The Post-Ottoman, Neo-Dhimmi Citizens of the Early Turkish Republic

Studies that analyze the transition years from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic have either assumed or arrived at the conclusion that these two entities were different and separate. Juxtapositions color the accounts: multiethnic, polyglot Ottoman Empire vs. monolingual “Turkish” nationalizing Republic; a vast Empire tolerant of diversity vs. a nation-state bent on homogenizing its population. Notwithstanding the validity of such dichotomies, this paper offers to move the discussion to another level by demonstrating that for at least some people who lived through such drastic transformations many things remained the same. I develop this argument by following the public discourses of Armenians as they related to the Turkish state and the majority in the 1920s and early 30s.

I demonstrate that Turkish Armenian leaders’ accommodation strategies borrowed heavily from their Ottoman Armenian dhimmi predecessors whereby the non-Muslim People of the Book (mainly Jews and Christians) had to remain loyal, pay extra taxes, and accept their secondary status in return for safety. Even though non-Muslims were officially given citizenship and categorized as “religious minorities” (with certain rights and privileges), the 1924 Constitution perceived them Turkish only “in terms of citizenship” and not in “essence.” In other words, lacking Islam, Jews and Christians could not achieve “real” Turkishness and were thus discriminated against and marginalized. My discussion of how Armenian spokespeople positioned their community’s presence vis-à-vis such exclusionary policies shows that at least in their eyes the “new” Turkey felt much like the “old” Ottoman Empire under which they had lived for about half a millennium. They were experienced in enduring privations if it meant a peaceful co-habitation with the Muslim majority and the best reward of all: staying put at home.