Church, Identity, and Social Structure

• Religious Freedom in the Ottoman State and the Story of the Akmeşe Armenian Monastery

  Prof. Dr. Haluk Selvi

  Among the Armenians, religion and nationality, church and nation have been intertwined. In fact, one should speak of the Armenian Church and the Armenian Church state rather than the Armenian nation, Armenian state or Armenian history because what creates the idea of the Armenian state was the Armenian Church. The Armenian Church has seen itself…

• Armenians and Eçmiyazın Cathogicos

  Prof. Dr. Ali Arslan

  Eçmiyazin Cathogicos, considered in a way the “papacy” and the oldest clerical center of the Armenian Gregorian Church, came under the rule of the Ottomans with the conquest of Revan in 1583. Most probably, cathogicoses were appointed by Ottoman sultans from this date onward. This situation continued to exist even after Eçmiyazin was left to…

• The Process of Armenians Becoming Catholic

  Saro Dadyan

  Armenians, who lived at the eges of the two great powers –the Persians and the Romans- that fought against each other for hundreds of years and who were used as a buffer element by both sides, faced significant troubles and struggles because of the geography in which they lived. This geography also provided them with…

• The Establishment of the Armenian Protestant Community

  Saro Dadyan

  The biggest intra-community conflicts and problems in the history of the Ottoman Armenians were experienced because of the conversions to other denominations. The first thing that comes to mind when one mentions converting to a different denomination wihtin the Armenian community is the acceptance of the Catholic faith and the conflicts that were experienced because…

• The Contributions of Mkhitar of Sivas and the Mkhitarists to the Armenian Identity

  Ass. Prof. Dr. Gürsoy Şahin

  Mkhitar of Sivas (1676-1749), who was a Catholic priest, and his students played a large role in the birth of Armenian nationalism. Mkhitar, whose real name was Manuk, was born in Sivas on 7 February 1676. He learned to read and write when he was five and started his education at the Surp Nishan Monastery…

• The Foundation and Status of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate

  Asst. Prof. Dr. Ramazan Erhan Güllü

  Mehmet the Conqueror, after the conquest of Istanbul, asked the Greeks living in the city to choose a patriarch within their religious traditions and he approved Georgios Kurtesis Scholarius who was chosen as the new patriarch to be appointed with the title “Gennadios.” The sultan, who declared an edict about the administration of the patriarchate,…

• The Amira-Tradesmen Conflict and the Process Towards Constitutionalization Under the Rule of the Armenian Community

  Saro Dadyan

  When we look at the history and internal working of the Armenian Church, we can see that it is opposite to the other churches and it has a special administration system. The Armenian Church does not have a structure in which only the clerics have a monopoly; civilians also have a say in the administration….

• Amiras (Feudal lords) and the Assembly of Amiras Under the Administration of the Armenian Community

  Saro Dadyan

  Mikayel Çamiçyan, who was a Catholic priest and a historian, published his three volume work named “Badmutyun Hayots,” i.e. “Great Armenian History” in Venice in 1786. This work was also the first large scale history of the Armenians that was written in the modern sense. In this book, Çamiçyan narrated an anecdote about the formation…

• A Polemic Dated 1860 on the Armenian Identity and the Regime

  Ass. Prof. Dr. Ali Budak

  The Armenians under the Ottoman rule were given the rights to open their own schools, to choose their own books and programs and to issue diplomas starting from the time of Fatih [Mehmet II]. Their religious and social lives were not interfered with for 350 years until the Sultan Mahmud II period. Therefore, the Armenians…

• The Roles of the Schools in the Construction of the Armenian National Identity

  Ass. Prof. Dr. Murat Öntuğ

  Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire did not engage in an initiation of opening schools until the end of 18th century. Although the existence of some institutions for religious education in their churches was known, formal education belonging to their communities opened after the 1790s. Before this date, Armenian families sent their children to schools…

• The Education of the Armenian Community in the Ottoman State

  Dr. Yasemin Tümer Erdem

  The Ottoman State, which ruled communities of different religions, cultures and ethnic structures for centuries, had a broad understanding of peace and toleration vis-à-vis these communities (Kılıç, 2006, 7). After the conquest of Istanbul by Sultan Mehmed (the Conqueror), the minorities acquired the right to open schools and cultural institutions in parallel to their gaining…

• The Approach of the Ottoman Empire to Armenians Within the Context of “The Regulation of the Armenian Nation” Dated 1864

  Dr. Fehmi Akın

  The national system in the Ottoman Empire is based not on ethnic but religious foundations (İlter, 1995, p.30; Ercan, 2000, p.146). However, with the pressure and provocations of the Western states, the national system started to be understood within ethnic nationalism in the 19th century. Armenians started to be organized as the Gregorian nation within…

• The Role of Armenians Schools in Armenian Rebellions

  Ass. Prof. Dr. Murat Öntuğ

  The first official school within the Armenian education system was opened by Amira Shinork Mighirdich Mirijanyan in Istanbul Kumkapi in 1790 by obtaining permission from the state. The fact that grammar was taught in Kumkapi school made it different from the other schools. In the first half of the 19th century, new Armenian schools opened…

• The Role of Missionaries in the Destruction of Religious Unity of Armenians

  Asst. Prof. Dr. İsmigül Çetin

  Firstly Catholic and then Protestant missionaries worked on Ottoman Christians and caused the creation of new communities. The community which the missionaries influenced the most was Armenians. The Archaic Gregorian Armenian community went through a great change with the influence of missionaries; Catholic and Protestant Armenian communities appeared and the idea of nationalism spread. However,…

• The Issue of Muslimization of Armenians

  We know that Armenians lived their religions and sects freely for centuries and the Ottoman Empire was sensitive in making sure of these religious freedoms. Along with this, it is another matter of fact that people could become Muslims with their free will. Islam is a universal religion open to everyone. However, the issue of…

• Armenians Before Dreams and Realities

  Prof. Dr. Abdullah Saydam

  The politics that the Ottoman Empire followed in governing non-Muslims, which were based on principles which protected their existence, gave them the right to own properties, and allowed them to conduct their religious rituals in accordance with their traditions. This system, though implemented without any problem for many centuries, started to fall insufficient before liberal,…

• Armenian Nationalism and Territorial Claims

  Prof. Dr. Nesrin Sarıahmetoğlu

  When the Armenian Question appears on the agenda, it is stated that the Turks are not in a position to make an objective decision. The Westerners claim that only the Turks have negative convictions about the Armenians. However, the opinions and thoughts about the Turks and Armenians in different sources are often put forward without…

• The Armenian Question and the American Missionaries

  Ass. Prof. Dr. Nuri Karakaş

  The American missionary activities in the Ottoman territory started with the arrival of two missionaries from the Protestant missionary organization named the “American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,” which had been established in Boston, Massachusetts in 1810, in Izmir on 5 January 1820 (Lybyer ,1924, p. 802; Barton, 1906, pp. 747-748). American missionaries, whose…