1055) The Establishment of the Armenian Protestant Community, Saro Dadyan

The Establishment of the Armenian Protestant Community
Saro Dadyan

Armenian-Gedikpasa Protestant Church in the old heart of istanbul

The biggest intra-community conflicts and problems in the history of the Ottoman Armenians were experienced because of the conversions to other denominations. The first thing that comes to mind when one mentions converting to a different denomination wihtin the Armenian community is the acceptance of the Catholic faith and the conflicts that were experienced because of that. Many bloody incidents, executions, and exiles were experienced during these conflicts, which spread over a time period of more than two centuries. The peak of the events was reached during the reign of Sultan Mahmud II and many notable Armenians were exiled because of the conflict between those Armenians who converted to the Catholic faith and did not give up their faiths and the Armenians who were affiliated with the main church. All of the Catholic Armenians were exiled to Anatolia and rebellions and executions were experienced.

Before the solution of this problem and the recognition of the Catholic Armenians as a separate community, a new conversion movement, namely the process of converting to the Protestant faith started. The meeting of the Armenians with Protestant missonaries and the Protestant faith started in the 1820s. An American Protestant missionary named Parsan, who started making propaganda among the Christians in the Middle East, was partially successful and after a short while, one started to come across Protestant Armenians in the Middle East. Even a bishop named Agapos of Kırshehir, who was one of the clerics who was afiliated with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and a priest named Dionisios Garabedyan went to Beirut, accepted the Protestant faith and got married there in contradiction with the traditions of the Armenian Church (Tuğlacı, 313).

The beginning of the systemic protestant missionary activities took place in 1831. The prioritized objective of names such as William Goodell, Emil Smith and Dwight, who came to Istanbul with their families and settled there, was to engage in activities among the Armenians and Greeks in the city. However, later on, they saw that the Armenians were more inclined and prone to convert to the Protestant faith and they carried out their work mostly in this area (Arpee, 93). In 1832, a Jewish misson was established under the leadership of William Schauffler. By 1856, the Protestant missions had to be divided into two parts, North and South, because the mission work had expanded (Artinian, 54).

The work area in which the Protestant missionary activities were most successful was education. In 1834, a missionary school was established in Beyoğlu. Since education at this school was free, it turned into a center which the Armenian students who were affiliated with the main church preferred as well. In 1840, the school that was administered by Cyrus Hamlin was moved to Bebek and continued its work. Among the goals of the missionary school was to educate local clerics and new missonaries in addition to general education. Furthermore, a Protestant Armenian girls’ boarding school was established in Haskoy, which was one of the neighborhoods where the Armenian community was most dense and where the community life was experienced most intensely. In this school a strict religious education was provided, the girls were educated according to Protestant morality and the girls were educated to be religious, well-mannered, and educated spouses for the clerics, teachers, and civilians of the future to help them in their missions. As a matter of fact, three fourths of the girls who were affiliated with the main church and educated at this school converted to the Protestant faith (Artinian, 54).

In addition to the schools in Istanbul, the Protestants built schools in various cities of Anatolia in a short amount of time. The Getronagan high school in Antep, the Yeprad school in Harput, the Anatolia high school in Merzifon, and the schools of higher education in Tarsus were only some of these. They had literacy books and lessons that they had others prepare and they also published many books on various subjects. In addition, in 1839 they published a newspaper named Isdemaran Bidani Kidelyats, i.e. The Warehouse of Necessary Information, and they published a weekly journal named Avedaper, i.e. Harbinger, in 1885 (Tuğlacı, 315).

The Protestants played a really significant role in the cultural and educational life of the Armenians. William Goodell, who knew both Armenian and Turkish very well, translated the Bible into Turkish so that it could be more understandable and could spread to larger masses, and it was published in Turkish with Armenian letters in 1858 (Tuğlacı, 313). These works of Goodell and the modern education that was provided at the Protestant schools started a trend of simplification of the language and the spreading of modern education among the Armenians who were affiliated with the main church. However, the religious education that was provided at the Protestant schools was contrary to the doctrines that were taught in the Armenian Church. The Protestant doctrine clearly viewed the rites of the church that had been continuing for centuries, its belief in the saints and its doctrines as false and they made propaganda to the Armenian students accordingly (Berberyan, 296-297).

Therefore, the Armenian Church and the Armenian clerics were against the Protestant missionaries and their work from the very beginning. In 1837, Patriarch Isdepanos Aghavni Zakaryan ordered those Armenians who sent their children to Protestant schools to remove them from those schools. In 1839, again Patriarch Isdepanos issued a written order and banned participating in any Protestant activity in any form and having relations with the Protestants. After this written order, those who kept secrets about the Protestants and those who helped them were punished in various ways. Many tradesmen were evicted from their homes and dismissed from their professions (Berberyan, 265-269). The subsequent Patriarch Hagapos also pursued the same policy vis-à-vis the Protestants. He banned converting to another denomination and he exiled those clerics, whom he thought to be inclined to Protestanism, to Kayseri. Matteos Chuhajiyan, who was the Istanbul Armenian Patriarch between the years 1844-1848, had research conducted when he became the Patriarch and he saw that hundreds of people were living as secret Protestants in Istanbul. He tried to give them advice first to make them return to the main church. He had discussions that were open to the public organized between the Armenian clerics and the Protestant Missionaries. He sent the Armenian clerics who were preaching the Protestant faith written advice for them to return to the main church (Tuğlacı, 314-316). However, Patriarch Matteos failed in this path and he started to adopt a harsher attitude because of the impact of the high ranking Armenian clerics. In 1846, the Patriarch demanded from the Protestants to sign a written declaration of faith composed of nine articles to announce that they had returned to the main church. Those who refused to sign this declaration were excommunicated by the Patriarchate and all of their property was confiscated. The debts of those who owed money to the Protestants were erased by the Patriarchate. The debts of those who had receivables from the Protestans were collected rapidly (Artinian, 55). Those clerics who were preaching the Protestant faith in the provinces were dismissed by the Patriarchate. This reaction by the Patriarchate was protested swiftly by the British envoy Sir Canning, American envoy B. Cary, and Prussian envoy Baron le Coque. Even a special meeting was organized between the Patriarch and the British envoy (Tuğlacı, 316).

Despite all of this pressure from the Patriarchate, the Protestant community continued its activities and continued to expand. Forty Armenian Protestants, who got together in 1846, established the first Protestant Armenian Church in Istanbul. In addition, Armenian Protestant churches started to be established in Izmit, Adapazarı, and Trabzon as well. In 1846, when the Patriarch Matteos issued a written excommunication, the Armenian Protestant population was more than a thousand (Arpee, 269). The Protestant community, which was expanding rapidly, established its churches in Erzurum in 1847 and in Antep and Bursa in 1848. In addition to the work of the community and the pressures from the Armenian Patriarchate, the British Empire and America also made attempts at the Ottoman palace so that the Protestant community would be officially recognized and would be accepted as a separate community and they applied various pressures. Especially the British Envoy Sir Stratford Canning, who was known to be influential on the Sultan Abdulmajid and who was among the prominent names of the period, made attempts to convince the sultan using all of his influence (Artinian, 55) .

Finally, in November 1859, Sultan Abdulmajid issued an edict regarding the Protestant Armenian community being recognized as an independent community that is free with regards to its internal affairs like the other communities (For the whole text of the edict see Tuğlacı, 371-372). However, there was no heavy influence and leadership of the clerics in the Protestant Armenian community as there was in the other communities. A civilian name undertook the leadership of the community. After Sultan Abdulmajid recognized the Protestants as a separate community, the leadership of the community was undertaken firstly by Isdepan Agha Seropyan, who was the brother of Patriarch Hagapos Seropyan of Balat, who had banned converting to a different denomination and exiled those clerics who had preached the Protestant faith (Tuğlacı, 315).

The Protestants, whose population reached eight thousand in the whole of the Empire, were able to continue their education in European and American universities and they could be protected by the diplomatic immunity of those countries through the embassies that protected them (Bournoutian, 148). After it was recognized, the Protestant community developed quickly and while they had fifteen churches in 1854, they doubled that number in a short amount of time, by the year 1859.

In 1854, the American Foreign Missions Board sent a short but effective regulation, which was a summary of the American Protestant Church by-law in order to organize the administration of the Protestants in the Ottoman Empire, to organize the publication and education activities and the financial administration of the comunity (For the text of this regulation see Artinian, 142-44). The Armenian Protestant community obtained permission to establish an executive committee and a people’s committee to administer the community. After the government gave a positive response to this request, they started to ensure the administration of the community within the framework of this regulation and through an assembly (Artinian, 56).

The administration of the Protestant church by civilians and according to certain rules affected the other Armenian churches to a large extent. As a result of this, the Catholic Armenian community prepared a regulation composed of twelve articles and issued it. Especially, this situation became an inspiration for the Young Armenians, who wanted to do something to transform the community in the main church. Hagop Girjikyan, who was the advisor of Mustafa Rashid Pasha, indicated the Protestants as an example to the prominent members of the Young Armenians and advised them to prepare a constitution for the administration of the community and the path that led to “Nizamname-i Millet-i Ermenyan” (Regulation of the Armenian Nation) in 1863 started in this way (Davison, 128-129).

The Protestant Armenian community, which had five churches in Istanbul throughout history, used the Latin Cemetery in Pangalti as their cemetery. Until the declaration the Republic, the community was represented by a total of seven leaders and after the declaration of the Republic, it also lost this quality of symbolic representation (Tuğlacı, 315).

Bibliography

Arpee, Leon. (1909). The Armenian Awakening: A History of the Armenian Church. Chicago.Artinian, Vartan. (2004). Osmanlı Devleti’nde Ermeni Anayasası’nın Doğuşu. İstanbul: Aras Yay.

Berberyan, Avedis. (1871). Badmutyun Hayots. İstanbul.

Bournoutian, George A. (2011). Ermeni Tarihi. Enver Abadoğlu, Ohannes Kılıçdağı (Çev.). İstanbul: Aras Yay.

Davison, Roderic H. (2005). Osmanlı İmparatorluğunda Reform. Osman Akınhay. (Çev.) 2005: Agora Kitaplığı.

Tuğlacı, Pars. (1991). İstanbul Ermeni Kiliseleri. İstanbul.

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1054) The Settlement of Armenians in the Ottoman Period, Saro Dadyan

The Settlement of Armenians in the Ottoman Period
Saro Dadyan

Armenian Cemetary in Beyoglu

Istanbul, which was built between the years 325-330, has always been an important center for the Armenians because it was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. When the Armenian Catholicos of the period, i.e. the head bishop Surp Sahag, who came to Istanbul to obtain ratification from the Empire at the beginning of the years of the Eastern Roman Empire, together with Surp Mesrob and his students, they stayed at the Agomidian Monastery. The group studied theology and philosophy in the capital, they succeeded in their purpose for coming to the city, and they managed to develop an alphabet that was suitable for the sound system of the Armenian in the years 404-405. That is, the Armenian alpahabet that is also used today was developed in Istanbul and it was taken to Armenia from there (Grousset, 2005, s.166-169)

Since the geography in which the Armenians lived was between the Eastern Roman Empire and the Sasani Empire, the Armenians were affected the most by the wars and conflicts between the two states. Especially in the fifth century a large Armenian population, most important of which were the aristocrats, moved to Istanbul during the long war that was aged between the Armenians and Sassanians in the fifth century (Grousset, 2005, p. 185 ?vd.). The Eastern Roman Empire welcomed these new immigrants in a nice manner because the existence of Goths and Jews in the army had been ended and there was an attempt to fill the void that was left with the Armenians (Mango, 2008, s. 33). The migrations that continued in the fifth and sixth centuries reached such a stage that by the year 572, it was possible to speak of a crowded and organized Armenian community in Istanbul (Pamukciyan, 2002, p.1).

According to what Assyrian Mikhael wrote in his Vekayiname, the Armenians, who were able to organize as a separate community in Istanbul, had a church named Armenion within the city. This church was administered by the notable Armenian civilians of the city and they were headed by a priest. However, Emperor Alxios I (1081-1118), who got angry because the Armenians collaborated with the Turks, who were attacking the imperial territories, had this church destroyed and had all of the sacred properties of the Armenians burned in the squares of the city (Assyrian Mikhael). After this date, the Armenians could not have a church in Istanbul again when it was under Byzantine rule. However, they were able to establish a church and episcopate in Galata, which was under the Genoese rule (Tuğlacı, 1984, p.194).

When Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror conquered Istanbul, the city, which had not erased the traces of the Latin invasion period, had turned into ruins completely under the seige. The population of Istanbul is estimated to be between thirty thousand and fifty thousand when the Ottomans conquered it. Sultan Mehmed, who was determined to return the city to its former majesty, started a big movement for building development. New shopping centers were built in the city center and the city walls were fortified (İnalcık, 54). In addition, Subashi (Municipal official) Suleiman Bey was appointed to increase the population of the city and families were brought to the city from Anatolia – at first on a voluntary basis and then in compulsory manner- and there were also Armenians among those who came to the city (Aşıkpaşazade, 157).

Thanks to this, it became possible to create an Armenian community in Istanbul in a short amount of time. There were Armenians also among those families who were brought to the city by force. Nerses, who was an Armenian merchant from Amasya, accused Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in his poem that he wrote in 1480 of starting storms among people by dragging his people and the Christians from place to place and he stated that he was brought to Istanbul against his will (Mansel, 15). The population of Istanbul in 1478 reached 14,803 households including the ones who came voluntarily and those who were brought by force, and 817 of those households were Armenian (İnalcık, 54). Since a large movement for building development was experienced in Istanbul in the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror period, having mostly architects, foremen, and workers among those who were broght to the city was emphasized. While those who were tradesmen, merchants, and professionals among those who came to the city were settled in the city, others were settled in the villages around the city and artists, carpenters, ship builders, architects, and foremen were directly commissioned to work for the Sultan (İnalcık, 2000, p. 54; Karaca, 2008, p. 28).

The first big convoy of Armenians who were brought to the city by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror were the Armenians of Bursa, who came to the city under the leadership of the Bursa head bishop in 1461. So the Armenian Episcopate, which had been in Bursa since the time of Orhan Gazi, moved to Istanbul as well. This was so important that many researchers, among whom Chamchiyan was a pioneer, deemed this migration in 1461 as the establishment of the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate (Çamiçyan, 1776, s. 500). Among the first Armenians who came to the city were clerics, artists, architects, tradesmen, merchants, farmers, and workers. These people were mainly settled in houses and rooms in the following neighborhoods: Samatya, Kumkapı, Narlıkapı, Beyoğlu, Gedikpaşa, and Galata. Since the Armenians were mainly settled in six neighborhoods when they were first brought to Istanbul, they were called the “Six Communities” in the city until the middle of the 1800s. This expression was used not only among the people, but also in the official documents (Tuğlacı, 1984, s. 5; Pamukciyan, 2002, s. 4).

The second large-scale collective migration of the Armenians into the city during the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror period took place in 1475 after the conquest of Crimea. The Genoese who were brought from Kaffa and who were mostly working in trade and the Armenians were settled mostly in two neighborhoods: Galata and Karagumruk. Therefore, the already high Armenian population in Galata increased and the Armenians were able to have a neighborhood for themselves apart from the mixed neighborhoods. The Galata Armenians, who constituted the wealthiest and most cultured group, also used Turkish names of Tatar origin such as Orhan, Tanrıvermish, Eyne Bey, Shadi Bey, Shirin Hatun and Melek Hatun, in addition to Armenian names, because they were from Crimea originally (Kuban, 2004, s. 217).

The second neighborhood in which the Armenians from Kaffa were settled was Karagumruk. The neighborhood started to be called “Kaffali” (i.e. from Kaffa) because mostly the Genoese and Armenians who were brought from Kaffa were settled here and it still has this name today. The two abandoned Greek churches in the area were given to be controlled by the Dominican priests who came from Kaffa. The first of these churches was named Santa Maria (Odalar Masjid) and the second one was named Saint Nicola (Kaffali Mosque). Therefore, all the church records were kept in Latin and Armenian and these books are preserved at the Saint Paul Dominican Church archives in Galata today. Later on, the right to use Saint Nicola was taken from the Armenians and the community was allocated an abandoned Greek church in Balat instead. This church is currently used by the Armenian community under the name Surp Hreshdagabed (Frazee, 16; İncicyan, 38).

The neighborhood in which the Armenian population in the city was most dense was Samatya. Most of the Armenians who were brought to the city in 1461 were brought here, and after 1470 and the conquest of Karaman, the Armenians in Anatolia were brought to Istanbul, and settled in this neighborhood. Therefore, the Armenian population in this neighborhood is generally from Anatolia. Until 1478, the Armenian population in Konya, Karaman, Aksaray, and Eregli continued to be brought to Istanbul and settled in Samatya. In addition, the Peribletoptos Monastery in Samatya, which was one of the most magnificent and sacred places of worship in the city, was allocated for the use of the Armenians and this sanctuary was the venue for the Istanbul Armenian Patriarchate until 1641. As a matter of fact, this sanctuary is still being used by the Armenian community under the name Surp Kevork (Kuban, 2004, s. 188; Eremya Çelebi, 3).

The forced relocation of the Armenians to Istanbul continued also during the reigns of the sultans that came to power after Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. During the Iran campaign of Sultan Yavuz Selim in 1514, many Armenian families around Tabriz, Erzurum, Kemah, Muş, Sivas, and Erzincan were forced to relocate to Istanbul. In addition, many Armenian families around Ankara, Sivas, Tokat, Bayburt, and Adana were also forced to relocate to Istanbul in the same period and they were settled in various neighborhoods. Sultan Yavuz Selim had 200 Armenian trademen families brought from Tabriz to Istanbul during the Iran campaigns and he had 500 Armenian tradesmen families from Cairo brought to Istanbul and he used them in various services (İnalcık, 200, p. 67).

Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent also had Armenians brought to Istanbul in the campaigns he organized in the east and he had them settled. However, the most notable ones of the Armeinan families who were brought during the reign of the Sultan Suleiman were the goldsmiths who were brought from Eghin. These Armenian aristocrats, who traced their lienage to the Vaspuragan Armenian Kingdom because they were from Eghin and who considered themselves a remnant of that kingdom, were settled in Haskoy. These people, who took over the administration of the Armenian community in Istanbul in a short amount of time and who raised to the position of the civilan leaders of the community, maintained the administration of the community in their hands until the middle of the 1800s because they established close relations with the Ottoman palace. During the reign of Sultan Murad III many artists, farmers, workers, foremen, and architects of Armeinan origin were brought to Istanbul from Tabriz, Georgia, and Nakhchivan and they were employed by the palace and they worked in the building development activities in Istanbul (İnalcık, 2000, s. 69; Pamukciyan, 5).

The rise of the Armenian population in the city rapidly and its reaching a high number took place as a result of the Jalali rebellions, which occurred at the beginning of the seventeenth century. The rebellious movements, which took place between the years 1596-1610, started a migration movement, which was named as “The Big Escape” in Anatolia. Peoples came from not only Anatolia, but also from the different corners of the empire such as Thrace, Crimea, and Syria and there were also Armenian families among those who fled. Especially the Armenians in the Caucasus fled to Istanbul in large convoys. The Ottoman administration did not want to accept them at first, but they had to accept them after the eruption of the rebellion movements in 1612. According to what was recorded by the Simeon of Poland in his Travel Book, while there was a small Armenian population in Istanbul before, this population reached forty thousand households with those who fled the Jalali rebellions (İnalcık, 2000, s. 69; Pamukciyan, 5).

The Armenians were generally settled in the neighborhoods around the city gates. For example, Armenian gypsies called Posha used to live in Topkapi. Most of these Poshas, who generally made a living as sieve masters, converted to Islam during the reign of Ahmed III and the rest assimilated within the Armenian people (Kömürcüyan, 23). Another neighborhood in which the Armenians had a population density was Yenikapi. Before the Imperial Edict of Gulhane, the size, architectural plans and exterior fronts of the houses of non-Muslims were subject to certain rules and restrictions. Nevertheless, the neighborhood in which the Armenians were most free was Yenikapi, because this area used to be a bay before and there used to be a marble tower which was left from the Byzantine period in the middle of the sea. The stones and rubbles that emerged during the construction of the Laleli Mosque were poured into the sea, this bay was filled and this new area that was gained was sold to the non-Muslims. Generally Armenians lived here together with a small number of Greeks (İncicyan, 1976, p. 4 vd.)


When we look outside the city walls, the Armenians generally had a population density in the Haskoy, Kasimpasha, Beyoglu, and Galata neighborhoods. In addition, the neighborhood in which they lived generally indicated the profession in which they worked. For example, Haskoy Armenians were generally goldsmiths, Beyoglu Armenians were millers or bakers, Galata Armenians were merhcants, and Kasimpasha Armenians were mostly dock workers or sailors. Furthermore, especially wealthy Armenians started to live in the villages at the Bosphorus as summer houses and places of entertainment starting in the eighteenth century. On the other side of the Bosphorus, there was generally a dense population of Armenians in the neighborhoods of Beykoz and Uskudar. Especially Uskudar was an important center in which a close-knit community life was lived together with deep-rooted institutions such as churches, monasteries, schools, and clerical schools, which had continued their existence since the sixteenth century (Dadyan, 71 vd.).

After the Big Beyoglu Fire in 1870, the Armenians who had lived around Beyoglu and Galata started to spread mostly to the Pangalti and Kurtuluş areas and this is one of the neighborhoods in which the community is mostly concentrated today. Today the Armenian community in Istanbul is estimated to be between fifty thousand and sixty thousand, and most of this population lives in neighborhoods that are linked with the counties of Şişli, Bakirkoy, Kadikoy, and Adalar (Prince Islands).



Bibliography

Aşıkpaşazade. 1970. Tarih. Yay. Haz. Nihal Atsız.

Çamiçyan, M. (1786). Badmutyun Hayots. Venedik.

Çark, Y. G. (1953). Türk Devleti Hizmeti’nde Ermeniler.

Dadyan, Saro. (2011). Osmanlı’da Ermeni Aristokrasisi. İstanbul: Everest Yay.

Grousset, Réne. (2005). Başlangıçtan 1071’e Ermenilerin Tarihi. Çev. Sosi Dolanoğlu. İstanbul: Aras Yay.

Frazee, Charles A. (2009). Katolikler ve Sultanlar. Çev. Cemile Erdek. İstanbul: Küre Yay.

İnalcık, Halil. (2000). Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Ekonomik ve Sosyal Tarihi. İstanbul: Eren Yay.

İncicyan, Ğugas. (1976). XVIII. Asırda İstanbul. Çev. Hrand Der Andreasyan.

Karaca, Zafer. (2008). İstanbul’da Tanzimat Öncesi Rum Ortodoks Kiliseleri. İstanbul: YKY

Kömürcüyan, Eremya Çelebi. (1952). İstanbul Tarihi. Çev. Hrand Der Andreasyan.

Kuban, Doğan. (2004). İstanbul Bir Kent Tarihi. İstanbul Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yay.

Mango, Cyril. (2008). Bizans Yeni Roma İmparatorluğu. Çev. Gül Çağalı Güven. İstanbul: YKY.

Mansel, Phillip. (2008). Konstantininyye. Çev. Şerif Erol. İstanbul: Everest Yay.

Pamukciyan, Kevork. (2002). İstanbul Yazıları. İstanbul: Aras Yay.

Polonyalı Simeon. (1964). Seyahatname. Çev. Hrand Der Andreasyan.

Süryani Mikhael. Vekayiname. (This work was translated by Hrand Der Andreasyan, it has not been published and the text of the unpublished translation is kept at the TTK Library with classification number T/44 today).

Tuğlacı, Pars. (1991). İstanbul Ermeni Kiliseleri. İstanbul.

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1035) Armenians in the Ottoman Foreign Service, Saro Dadyan

Armenians in the Ottoman Foreign Service

Saro Dadyan

Artin Pasha, Servet-i Fünun No. 308

In the Yearbook of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was published in 1306 (1889), it was stated with regards to the establishment of the position of “Reis al-Kuttab,” which was the original core of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that there was no such position before 926 (Hijri calendar) (519-520) and that Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent established the position of Reis al-Kuttab (Hariciye Nezareti Salnamesi, 47). However, the Ottoman State adopted a one-sided diplomacy until the time of Sultan Selim III and therefore, “Reis al-Kuttab” continued work more as a supervisor of a unit rather than a Minister of Foreign Affairs. Changing into a system of mutual diplomacy in the Sultan Selim III period and the establishment of diplomatic missions abroad accelerated the process of the transformation of the position of Reis al-Kuttab into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Akyılmaz, 18-23).

Both in the Sultan Selim III period and before that, non-Muslim officials, and the Beys from Fener were the first among them, always worked in the Ottoman diplomatic relations. However, in contrast to the Muslims, they could not obtain official titles, they could not advance within the bureaucracy and they were only used as translators and protocol officials. After the 1821 Greek Revolt, names that belonged to this class were isolated from the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a Translation Chamber was established in the same year in order to cultivate Muslim diplomats and bureaucrats. In 1836, a cabinet system was adopted, as in the European states, and the department of Reis al-Kuttab was turned into an independent ministry under the name of “Harijiya Nazarati” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) (Akyılmaz, 25-29).

After the declaration of the Imperial Edict of Gulhane in 1839, the legal equality of the Muslims and non-Muslims was recognized. However, their administrative and social equality was not yet recognized and they still could not take up positions within the Ottoman diplomacy and bureaucracy. At the time of the declaration of the Imperial Edict of Gulhane, there were no non-Muslim officials at the Ottoman Ministry of Foreign Affairs except a person named Sarafin, who was working as a teacher to the department clerks, a Maronite who was doing translations from Arabic, and Hagop Girjikyan, who was a special clerk who worked on confidential matters in French (Cevdet Paşa, 2010, p. 17).

The actual text that approved that the Muslims and non-Muslims were fully equal, that the non-Muslims could take official titles and they could be appointed to civil service jobs within the Ottoman bureaucracy, was the Royal Edict of Reforms in 1856. However, the edict led to indignation among both the Muslims and the non-Muslims for various reasons (Cevdet Paşa, 1991, 69). Faced with this dissatisfaction and tension among the people, Āli and Fuad Pashas pursued a more calm and moderate policy in the appointment of non-Muslims to civil service jobs and in their taking official titles. Firstly, it was accepted that Majlis-i Vala-i Ahkāmi- Adliyewould have non-Muslim members and in May 1856, the following people were appointed as members: Hovhannes Dadyan Effendi from among the Armenians, Mihran Duzyan Effendi from among the Catholics, and Istefanaki Effendi from among the Greeks. In addition, it was deemed sufficient to grant titles of various degrees to the members of various families such as Dadyan, Duzyan, and Karakahya, who had served the state for decades and who had important positions (BOA. A.} DVN. Nr. 119/6).

During the reign of the Sultan Abdulmajid, no non-Muslim could rise to the top ranks of the bureaucracy, such as the position of undersecretary or minister. The first undersecretary in the Ottoman history was Alexandr Karateodori, who was appointed as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Trade in 1865 (Kuneralp, 15). However, it was the Crete Revolt in 1866-69 that played the pivotal role in the ability of non-Muslims to be accepted in the civil service in the real sense and to rise to the top ranks of the bureaucracy and diplomacy. Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha told Sultan Abdulaziz in a brief he wrote from Crete that the non-Muslims also had to be accepted in the civil service without disrimination:

Today in Europe, the words Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, infidel have been forgotten and eliminated in the eyes of the state and in employment. Therefore, all of the people seem to view themselves as partners in all of the work that is being done and the doors that close off progress and promotion seem to have been broken. As these rules advance in their own countries, they make a lot of efforts to spread them in other countries and nations…If the Christians are used in all kinds of services, then they would seize all jobs naturally because they are more advanced than us in terms of the information that is required to run the country and the Muslim civil servants would be left behind. Also, it is not possible to avoid the thoughts that the Muslims would be displeased with such good treatment of the non-Muslims and similar drawbacks would come to mind. Undoubtedly, these are only the major drawbacks. However, unfortunately, it is obvious that we cannot rule this country without the information in question and without bringing ourselves to the level of other civilized nations and in the absence of the Christians

(Akarlı, 11-15).

Artin Pasha, Servet-i Fünun No. 308
Āli Pasha accelerated the acceptance of the non-Muslims and took a step by deciding in favor of the existence of non-Muslim ministers in the cabinet. When it was thought to have a non-Muslim in the cabinet, the first name that came to mind was Kirkor Aghaton, who was a bureaucrat who was close to Āli and Fuat Pashas. Aghaton, who was promoted to the rank of Bala in 1867, was appointed as the Minister of Public Works and he was recorded in history as the first non-Muslim minister of the Ottoman Empire (İnal, 326; BOA. HR. TO. Nr. 549/3). Aghaton, who was in Paris at the time when he was appointed as a minister, could not work as a minister actually because of his death. However, after his death the idea of having a non-Muslim minister in the cabinet was not abandoned and Garabed Artin Davud Pasha, who was a Catholic Armenian and who was the governor of Jabal-i Lebanon at that time, was appointed as the Minister of Public Works.

As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the second non-Muslim and the first Armenian who was able to rise to the rank of undersecretary and minister was Artin Dadyan, after Alexandr Karatedori Pasha.

Artin Dadyan, who was born in 1830, was the son of Gunpowder Head Officer Hovhannes Bey Dadyan. Dadyan, who received a private education at his home until twelve years of age, was sent to Paris in 1842. He graduated from Saint Barbe first and then from Grand de Louis College. Then he continued his education at Sorbonne University. When he returned to Istanbul in 1848, he started to work in the civil service as a French teacher at the War College. Then he was appointed as a clerk in the Foreign Publications Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1849, then as a deputy to the Publications Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1854, and then he was appointed as a deputy at the Foreign Publications Department in 1855. In 1857, he was appointed as the French Head Clerk of Saffet Pasha, who was appointed as the Wallachia-Moldova Commissioner. In 1860 he participated as a commissioner in the Inspection of Thrace by Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Pasha of Cyprus. In 1862, he was appointed as the first secretary at the Paris Embassy and in 1866 he returned to his former job at the Translation Department of the Government in Istanbul. He was appointed as the Undersecretary of Finance in 1872, then he was appointed as the Director of Forests and Mines, and he was appointed as the Head of the Sixth Department in 1873. In 1875 he was appointed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a “Bala” (Dadyan, 286-287).

Artin Dadyan was also maintaining his position as an advisor to the Grand Vizier Mahmud Nedim Pasha and he had to resign with Mahmud Nedim Pasha. He was not appointed to any positions for four years and lived the life of someone who was dismissed from his job. However, in 1880, he was given the position of Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and so he returned to civil service life. He was in the commission to determine the Greek-Ottoman border in 1881. He was dismissed in December 1884 and in September 1885 his rank was raised to “Pasha” and he was appointed as the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs for the third time. In August 1887, he was appointed as the Extraordinary Bulgaria Commissioner while he kept his job as the Undersecretary, and he was honored with golden and silver privilege decorations. In October 1888, his rank was raised to “Vizier” and he kept his position as the Undersecretary until his death in 1901 (Hariciye Nezareti Salnamesi 1306 (1889), p. 313).

Manuk Azaryan became the second Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs who was of Armenian origin in the Ottoman Empire, after Artin Pasha. Azaryan, who was born in Istanbul on 18 May 1850, was the son of a merchant named Krikor Azaryan of Tokat. He started his education at the Galatasaray High School and then he continued his education at the Sainte Barbe College in Paris. In 1869 he returned to Istanbul and started his life in the civil service as a clerk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also worked as a French teacher at military schools and Armenian schools. He was appointed as a translator of the Office of the Grand Vizier in 1873 and he worked as a courrier during the 1876 Hesek revolution and 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War. In September 1878, he was appointed to the Consulate General in Bucharest, and he became the first secretary at the St. Petersbourg Embassy in 1879. He served at the consulate generals in Corfu between the years 1883-1889, in Galatz between the years 1890-1909, and in Belgrade between 1908-1909. On 15 May 1909, he was invited to Istanbul and given a first class Ottoman Decoration and Majidiya Decorations and he was appointed as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In July 1909, he was appointed as a member of the notables (Ayan). Manuk Aaryan, who supported the National Struggle in the occupation years and who served as the host in various meetings, lost his life in a fire in Beyoğlu in April 1922 (İnal, 2061-2063; Ali Rıza – Mehmed Galip, 7-8).

The third person of Armenian origin who served as the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs was Ohannes Kuyumjuyan Pasha, who came from a Catholic Armenian family. Kuyumjuyan, who was born in Istanbul in 1856, was the son of Bedros Kuyumjuyan, who was the General Director of Forests and Mines. He returned to Istanbul in 1877 after completing his education in Paris, and then he started his life in the civil service as a deputy in the Legal Consultancy Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the Consulting Room at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was appointed as first secretary to the embassy in Rome in 1894. After working at the embassy in Rome for fifteen years and rising to the position of undersecretary, he returned to Istanbul and was appointed as a member of notables (Ayan). On 21 October 1909, he was appointed as the Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs. After serving at this post for three years, he was promoted to the rank of “Vizier” in 1912 and he was appointed to Jabal-i Lubnan (Lebanon) as a sub-district governor. He became part of history as the last non-Muslim sub-district governor of Jabal-i Lubnan (Hariciye Nezareti Salnamesi 1306 (1889), 179; Duhani, 108; Çark, 153).

The only Armenian who managed to become the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ottoman history was Garabed Noradunkyan Effendi. After various posts, Gabriel Noradunkyan was appointed as the Minister of Trade and Public Works in 1908. He resigned in 1910 and he was appointed as a member of the notables (Ayan). He took part in the cabinet formed by Ahmed Muhtar Pasha in July 1912 as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He continued to serve at this position during the Balkan Wars and he managed the diplomatic wing of the war. After the Raid on the Government in January 1913 he was forced to resign from his job. He left Istanbul in November 1916. Firstly, he went to Switzerland and then to Paris, where he lived until his death in 1936 (Malhasyan, 371; Çark, 153; İnal, 1411, 1764, 1813).

Armenians took part in the diplomatic missons of the Ottoman Empire abroad, together with many other non-Muslims. There were no diplomats of Armenian origin who were appointed as an ambassador. Nevertheless, a diplomat named Diran Bey, who was of Armenian origin, was appointed firstly as Charge d’affaires at the embassy in Brussels, which was established in 1857 and he contniued at this post for many years (Salname-i Nezaret-i Hariciye 1301 (1885), pp. 174-175)

Apart from the large and medium-sized embassies, the Ottoman Empire had consulates in Tabriz, Bombay, Peshte, Tbilisi, Hodjabey, Corfu, Batavia, Batum, Athens and Pireus, Malta, Kalas, Trieste, Naples, Baku, Barcelona, Marseille, London, Sunne, Liverpool, Shira, and Messina. At these consulates, there were Armenian diplomats who managed to rise to the rank of consulate general and one can mention the following in this context: Athens and Pireus consul general Karabet Dakes Effendi, Malta consul general Yusuf Dominyan Effendi, Kalas consul general Maxim Effendi, Barcelona consul general Yusuf Pozik Azaryan Effendi, Shira consul general Leon Pashani Effendi, and Messina consul general Yusuf Zeki Effendi (Hariciye Nezareti Celilesi Salnamesi 1306 (1889), pp. 379-383).

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