I am an Armenian living in Turkey.
I live every day among people I see as enemies and feel hatred toward. In the 1800s, my family migrated from Erzurum to Sivas. They stayed in Sivas until 1915. When the genocide began in 1915, while they were being deported to Syria, they hid in a Muslim village in Tokat. There, they changed their names to Turkish ones, converted to Islam, and began living among Turks.
Today, my mother and father are Muslim. They think they are Turkish. But I am a Christian who knows that we are Armenian. Every day in Turkey, I face difficulties—people constantly make jokes about my Armenian identity, and I get strange looks.
I wish the Armenian government would do something to protect Armenians living in Turkey.
https://i.redd.it/alnscydwg0vg1.jpeg
Posted by Business_Resource590
24 Comments
Ok
Very difficult for Armenian gov to do so, and in general requires some deescalation, that being said, you are in a very difficult situation my brother, be strong, and in general although difficult do not look at things from an emotional perspective, as lines for you are clear you are fine. Remain strong, remain Armenian, find other Armenians marry them and have more Armenian kids, and with time, we shall win. Turks like any other group will liberalize and stop having kids, and your situation will improve, there will be more Armenians in turkey and else where, and with numbers will come protection and safety. Please remain strong and trust in the process. Hopefully one day soon, us diasporans and Armenia can help you more.
PS: why post the turkish flag in the Armenian group 🙂
Sebastia*
I feel you. If you are Armenian Apostolic and can prove Armenian descent, you can become a citizen of the Republic of Armenia!
Your testimony regarding the anti-Armenian sentiment in Turkey is unfortunately not a surprise for anyone.
Why do you still tolerate living in Turkey?
As for whether the government of Armenia could do anything to protect Armenians in Turkey, that thought has never even crossed my mind. For now, the goals and intentions are modest ) to protect Armenians in Armenia.
That’s very very unfortunate but good on you for not hiding your roots.
One thing I’m wondering about, though, what made you write this post? Are you feeling that things got worse? Is the pressure just adding up? I hope you’re ok
Have you thought about moving to Armenia? I understand your home is in Turkey, but don’t take it upon yourself to prove anything to anyone. If you find it hard to live there because of their supremacism, move to Armenia and live amongst your own.
How did you find out your Armenian ancestry if your parents think they’re Turkish?
Being an extremely oppressed group can draw out extreme reactions. If you have legal troubles I would temper your speech. It is unfortunate but given things seem to be improving in relations, maybe from a leadership role the Turkish government can try to bring this under control. But capitalism and fascism are like best buddies, always there.
You can always come to Armenia and apply for refuge and probably get granted one based on what you’re saying. Gather evidences, apply for visa to Armenia, buy a flight ticket, then apply for refuge at the border crossing. Good luck!
Well, the Armenian government was unable to protect Armenians even in Artsakh.
there is a strong 60k Armenian Christian community mostly in Istanbul. Are you in touch with them?
Have you converted on paper too? do people look at you oin the street what do you mean?
It doesn’t matter where you live or where you go. The only thing you need to remember is that you should always be proud of your heritage and that you are Armenian. No matter who is standing in front of your face.
I always remember that, when I was a young kid and we went to turkey visiting family, I was told that if anyone asks me where I’m from I should say that I’m German (since we are living in Germany). But since I got older I didn’t give a single fuck anymore. I have an Armenian Cross tattooed over my whole back and got a lot of other Armenian tattoos on my body which everyone can see. If anyone has a problem with that (especially Turkish people) they are welcome to say it to my face or keep their bitch ahh mouth shut.
I have a Turkish neighbor who’s totally uneducated! Whenever Armenians are mentioned, he immediately starts cursing them out. He just keeps saying they’re the enemies of us Turks!
God bless you, եղբայր <3
Even though I’m not Armenian, I believe it’s good that you are rediscovering your roots. I hope that you can live in Armenia someday 🙂
Damn, that looks rough. I feel you.
I have some family who is Armenian but still lives in Istanbul to this day, and I hear that when my grandfather visits them, he tries his best to be REALLY quiet about his Armenian identity. I always worried when he went to Turkey when I was younger.
Hope you manage to get out of this rut😔
I read your replies and I think moving to Armenia is a great option. But it’s also probably possible to claim asylum in US based on government persecution of your religion and identity
Hating your own country and feeling like an enemy there is delusional. Do you even know Armenian or would you feel home in Armenia? When did you live with them or do you really know their lifestyle or customs?
All citizens of Turkey are constitutionally Turks, nobody really cares about what you are. An Armenian is not better or worse than a Turk. But if you act like an alien, an enemy trapped here, you will feel like people are treating you like one. Go live where you belong to or learn to love your country, hating your own country is neither normal or honorable.
The Turks have a very arrogant attitude towards Armenians ..
The rhetoric I seen used towards Armenians in the past and even today was VERY dehumanizing. It’s a way to make you “other” .. They compared to animals , They complained in the past that Armenians were over represented in certain fields .. NOT bcos they were “sneaky” or bad but bcos your people worked hard. Tight knit minorities tend to work together and that’s ok. It made you very successful. It caused envy and anger about the “influence” you had.
They even said your people were pushing “Degenerate” ideas into ottoman Turkish society which is a laugh and so damn Ridiculous. They said that Armenians were Traitor’s and working with the enemy to “st*b ottoman in the back” .. And blah blah blah
Meanwhile these “GREAT MORAL OTTOMANS” were massacring men, women and kids , Taking s*x slaves , R*pe of women and girls and looting and all types of other ACTUAL degenerate behaviour. It’s an arrogant mindset. Thinking they are better. It’s why they harmed also Greeks and others who didn’t fit into their backward ideas. Sorry to say the creep Erdogan has the same mindset. He also is the one who made Hagia Sophia a mosque again. When it was a Byzantine church and then later made into a museum I think by less islamist Ataturk and then idiot Erdogan decided to make it a mosque again to show his gross dominance
Siktir git o zaman Ermenistan’a. Git ve orada Türküm de bakalım kim daha kötüymüş. Çok fazla Ermeni tanıdım ve çevremde hiç birini incitecek söz kullanan olmadı ben de kullanmadım. Umarım onlar da senin gibi düşünmüyorlardır. Yani bizden nefret etmiyorlardır.
He is lying. Ask for screenshot of his family tree. There will be no Armenian name
There are plenty of Armenians around me living in Türkiye (Istanbul). They don’t hide their ethnicity nor religion. They go to church, speak Armenian without any restrictions. I had chance to visit their villages in Eastern and Southern Türkiye. There are several villages with Armenian minority where Armenians live peacefully together with other ethnicities.
I just find this a bit deceptive.
Açıklar mısın ermeniler neden kürtlerden nefret etmiyor? Sonuçta türkler soykırımı tek başına yapmadi kürtlerin eliyle yaptı ve sonucunda ermeni kızları, toprakları ve mallarına çöken kürtler oldu.
Hate begets hate. Please don‘t forget that racist imbeciles are everywhere around the world. Turkey is no exception. Your best bet is not to become more polarised but surrounding yourself with people who value you for who you are and don‘t even ask about your ethnicity. I‘m Turkish and in my 25 years of living in Turkey, have never had any bad encounter with any Armenians nor have any of my friends. I even made Armenian friends in my high school years from an Armenian highschool on the european side. But all of this was primarily because of my upbringing and the circles I‘ve put myself in.
It‘s easy to hate an entire nation, but know that you won‘t magically feel at peace if you move to Armenia. The world is a shitty place with shitty people everywhere. Your best bet is to find a group of people and friends that you can feel a sense of belonging to. And I can assure you that ethnicity is not enough to love or hate someone. People are too shitty for that to work out.