Armenians

Description

Armenians are an ethnic group living in the Caucasus with ties with the Indo-European language family. They were first mentioned in ancient records as ’Urartuans’ at the end of the 7th century. Ancient land expanded into Cilicia (modern day southeastern Turkey), a small Armenian kingdom, which connected Anatolia to Syria. The land was split into Greater and Lesser Armenia in the early 6th but was brought together and formed an empire under Tigranes II and lasted 500 years. Armenians converted to Christianity in 301 AD, becoming the first nation to make Christianity its official language. There were constant invasions from the Ottomans, Persians, and later the Russians/Soviets. Because of these invasions, many Armenians have fled their native lands and settled in other countries, building communities, churches, and schools. Modern Armenia has very little of their ancient land left. There are Armenians living in Artsakh, small land between Azerbaijan and Armenia that is in constant conflict. Armenians living in and outside Armenia are influenced by Turkish, Greek, Persian, Russian, and Middle Eastern culture.

Connection to Syria

Armenians have been in Syria as far back as the 11th century fleeing the Seljuk Turk invasions. They settled mainly in Antioch, Aintab, and Aleppo, who has records of Armenian presence as far back as the first century. The decline of Cilicia in the 14th century brought more Armenians to Syria. They started to found schools and churches to maintain their culture, religion, and language. They lived peacefully with Muslims, finding work as merchants and artisans.

Connection to Turkey

Ottomans ruled Armenia steadily starting in the 16th century. Armenia was divided between the Russian and Ottoman Empire in 1900 and the Armenians living under the Sultan were extremely mistreated and abused. After Russo-Turk War (1877-1878), Russia demanded that in the Treaty of San Stefano that the Ottoman government treat Armenians better and protect them from the Kurds or they would continue to occupy Ottoman land. However, the Congress of Berlin in 1878 lightened Russia’s demand and left the ‘Armenian question’ unanswered. Around 1890, both Russian and Ottoman governments grew repressive, causing many Armenians to flee or revolt. In Ottoman Armenia, 200,000 to 400,000 Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks were killed in the Hamidian Massacres Anti-Armenian feelings/actions started to peak in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Armenians were killed for refusing to pay taxes, for participating in demonstrations, and in pogroms and riots. Young Turks took control of the government in 1913 by a coup d’etat with Enver Pasha, Kemal Pasha, and Talaat Pasha as their leaders. Armenians originally welcomed them because of their promises to reform the current government and give Armenians more rights and opportunities. The Young Turks’ aim was to modernize and ‘Turkify’(homogenize) the Ottoman Empire. Discimination began to increase in 1913 when the Ottoman Empire suffered a major loss in the First Balkan war. They blamed Christians in the empire, thought they were spies for Allied Powers The Christians, mainly Armenians, became victims of violence and kidnapping and had their property stolen by Turks and Kurds. Courts would never rule in their favor because they were treated as second class citizens.

Armenian Genocide (1915-1923)

Armenian and non-Muslim soldiers in the army were removed and placed into labor battalions, then murdered. When word spread of the atrocities, rebellions against deportation and murders erupted. The night of April 23 1915/ Early April 24 1915, Armenian intellectuals, politicians, and leaders were forced out of their homes and either killed, imprisoned, or tortured. In May 1915, Ottoman legislators passed a legislation formally allowing the deportation of Armenians. They moved Armenians to desert concentration camps accompanied with systematic mass murder commited by Turkish soliders and Kurds on the march to Deir ez-Zor. These atrocities were witnessed by multiple journalists, missionaries, diplomats, and military officers who sent reports of the death marches, concentration camps, and mass killings. At the end of the genocide, more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed. The surviving women and children forced to convert to Islam and live with Turkish families, completely abandoning their culture and ethnicity. Some children were moved to orphanages.At the time, the Ottoman government denied it was a genocide, stating that they were casualties of WWI or that they held violent rebellions and therefore extreme action was taken. Today, Turkey still denies the genocide and openly and inadvertenly discrimate Armenians living in Turkey. There are Hidden Armenians who hide their complete or partial Armenian origin from Turkish society to prevent discrimination. There are many Armenians living in Turkey who do not know that they are ethnically Armenian.

What is happening now in Syria:

Armenians supported Bashar al-Assad during the protests against the government because he treated Armenians and Christians well. During the war, they have either fled or have stayed in their homes, not knowing what will happen to them. Most Armenian neighborhoods are under the control of the army. There were more than 90,000 Armenians living in Syria but after the war, only 30,000 are left. To help Syrian Armenians stuck in Syria, the Syrian Armenian Relief Fund was created to distribute food, medicine, and cleaning supplies. Of the Armenians who were able to leave, they face financial crises in different countries, being jobless or too poor to make a living. In recent news, Armenians living in Tel Abyad have been restricted from going to their homes by Turkish troops. This is reminiscent of the beginning of the 19th century when Anti-Armenian sentiment was increasing dangerously.

“Three generations ago, the Armenians of Anatolia witnessed death and destruction on an unparalleled scale. Today, the Syrian Armenians are again faced with brutal upheaval and devastation. Once more, an uncertain future.” – Anonymous (AGBU magazine)

References

Akçam, Taner. The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: the Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing In the Ottoman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/heb.32595. EPUB.

Dowsett, Charles James Frank, G. Melvyn Howe, Aleksey Aleksandrovich Mints, and Ronald Grigor Suny. “Armenia.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., October 4, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/place/Armenia.

KRIKORIAN, MESROB K. ARMENIANS IN THE SERVICE OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: 1860-1908. 2nd ed. Vol. 8. New York, NY: ROUTLEDGE, 1977.

Migliorino, and Nicola. “’Kulna Suriyyin’ ? The Armenian Community and the State in Contempo…” Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée. Publications de l’Université de Provence, February 9, 2007. https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/3020.

Selle, Charles. “Selle: Trump Snub Allows Turks to Replay Armenian Strategy.” chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune, October 16, 2019. https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/opinion/ct-lns-selle-trump-syria-armenia-st-1017-20191016-hm5joufk75fjfn3wc4w3mufynm-story.html.

Suny, Ronald Grigor. “Armenian Genocide.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., May 2, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/event/Armenian-Genocide#ref329550.

“Syria’s Armenians Are Fleeing to Their Ancestral Homeland.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper. Accessed December 5, 2019. https://www.economist.com/europe/2017/06/26/syrias-armenians-are-fleeing-to-their-ancestral-homeland.

Toynbee, Arnold Joseph. “The Murderous Tyranny of the Turks, “. Place of publication not identified: Nabu Press, 2010.