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Turkish Armenians hope for new era

By Jonathan Gorvett in Istanbul



With news of growing rapprochement between Armenia and Turkey, one community that has been watching this process with a mixture of both hope and trepidation is the Armenian community of Istanbul.

Numbering between 60,000 to 70,000, these are the last descendants of a community that once numbered millions throughout the territory of Turkey's predecessor, the Ottoman Empire.

Nowadays, they are the largest of Turkey's officially-recognised minority groups, with a history in the city that stretches back to medieval times.

Istanbul also has its own Armenian Patriarchate, the highest body of the local Armenian Orthodox Church. There are some 33 Armenian churches in the city, 15 Armenian schools and two Armenian hospitals.

Revived community

Yet there are also some positive signs of changing times for Turkey's Armenians on the streets of Istanbul.



Abandoned Armenian buildings are now being restored [Jonathan Gorvett]
In the run down district of Kumkapi, where many of the city's poorer Armenians live and the Armenian Patriarchate is located, last Sunday's service at the Church of the Virgin Mary was a busy affair.

"We are very hopeful about the rapprochement," said one parishioner, Arevig Hablan. "It makes things more normal between us all."

One physical sign of this is the already growing number of Armenians from Armenia visiting, living and working in Istanbul, some of whom were also at Sunday's service. Many of these work illegally, but the government largely turns a blind eye to this.

Meanwhile, around the corner, the ramshackle fa�ade of a once proud Armenian building, abandoned many years ago, is now likely to be refurbished by a Turkish Armenian foundation. This is thanks to a major change in the law brought in by the current government.


http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/11/200911107341540951.html

[ytuque]

As the islamists take over Turkey, the Armenian population will continue its long decline eventually joining the Greeks and Jews as ethnically cleansed from Turkey.