There were hundreds of Armenian families which pretended to be Muslims, just like we did. We went to the basement of the house to pray and to cross”. Her story also proves that converted Armenians sometimes preserved their Armenian language and spoke to each other in their mother tongue. Today we can meet numerous facts and evidences which come to prove that after the Armenian Genocide, the splinters of Armeniancy which survived in the Republican Turkey were forcedly Islamized in the mid 20th century.

It is interesting that the Armenians who had converted even later, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, had problems with those who adopted Islam in 1950s and an atmosphere of mutual distrust existed. Here an important part was assigned to the atmosphere of extensive fear in Turkey, but as Marie Eskicin mentioned, over different periods the motive for mutual distrust among the converted Armenians was the following: “And what if he has really became a Muslim?”. According to Eskicin many converted Armenians from Dyarbakir also had problems with the Armenian community in Istanbul; in particular, moving to Istanbul they were taken by the local Armenians as Kurds and could not even send their children to the Armenians schools.

An interesting article by the journalist of the Armenian origin Vercihan Ziflioglu was published in the authoritative Turkish “Hurriyet Daily News” newspaper these days. The central character of the article was another converted Armenian from Dyarbakir. Gyafur Turkal who lives in Dyarbakir openly stated: “I am Sunnite Muslim but I’m Armenian”. Gyafur’s father was a committed Muslim and even made a pilgrimage to Mecca and he educated his children as Sunnite Muslims. However, when Gyafur was 15, he was told that in reality they were Armenians and their real surname was Ohanyan. The dual identity as it always happens caused many psychological problems and questions and today he came to the following resolution: “I live as a Muslim but I do not disclaim my roots and my culture. The religion is not the point and I would like to know and to speak my mother tongue”. According to Gyafur Armenian identity should be build round the ethnic identity and not the religion. Gyafur also added that the generations of the converted Armenians living in Dyarbakir knew each other and mix with each other. But while speaking about the Christian Armenians he said that there was a problem of mutual understanding and even more: “Christian Armenians scorn us as if we have chosen this situation voluntarily”.

Let us mention that the Armenians in Dyarbakir are under unique situation, being surrounded by extensive distrust – for Kurds they are still Armenians, for Turkish state – unreliable converts and for the Christian Armenians – alien Kurds.

The ongoing developments reveal new facts and problems which, however, at the same time, demonstrate numerous commonalities in the issue of the converted Armenians and differences conditioned by definite environment which are crucial for correct directing of the studies.


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