Construction of Armenian Identity in Istanbul: the Case of Yeşilköy
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CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN IDENTITY IN İSTANBUL: THE CASE OF YEŞİLKÖY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ZEYNEP BAYKAL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY MAY 2011 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Saktanber Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Ceylan Tokluoğlu Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Tayfun Atay (Ankara U., Ethno.) Assoc. Prof. Ceylan Tokluoğlu (METU, SOC) Assoc. Prof. Helga Rittersberger- Tılıç (METU, SOC) ii I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Zeynep Baykal Signature : iii ABSTRACT CONSTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN IDENTITY IN ISTANBUL: THE CASE OF YEŞİLKÖY Baykal, Zeynep M. S., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Ceylan Tokluoğlu May 2011, 201 pages The aim of this thesis is to analyze Armenian ethnic identity construction, the dynamics influencing this process, and varying boundaries of this identity in Yeşilköy, which is one of the regions of Istanbul where Armenians prefer to live. The primordial as well as constructed aspects of Armenian identity in Turkey and the influence of objective and subjective definitions of Armenian collective identity constitutes the main themes of this thesis. From that perspective, homeland, history, myths, collective remembering, religion, language, rituals, the sense of being a member of a minority group, and perception of citizenship play a crucial role. Besides, relationalism, interaction with others, daily life practices, and relations with the nation-state appear as the other crucial elements of this identity construction process. Armenian identity in Turkey is multi-layered, situational and fluid. Together with the elements which provide the rigidity of identity such as religion, there are other loyalties such as ethnicity, traditions and language which give rise to plural and flexible identities. Armenian communities outside the national boundaries also serve for the self- positioning of the Armenians in Turkey. Keywords: Armenians of Turkey, Armenian identity, identity construction, minorities. iv ÖZ İSTANBUL’DA ERMENİ KİMLİĞİNİN İNŞAASI: YEŞİLKÖY ÖRNEĞİ Baykal, Zeynep Yüksek Lisans, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Doç. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu Mayıs 2011, 201 sayfa Bu çalışmada, İstanbul’da Ermenilerin en yoğun olarak yaşadığı bölgelerden biri olan Yeşilköy’deki Ermenilerin etnik kimlik oluşumu, etnik kimliğin üretiminde etkili olan dinamikler ve bu kimliğin değişken sınırları araştırılmıştır. Bu tezin temel sorunsalını Türkiye’deki Ermeni kimliğinin hangi boyutları ile ilksel, hangi boyutları ile yapılanmış olduğu ve öznel ve nesnel tanımlamaların kolektif bir kimlik olan Ermeni kimliği üzerindeki etkileri oluşturmaktadır. Bu çerçevede anavatan, tarihsel geçmiş, mitler, kolektif bellek, dil, din, karma evlilik, törenler ve azınlık ve vatandaşlık algısı önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Bunun yanı sıra, ilişkisellik, diğer gruplarla etkileşim, gündelik hayat ve ulus devlete olan ilişkiler de kimlik oluşumunun önemli dinamiklerini oluşturmaktadır. Türkiye’deki Ermeni kimliği çok katmanlı, durumsal ve akışkan bir kimliktir. Bu kimliğin sürekliliğini sağlayan din gibi bazı faktörlerin yanı sıra, çeşitliğini sağlayan gelenek, etnisite, dil gibi öncelikli aidiyet kategorileri de bulunmaktadır. Ayrıca, Ermeniliğin ulusal sınırlar dışındaki katmanları da Türkiye Ermenilerinin kendilerini konumlandırmalarında ve kimliklerinin oluşumunda etkilidir. Anahtar kelimeler: Türkiyeli Ermeniler, Ermeni kimliği, etnik kimlik, kimlik oluşumu, azınlıklar v To my father, I miss so much … vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceylan Tokluoğlu for her guidance, advice, criticism, encouragements and insight throughout the research and her greatest support during one of the hardest period of my life. I would also like to thank Prof. Dr. Tayfun Atay and Assoc. Prof. Helga Rittersberger-Tılıç for their kindness and their valuable comments and contributions to the study. I especially own thanks to my informants for their enthusiasm and sincerity about contributing my research and opening the doors of their hearts to me which make this study to come true. Also, I own thanks to Zafer Karakütük for his comments in the editing of my finished thesis. I am also grateful to my colleagues, Zeynep Tecik, Gözde Dağdelen, Gözde Çerçioğlu, whom I shared my dreams with and who have supported me so much during this study with their friendship and their academic contribution. And also, I should thank my dorm mates Ebru, Benan, Gökhan, Duygu, Mehmet who made this process much more colorful. vii I would like to express my thanks to Meral Yeniova and to my cousin Canan Yeniova, who did everything to make me feel populous in the days I have been in Ankara. Lastly, I am grateful to my family, to my father, Enver Baykal, who always believed to his daughter without any doubts in any steps she made and who did not have an opportunity to witness the results of one of most important period of her life, to my mother, Hikmet Baykal, who tries to fulfill her daughter‘s life with a supernatural effort, and to my brother, Mehmet Baykal, who always stands by his sister. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM………………………………………………………………....iii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………iv ÖZ ...……………………………………………………………………………v DEDICATION ...………………………………………………………………vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ……………………………………………………vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ..…………………………………………….............ix CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………..1 2. HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. Armenian Community; Historical Roots …......................12 2.2. Ottoman Period ...…………..............................................14 2.3. Republican Period ...……………………………..............22 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 3. 1. Identity, Construction of Identity ...………………..........32 3. 2. Conceptual Framework; Ethnicity, Ethnic Identity, Ethnic Group ……………………………….....................................35 3. 3. Theories of Ethnic Identity….………………….……......39 3.3. a. Classical theories on ethnic identity ...………....39 3.3. b. Primordialism ………………………………….46 3.3. c. Instrumentalism ………………………………..51 3.3. d. Ethno-symbolism ……………………………....57 3.3. e. Social Constructivism ...………………….....….66 ix 3.3. f. Barthian approach; Social Boundaries ....………70 3.3. g. Cohen’s Constructivism; Symbolic Construction of Community ....................................................79 4. ARMENIANS IN ISTANBUL; HOMELAND, COMMUNITY AND POLITICS 4.1. Homeland, Past, Memory ...………………………...........86 4.2. Community; Commonness and Differences …………...101 4.3. Relation with Others .………………………………......131 4.3. a. Being a Turkish Armenian versus an Armenian-origin Turk ...……………………..133 4.3. b. Making the Other ...………………………......139 4.3. c. The Outside Circle; Diaspora Armenians ...…..142 4.3. d. Newly Established Homeland; Armenia....…...147 4.4. Politics, Relations with the State ……………….............152 4.4. a. Being Citizen or Minority……………………..153 4.4. b. Society versus State ...…………………….…..162 4.4. c. Political Representation, Political Tendencies, Occupational Status ...………………………..167 5. CONCLUSION …………………………………………………..173 6. REFERENCES ...……………………………………………….....190 7. APPENDICES ...……………………………………………….....197 7.1. List of the Respondents ...……………………………….197 7.2. Questions of the Interview………………………………198 x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The end of cold war, collapse of communism, and the globalization process increased the transnational flow of people, information and goods, which caused the replacement of the insecure environment of the cold war period surrounded by ideologies with the one surrounded by identities. Identity emerged as raison d’être, as a source of legitimacy for the existence of people obliged to survive together in a global world. Demand of being recognized and protected, claiming identity rights, and emerging clashes for obtaining homelands are some of the outcomes of the raising consciousness about identities. Thus, all of these global developments brought the issue of identity into light and increased the visibility of ethnic, religious, gender, and racial identities in academic as well as political areas. Among these identities, ethnic identity, which was usually thought to be disappeared by the modernization period, became one of the basic notions debated in various academic disciplines. These developing debates brought about out new concepts such as social boundaries, collective memories, and life histories which replaced the existing notions of nation-state systems. Although the individual efficiency of the theoretical debates to interpret recent 1 developments remains insufficient, they complemented a kind of illustrating framework. The identity theories are divided into three basic camps and a number of alternative perspectives. First branch, the primordialist approach, accepts ethnic identity as a primordial, given, coercive,