Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey

Most of the properties formerly belonging to Armenians were confiscated by the Turkish government and turned into military posts, hospitals, schools and prisons.

[6] By the time of the proclamation of the Tanzimat era by Sultan Abdülmecid I in 1839, the Armenians had some thirty-seven schools, including two colleges, with 4,620 students; several museums, printing presses, hospitals, public libraries and eight different published journals in Constantinople alone.

[9] Notable writers from this period include Siamanto, Hagop Baronian, Vahan Tekeyan, Levon Shant, Krikor Zohrab, Rupen Zartarian, Avetis Aharonyan, Atrpet, and Gostan Zarian.

The 19th century beheld a great literary movement that was to give rise to modern Armenian literature.

The Revivalist authors of Constantinople and Tiflis, almost identical to the Romanticists of Europe, were interested in encouraging Armenian nationalism.

Notable events were the Berlin Treaty of 1878, the independence of Balkan nations such as Bulgaria, and of course, the Hamidian massacres of 1895–1896.

Some specialists claim that the Armenian Realist authors appeared when the Arevelk (Orient) newspaper was founded (1884).

Writers such as Arpiar Arpiarian, Levon Pashalian, Krikor Zohrab, Melkon Gurjian, Dikran Gamsarian, and others revolved around the said newspaper.

As Bedross Der Matossian from Columbia University describes, for about 250 years, from the early 18th century until around 1950, more than 2000 books in the Turkish language were printed using the Armenian script.

Initial renaming of Armenian place names were formally introduced under the reign of Sultan Abdulhamit II.

[20] It is estimated by etymologist and author Sevan Nişanyan that 3600 Armenian geographical location names have been changed.

[21] In 1914, the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople compiled a list of monasteries, churches and other religious institutions throughout the Ottoman Empire.

[24] The Saint Karapet Monastery was an Armenian monastic complex in the Taron Province of Greater Armenia, about 35 kilometers northwest of Mush, now in the Kurdish village of Chengeli in eastern Turkey.

Today what remains of Surb Karapet consists of a few shapeless ruins and carved stones and khachkars which have been used as building materials by the current Muslim residents, mostly Kurds, and are often found encrusted in the walls of local homes and structures.

[25] It was founded by King Senekerim-Hovhannes of the Artsruni Dynasty early in his reign (1003–24) to house a relic of the True Cross that had been kept in a 7th-century hermitage on the same site.

Of them, the future Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimian "Hayrik" (Father), founded Artsiv Vaspurakani (The Eagle of Vaspurakan), the first newspaper to be printed in historical Armenia.

[30] The monastery was built on the traditional site of the martyrdom of the Apostle Bartholomew[30] who is reputed to have brought Christianity to Armenia in the 1st century.

At an unknown date after the Armenian genocide, the monastery was subjugated under the control of the Turkish military and its entire site now lies within the compound of an army base and its access is restricted.

This was one of notable center of enlightenment and scholarship of Lesser Armenia during Byzantine, Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and Ottoman reigns until the Armenian genocide in 1915.

Located in the city of Kars, the Holy Apostles Church completed construction in the 940s during Bagratid Armenia under the rule of Abas I.

It was built of pink volcanic tufa by the architect-monk Manuel with an interior measuring 14.80m by 11.5m and the dome reaching 20.40m above ground.

[34] During his reign, King Gagik I Artsruni (r. 908-943/944) of the Armenian kingdom of Vaspurakan chose the island of Aghtamar as one of his residences, founding a settlement there.

During the Armenian genocide, the monks of Aghtamar were massacred, the church looted, and the monastic buildings destroyed.

The ornate stone balustrade of the royal gallery disappeared, and comparisons with pre-1914 photographs show cases of damage to the relief carvings.

The khatchkar of Catholicos Stephanos, dated 1340, was, by 1956, badly mutilated with large sections of its carvings hacked off.

"[37][38] In 2005 the structure was closed to visitors as it underwent a heavy restoration, being opened as a museum by the Turkish government a year later.

[41] According to local people, the churches were blown up by the Turkish army using high explosives, which was reaffirmed by citizens of Digor in 2002.

It had a unique design: 19-sided externally, 8-apsed internally, with a huge central dome set upon a tall drum.