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Hidden Armenians ( tr, Gizli Ermeniler) or crypto-Armenians ( hy, ծպտեալ հայեր, tsptyal hayer; tr, Kripto Ermeniler) is an umbrella term to describe Turkish citizens hiding their full or partial
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
ancestry from the larger Turkish society. They are mostly descendants of
Ottoman Armenians Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (or Ottoman Armenians) mostly belonged to either the Armenian Apostolic Church or the Armenian Catholic Church. They were part of the Armenian millet until the Tanzimat reforms in the nineteenth century equal ...
who, at least outwardly, were
Islamized Islamization, Islamicization, or Islamification ( ar, أسلمة, translit=aslamāh), refers to the process through which a society shifts towards the religion of Islam and becomes largely Muslim. Societal Islamization has historically occurre ...
(and Turkified or Kurdified) "under the threat of physical extermination" during the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through th ...
. Turkish journalist Erhan Başyurt describes hidden Armenians as "families (and in some cases, entire villages or neighbourhoods) ..who converted to Islam to escape the deportations and death marches f 1915 but continued their hidden lives as Armenians, marrying among themselves and, in some cases, clandestinely reverting to Christianity." According to the 2012
European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
report on Turkey, a "number of crypto-Armenians have started to use their original names and religion." ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' suggests that the number of Turks who reveal their Armenian background is growing. In Turkish, they are sometimes referred to by the derogatory term "leftovers of the sword" ( tr, kılıç artıkları).


History


Background

Armenians are originally from the Armenian Highlands. The western parts of what is called the Six Vilayets came under the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
s control in the 16th century with the
Peace of Amasya The Peace of Amasya ( fa, پیمان آماسیه ("Peymān-e Amasiyeh"); tr, Amasya Antlaşması) was a treaty agreed to on May 29, 1555, between Shah Tahmasp of Safavid Iran and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire at the ci ...
. Armenians remained an overwhelming majority of the area's population until the 17th century; however, their number gradually decreased, and by the early 20th century they constituted up to 38% of the population of
Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. West ...
, designed at the time as the Six Vilayets. Kurds made up a significant part of the population.


Armenian genocide

In 1915 and the following years, the Armenians living in their ancestral lands in the Ottoman Empire were systematically exterminated by the Young Turk government in the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through th ...
. The '' Ittihadists'' who perpetrated the genocide did not have the same understanding of race and nationality as the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...
that the
nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...
could be changed by religious conversion to
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
and likewise,
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...
and
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Armenians could be exempted from deportation.
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (born June 30, 1959) is an American author, and former associate professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two controver ...
explains that perpetrators differ in how they treat the targeted group's children: "In some instances, owing to the perpetrators' social theory, they treat children of groups targeted because of ethnicity or nationality radically differently from their parents. The Turks conceiving of their existential enemies the Armenians not entirely coherently, an unstable agglomeration of a national/ethnic/religious-based hatred, nevertheless had a decidedly nonracist view of them." He further explains that the Turks adopted a formal policy of "leaving the girls and children to be islamized". Although many children were killed, some were spared and allowed to live as Turks. Genocide historian
Norman Naimark Norman M. Naimark (; born 1944, New York City) is an American historian. He is the Robert and Florence McDonnell Professor of Eastern European Studies at Stanford University, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He writes on modern Easte ...
writes:
"Thousands of Armenian children were raised as Muslims and Turks, while women and girls were routinely converted, taken into harems, and married to Turkish, Kurdish and Circassian husbands. In the period 1918-1922, some of these women and children, encouraged by the Western powers and anti-Ittihadist Ottoman officials, reconnected with their Armenian families and communities. But women seventeen or over or those married to Muslims could choose to stay with their new families, and many did. Under the French occupation, many Armenian children were turned over by Turkish families to the Armenian community, but, wrote one Armenian officer, 'many of them want to go back.'"
When relief workers and surviving Armenians started to search for and claim back these Armenian orphans after World War I, only a small percentage were found and reunited, while many others continued to live as Muslims. Additionally, there were cases of entire families converting to Islam to survive the genocide.


Republican period

"After converting to Islam, many of the crypto-Armenians said they still faced unfair treatment: their land was often confiscated, the men were humiliated with "circumcision checks" in the army and some were tortured." Between the 1930s and 1980s, the Turkish government conducted a secret investigation of hidden Armenians. The term "Crypto-Armenians" appears as early as 1956.


Recent developments

According to Turkish sources, hidden Armenians in Turkey no longer feel they have to keep their Armenian identity secret. Some have been
baptized Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
into the Church and started using Armenian names. In 2010, a
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementa ...
was held at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Aghtamar (called ''Akdamar Kilisesi'' in Turkish) for the first time in 95 years. After a million-dollar restoration, the church was reopened as a museum in 2007. 2010 marked the first Christian prayer service at Aghtamar since the genocide. In September 2010, 2,000 Armenians attended a
mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementa ...
at the
Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominat ...
. When the Surp Giragos Church was reopened in 2011, dozens of Armenians who had been raised Muslim participated in a baptism ceremony at the restored church. The names of those who participated in the baptism ceremony, conducted by Deputy Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, were not released publicly for security reasons. Turkish-Armenians who wish to convert must first file for a formal "change of religion" at court. They then go to the Church where they learn about the foundational teachings of the Christian
faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people often ...
. When it is decided that the applicant has understood these teachings, they are permitted to prepare for the
baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
ceremony. In 2012, ''
Agos ''Agos'' (in hy, Ակօս, "furrow") is an Armenian bilingual weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey, established on 5 April 1996. ''Agos'' has both Armenian and Turkish pages as well as an online English edition. Today, the paper h ...
'' reported that the head of the Dersim Armenians Faith and Ancestry Assistance Organization (''Dersimli Ermeniler İnanç ve Soyal Yardımlaşma Derneği'') has said that hidden Armenians have nothing to fear in the present day. In May 2015, 12 Armenians from
Tunceli Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebellion. ...
were baptized. The twelve Armenians were baptized together in a collective ceremony after a six-month education about Christian beliefs. , there are twenty Armenian schools in Istanbul. Armenian and Muslim families live in mixed neighborhoods. In the past Armenian was only spoken at home, but some Armenians living in Istanbul report that they now speak Armenian openly in the streets.


Literature

One of the first books to draw international attention to hidden Armenians was ''My Grandmother: An Armenian-Turkish Memoir'' written by
Armenian-Turkish Armenians in Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Ermenileri; hy, Թուրքահայեր, also Թրքահայեր, "Turkish Armenians"), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 50,000 to 70,000, down from a population of over 2 ...
writer Fethiye Çetin. Along with Çetin, Ayse Gul Altinay,
Gerard Libaridian Gerard Jirair Libaridian ( hy, Ժիրայր Լիպարիտեան, born 1945 in Beirut, Lebanon) is an Armenian American historian and politician. Biography From 1991 to 1997, he served as adviser, and then senior adviser to the former President o ...
, and
Maureen Freely Maureen Deidre Freely FRSL (born July 1952) is an American journalist, novelist, professor, and translator. She has worked on the Warwick Writing Programme since 1996. Biography Born in Neptune, New Jersey, she is the daughter of author John Fr ...
co-edited an anthology of testimonies of Islamized Armenians called ''The Grandchildren''. Avedis Hadjian's ''Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey'' is an exhaustive survey of the islamicized or hidden Armenians who live in the former Armenian provinces of Turkey as well as other parts of the country.


Regions

Most Crypto-Armenians reside in the eastern provinces of Turkey, where the pre-genocide Armenian population was concentrated.


Tunceli (Dersim) Armenians

Through the 20th century, an unknown number of Armenians living in the mountainous region of
Tunceli Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebellion. ...
(Dersim) had converted to
Alevism Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, wh ...
. During the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through th ...
, many of the Armenians in the region were saved by their Kurdish neighbors. According to Mihran Prgiç Gültekin, the head of the Union of Dersim Armenians, around 75% of the population of
Dersim Tunceli ( ku, Dêrsim) is a city and municipality in eastern Turkey. It is the capital of Tunceli Province, located in the middle of the Eastern Anatolia Region. The city has a Kurdish-majority population and was a site of the Dersim rebellion. ...
are "converted Armenians." He reported in 2012 that over 200 families in Tunceli have declared their Armenian descent, but others are afraid to do so. In April 2013, Aram Ateşyan, the acting
Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople The Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople (french: Patriarche de Constantinople, tr, Konstantinopolis Ermeni Patriği), also known as Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, is today head of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople ( hy, Պատրիա ...
, stated that 90% of Tunceli's population is of Armenian origin.


Diyarbakır

Before the genocide
Diyarbakır Diyarbakır (; ; ; ) is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, ...
was an Armenian town. There are still some surviving church towers in the now predominantly Muslim city, but most of the churches are in a dilapidated condition. In the past, Christian Armenians had to remain hidden but the situation has improved. The Armenian community has restored one of the churches and Armenian language lessons are available.


Notable hidden Armenians

* Fethiye Çetin (b. 1950 in Maden, Elâzığ Province), lawyer, writer and
human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campa ...
* Ahmet Abakay (b. 1950 in
Divriği Divriği (formerly Tephrike, Greek: Τεφρική) is a small town and district of Sivas Province of Turkey. The town lies on gentle slope on the south bank of the Çaltısuyu river, a tributary of the Karasu river. The Great Mosque and Hospit ...
), journalist *
Yaşar Kurt Arşak Yaşar Kurt ( hy, Արշակ Յաշար Կուրթ, born 16 August 1968) is a Turkish-Armenian rock artist. Biography He studied in 1990 at the Faculty of Open Education Anadolu University but did not graduate. He founded the alternati ...
(b. 1968), rock singer * Ruhi Su (1912-1985), musician


Number

Various scholars and authors have estimated the number of individuals of full or partial Armenian descent living in Turkey. The range of the estimates is great due to different criteria used. Most of these numbers do not make a distinction between hidden Armenians and Islamized Armenians. According to journalist Erhan Başyurt the main difference between the two groups is their self-identity. Islamized Armenian, in his words, are "children of women who were saved by Muslim families and have continued their lives among them", while hidden Armenians "continued their hidden lives as Armenians."


See also

* Passing (race) *
Armenians in Turkey Armenians in Turkey ( tr, Türkiye Ermenileri; hy, Թուրքահայեր, also Թրքահայեր, "Turkish Armenians"), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 50,000 to 70,000, down from a population of over 2 ...
* Hamshenis * Crypto-Christianity *
Crypto-Jews Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; practitioners are referred to as "crypto-Jews" (origin from Greek ''kryptos'' – , 'hidden'). The term is especially applied historically to Sp ...
* Crypto-Paganism *
Dönmeh The Dönme ( he, דוֹנְמֶה, Dōnme, ota, دونمه, tr, Dönme) were a group of Sabbatean crypto-Jews in the Ottoman Empire who converted outwardly to Islam, but retained their Jewish faith and Kabbalistic beliefs in secret. The m ...
* Armenia without Armenians *
Western Armenia Western Armenia (Western Armenian: Արեւմտեան Հայաստան, ''Arevmdian Hayasdan'') is a term to refer to the eastern parts of Turkey (formerly the Ottoman Empire) that are part of the historical homeland of the Armenians. West ...
*
Western Armenian Western Armenian ( Classical spelling: , ) is one of the two standardized forms of Modern Armenian, the other being Eastern Armenian. It is based mainly on the Istanbul Armenian dialect, as opposed to Eastern Armenian, which is mainly based ...
* White genocide *
Vorpahavak Following the Armenian genocide, ''vorpahavak'' ( hy, որբահաւաք; ) was the organized effort to "reclaim" women and children who had been abducted and forcibly converted to Islam during the genocide. See also *Rape during the Armenian ge ...


References

;Notes ;Citations


Bibliography

*Hadjian, Avedis (2018). Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey. I.B.Tauris. * * * * * * {{Demographics of Turkey Armenian people by religion Ethnic Armenian people Passing (sociology) Crypto-Christianity Western Armenia