Abstract
In this chapter I look at the “Great Diaspora” immediately after the genocide and how the demographics of both the Armenian Diaspora community in London and the Netherlands is built. I look at the differences but also the commonalities, which have a lot of consequences as we will see in later chapters. We will look at where Armenians went during the initial Diaspora and how we can decipher first waves of immigrants and second and third waves of immigrants: immigrants that did not directly flee the Armenian genocide but the host country they fled to in the Great Diaspora. In this sense the Armenians are an invisible minority group.
We are a people that always move. We have no home. We are permanent refugees…
Informant Agnes (the Netherlands), 26 May 2003
the real Armenian story is that of moving and rebuilding
(Pattie 1997: 37)
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Notes
- 1.
See also the newspaper articles “Het Badwater van Jezus” [The bath water of Jesus] in: NRC Handelsblad., 9 November 2001 and “Paus zoekt hereniging in Armenië” [The Pope seeks reconciliation in Armenia] in: Trouw, 26 September 2001.
- 2.
In the sixth century, the first Armenian monasteries were founded in Egypt and Palestine. In the seventh and ninth centuries, the first Armenian bishops arrived in Ireland and France (Demirdjian 1989: 1, 3).
- 3.
This seems to be a small decline, but the historical region of Mouradian encompasses more than the Ottoman Empire. In some cities and towns in the Eastern and Southeastern part of the Ottoman Empire, the decline of Armenians was almost 95–99.9% in the region of Bitlis and Trabzon. See maps at: http://www.genocide-museum.am/eng/mapping_armenian_genocide.php.
- 4.
Another curious example that is not explained in the study has to do with languages. I know through my interviews that most Armenians speak the language of their former host country in their family surroundings. This is especially true for Armenians of Turkish descent (as shown in later chapters) who do not necessarily speak Armenian. In the FAON study (page 153) it is stated that 31% of the respondents speak Armenian (no difference between East- and West-Armenian is made in the research), 34% speak Dutch and 35% speak an other language, including Arabic, Assyrian, German, English, Farsi, Kurdish, Turkish etc. (FAON 2008: 153). In this category (“other languages”), 24 languages are mentioned. If 27% of the Armenians in this study are of Turkish descent, we can safely presume that of the 35% that speaks another language, 27% at least speaks Turkish. The question then arises: who speaks the other 23 languages? This statistic seems to imply that the other 23 languages are spoken by the remaining 8% and the languages differ enormously from Farsi to Hebrew. I think that this discrepancy can be partly explained by the fact that many Armenians are bilingual or even trilingual (or in some cases even more). A more important reason could be that many Armenians of Turkish descent are omitted; this could have changed the language statistic drastically. It is also interesting that if 27%, according to FAON comes from Turkey: this makes the Turkish language is not a separate category, but is included in the category other languages. The anthropological question that arises is: why is the Turkish language that more than 25% of the Armenian population (at least) speaks, not seen as a separate and specific category?
- 5.
This said, I do believe that cultural constructions and symbols, because they are built on previous constructions and symbols, change less than demographics, and especially when the constructions and symbols are colored by a significant event.
- 6.
During this time, the Netherlands had a shortage of laborers and had an open-door policy for migrant workers, which the Dutch government presumed would be temporary. This was a chance for Armenians living in Turkey to leave the Republic with its repressive laws against Armenians.
- 7.
For more information on the more recent situation of Armenians in Turkey, I refer to the report: Human Rights Reviews, the situation of the Christian minorities of Turkey since the coup d’état of September 1980 of the Dutch Interchurch Aid and Service to Refugees, Utrecht, June 1982.
- 8.
There are of course exceptions to the rule. I speak here of general tendencies. There were also survivors of the genocide in Iran and Indonesia, although in lower numbers compared to Syria, Iraq, Armenia, etc.
- 9.
These figures differ somewhat compared to the figures mentioned by FAON in 2008. As stated above, FAON estimates there were: 4000 Armenians from Turkey, 3000 from Iraq, 400 from Syria, 800 from Iran and 5000–6000 from Armenia (FAON 2008: 42).
- 10.
Although the Western- and Eastern-Armenians can understand each other, I have been told that the differences between the two main dialects are significant. One respondent said that although he spoke Western-Armenian fluently, he had had to “learn” Eastern-Armenian. The consequences this has on the Armenian community in general is an issue I discuss at length in Chap. 7.
- 11.
Shirnak borders Iraq. Due to families, intermarriage and trade, many relationships have developed between Turkish and Iraqi Armenians. One has to keep in mind that many “Iraqi Armenians” are descendants of Armenians who survived the deportations of 1915–1917.
- 12.
See also: Human Rights Review, the situation of the Christian minorities of Turkey since the coup d’état of September 1980 of the Dutch Interchurch Aid and Service to Refugees, Utrecht, June 1982.
- 13.
When my Dutch book was released in 2009, I was criticized by prominent figures of the Armenian organizations and foundations, that I had painted the Armenian community too bleakly and over-emphasized their struggles. One main founder of FAON stood up and gave a whole monologue and lecture about this. The irony was that the audience, mostly consisting of Armenians, disagreed with his analysis and even started booing him. I didn’t have to defend myself; my audience did this. (At one point, someone stood up and asked: “You tell me what a true Armenian is?”) I always found it very unfortunate that the leaders of Dutch Armenian community didn’t see the importance of what I was trying to convey, which was that the struggles today are a direct result of the Armenian genocide of 1915–1917.
- 14.
301AD, 303AD are often stated. It is assumed that the Armenians were the first people to embrace Christianity. Historians do not necessarily agree with these dates. According to some scientists, Tiridates only converted to Christianity in 314AD and this was after the Roman Empire Galerius (293AD–311AD) called for tolerance of Christians on his deathbed, and after 312AD when Constantin converted to Christianity (Redgate 1998: 116, 117).
- 15.
Monophysite refers to the doctrine that Jesus did not have a separate divine and human nature, but only one, a human divinity.
- 16.
Armenians also refer to this renaissance as veradznoent (rebirth).
- 17.
This was a particularly fierce battle, which led to the death of an archbishop in 1933.
- 18.
Of course, there are several careful side notes to be made. The Armenians from Istanbul come from an entirely different society than the Armenians from eastern Turkey. Istanbul, for example, has 30 apostolic churches, 10 Protestant and Catholic churches, 19 elementary schools, 2 high schools and Armenian newspapers. Thus, there are more possibilities to express an Armenian identity there than in south-eastern Turkey (Mouradian 1996: 126). Still, these differences should not be overestimated. In Istanbul, Armenians are often less politicized than Armenians from other countries. This is mainly expressed in the indignation that many Armenians feel towards the Armenians in the diaspora. On 23 September 2001, the patriarch and spiritual leader of 10,000 Orthodox Armenians in Turkey, Mesrob II, commented on a resolution in the United States about the recognition of the genocide: “I do not believe anybody here will profit from it and I believe that it will harm the Turkish-Armenian relations” (NRC Handelsblad, 23 September 2001, “Turkije en VS botsen over Armeniërs”). [Turkey and United States collide over Armenia—translation by author.] A similar statement can also be found in another article. Here, an Armenian shopkeeper gives the following answer in regard to the renewed international interest in the genocide: “It might be easy for Armenians abroad to keep the issue hot. But here in Turkey, we have to live together with the Turks. Here, I have never been discriminated because of my background. And I would like to keep it that way. My Turkish friends see me as Devrim and not as Devrim, the Armenian. Okay, it was tragic what happened 85 years ago, but it happened 85 years ago” (Trouw, 9 February 2001, “Een taboe op de helling”). [Scrutinizing another taboo—translation by author.] This statement is questionable and could have been made under conditions of fear and government pressure.
- 19.
Other explanations I have heard are that both ceremonies were badly organized and that many Armenians did not know that there would be a commemoration on the 24 April. (Due to the importance of this date, however, I question this explanation.) Other respondents were afraid that the Turkish secret service might have been present during both commemorations; these respondents had families in Turkey and did not want to endanger their family members by participating in the commemoration services.
- 20.
It is important to keep in mind that for many Turkish-Armenians political discourse is a relatively new phenomenon. Many Armenian parties are banned in Turkey. In particular, older Turkish-Armenians (second generation) have problems with this. Younger Turkish-Armenians are far more politicized.
- 21.
For instance, the goal is verbalized in the charters of the “Armenian Cultural Foundation Abovian” in The Hague. It says: “The foundation aims to: (1) maintain the Armenian identity and the Armenian ethnic and religious traditions. (2) to stimulate the cultural and friendly relations between the Dutch and the Armenian people and (3) the strengthening of the cultural and friendly relations of the Armenian community in the Netherlands with the motherland Armenia and the Armenia community in Diaspora.” Although I have not read all charters of all foundations and organizations, I know through interviews, that all foundations have similar goals.
- 22.
A second reason that some of my respondents gave was that Turkish-Armenians have a minority complex in relation to non-Turkish Armenians and do not come to these organizations easily. The extent to which this is true is difficult to determine and depends on the narrator’s point of view. (This comment was often made by non-Turkish Armenians.) I return to this tension at length in Chap. 7.
- 23.
France is one of the few western European countries that took in refugees during WWI.
- 24.
I deliberately use the word integration here, and not assimilation, as Demirdjian (1989) does in her thesis. I find that assimilation is used too loosely and inaccurately, as I explain further in this book. It is true that the French language has become the main language of communication among Armenians in France, mixed marriages have risen to 54% and the level of education of an Armenian born in France is as high as that of the French native (ibid.: 31, 32). Still, I do not think you can measure assimilation in this way. Assimilation means dissolving into a society and disappearing in it, and based on the dense networks of Armenian organizations in France this is not the case. Armenians are integrated, not assimilated, and the use of this word says more about the fear that comes with the word assimilation, than about the factual developments on the ground.
- 25.
It is important to keep in mind that the parties officially denied any ties with these organizations.
- 26.
A French court overruled this law as “unconstitutional” on 28 February 2012.
- 27.
I acquired all the data I use in this paragraph through interviews with Snork Bagdassarian, pastor of the Armenian Church in London, and the Armenian ambassador, also based in London.
- 28.
My knowledge of the Armenian community in Manchester is limited since I could not extend my field research to this second largest Armenian community in the United Kingdom due to time constraints.
- 29.
Talai (1989) states that the relationships between the organizations are competitive and based on various political, national, linguistic and general orientations (ibid.: 2). According to the author, Armenians do not share a uniform experience of ethnic identity (ibid.: 2). What they do share though are “symbolic concepts” (ibid.: 5) through which identity is expressed. I share this view, and will explain these symbolic concepts in Chap. 6. Talai’s analysis coincides with the struggles in the Dutch Armenian community, but there are also very important differences between the two communities, which I emphasis in this paragraph.
- 30.
Armenians distinguish themselves by background. For example, they make a distinction between Armenians from Cyprus, and those from Lebanon and other countries of origin. These differences are being emphasized here, but I have never seen a real struggle over who is or who is not a real Armenian to the same extent as in the Netherlands.
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Holslag, A. (2018). The Great Diaspora. In: The Transgenerational Consequences of the Armenian Genocide. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69260-9_3
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