Armenian Studies

Coins of the Chopānid Ḥusayn struck in 740/1339–40, and of the Īlkhāns, Jūjīds, the Chopānid Ashraf and Akhījūq, struck in the last years of the Īlkhānate (754–9/1353–8) in the South Caucasus and Iran, constitute a historical source for an area little covered by the chronicles of the time. This article focuses on the anonymous coinage of 740/1339–40 struck in Shīrāz and commissioned by the Chopānid Ḥusayn or the Īnjūid Masʿūd Shāh, four coin types of the Chopānid Ashraf (struck with his name in 754–7/1353–6, and anonymously with the laqab “

In spite of all previous efforts, the land border between Armenia and Turkey remains closed. Being one of the last reminders of the Cold War era, it significantly hinders the development of Armenia and eastern regions of Turkey. However, a closed border is more than a physical obstacle, as it also shapes the worldview and perceptions of the respective societies. Using the recent survey on “Public Opinion Poll: The Ways for Normalization of Armenian- Turkish Relations”, we identify the determinants of respondents’ attitudes towards the opening of the border. Among other results, we find that more awareness of the current Armenian-Turkish relationship increases the likelihood of the approval of the border. However, when selecting those respondents, who are either loyal to or approve the opening of the border, the awareness of the protocols’ content decreases the likelihood of the approval of the opening border. Our findings are supported by the contact theory which we use as a conceptual framework.

minute issue, as was made so clear just recently, by no other than the terror group ISIS, vowing to do away with the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the dismemberment of historic Greater Syria. This is a theme never been neglected by successive Syrian regimes, all the way from independence in 1946 through the reign of the House of Assad [1970-], and as such merited a special chapter explaining the differences between WW1 Syria, and the Syria as known to the average reader.

Özet Ezine, Sanayi İnkılâbı'nın etkisiyle 19. yy'da Avrupalı sanayileşen devlet-lerin ham madde ihtiyacını karşılayan mecralarından birisi haline gelmiştir. Bu gelişim beraberinde ham maddenin üretim, tedarik ve ulaşımı gibi birçok iş ve hizmet sektörünü ortaya çıkarmıştır. 1856 Paris Antlaşmasından sonraki durumdan faydalanan Osmanlı Ermeni, Rum ve Yahudiler bu ticari hareket-lenmeden faydalanmak üzere de Ezine'ye yerleşmişlerdir. Abstract Ezine, with the effect of Industrial Revolution, had become one of the important raw material suppliers of Europe's industrialized states in the 19th century. These development arose new sectors such as raw material production, supply, transportation etc. With the legal assistance of the 1856 Paris Treaty, Ottoman Armenians, Greeks and Jews have come and settled to greatly benefit from the economic development of Ezine.

At the dawn of the twentieth century, droves of former Ottoman subjects including Armenians and Syrians began to set foot in the United States searching for better opportunities. Many faced American white supremacist xenophobia and fell victim to racial discrimination. Various Ottoman diasporic communities responded to this harassment by expressing an increasing investment in the question of American whiteness and vigorously yearning to move beyond its fringes. Their voices, however, remain considerably muted; their stories are largely excluded from most American immigration narratives and conventional area-studies histories. This study endeavors to help reverse this scholarly tradition by examining the mindset of Ottoman Armenian expatriates as articulated in the editorials of Asbarēz, an Armenian-language weekly published in Fresno, California starting in 1908. As this micro-study shows, the migrants used the European racialist knowledge imported from the Ottoman empire to lay cla...

Özet: Bu çalışmada; bir sorun yumağı haline gelmiş Türkiye ve Ermenistan arasındaki siyasi ve tarihi gerginlikler İran penceresinden analiz edilmiş; birbirlerine sınırdaş olan ve uluslararası sistemi etkileme kapasitesine sahip bu ülkeler arasındaki ilişkiler tespit edilerek geleceğe dönük yumuşak güç temelli bir çözüm önerisi ortaya konulmuştur. Çalışma, neo-fonksiyonalizm teorisinin yayılma etkisi (spillover effect) fenomeni ile Türkiye-Ermenistan arasındaki ilişkilerin uluslararası bağımlılık çerçevesinde iyileştirilebileceği varsayımı üzerine bina edilmiştir. Bu hedefe ulaşabilmek için çalışmada İran'da yüksek eğitim seviyesine sahip örneklemin Ermenistan ve Türkiye'ye olan güven dereceleri karşılaştırılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgulara göre İran'da rejim yanlıları ve dolayısıyla yönetici elitler Türkiye'ye Ermenistan'a göre daha fazla güvenmektedirler. Bu veriden hareketle çalışmada Türkiye'nin, İran ile Ermenistan arasındaki siyasi denge ve ittifak politikalarına rağmen, ekonomik olarak hem Ermenistan hem de İran ile yumuşak güç temelli ilişkiler kurması önerilmektedir. Abstract: In this study, the political and historic tensions between Turkey and Armenia, which have become a pile of troubles, have been analysed from the perspective of Iran, and the relations between these bordering countries with a capacity of effecting the international system have been defined to set forth a soft power based solution proposal towards the future. The study has been constructed on the spill-over effect phenomenon of neo-functionalism theory, as well as on the assumption that the relations between Turkey and Armenia can be improved within the frame of international dependency. In order to achieve this target, the trust levels towards Armenia and Turkey, of the sample with a high level education in Iran, have been compared. According to the findings of the study, the pro-regime people in Iran, hence the governing elite trust Turkey more than they do to Armenia. Taking this data as a starting point, the study suggests that Turkey establishes soft power based relations with both Armenia and Iran in economic terms, despite the political balance and alliance policies between Iran and Armenia.

Researchers in forced migration studies usually focus on current crises and tend to adopt relatively short timeframes for case studies. And yet, studying cases within narrow timeframes can obscure important underlying issues impacting conflict, flight, return, and restitution of housing, land, and property (HLP). This article argues that using broad time frames and paying closer attention to temporal effects can help us identify underlying causal mechanisms impacting forced migration. It presents a case study of problems affecting return and restitution of HLP in southeast Turkey. Adopting a long-term time frame, it argues that the mode of incorporating local elites into state legal institutions from the beginning of cadastral modernization from the mid-19th century to the present day have created long-term structural problems in land tenure that not only provoke conflict and flight, but also complicate restitution of HLP.

Suriye'deki görevi süresince Araplara ve Siyonist Yahudilere (bilhassa Filistin'deki) yönelik uyguladığı sert politikalarla bilinen Cemal Paşa'nın Ermeni soykırımındaki rolü her daim tartışma konusu olagelmiştir. Bilhassa son dönemde Cemal Paşa'nın Ermenilerin tehciri ve imhası sürecinde İttihat ve Terakki (İT) Merkezi ve Partisi'nin iki temel direği Enver ve Talat'tan farklı olarak aktif rol oynamadığı; tam tersine bu süreçte Ermenilere otoritesi ve gücü el verdiği ölçüde yardımlarda bulunduğu, hatta bu yardımları gerçekleştirebilmek için İstanbul'daki merkezî hükümet ve İT Merkezî Umumi mensupları ile karşı karşıya bile geldiği gibi hususlar üzerine önemli çalışmalar yapılmıştır. Bu makalede bahsi geçen bu tez sorgulanacak, Cemal Paşa'nın Birinci Cihan Harbi sırasında Ermenilere yönelik siyasaları irdelenecek ve bu meseleye ilişkin yaklaşımı analiz edilecektir. İlaveten, Cemal Paşa'nın bu süreçteki rolü ve bir soykırım/kolektif şiddet faili olarak failliğinin nasıl bir bağlama ve durumsallığa tekabül ettiği tartışılacaktır.

This volume is one of the few collections of studies that looks at the South Caucasus-from the Black Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea in the east-as a shared cultural space. Twelve studies explore contacts between Armenians, Georgians, Kurds and Muslims of the former Caucasian Albania, as expressed in texts, figurative arts and rituals. While focusing on the ancient Christian civilisations of Armenia and Georgia, the book also investigates the interactions of Christianity with the ancestral religions of the South Caucasians, with Zoroastrianism, Islam and Yazidism. Apocryphal traditions represent a particularly convenient lens through which to observe cultural exchanges and blending. The first two chapters analyse the perception of sacred objects and sanctuaries in Armenia and Georgia and the representation of fabulous animals in the iconography of both countries. The next six investigate the contacts between Armenians and Georgians in the transmission of hagiographic texts relating to Christ's Nativity, the early Christian saints and their images, as well as the Evangelisation of the Armenian and Georgian kingdoms. The penultimate two chapters study places of worship shared by diverse religions, the role of religious syncretism in the Islamisation of the southeastern Caucasus and the function of apocrypha in the resistance to Islam. The final chapter examines the contextualisation of Islamic legends of Biblical origin in the topography of the Caucasus. The volume ends with a detailed index.

The Minsk Group, led by the United States, France, and Russia, has brokered the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the mid-1990s after Armenia-backed secessionists in the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic won the first Karabakh war of 1992-94. That mediation embodied the ideals of the mid-1990s unipolar moment, which assumed that liberalized markets and democratic transitions would converge internally to resolve legacy conflicts in postsocialist states while bringing them into convergence externally with Euro-Atlantic nations. Those assumptions withered away over the next quarter-century. Neither Azerbaijan nor Armenia transitioned to liberal democracy. Backed by an increasingly assertive Turkey, Azerbaijan prevailed in a bloody war in 2020. This time, the regional authoritarian powers, Russia and Turkey, are overseeing what could be a test case for a new form of “illiberal peace.”

“Books from the shelves in the hand”: The study of the Armenian book collection at the Adjara Museum

Introduction
Handwritten and Old Printed Books on the eve of the new era are windows to the past and their study leads to important literary, historical, socio-cultural insights. The Adjara Museum preserves  32 Armenian Manuscripts and 12 Old Printings dating from the 17th-19th centuries. The collection originated from the Armenian communities of the Black Sea region (Ardvin and Trabzon). The main part of the book covers Christian devotional and liturgical books. 
In this topic, we will present the case studies of the Armenian Manuscripts and Old printings within three parts. In the first part we will discuss the history of the collection: from pre-Soviet to post-Soviet period of the collection/s, text study, mobility of the books by region. In the second part, we will implement the new methodology of the collection. In the third part, we will analyze the books within the framework of new methods and digital tools, and the mapping system.
Aims and Objectives
Although two books are presented in the exposition of the Museum, there is a memory gap concerning this collection as it has not been discussed in academic circles ever and no one is interested in it.
• to achieve these goals, the paper comprises the following parts:
• to present the text and paratext: colophons, handwritten notes, signs that appear along with the main text; for the purpose of the historical context of the book and the path;
• to show the visualization from the text to the image;
• to implement intercultural exchanges and socio-cultural relations.
Methodology
We will take advantage of new methods of Digital Humanities, to apply new developments of codicological methods and digital tools, and to analyze  these main details:
• to present the full accessibility of Armenian collection  with the mapping system;
• to make a visual image of a book with the emergence of digital tools and new editing regimes;
• to create an external database with the tools of the Omeka network.
Analysis
to analyze the communities of Ardvin and Trabzon, and their cultural and trade network connected-ness to the Armenian large-scale centers (Constantinople, Venice);
to show the huge geographical distances from the place of their creation to very remote Armenian regions;
• to implement  the catholic  influence on the Armenian manuscripts and Old Printings;
• to discuss the particularities of the Latin, Persian translations;
• to analyze the visual culture of the books in comparison with the Armenian miniature tradition and compliance with the European cultural environment and artistic movements of the time.

The research was realized within the framework of the program: Knowledge Exchange and Academic Cultures in the Humanities.  Europe and the Black Sea Region, late 18th – 21st Centuries, Horizon 2020, GA Number: 734645

Սա մի փոքր հատված է ծավալուն մենագրությունից, որում ցույց է տրվում սեպագիր ուրարտերենի վերծանման սխալները, հիմնավորվում է վերավերծանման անհրաժեշտությունը և առաջարկվում վերծանման նոր մեթոդ։ Սեպագիր ուրարտերենը վերծանողները և նրանց հետևող ուրարտագետները գտնում են, թե ուրարտերենի բուն բառապաշարի գրառման համար օգտագործվել են մոտ 100 սեպանշաններ, որոնցից յուրաքանչյուրին վերագրում են մեկական հնչյունական արժեք՝ մեկ վանկ։
Վերծանման իմ առաջարկած տարբերակը կայանում է նրանում, որ ուրարտական սեպագրությունն իր կառուցվածքով նույնական է այն դասական սեպագրության հետ, որ գործածել են շումերները, բաբելացիները, աքքադացիները, խուռիները և այլն։ Այսինքն ուրարտական սեպանշանները ևս եղել են բազմարժեք, ունեցել են ոչ թե մեկ, այլ՝ շատ ընթերցումներ։ Տեսակետի հիմնավորման համար բերվում են սեպագիր ուրարտերեն 72 բառերի վերընթերցման օրինակներ։

The ethnographic mission to Armenia carried out by the NHASA International Associated Laboratory (LIA France-Armenia) was established to observe the pastoral practices of Yezidi and Armenian herders in a territory affected by the 1988 earthquake, the collapse of the USSR and the period of independence, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The political and geographical stakes prevailing in this country at the beginning of the 21st century describe a drunkenness of statehood, a culture of mobility, the persistence of the family plot among Armenian villagers, inherited from the Soviet Union, and finally, a geographical situation of double enclavement characterized by the absence of a coastline, and 80% of the border line blocked by its Turkish-speaking neighbours. In this context, we wanted to study the mobility practices of herds and men in their seasonal movements in search of grass or in the systems of guarding, but also those related to commercial routes, from collection to import and export movements.

Սույն հոդվածաշարի նպատակն է գոնե թղթի վրա փրկել հիմնականում գանձախույզներից տարբեր միջոցներով ձեռք բերված լուսանկարներից մեզ հայտնի դարձած և երբևէ չուսումնասիրված անշարժ և շարժական հուշարձանների պատմական, ինչպես նաև գրչագրական արժեք ներկայացնող արձանագրությունները՝ համոզված լինելով, որ դրանց մեծագույն մասն անխուսափելիորեն արժանանալու է հայկական ոչնչացված բյուրավոր հուշարձանների ճակատագրին: