SPECULATIONS ON THE ISSUE OF CRYPTO ARMENIANS
Ruben Melkonyan
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01 July 2008
The issue of crypto and Islamized Armenians from time to time appears
in the agenda of Turkish press, political and scientific circles and
becomes reason of various speculations. Even superficial observations
let us suppose that speculative policy has a tendency to grow up to
the extreme form.
In general, the Armenian subject-matter is a delicate and issue. The
subject of crypto and Islamized Armenians has been supplemented to
it recently making a ground for the Turkish propagandistic machine
to raise a new wave of falsification. The Turkish press, different
analytics and scientists have again turned to the subject of crypto
Armenians using already traditional instruments of speculation, which
one may say, are already outdated. Probably it is another reason
why the Turkish propagandistic machine, aspiring to novelty, distorts
the facts still more and publicly presents preposterous versions.
The Journalist of the Turkish newspaper "Aktif Haber" Yusuf
Gezgin is one of those people who is actively engaged in the issues
of the apostates and especially the crypto ones. His articles strike
the eye with radical, biased approaches. In his latest article on the
subject (April 18) Yusuf Gezgin, giving free play to his imaginations,
described two allegedly existing groups of crypto Armenians, entitling
it "Crypto Armenians against Armenians." According to him along
with the Armenian community of 35-50 thousand which are Christians
and are officially considered to be minority, supposedly there are
also crypto Armenians pretending to be Muslims, the number of which,
according to some sources, reaches one million.
"Many of those Armenians (at least half of them) who staid in
Anatolia after the events of 1915" continue living among Turks
and Kurds as real Muslims. Even if they are aware of their former
identity, anyway, they have no intention to return to it. However,
some organizations financed by Europe want to remind the educated
youth of this segment about their Armenian roots. The considerable
part of this one million who know and realize their Armenian identity,
pretend to be Turks or Kurds. From the one hand they take the first
positions in PKK and its political organization of Kurdish or Turkish
identity, from the other hand they find place among the most racist
Turkists with national and even nationalist identity. However, the
most authoritative posts (among Kurds, Turks and Alevies) these crypto
Armenians hold is political and military bureaucracy. In judicial and
military systems and universities there is a big number of crypto
Armenians. From time to time they are revealed in universities but
nobody dares to speak out their names in the judicial system."
According to Yusuf Gezgin, Turkish crypto Armenians are divided
into two groups. The representative of the first group allegedly
prefer not to uncover their identity and continue making influence
inside the country, and the representatives of the second group
are those desiring to be registered as crypto Armenians and in that
way strengthen Armenian presence. These two groups are supposedly
seriously struggling with each other. "The policy of uncovering
the real identity of crypto Armenians and establishing Armenian
colony is supported by the Armenian Diaspora, which believes in the
necessity of returning people with Armenian identity to their roots.
Journeys are organized to the places inhabited with people of
Armenian origin under the name of American, European researchers,
tourists and organizations. Different activities are carried out
to strengthen their Armenian identity. Makin use of the EU funds,
are made efforts to restore Armenian monuments in Anatolia. The
crypto Armenians involved in the state structure are a good support
to rehabilitation of the Armenian culture. I think that the high
points given to Armenia by Turkey during "Eurovision" were
the show in witness of Armenian presence. The other group is against
openness and considers that its power is in secrecy. This group
believes that by means of involving crypto Armenians into the state
affairs, PKK and nationalism will be able possible to knee down and
divide the Turkish society and state easier. This group is warred
that open policy will decipher the positions they have reached by
their work of many years. They think that remaining crypto is more
influential and beneficial and that it is a better method to attain
their objective and take revenge over the Turks. Along with the
beginning of the process of Turkey’s membership to the European
Union a serious struggle will be unfolded between these two groups
of crypto Armenians. " The author of the article goes still far
and even attribute’s Hrant Dink’s assassination to Crypto
Armenians: "I don’t consider it impossible that Hrant Dink,
who is for openness and speaks about existence of crypto Armenians,
was killed by those nationalist crypto Armenians."
According to Gezgin the group of crypto Armenians carrying out open
policy and aspiring at revealing Armenian identity is "cleaner
and more innocent" in comparison with the other group. He
thinks that self-identifying crypto Armenians may case incomparably
less problems for Turkey. The author opens some more of its cards
and analyses possible developments resulting revelation of crypto
Armenians and their return to their roots: "there was a time when
almost one fourth of population in Anatolia made Armenians. They were
good friends and neighbors, and were even considered to be "a
faithful nation". Today if they all return to their roots, I
don’t think that the Armenians making a little more than 1 %1
of Anatolia’s population may become a problem for the country.
However, it is already a century that crypto Armenians give no rest
either to Armenians and Turks."
At the end Gezgin speaks about a well known Turkish thesis that crypto
Armenians were everywhere and they might pose serious threats. "In
this country crypto Armenians are among us to the extent that they
may be leaders of Turkish nationalism, may respond to the Armenian
thesis in Lausanne2 on behalf of the Turkish party, wave the Turkish
flag in the very first ranks of national demonstrations."
Not long ago the notorious historian Yusul Halachoghlu, speaking
about an allegedly closed archive of Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Dashnaktsutiune (ARFD), announced that "During the exile of 1915
for about 90-98 thousand Armenian children and women found shelter in
Muslim families and were Islamized by time. They change their names
and continue existing in that way. However in mid 1970s these people
again began changing their names taking Armenian names. In Anatolia
everybody knows who is Armenian. According to Hrant Dink these people
made for about 500 thousand."
Another journalist engaged in this problem, Mehmet Shevket Eygin (Milli
gazete, 26.05.08) mentions that the above mentioned problem should
be spoken and writtenh about very carefully. According to him crypto
Armenians are to be distinguish from "open" Armenians who
are inhabited in Turkey as a minority. "It is not right to blame
most of the crypto Armenians (be them 500 thousand or 1.5 million). I
think that most of them have become real Muslims. However, it’s a
fact that there are people among these crypto Armenians who do harm to
Turkey." Than he too continues to speak about the opinion voiced
in Turkey not only once that the Armenians are in blame for all the
negative things happening in the country (regardless of the fact
if they are open or not), and mentions "crypto Armenians played
an important role in the revolution carried out on May 27, 1960. In
reality the PKK movement was not Kurdish, but Armenian. During the last
60 years crypto Armenians were involved in all the terroristic acts,
coups, rebellions, disturbances and violent acts. Once more singling
out our citizens, the members of Armenian minority, I announce:
today the most vigorous attackers on Islam, Muslims, the Koran and
the holy are crypto Armenians pretending to be Turks and Muslims."
Speculations on the Armenian subjects in Turkey have reached to the
extent that even well known Turkofil, an Armenian from Constantinople
Panos Dabaghyan has recently appeared with a report (Once Vatan,
6.06.08). Speaking about the above mentioned Turkish authors he
asks himself a question: "What would be but for Armenians,
what would some people be engaged in, what would they write about
and in that way earn their living?" He himself answers these
questions: "In that case those journalists just wouldn’t
have materials." Dabaghyan has also touched upon the problem of
Armenians’ conversion into Islam mentioning that Islamization
of Armenians didn’t begin in 1915 (as he says in the period of
exile) but still earlier, during the first contacts between the two
nations and continued up to the Ottoman period. And while speaking
about Armenians who adopted Islam during the Genocide he sites the
decree enacted by that time according to which the Turkish policemen
were going from house to house of Muslims demanding them to hand over
the Armenians sheltered in their houses. "And after all these
isn’t it unfair to label the ones survived PKK members?"
We think all these speculations are to be perceived in a wider context:
in the republican Turkey Armenians have always been presented as
betrayers, "fifth colony," and all these were realized on
the governmental level. In this very context should be included the
necessity to have an enemy in the country, and the most appropriate
"candidate" is Armenians. Speaking about this problem the
well known journalist Eje Temelkuran asks what the Turks will do in
case all the Armenians leave the country, who will be declared to be
an enemy according to him they will blame each other in being less
Turk and call each other an enemy.
1Let’s mention that according to the latest population census,
in Turkey live 70586256 people.
2It is more likely that here Gezgin meant the Turkish Worker’s
Party Chairman Dogu Perincek, who was denounced in Switzerland for
denying the Armenian Genocide. Other issues of author THE CUSTOM
OF INTERCOMMUNITY MARRIAGES AMONG THE CRIPTO ARMENIANS OF TURKEY
[09.06.2008] RETURN OF THE MALATIAN CRIPTO ARMENIANS TO THEIR ORIGIN
[02.06.2008] SURVIVED ARMENIANS: ERMENI VARTO ASHIRET [25.02.2008]
ISSUES CONCERNING TO APOSTATE ARMENIANS IN TURKEY [05.02.2008] IN
SEARCH OF ROOTS RAYS OF MEMORY AMONG THE DESCENDANTS OF ISLAMIZED
ARMENIANS [18.01.2008] THE TURKISH HISTORIC ABOUT APOSTATE ARMENIANS
[28.09.2007] The Islamization of Armenian children at the period of
the Armenian Genocide [19.07.2007]