For decades the developments which has taken place in the life of the Armenians in Turkey has also impacted the Catholic Armenian community in Turkey. After the establishment of the republican Turkey numerous problems which were faced by the Catholic Armenians has affected it and “boosted” the decay of the community which has directly and indirectly influenced the Apostolic and Evangelical Armenian communities either. In this aspect, it should be mentioned that the political and economic transformations had especially negative effect on the Catholic Armenian community. The consecutive and suppressing policy of the Turkish authorities in regard to the local Armeniancy was obvious. And at the same time it was carried out consistently without taking into consideration the differences between confessional groups of the Armenians. The current condition of the Catholic Armenian community in Ankara After the Genocide most of the adherents of the Armenian Catholic church who survived managed to settle in Istanbul where they have self-organized and formed a religious community. A smaller number of the Catholic Armenians has lived in Ankara, Mardin, and some separate families in other cities. There were no preconditions for the eager activity of this community. The community did not manage to develop and suffered regress in almost all the spheres of intra-community life. According to the data of Vatican the community which had 8500 members has gradually began moving to Europe and due to this the number of the Catholic Armenians has slumped sharply, thus shrinking to 2000-5000, and in accordance to some information even decreasing to 1500. Though the community has shrunk because of the negative developments, nevertheless, despite it is rather small, it has preserved the status of the community of the religious minority (religious, because in Turkey the notion of “minority” is strictly restricted: according to the Lausanne Treaty they are recognized as exclusively Muslim communities). Turkish government does not recognize any community based on national, ethnic, language or other differences1. It is remarkable that after the Genocide the Catholic Armenians in Ankara has turned into a reserved community which is not involved in issues of the Armenians in Turkey. The memories of the Genocide are still fresh among the average generation and under the circumstances, when the atmosphere of fear prevails, it is difficult to expect any positive developments. This was supplemented by the killings of the Catholic priests over the recent period which has strongly affected Catholic Armenian community. The issues of assimilation of the Catholic Armenians in Ankara have been manifested not in the ethnic plane but in the so-called “language assimilation”, which has been inherited since the Ottoman Empire. If at the end the 19th century, according to the witnesses, in the families two or three sentences were said in Armenian, in republican Turkey the usage of the Armenian in everyday life over the years has been forced out. The Turkish has been used even in the churches2. In the opinion of the Turkish historian Ilber Ortayli the Catholic Armenians in Ankara preferred religious identity to the ethnic one, thus considering themselves rather Catholics than Armenians3. The historian does not mention the real reason of such a preference, thus devaluing his “discovery”. Meanwhile, the researcher Gevorg Hanci in his “Catholic Armenians in Ankara” study presents counter-evidence to the historian. According to Hanci the Catholic Armenians in the capital avoid giving their children Armenian names (they prefer Latin and French names, e.g. Henri, Jacqueline, Melissa and etc. A. S,) and consider themselves rather Catholics than Armenians because of the public pressure4. This is a vivid example of how “ethnic identity” under the pressure of the Turkish society has transformed into a “religious identity”. Such a smooth shift is taking place when a given ethnic group is “defeated” in its struggle against external negative impulses (being afraid of physical destruction or other threat), but at the same time it survives within religious identity. A factor which “boosted” survival within the religious identity was and is the census. And as a result we can mention that state organizations which carried out that census registered the Catholic Armenians in Ankara according to their religious belonging. It is remarkable that here a place of their residence played an important role. In particular, living in Ankara caused the appearance of such social status as “metropolitan” due to which, however, Istanbul and those who live there are taken as not corresponding to their status. Sometimes the notion of “minority” becomes equal to the notion of “stranger”, thus, the Catholic Armenians (and not only them) are integrated into the Turkish environment in order to keep up with the majority. And the first factor which boosts integration, of course, is language. The Catholic Armenians are not the bearer of the Armenian and among the reason of that the absence of the Armenian schools can be mentioned. Even in the issue of language the Armenians of different confessions in Ankara have different approaches. E.g. for the Apostolic Armenians in Ankara it does not even matter whether there is an Armenian school or not. The most important are the desire and aspiration: “I don’t speak Armenian but I would like my children to know our language. In Ankara Armenians do not speak Armenian and in Istanbul the knowledge of the Armenian might be useful. If there is a school in Ankara children will go there. My younger brother speaks Armenian well, but he studied in Istanbul”, said Martiros. Unlike Martiros, the Catholic Henry is of other opinion: “Here nobody needs Armenian, and there is no Armenian school in Ankara. The Armenian would give nothing to my children”5. In addition to the aforementioned we should say that the Turkish researcher Aysegul Komsioglu, while speaking about the Armenian community in Ankara, says that in consequence of integration into homogeneous cultural life the ethnic self-consciousness of the Catholic Armenians from the capital has gradually slackened which resulted in the partial weakening of bonds with the Armenian community (the Armenian community in Turkey – A. S.) and full loss of language6. To compare let us mention that the Apostolic Armenians living in Ankara are more consistent as for the traditions and they aspire to preserve Eastern culture. Meanwhile, the Catholic Armenians are more oriented to the West and they aspire to modernize the community and integrate into Europe7. So it means that among the Armenians of different confession the civilizational – Eastern and Western orientations are revealed. E.g. the same Evangelical Armenians and local Greeks are much more liberal in this issue. Alongside with all those issues it is noticeable that the Catholic Armenian community in Ankara “is getting old”. The Catholic Armenian from Ankara Melissa, 78, mentioned that most of the Armenians have left Ankara (especially young people – A. S.) including her relatives who have left for the US and she takes care of herself all alone. The relatives from the US do not help her much and it is only Christian community that supports her8: “I have lived in this house for 25 years. One of my neighbour Turk women asked me whether I was Armenian and I said that I’m local (underlined by A. S.)9, - said Melissa. Felix Korner, German specialist on ethnic and religious minorities, while studying the condition of the Armenian Catholic community in Ankara stated that the Armenian cemeteries in the capital were deliberately destroyed and the crosses on the gravestones were broken10, which did not correspond to the statements of the Turks that the weather is the main reason. So, despite the small number and confessional diversity and unlike Istanbul, the Armenian community in Ankara still remains uninvestigated from all the aspects. General developments Though over the recent years the atmosphere of intolerance in regard of Catholics has been formed in Turkey and it has its negative effect on their communities, there is a kind of animation in the Catholic Armenia community in Istanbul which is connected with educational, spiritual and clerical and other issues. In 2010 “Anadolu” information agency informed that the regional administration of vakifs (religious lands) of Diyarbakir was restoring churches which belonged to the Catholic and Protestant communities. The head of the regional administration Yakub Akturk mentioned in his interview that they were going to finish the restoration of the Armenian Catholic and Protestant churches of the 19th centuries. After the restoration they plan to put them into commission after consulting with the local and province authorities11. It is remarkable that in this situation the Armenian Catholic Church took a role of a silent observer; anyway it did not react to the “flaring” initiative of the province authorities. The point is that there is no Armenian Catholic community on Diyarbakir and it is not clear to whom it has to serve. The restoration of the Armenian churches in 2010 was a continuation of the Armenian-Turkish process but at the same time by this step the authorities tended to mollify the West’s anger because of the killings of the Catholic clergymen and prove that the level of tolerance in regard of Christians in their country is high, thus ascribing to themselves the idea of the dialogue of cultures. On the one hand it is much spoken that the local Armenians have many unsolved issues due to the absence of state policy and funding, on the other hand fact comes forward that over the years the Armenian capital has been formed in that country. Thus, in December 2010 “Aksam” daily informed that the Armenian Catholic St. Hakob Foundation planned to buy 48 thousand m2 in the central district of Istanbul – Taksim, for which it was ready to pay 0 million. The foundation planed to build in Taksim trade and cultural center. Though the demands of the EU obliged Turkey to change the laws, according to which the foundations of the national minorities are allowed buying new property, the submitted project was rejected12. The organizations which dealt the issue in fact violated the demands of the EU and impeded the initiative by the Armenian foundation only due to the reason that it might double the financial wealth of the community which could have been further used for the best of the community. The 200-years long activity of the Armenian Mkhitarists from Vienna played great role in the education of the Armenian community in Istanbul. Recently not only Catholic Armenians but also Apostolic Armenians come to the Mkhitarists in Istanbul to study. On the other hand in Turkish press information has appeared that since this year Armenian schools are attended by children from mixed marriages. On this occasion interesting explanations were given by the director of the Mkhitarist School in Istanbul Garegin Parsamian: “From day to day the number of the mixed marriages grows. They have children. Though some of those children in their passports are mentioned as Muslims in our schools they get Armenian Christian education. It is up to them to decide their national identity when they grow up. As for the children from Armenia, last year we turned to the Ministry of Education mentioning that they were deprived of the right for education and they gave positive response to our request. Most probably, very soon, our doors will be open for the children from Armenia either”13. According to the accepted procedure, previously only children, whose both parents were Armenians, could attend Armenian schools, but the Ministry of Education has changed that regulation. Now those whose only one parent is the Armenian may also attend the Armenian schools. It is remarkable that not only children from mixed marriages study here but also the descendants of the Islamized Armenians, as well as Assyrians and Greeks. It is not excluded that this “benevolent” Turkish policy has other purposes. In particular, admitting Islamized Armenians to 18 Armenian educational facilities, the interested state control organizations are clarifying to some extent the number of the Muslim Armenians and some other issues by registering them. So this process, in spite of all the positive impact on the Muslim Armenians, may contain some threats too, which should also be taken into consideration, especially when the attitude of the Turkish authorities to the process of reclaiming Islamized Armenians remains the same and it cannot be considered positive. So, it can be concluded, that though the Catholic Armenians are scanty, nevertheless, it, alongside with the community structures and bodies, play a definite role in the organization of the Armenians in Turkey. The Catholic Armenian community in Ankara, unfortunately, falls out of this reality and, the situation, as we believe, will remain the same for quite a long time. A.Simavoryan, the Head of the Center for the Armenian Studies, “Norvank” Foundation.

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