The place of ethno-religiosity for Armenian identity in Turkey

It is difficult to evaluate the competing identities of minority groups in Turkey with the multi-ethnic, multi-religious legacy it holds. Relative to that, studying Armenian identity in Turkey necessitates dealing with a multi-layered structure and differentiated processes as well.The aim of this paper is to analyze varying boundaries of Armenian identity in Turkey as an ethno-religious identity and to investigate the dynamics influencing its formation by means of a field research conducted between May 2010 and November 2010 in İstanbul, Yeşilköy, one of the districts where most of Armenians in Turkey live. The paper especially examines whether the relationship between ethnic and religious sense of belonging is hierarchical, context-depending or both. Self- definition of the respondents in terms of  the religion or ethnicity, the political reflections it brings, the priority of public or private sphere may be mentioned as some of the determinants of that relationship. In the study, language, traditions, perception of homeland together with myths and collective memories will be considered as markers of distinctiveness in Armenian identity. Anthony Smith’s book ‘Chosen People” will be taken as a point of departure to elucidate the intersection of religion and ethnicity in identity construction of Armenians of Turkey.