Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Photo: Andrew Hagopian
Staff Report
Dr. Ari Şekeryan was scheduled to give the third of his three-part lecture series on “Armenians in the Istanbul in the Armistice Period,” on Thursday, April 2. Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the lecture was postponed, however, a summary of the lecture is provided below.
In this lecture, “The Armenian Patriarchate, Politics and the Postwar Settlement in Istanbul: the Story of Patriarch Zaven,” Dr. Şekeryan covered the topic of the involvement of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople in the political developments concerning the Armenian community during the Armistice years (1918-1923).
Dr. Şekeryan is the Kazan Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies for the Spring semester. A graduate of Oxford’s Department of Oriental Studies, he is currently working on a book, An Untold Story of Survival, and an article pertaining to Armenian orphans in Corfu.
The first part of Dr. Şekeryan’s lecture focused on the early life of Zaven Der Yeghiayan who was the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople between 1913-1922. Dr. Şekeryan high-lighted that Der Yeghiayan became a bishop and prelate for Dikranagerd and served in the Armenian provinces such as Erzurum, Van, and Bitlis. Before becoming the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bishop Zaven became familiar with the community life and sufferings of the Armenian population in the provinces. Dr. Şekeryan stated that the experience that Bishop Zaven acquired in the Armenian provinces was unique in the sense that it helped him to unite the Armenian community in Constantinople with the Ar-menians living in the provinces, because he became fully aware of the expectations and internal problems of these communities. During his time in the provinces, he became familiar with the relations between the Kurdish tribes and local Armenians, the activities of the Armenian political parties, and the policies of local Ottoman officials regarding the Armenian peasants. Dr. Şekeryan cited numerous sources, such as newspaper articles and archival documents, which he himself had translated from Armenian and Ottoman Turkish into English.
The second part of Dr. Şekeryan’s lecture focused on the Genocide of 1915. Bishop Zaven was elected as the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1913. He was exiled by the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) government to Mosul during the Armenian Genocide because of his efforts to stop the deportation orders of the CUP leaders in Constantinople. Patriarch Zaven held meetings with European ambassadors in Constantinople to stop the killings, and the CUP regime deported him as a solution to cease his efforts. Dr. Şekeryan further highlighted that Patriarch Zaven, as the leader of the Armenian community in the Ottoman Empire, closely witnessed the death march of the Armenians to the Syrian desert and conditions of the survivors in Aleppo and other cities in Northern Syria.
The third part of the lecture focused on efforts of Patriarch Zaven during the Armistice years to save the remnants of the Armenian Genocide, and his active participation in the political efforts of Armenian delegations to secure independence for the “United Armenia” state. “United Armenia” was planned to be established in an area covering the Republic of Armenia and the six Eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Patriarch Zaven returned to Constantinople in 1919 following the occupation of the Ottoman capital by the Allied troops. He immediately organized committees under the authority of the Patriarchate to support the relief efforts for the Armenian orphans and refugees. In addition to his efforts to organize relief activities, he became actively involved in the political life of the community, as a leader and representative of Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire.
Patriarch Zaven participated in the Paris Peace Conference and worked to unite the two delegations representing the Armenian nation: one for the Armenians living in the Caucasus and the Republic of Armenia and the other the delegation representing the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. Patriarch Zaven worked with the prominent members of these delegations such as Boghos Nubar and Avedis Aharonian.
Dr. Şekeryan cited articles from the Armenian and Ottoman Turkish press about the activities of these delegations and argued that “all strata of the Armenian community, including political parties, businessmen and in-tellectuals, united for the estab-lishment of the Armenian state during the Armistice years.” However, following the defeat of the Greek forces by the Turkish National Movement led by Mustafa Kemal and the evacuation of Cilicia by the French forces, Patriarch Zaven was forced to leave Constantinople in 1922 because the leaders of the Turkish National Movement labeled him as a “traitor.” Patriarch Zaven managed to escape from Constantinople to Bulgaria in 1922 with the help of the British and spent the rest of his life in Mosul, Iraq.
“The story of Patriarch Zaven uniquely demonstrates the leadership of the Armenian Patriarchate during a time of chaos and political turmoil following the Genocide and its unifying power in the political decision-making,” stated Dr. Şekeryan. His presentation illu-minated a crucial and hitherto understudied area of the history of Ottoman Armenians.