Armenians in Istanbul

An Armenian couple in Constantinople at the early 19th Century, by Louis Dupré.

Armenians in Istanbul by years
Year	TOTAL	Armenians	%
1478 [1]	100,000 - 120,000	5,000-6,000	5
1844[2][3]	891,000	222,000	24.9
1880s[3]		250,000
1885[2]	873,565	156,861	17.9
1913	1,125,000	163,670[4]	14.5
2011	13,483,052[5]	50,000 - 70,000	0.3-0.5

Armenians in Istanbul (Armenian: Պոլսահայեր Bolsahayer; Turkish: İstanbul Ermenileri) are historically one of the largest ethnic minorities of Istanbul, Turkey. The city is often referred to as Bolis (Պոլիս) by Armenians, which is derived from the ending of the historical name of the city Constantinople (Greek: Κωνσταντινούπολις Kōnstantinoúpolis).

Today, most estimations put the number of Armenians in Istanbul 50,000, 60,000 or 70,000.^{[6][7][8][9][10]}

History

At present, the Armenian community in Istanbul has 17 schools, 17 cultural and social organizations, three newspapers called Agos, Jamanak and Marmara, two sports clubs, named Şişlispor and Taksimspor, and two health establishments as well as numerous religious foundations set up to support these activities.^[11][12]

Notable Armenians from Istanbul

The following is the list of prominent Armenians who either were born in Istanbul (Constantinople) or have worked there.

Ottoman era (before 1923)

• Aram Andonian, journalist
• Arpiar Arpiarian, writer
• Hagop Baronian, writer, satirist
• Nazaret Daghavarian, doctor
• Erukhan, writer
• Hagop Kazazian Pasha, minister of Finance
• Komitas Vardapet, musician
• Mkrtich Khrimian, religious leader, writer
• Yervant Odian, writer, satirist
• Ruben Sevak, writer
• Levon Shant, playwright, writer
• Siamanto, writer
• Papken Siuni, political activist
• Bedros Tourian, poet
• Daniel Varujan, poet
• Rupen Zartarian, writer, educator
• Krikor Zohrab, statesman, author

Republican era (1923–present)

• Arman Manukyan, professor, writer, economist
• Hrant Dink, journalist, editor, columnist
• Agop Dilâçar, linguist of the Turkish language and co-founder of the Turkish Language Association
• Udi Hrant Kenkulian, Turkish classical musician

See also

• Organization of Istanbul Armenians
• Armenians in Turkey
• Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople

References

1. The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times: Foreign dominion to statehood : the fifteenth century to the twentieth century; Volume 2 of The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times, Richard G. Hovannisian, Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. ISBN 978-1-4039-6636-0
2. (Armenian) Nicholas Adontz, «Հայկական հարցի լուծման շուրջ» [Around solution of the Armenian question], “Publishing house of Yerevan State University”, Yerevan, 1989, pp.87-88
3. (Armenian) ՍՏԱՄԲՈՒԼԱՀԱՅ ՀԱՄԱՅՆՔ. ԱՆՑՅԱԼԸ, ՆԵՐԿԱՆ, ԽՆԴԻՐՆԵՐԸ (պատմական ակնարկ)
4. Justin McCarthy, THE POPULATION OF THE OTTOMAN ARMENIANS
5. Turkish Statistical Institute: Population of Town Centers and Provinces in Turkey Archived July 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
6. There are 60,000 to 70,000 Armenians in Istanbul
7. Foreign Ministry: 89,000 minorities live in Turkey Today's Zaman
8. Armenian in Istanbul: Diaspora in Turkey welcomes the setting of relations and waits more steps from both countries
9. The Armenian Church Archived June 14, 2002, at the Wayback Machine.
10. Edmund Herzig, Marina Kurkchiyan, The Armenians: past and present in the making of national identity, 2005, p. 133
11. REPUBLIC OF TURKEY MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND TOURISM - Armenian Claims and Historical Facts
12. Finkel, Caroline, Osman's Dream, (Basic Books, 2004), 57; "Istanbul was only adopted as the city's official name in 1930..".