How some Armenians are reclaiming their Christian faith

Sibel Hurtas

Translated by Timur Göksel

  

Armenians in Turkey who opted to live as Muslims to avoid mistreatment are recovering their true identities in collective baptisms. The latest such baptism came in May when 12 Armenians from Dersim (Tunceli) recovered their identities.

The saga of Armenians who were compelled to live as Muslims goes back to 1915 massacres. Armenian children were adopted by Muslim families, women married Muslim men and some families converted to Islam to save their lives.

These Armenians, who for a century were forced to conceal their identities, are trying to return to their roots. This activity is more prevalent among Anatolian Armenians, particularly those from Dersim. It hasn’t caught on among Istanbul Armenians.

Conference on Turkey-Armenia Border Takes Place in Ankara

Rupen Janbazian

 

Nearly 200 participants filled an auditorium at the Faculty of Political Science at Ankara University from Nov. 22-23, for a two-day conference entitled, “The Sealed Gate: Prospects of the Turkey-Armenia Border.” Organized by the Hrant Dink Foundation, the conference aimed to address the policy of closed borders and its political, economic, social, environmental, humanitarian, and regional aspects, along with prospects for peace-building in the Caucasus.

Opening remarks were made on behalf of the foundation by Rakel Dink, wife of the late Hrank Dink, and Cengiz Aktar, who for the first time announced the formation of an Armenian Research Center that will be launched in the coming months by the Hrant Dink Foundation. Dr. Onur Ozsoy, chair of the department of economics, welcomed participants on behalf of Ankara University, and reiterated his belief that the border between Turkey and Armenia should eventually be opened in order to ensure peace, stability, and cooperation in the region.

Between Dream and Realism : for a New Armenian-Turkish Dialogue

Tigran Yegavian

On 30^th May 2014, an editorial was published simultaneously in Turkey, France, Armenia and Italy under the title “Let’s have a dream together.” Signed jointly by French personalities of Armenian descent and Turkish intellectuals, it revived interest in the Armenian-Turkish dialogue, which had seemed asleep for years. Besides echoing the famous speech of Afro-American pastor Martin Luther King in its plea for reconciliation, it clearly thinks the Armenian question as a dream-like projection, overlooking the fact that, at this juncture, such a dialogue cannot write a new page of our history if it keeps ignoring the Armenian complexities as well as the deep issues at stake.

Bitlis Co-Mayors Promise to Name a Street after William Saroyan

The co-mayors of Bitlis, Hüseyin Olan and Nevin Taşdemir, have stated that they will rename a street in Bitlis after the well-known American Armenian writer William Saroyan. The Saroyan family emigrated to California from Bitlis, in eastern Turkey, before 1915.

Islamized Armenians in Turkey Represent Age-Long Assimilation Policy

The Islamization of Armenians in Turkey is the product of a long-term and systematic political strategy of assimilating and Turkifying the Armenian community, according to documents from the late Ottoman era, said Taner Akçam, a Turkish-German historian and sociologist, at the Conference on Islamized Armenians held in Istanbul over the weekend, Today’s Zaman reports.

"2012 Declaration": A History of Seized Armenian Properties in Istanbul

Raffi Bedrosyan

 



After two years of painfully detailed research through thousands of documents, the Hrant Dink Foundation in Istanbul has produced a monumental work on the history and present status of the properties that once belonged to the Armenian charitable foundations in Istanbul—properties that were all seized by the Turkish government during the last few decades. The comprehensive study, some 400 pages long, for the first time compiles a list of the seized properties, illustrating the overall picture and enormity of the plunder suffered by the Armenian schools, orphanages, churches, and hospitals in Istanbul that were dependent on the property income for survival.