Armenians in Crimea

Armenians in Crimea

Total population
10,000 (8,700 in the ARC and 1,300 in Sevastopol),[1] estimations are up to 20,000 [2]
Regions with significant populations
Sevastopol, Feodosia, Armyansk, Simferopol, Evpatoria, Kerch, Yalta, Sevastopol, Sudak
Languages
Armenian, Russian, Ukrainian
Religion
Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, Evangelical and Protestant
Related ethnic groups
Armenian, Hamshenis, Cherkesogai groups

Crimean Armenians were the largest part of the Armenian diaspora in the Middle Ages.

Background

The Armenian presence in the Crimea region dates back to the 8th century.^[3] The first wave of Armenian immigration into this area began during the mid-11th century and, over time, as political, economic and social conditions in Armenia proper failed to improve, newer waves followed them. The Armenians preserved their customs and traditions and established a number of prospering communities in the region, several of which survive to this day.

History

Early communities

In an ethnic and national sense, the Crimea has been a host to wide group of peoples. Historians and other scholars have placed dated the Armenian presence in the Crimea to the 8th century and have distinguished three distinctive stages of their settlement in the region. The Crimea was under the control of the Byzantine Empire during this time and some Armenian troops serving in the Byzantine military were stationed here. In the course of the next two centuries, Armenians from their homelands in the Armenian Highlands and other Byzantine cities came to settle here as well.^[4]

As life grew more unbearable in Armenia proper following the destructive Seljuk raids of the 11th and 12th centuries, many Armenians were forced to migrate to Byzantium and elsewhere and with some of them eventually settling in the Crimea. They most prominently found their new homes in Kaffa (modern Feodosiya),^[5] Solhat, Karasubazar (Belogorsk), and Orabazar (Armyansk), with Kaffa at its center. The stability of the region allowed many of them to find work in agriculture and engage in commercial activity. Even when the region came under Mongol control during the mid-13th century, their economic life was left largely undisturbed. The Armenians' ties to commercial interests also greatly benefited the Genoese when they secured their economic domination there in the late 13th century.^[6] The widening economic opportunities in the Crimea attracted more Armenians to settle there. According to Genoese sources, in 1316, Armenians had three churches, two Armenian Apostolic and one Catholic, of their own in Kaffa.^[6]

As the foreign wars in Armenia continued unabated, greater numbers of Armenians chose to settle in the Crimea, to the degree that some Western sources began to refer to the region as Armenia Maritama and the Sea of Azov as Lacus armeniacus.^[7] A rich literary tradition and the art of illuminated manuscript writing were established. The Armenian Church played a central role in Armenian social life and counted 44 churches under its jurisdiction in 1330.^[8] From the 14th to 18th centuries, the Armenians formed the second largest ethnic group after the Tatars. The flourishing life Armenians established here came to a quick end, however, when the Ottoman Turks took the region in 1475. Many Armenians were killed, enslaved or fled the peninsula and as many as sixteen Armenian churches were converted to mosques as Armenians were subordinated to the rule of the Crimean khanate, which remained an ally of the Ottoman Empire.^[9]

Despite this, in the 16th century, Armenian settlements in the Crimea continued to exist in the Kaffa, Karasubazar, Balaklava, Gezlev, Perekop and Surkhat. From 1778-1779, more than 22,000 Armenians resettled in the Azov province and on the coast of the Dnieper and Samara, leading to gradual economic decline. In 1783, the Russian Empire conquered the Crimean khanate. Russian authorities encouraged the settlement of foreign colonists, including Armenians, into the Crimea. This led to a fresh wave of Armenian immigrants, reviving former colonies. In 1913, their numbers hovered around 9,000 and 14,000-15,000 in 1914. The resettlement of Armenians on the peninsula lasted until the First World War and the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915-1923. The immigrants of the 19th and 20th centuries were largely from Western Armenia and the various regions of Ottoman Empire.

Soviet era

In 1919, there were 16,907 Armenians living in the Crimea. In 1930, in the recently established Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, there were two Armenian national districts, and on the peninsula there were approximately 13 thousand Armenians.^[10] According to the All-Union census of 1989, the number of Armenians living in the Crimea had dwindled down 2,794.^[11]

Deportation of Armenians in 1944

After the deportation of Crimean Tatars in May 1944, held a passport check and registration of Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians. On May 29, 1944, Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union, Lavrentiy Beria, introduce a circumstatial report to Joseph Stalin, "Armenians live in various parts of the peninsula. An Armenian Committee, established by Germans, actively cooperate with Nazi Germany and doing anti-Soviet performance." Later on, he suggested to deport all Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians from Crimea. On June 2, 1944, he signed Directorate 5984, titled "The Deportation of German satellites - Bulgars, Greeks and Armenians from Crimea". This resolution deported 37,000 Bulgarians, Greeks and Armenians. The Armenians were deported to Perm Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Omsk Oblast, Kemerovo Oblast, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan and Kazakhstan.^[12]

Since Perestroika

In 1989, the communal life of the Crimea's Armenians was institutionalized with the formation of one of the peninsula's first national-cultural associations, the Armenian "Luys" (Light) society. Later, after re-registration in 1996, it was renamed the Crimean Armenian Society. At present, the Crimean Armenian Society consists of 14 regional offices, coordinated by the National Council of Crimean Armenians. The highest governing body is the National Congress, which convenes at least once every four years. Operational management of the society is carried out by the executive committee, which functions in the periods between meetings of the National Council. The society operates the "Luys" cultural and ethnographic center and publishes a monthly newspaper, Dove Masis. The one-hour Armenian-language program "Barev" airs twice a month on Crimean television, and radio broadcasts are made five times a week. There are Armenian churches in Yalta, Feodosia and Evpatoria, while the first Armenian secondary school opened in 1998 in Simferopol.^{[citation needed]}

Distribution

Armenians living in the Crimea are currently concentrated in the cities of Armyansk,^[13] Simferopol, Evpatoria, Feodosia, Kerch, Yalta, Sevastopol, Sudak. The Armenia Diaspora Encyclopedia indicates that there were 20,000 Armenians living in the region in 2003.^[2]

Feodosiya (Kaffa)

In the 1470s, Armenians comprised two thirds of the total population of Kaffa (numbering 46,000 out of 70,000).^[14] Until 1941 Armenians in Feodosiya formed more than 20% of the total population of the city. According to the Feodosiya Office of Statistics, there are only 557 Armenians living in Great Feodosiya itself.^[5]

Community life

The community has take a very lively role in affairs concerning Armenia and Armenians and has contributed greatly to the region.^[15] This is seen more prominently in the context of Turkish foreign policy interests in the Crimea.^[16]

The Armenian community of the Crimea forms one of the most important centers of the Armenian Diaspora in the Black Sea region. Its members attach a great importance to Armenia and its foreign policy interests.

Gallery

Armenian Church in Feodosiya

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Other

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  Ivan Aivazovsky grave

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  Ivan Aivazovsky grave

Cultural heritage

Churches and cathedrals

Surb Khach.

Ruins of the medieval Surb-Khach monastery near Staryi Krym, Crimea.

The Armenians were mostly adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church. There were a number of churches built in Yalta, Feodosiya and Yevpatoria.^[17] Construction activity took place from the 14th century and according to one manuscript the monastery of Gamchak had been built by the fifteen century in Kafa.

In Kafa, there were a number of Armenian schools, dozens of churches, banks, trading houses, caravanserai, and craftshops. The town was served as a spiritual center for the Crimean Armenians, and its stature grew so prominently that that in 1438 the Armenians of Kafa were invited to send representatives to the Ferrara-Florence Cathedral (Florence ecumenical council).

The second largest Armenian population after Kafa in the same period was Surkhat. The name of Surkhat is probably a distorted form of the name of the Armenian monastery Surb-Khach (Holy Cross). There were many Armenian churches, schools, neighborhoods here as well. Other major settlements included Sudak, where until the last quarter of the 15th century and near the monastery Surb-Khach there was a small Armenian town called Kazarat. Armenian princes kept the troops there and on a contractual basis to defend Kafa.^[18]

The social life of the Crimean Armenians surged in the late nineteenth and 20th centuries. They organized themselves into community organizations. Wealthy Armenians and the church tried to "raise" the nation to the level of modern civilization, and to carry out charitable activities. The source of money and material welfare of the church were grants, wills, offering.^[19]

The church's role in the colonies was to some extent becoming secularized. In 1842, the Catholicos in Crimea lost his position to the Chief Guardian of the Crimean Armenian churches.^[20]

See also

• Demographics of Crimea
• Armenians in Ukraine
• Surb Khach Armenian Monastery, Ukraine

Notes

1. ^ Statistics on the Demographics of Ukraine. State Statistics Committee of Ukraine.
2. ^ ^{a b} (Armenian) Հայ սփյուռք հանրագիտարան (The Armenia Diaspora Encyclopedia). Hovhannes M. Ayvazyan (ed.). Yerevan: Haykakan Hanragitaran Publishing, 2003, p. 601.
3. ^ Maksoudian, Krikor (1997). "Armenian Communities in Eastern Europe" in The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times, Volume II: Foreign Dominion to Statehood: The Fifteenth Century to the Twentieth Century. Richard Hovannisian (ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 52-61. ISBN 1-4039-6422-X.
4. ^ Maksoudian. "Armenian Communities", p. 52.
5. ^ ^{a b} (Ukrainian) Народы Феодосии: Крымские армяне: Барев (The Armenians of the Crimea). The People of Feodosia.
6. ^ ^{a b} Maksoudian. "Armenian Communities", p. 53.
7. ^ Maksoudian. "Armenian Communities", p. 55.
8. ^ Maksoudian. "Armenian Communities", pp. 56, 58.
9. ^ Maksoudian. "Armenian Communities", p. 56.
10. ^ (Russian) «Этнография народов Крыма» - Этносы Крыма: Армяне
11. ^ (Russian) Ethnic Groups in the Russian Federation: Armenia.
12. ^ Մովսիսյան, Ջիվան (24 June 1998). "«Ղրիմահայոց ողբերգությունը» [The Tragedy of Crimean Armenians]" (in Armenian). «ԱԶԳ» (Երևան, ՀՀ). 
13. ^ На севере Крыма, недалеко от его границы с материком, вблизи береговой линии Каркинитско го залива расположен город Армянск. Он первый встречает гостей полуострова, как бы они сюда не добирались – по железной дороге Херсон – Джанкой или по двум оживленным автострадам, одна из которых следует из Херсона, а вторая – из Каховки. На северной окраине города они сливаются в шоссе Армянск – Симферополь. В городе имеется крупнейшее в Украине предприятие по производству красителей для легкой промышленности – ОАО «Сивашский анилино-красочный завод». Армянск был основан в начале XVIII века армянами и греками, переселившимися из крепости Ор-Капы (Перекоп). Известен с 1730-х годов под названием Армянский Базар. В 1921 году переименован в Армянск. Статус города получил в 1993 году. Армянск является самым молодым городом Крыма. Несмотря на свое название, армяне в городе не занимают первые места по численности. По данным на 2001 год из 24.508 жителей города русских было 54%, украинцев – 29%, крымских татар – 4%.
14. ^ See Maksoudian. "Armenian Communities", p. 54.
15. ^ Своим постановлением №1322-4/05 от 19 мая 2005г. Верховная Рада Автономной Республики Крым решила считать 24 апреля Днем памяти жертв трагедии армянского народа. 22 апреля 2007г. состоялся круглый стол «Геноцид армян, без права на забвение». Организаторами и учредителями круглого стола стал Комитет армянской молодежи Крыма при поддержки Крымского армянского общества и Русского культурного центра. По словам председателя Крымского армянского общества Олега Габриэляна (Симферополь, 24 апреля 2007г.) «У армян нет чувства реванша к турецкому государству, мы хотим обозначить для себя и жителей Крыма, что армянская диаспора развивается»
16. ^ «Влияние Турции на Крым охватывает все сферы жизни полуострова, как политические, так экономические и культурологические. Однако в последние годы наибольшее участие Турции в жизни Крыма специалисты отмечают в экономике. Именно экономическую составляющую считают превалирующей во взаимоотношениях Крыма и Турции и политологи и экономисты. Эксперты отмечают большой интерес Турции к реализации крупномасштабных программ по развитию туристско-рекреационного комплекса автономии, к строительству отелей. На встрече с руководством Автономной Республики Крым премьер-министр Турецкой Республики Реджеп Тайип Эрдоган сказал: «Крым – это та часть территории Украины, которая ближе всего расположена к Турции и является связующим звеном наших стран. Турецкие деньги могли бы превратить крымские берега во вторую Анталию с ее более чем комфортными местами для отдыха»» (Влияние Турции на экономику Крыма: экономический обзор
17. ^ Таврический Национальный Университет им.Вернадского. Этнография народов Крыма:армяне. Численность и районы проживания.
18. ^ Таврический Национальный Университет им.Вернадского. Этнография народов Крыма:армяне. Первые поселения.
19. ^ Таврический Национальный Университет им.Вернадского. Этнография народов Крыма:армяне. Общественная жизнь
20. ^ Таврический Национальный Университет им.Вернадского. Этнография народов Крыма:армяне. Деятельность церкви.

External links

• Научно-образовательный фонд «Нораванк»: АРМЯНСКАЯ ОБЩИНА КРЫМА, Михаил Агаджанян
• Монастырь Сурб Хач
• Армянская церковь в Ялте
• Армянская церковь в Евпатории
• Армянская церковь в Феодосии
• K. Kogonashvili, Concise Dictionary of the history of Crimea (Краткий словарь истории Крыма, 1995