Syrian Armenians and the Turkish Factor: Kessab, Aleppo and Deir ez-Zor in the Syrian War (Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology)

This volume examines significant social transformations engendered by the ongoing Syrian conflict in the lives of Syrian Armenians. The authors draw on documentary material and fieldwork carried out in 2013-2019 among Syrian Armenians in Armenian and Lebanese urban settings. The stories of Syrian Armenians reveal how contemporary events are seen to have direct links to the past and to reproduce memories associated with the Armenian genocide; the contemporary involvement of Turkey in the Syrian war, for example, is seen on the ground as an attempt to control the Armenian presence in Syria. Today, the Syrian Armenian identity encapsulates the complex intersection of memory, transnational links to the past, collective identity and lived experience of wartime “everydayness.” Specifically, the analysis addresses the role of memory in key events, such as the bombing of Armenian historical sites during the commemorations of 24 April in the Eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor; the (perceived) shift from destroying Syrian Armenians’ material culture to attempting to destroy the Armenian community in urban Aleppo; and the informal transactions that take place in the border area of Kessab. This carefully-researched ethnography will appeal to scholars of anthropology, sociology, and political science who specialize in studies of conflict, memory and diaspora. Contents 6 1 Introduction 7 The Interference 7 Tracing the Roots of Interference 10 Linking up Loci of Interference 11 Connecting War Actors 14 Legitimizing the Urban Space 15 Armenian Urban Loci of Remembrance 17 Heterogeneous Diasporic Settings 20 Challenges in Data Collection: From Symbolic Names to New Legal Definitions 21 Book Structure 26 Bibliography 26 2 Armenians in the Ottoman Empire: From Violence to Genocide 36 Defining the Historical Armenian Homeland 36 The Armenian Millet 37 The Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Constantinople 39 The Armenian Catholic Church 40 The Armenian Protestant Church 41 The Armenian Millet Under Attack 42 The Armenian Question and State Demographic Engineering 43 The Trap of Being Concentrated 47 Envisaging Large-Scale Violence 50 Ottoman Armenians at the Onset of the First World War 53 Trapped Between Threats and Loyalty 55 Violence and Massacres at the Eastern Border 56 Crimes Against Humanity 57 24 April 1915 59 Towns as Symbols of Deportations and Resistance 60 Van 63 Musa Dagh 65 Smyrne and Constantinople: Accounting for Foreign Variables 68 The Genocidal Intention 69 Conclusions 70 Bibliography 71 3 Religious Affiliation and the Armenian Diaspora in the Middle East 76 The Religious Variable in Armenian History 76 A Mission of Religious Resistance: The Armenian Apostolic Church 78 Features and Patterns of the Armenian Diaspora 81 Armenian Diaspora’s Driving Forces 84 Syrian Armenian Diaspora (1915–1917): Deportation Roads, Camps, Refugees 86 Armenian Communities in the Middle East After the First World War 93 Keeping Christianity a “Home” Religion 95 Transnationalism and the Armenian Diaspora 97 Conclusions 100 Bibliography 101 4 Armenian Communities in the Syrian War 105 Prologue: Popular Revolts in the Middle East 105 The Religious Turn 106 The War Enters Northern Syria: The Kurdish Variable and Armenian Memory 108 Trapped Between the Regime, the Kurds and the Terrorists 113 Taking the Regime’s Side 116 From a “Peripheral” Conflict to a Broader Warfare Scenario 119 Armenian “Positive Neutrality” Doctrine 122 The Syrian Armenian Migration During the Syrian War 126 Conclusions 131 Bibliography 132 5 Deir ez-Zor and Its Lieux De Mémoire 138 The 24 April Celebrations: From Aleppo to Deir ez-Zor 138 Deir ez-Zor: Lieux De Mémoire 140 A City of Martyrs 142 The Martyrs’ Memorial Church in Deir ez-Zor 148 Deir ez-Zor: Memory and War 150 Deir Zor: Political Symbolism and Transnationalism 153 Conclusions 159 Bibliography 161 6 Aleppo Armenians at War 168 Prologue: Neighbourhood at War 168 Symbols and Quarters of Attack 169 Parallels with the Cultural Genocide in the Nakhichevan Enclave 173 The Burning of Marashian Saint Kevork Church 176 The Turkmen Factor 178 The “Grey Wolf” Coming Closer 180 Disaster Zones 183 The Bombing of the Forty Martyrs Apostolic Cathedral 187 The Resurrection of a Communal Cathedral 189 The Involvement of Motherland Armenia 191 Informal Community Self-Reference Systems 193 The Looting 197 Conclusions 199 Bibliography 200 7 Kessab in the Syrian War 211 Kessab: A Border Town 211 Kessab Identity 214 The Little Homeland 217 Informal Practices at the Contested Border 219 Wartime Informal Border Practices 222 Informal Channels of Sensitive Data 223 The Turkmen Factor in the Kessab Attack 226 FileRef="485880_1_En_7_Fige_HTML.png" Format="PNG" Color="BlackWhite" Type="Linedraw" Rendition="HTML" Height="30" Resolution="300" Width="136" (Talant) 228 The Looting 231 Deported to Vakef 233 Save Kessab 235 Conclusions 237 Bibliography 238 8 The Occupation of Northern Syria 244 Introduction: Syrian Kurds 244 Operation Euphrates Shield: The First Shadow of History 248 Operation Olive Branch: New Emergencies and Old Threats 250 The Attack in the Turkish Parliament 257 Operation Peace Spring: Refugees Once Again 259 Ras al-Ayn 259 Tell Abyad: A Town of Armenian Settlers 261 Tell Abyad at the Time of IS 263 Tell Abyad: Reactivating Old Fears 264 Armenian Views on Operation Peace Spring 265 The TAF Enters Tell Abyad 267 The Issue of Properties Following the Turkish Invasion 268 Tell Abyad Holy Cross Church: Damaging the Genocide Memory 269 Sacred Blood and the Turkish Factor 272 Conclusions 275 Bibliography 277 9 Conclusions 287 Bibliography 292 Index 294 ���This book is a warning about an impending disaster, remembering a similar past disaster.��� ��� Levon Abrahamian, Professor of Anthropology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia ���This book opens a door between anthropology and conflict studies that helps to understand the international relevance of Armenian history.��� ��� Emidio Diodato, Professor of Political Science, University for Foreigners Perugia, Italy ���This book is an excellent historical and anthropological insight into the Syrian War as a chain of ethnic, religious and political games; identities; and struggles, rooted in the Armenian genocide.��� ��� Yulia Antonyan, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Yerevan State University, Armenia This volume examines significant social transformations engendered by the ongoing Syrian conflict in the lives of Syrian Armenians. The authors draw on documentary material and fieldwork carried out in 2013-2019 among Syrian Armenians in Armenian and Lebanese urban settings. The stories of Syrian Armenians reveal how contemporary events are seen to have direct links to the past and to reproduce memories associated with the Armenian genocide; the contemporary involvement of Turkey in the Syrian war, for example, is seen on the ground as an attempt to control the Armenian presence in Syria. Today, the Syrian Armenian identity encapsulates the complex intersection of memory, transnational links to the past, collective identity and lived experience of wartime ���everydayness.��� Specifically, the book addresses the role of memory in key events, such as the bombing of Armenian historical sites during the commemorations of 24 April in the Eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor; the (perceived) shift from destroying Syrian Armenians��� material culture to attempting to destroy the Armenian community in urban Aleppo; and the informal transactions that take place in the border area of Kessab. This carefully-researched ethnography will appeal to scholars of anthropology, sociology and political science who specialize in studies of conflict, memory and diaspora. Marcello Mollica is Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology at the University of Messina, Italy. Arsen Hakobyan is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia. This volume examines significant social transformations engendered by the ongoing Syrian conflict in the lives of Syrian Armenians. The authors draw on documentary material and fieldwork carried out in 2013-2019 among Syrian Armenians in Armenian and Lebanese urban settings. The stories of Syrian Armenians reveal how contemporary events are seen to have direct links to the past and to reproduce memories associated with the Armenian genocide; the contemporary involvement of Turkey in the Syrian war, for example, is seen on the ground as an attempt to control the Armenian presence in Syria. Today, the Syrian Armenian identity encapsulates the complex intersection of memory, transnational links to the past, collective identity and lived experience of wartime "everydayness." Specifically, the analysis addresses the role of memory in key events, such as the bombing of Armenian historical sites during the commemorations of 24 April in the Eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor; the (perceived) shift from destroying Syrian Armenians' material culture to attempting to destroy the Armenian community in urban Aleppo; and the informal transactions that take place in the border area of Kessab--back cover