Armenians in Turkey
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 50,000—70,000 (excluding Crypto-Armenians and ethnically Armenian Hamshenis) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| İstanbul, Hatay | |
| Languages | |
| Turkish (majority), Armenian (minority) | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Armenian Apostolic with Armenian Catholic and Armenian Evangelical and Muslim minorities. |
Armenians in Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye Ermenileri; Armenian: Թուրքահայեր, also Թրքահայեր, "Turkish Armenians"), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 50,000 to 70,000, down from 2 million in 1914. Today, the overwhelming majority of Turkish Armenians are concentrated in Istanbul. They support their own newspapers and schools, and the majority belong to the Armenian Apostolic faith.
Until the Armenian Genocide of 1915, most of the Armenian population of Turkey (then the Ottoman Empire) lived in the eastern parts of the country that Armenians call Western Armenia (roughly corresponding to the modern Eastern Anatolia Region).
Armenians presently living in Turkey are a remnant of what was once a much larger community that existed for thousands of years, long before the establishment of the Sultanate of Rum. Estimates for the number of Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire in the decade before World War I range between 1.3 and 2 million.
When Constantinople finally became part of the Ottoman Empire, financial support was given to the Apostolic Church by the Sultan, so it could build churches in the city, which prior to that the Byzantines refused as they viewed the church as heretical. Armenians in the Ottoman Empire were viewed as a Separate millet, and given the status of second-class citizens, but were generally treated well until well into the empires existence regardless. Many Armenians gained significant positions in the empire in professions such as banking, which they almost had a monopoly in, with 32/37 Bankers being Armenian, and the oldest still running Turkish company Zildjian was founded by an Armenian.
Starting in the late 19th century, political instability, dire economic conditions, and continuing ethnic tensions prompted the emigration of as many as 100,000 Armenians to Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. This massive exodus from the Ottoman Empire is what started the modern Armenian diaspora worldwide.
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