THE ANATOLIAN DIASPORA

Hurriyet
April 16 2010
Turkey

On the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington,
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan looked for a remedy on the
fate of the normalization protocols Turkey signed with Armenia last
fall. Well, since he is the main cause of the problem when it comes
to the current situation regarding the protocols, he is supposed to
find the solution. But this is not an easy task for him as first and
foremost he needs to change his references.

I have underlined before: The notions and concepts regarding the
Armenian question and those used by Turkish politicians should be
reassessed thoroughly. One of these notions is the "Armenian diaspora"
of which sizable numbers are settled in the United States.

Next week is the 95th anniversary of an event in which 200 leading
figures of the Ottoman-Armenian community were seized in Istanbul
and deported. April 24, 1915, is the symbolic day of the removal
of Armenians from these lands and the formation of a diaspora by
the survivors.

The word "diaspora" has a negative connotation in Turkish so much that
it cannot be used, for instance, for over a million Turkish-descent
Germans who have become a genuine diaspora in Germany after being
granted naturalization and citizenship rights. The diaspora, in
official language, is the name of a group which is known as the
eternal enemy of Turkey.

With Turkey’s brand-new Armenian policy, the diaspora is treated
like a center of mischief causing trouble for "poor" Armenia and
"reasonable" Turkish Armenians living in Turkey. For instance,
the reason behind Erdogan’s threat to deport Armenians from Armenia
who try to earn their bread in Turkey is the approval of "genocide"
bills that are forced by the diaspora in the United States and Sweden.

He does this without questioning a second how approximately 10,000
Armenian-descent Swedes could have had this bill passed – just like
in Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia where hardly any meaningful Armenian
community lives.

This "evil" diaspora is, in fact, perceived as the unique obstacle
in front of Armenia who is looking for peace with Turkey. Turkey’s
Armenian policy is based on this black-and-white world.

Grandchildren of our countrymen

This notion now needs a re-formatting. First of all, we have to know
that the most effective and most bitter members of the diaspora who
speak up the most are the grandchildren of Armenians who survived the
deportation a century ago or who were saved by their compassionate
neighbors from the massacres.

If not assimilated, these people speak Western Armenian and sometimes
Turkish. They mostly live in Armenia, France, North and South America
and the Middle East. The total Armenian population in the world is
around 9 million, one-third of which lives in Armenia. The biggest
group outside Armenia is composed of 2 million who are in Russia.

Armenians of Anatolian origin form the other big group with 2 million
people.

The integration of Armenians in their new home countries was far
from easy. Let’s not forget that they were overwhelmingly Anatolian
peasants. But they rapidly adapted to the countries to which they
moved.

There were different waves of migration. Around 1915, during and
after, Armenians were forcefully removed from Anatolia, most of whom
lost their lives. During the establishment period of the Republic,
there were left only 300,000 Armenians in Turkey. Today, the Armenian
population in Turkey is estimated to be about 50,000-60,000. Following
the Grand Catastrophe, the Turkish government found it possibly
inappropriate for them to remain in Anatolia.

As an example of the incentive for the remaining Armenians to leave,
the Armenian church which remained in the Black Sea province of Ordu
was demolished in 1927 by the order of the government of the time
and the Armenian congregation had to immigrate. As a matter of fact,
immigration continued all through the republican era though it ramped
up in difficult periods.

In the aftermath of the 1915, Armenians of Anatolia left with their
institutions whereas properties remained behind. Figures for the
institutions are as follows: There were 2,500 churches and 2,000
schools before 1915; today there are only 43 churches and 18 schools.

The Ottoman Armenian political parties Dashnak, Hınchak, Ramvagar,
as well as the Kozan (Sis) Patriarchate still exist today but out of
Turkey. Their differences of opinion remain as well.

For instance, not all Armenians think alike when it comes to the
protocols. The Armenian General Benevolent Union, or AGBU, in service
since 1906 and established in Ottoman lands with branches all over
the world, is one of them. The AGBU Executive Board published a
communiqué on Sept. 14, 2009, in support of the protocols. The
communiqué was saying that the implementation of the protocols is
a remarkable moment in the history of Armenia, the Armenian World
and Turkish-Armenian relations. After that, together with the AGBU,
three leading Armenian groups in the U.S., the Armenian Western and
Eastern Dioceses, the Armenian Assembly of America and the Knights
of Vartan, announced their support to the Armenian government in a
joint statement published on Oct. 1, 2009.

Today, the Anatolian Armenian diaspora speaks out and speaks
differently from the first generation who survived. They are also
curious and have various expectations. Some want to visit the graveyard
of their ancestors, some want to find the location of their properties,
and some are after their relatives who had to convert to Islam. Some
celebrate cheerfully in Los Angeles the championship of their favorite
Turkish football team yet some demand the return of their ownership
rights. Some hate Turks and some have broken the taboo and travel to
Turkey. But most are thinking about Turkey and look for justice.

It is totally unrealistic for Turkey’s Armenian policy to overlook the
Anatolian Diaspora in the search for normalization and a solution. We
know that the minister of foreign affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu, is becoming
aware of that fact. Maybe one day, a Turkish prime minister during
a visit to U.S. will meet also with representatives of Anatolian
Armenian diaspora there to listen.