THE PLIGHT OF ARMENIANS WITHOUT STATUS IN TURKEY: STUDY

Tert.am
12:54 ~U 16.02.10

The results of a study carried out by the Global Political Trends
Center, a policy-oriented study institution within Istanbul Kultur
University, and Eurasia Partnership Foundation on citizens from
Armenia living without status in Turkey has been published in Istanbul.

The study, which lasted 5 months and was conducted since Arpil 2009,
has led experts to conclude that 48% of Armenians who have come to
Turkey are from Armenia’s Shirak marz. According to the experts,
the reason is the conditions in which they have been living in after
the 1988 earthquake.

"Of all Armenians living illegally in Turkey, 96% are women. The reason
is that there is a lot of work for women in Turkey. Of those women, 42%
work as housekeepers, 18% as nurses, 6% as shop assistants and 4% in
other areas. They can earn $500-$1000 USD per month. While men (4%) are
mainly shoemakers and golsdmiths," said Alin Ozinian, head researcher
and press representative of the Turkish-Armenian Business Council.

Ozinian also spoke about the way Armenian and Turkish employers treat
Armenians who don’t have status in Turkey.

"Armenian employers are treating them more badly that the Turkish
ones. But when it comes to the Genocide issue, the Turkish employers
change their approach," explained the Ozinian.

The study also found that after the assassination of Hrant Dink,
former chief editor of Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos, Armenians
without status in Turkey are living in a constant state of fear.

However, according to Ozinian, the biggest issue has to do with
children of illegal Armenian immigrants who were born in Turkey.

"There is no accurate data, but it can be supposed that some 600-800
children [of Armenian descent] have been born in Turkey. They are
citizens of neither Armenia nor Turkey. That is why they cannot go
to school," said the researcher, adding that 96% of these Armenians
aim to return to their homeland.

According to CNN Turk, Ozinian, while introducing the study, did not
provide concrete figures as to how many Armenians are currently living
without status in Turkey. Both CNN Turk and the Turkish paper Radikal
have reported on this study (in Turkish); however, neither cite exact
figures in this regard – either that data is not available, or these
Turkish media outlets have purposefully avoided reporting on thoses
parts of the study.

However, in 2009, Radikal, citing Ozinian, had reported that in 2009,
there were at most 12,000 Armenians living illegally in Turkey.