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From "Crypto" to "Islamized" to "Muslim" Armenians of Turkey: Analytical Shortcomings and Ethico-political Pitfalls of Classificatory Labels
Abstract
In recent years, there has been a burgeoning scholarly and public discourse on Armenians who had officially converted to Islam in Ottoman times or under Turkish Republican rule, and on their descendants living in Turkey today. Armenian and Turkish academics, journalists, public intellectuals, and even officials have been writing and speaking about these people, often in generalized and at times politicized ways. “Hidden/Secret/Crypto-Armenians” (Gizli/Kripto Ermeniler; Թաքուն/Ծպտեալ Հայեր), “Islamized Armenians” (Müslümanlaş[tırıl]mış Ermeniler; Իսլամաց[ու]ած Հայեր), “Converted Armenians” (dönme Ermeniler; կրօնափոխ հայեր), and “Muslim Armenians” (Müslüman Ermeniler; Իսլամ/Մահմետական հայեր) are some of the most widely used labels, with their Turkish and Armenian counterparts, applied to the contemporary descendants of Armenians converted to Islam. Discussing these and other terms and their uses in both Turkish and Armenian contexts, I aim to analyze and deconstruct them in order to reveal some of their empirical inaccuracies and analytical shortcomings, as well as to shed light on the ethically and politically problematic facets of some of them. Reminding that classificatory terminology is often not devoid of ideological content and that it might also have its implications on those classified, I suggest more nuanced ways of approaching, understanding, and describing representatives of this very diverse and still multiply vulnerable population.
Discipline
Anthropology
Geographic Area
Turkey
Sub Area
None