Ottoman Empire did not recognize ethnicities as we use today. Instead, they used, what they called, the “Millet System”. There were four millets (Millet-i Erbia) in the Ottoman Empire. They were Muslim Millet, Rum Millet (Rum means Roman, an ex East Roman Empire individual or a Christian except for Armenians), Armenian Millet and the Jewish Millet. In the public records, each Ottoman citizen was recorded under one of these 4 millets.
Ottoman Empire did not use family names. The civil records were using father’s first name and mother’s first name.
According to the Ottoman public records, he was Mustafa, the son of Ali Riza Bey and the son of Zubeyde Hanim, a member of the Ottoman Muslim Millet, born in the city of Selanik (Thessaloniki in Greece today), on May 19th, 1881.
In today’s terminology, his ethnicity would be categorized as Turkish, as Turkish was his primary language, amongst the 6 other languages he spoke of.
He died as a citizen of Republic of Turkey (of which, he was the founder). His name on his death certificate was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, two given names and the family name.
ISSUES TO CONSIDER ON THE 109TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARMENIAN REBELLION IN VAN
Historically, the Armenian Revolts in the City of Van played a major role in the implementation of a mandatory Relocation and Resettlement decision taken by the Ottoman Empire against the Armenian minorities. This decision was a direct result of the actions of the mutinous Armenians who rebelled against the Ottoman State and fought on the enemy side against their own country’s army.
Armenians, who had previously rebelled in Van, in 1896, ignited a new rebellion right before World War I. They used the church in Van’s Akdamar Island as a revolutionary committee headquarters, a weapons and munitions depot, and a center for torture and rape of the Muslim women they captured.
Armenians, who received a great deal of political support from the British, Russian and French Consuls, European missionaries in the region and the ABCFM missionaries affiliated with the US, had already begun their preparations for the occupation of Van, way before the onset of WWI.
Before the First World War, Armenian volunteers began gathering in the Cities of Muş, Van and Bitlis to fight against the Ottoman Empire, and (naturally) none of them responded to the mobilization calls of the Ottoman State.
Armenians who were serving under the Ottoman Military deserted their positions along with their issued weapons and crossed into the Russian territory with clear intent to defect into the Russian Army. When the Russian Caucasian Army attacked Eastern Anatolia, Ottoman Armenians were at the forefront, serving as vanguard units to the Russian Army.
Karekin Pastermadjian, who was an MP from Erzurum in the Ottoman Empire’s Congress, personally led the mutinous Ottoman Armenians who defected to Russia. Together, they massacred tens of thousands of Muslims in the City of Van and its surrounding regions.
Following the Russian Army’s crossing of the Turkish border, 33rd Infantry Division stationed in the City of Van moved out of the city to intercept the Russian enemy. Armenian gangs, who wanted to take advantage of the departure of the Ottoman troops out of Van, immediately formed an armed force of 40,000 men. Soon after, they began massacring the Turkish and other Muslim population in the City of Van and its surroundings. The Muslim population of Van ended up having to seek shelter at the Van Castle. Once the rebellion started in Van on April 15, 1915, Armenians first massacred the Gendarmerie Detachment stationed in the city and then the civilian population was next to be massacred.
The uprising and the massacres initiated by the Armenians in the City of Van, which intensified on April 20, 1915, caused the Muslim population to leave the city in panic, and a significant portion of those who fled the city lost their lives en route, due to Armenian attacks, starvation, and disease.
The fact that around 80,000 Muslims left the city in panic and began to flee in the direction of Bitlis in order to escape the great uprising that the Armenians started in the City Center of Van and the subsequent massacres they committed following the Russian Army’s occupation of Van, revealed to the Ottoman Administration that the Armenian revolts could not be prevented using local security measures. Hence, these events undoubtedly constituted the most important reasoning of the mandatory Relocation and Resettlement measure implemented against the Armenians.
Armenians burned down and destroyed all mosques and Muslim neighborhoods in the City of Van. Mutinous Armenians burned alive approximately 80 Turkish soldiers who were receiving in-patient treatment at the Van City Hospital. Captured Muslim women were taken by boat to the Armenian Church located on Van’s Akdamar Island to be raped. Some of these women chose to end their own lives by jumping off the boat into the cold waters of Lake Van, in order to not surrender their chastity. During the one-month period leading up to Russian Army’s complete seizure of the City of Van on May 18, 1915, Armenians under the leadership of the gang leader named “Aram” massacred 22,900 Turks.
Out of the 3,400 Muslim dwellings that existed within the Van Province before the war, were down to three houses standing, after the Armenians set the whole city ablaze and destroyed nearly all Muslim quarters of the city. Also, in the City of Bitlis, all 6,500 houses belonging to Muslims were burned to the ground by the Armenians.
According to the findings of US Historian Prof. Justin McCarthy, the number of Turks massacred in the Van Region was 194,167 people. According to the Ottoman Archival Documents, however, the number of Muslims murdered by Armenians in the Van Province and its subdistricts is 217,132 people. These indisputable archival documents clearly determine the identities of the murderers and their victims one-by-one, while providing explicit details on each massacre event in terms of place, time and how these crimes were committed.
Coming to today, Cities of Diyarbakır and Van are among those Eastern provinces that most intensively support PKK terrorism. The obvious cooperation between Armenians and separatist Kurdish elements that have long been wanting to establish an “independent Kurdistan” within the Turkish territories is clearly intensifying. In this context, many meetings have been held between BDP and HDP Parties and the Armenian Dashnak Party (aka ARF). As a result of these meetings, joint statements have been released such as: “[…] in addition to exploring the possibilities of Armenian-Kurdish cooperation in the lands of Western Armenia and Kurdistan, other areas of cooperation between the two nations have been discussed.”
Following the local municipal elections held on March 31, 2024, in Turkiye, the terrorist actions initiated by DEM Party supporters in these districts gives us the impression that they are preparing the groundwork to secede Turkiye’s Eastern and Southeastern Anatolian regions, ostensibly under the name of “Kurdistan” which, in reality, is bound to become “Western Armenia” later.
The appointment of a certain felon convicted of terrorism to Van’s Mayoral seat despite his earlier statements that “PKK is strong enough to drown us all in their spit”, contrary to the decision of the Diyarbakır High Criminal Court and Article 76 of the Turkish Constitution, clearly indicate the early signs of such a preparation. These developments indicate that the Armenian issue, and the separatist Kurdish political movement with which it is intertwined, are bound to become larger issues, capable of potentially threatening the very survival of the Turkish State.
As the grandchild of a family that had to leave their home behind and migrate westward in Anatolia, in order to flee from the Armenian oppression in Van, I have been following up for many years on how foreign (non-citizen) Armenians have been buying up large acreages of land in and around Van province using locals, while hiding their true identities.
The recent developments clearly indicate that the City of Van, which was once used as the ground zero point of the Armenian massacres against the Turks before the First World War, is now being used as the ground zero point of a secessionist attempt targeting Turkiye.
As a native of Van, I feel great sadness seeing all these things transpire, right before my eyes. In this context, I think it is important that the Turkish State’s intelligence agencies meticulously follow-up on the land purchases of Crypto-Armenians in Van and the contacts of elected local officials with terrorist organizations (such as PKK) so that the State can make the necessary interventions against violations of law when needed, without compromise.
I feel that it is my civic duty to warn the Turkish Statesmen and the patriotic People of Van, who lost 217,132 martyrs in WWI, to be vigilant about another potential Armenian uprising that could be ignited by these Crypto-Armenians based in Van, who hideously hide themselves behind Turkish and Kurdish identities. These people are obviously conspiring to start an uprising any minute, once they receive instructions from the “State of Western Armenia”, which claims to have been established “in exile”. This knock-off state preposterously claims that 19 provinces of Turkiye are Armenian territories, and they surely have the full support of the imperialist states who support them to see Turkiye divided.
I visited Turkey about 3–4 months ago. Landed in Ataturk airport. Passport control, a long long line where most of people from different nationalities were waiting to get through. Some got rejected upon the arrival, apparently they had to pay a fee and some other issues which made me absolute nervous about what’s about to happen! European citizens been rejected for some reasons and for me, an Iraninan passport holder…our father in heaven, even though I haven’t been a good son, just this one time please.
“Passport, please!”. Now let me get this straight that up to that time I’ve had loads of experiences on passing passport control. Most of the time, border officers take more time on checking my passport. Sometimes they go through all the pages, ask loads of questions and etc. These officers didn’t even look at my face for more than a second or two or they didn’t ask any questions whatsoever regarding to my travel plan or anything else. They stamped the passport and said: “Welcome to Turkey!”. They even answered my question regarding to which border I have to reach out to go to Gerogia and whether I need to leave the country a day before the 90 days visa or it’s alright if I leave on the last day.
Big smile on face, ready to collect my Backpack…disaster! My Deuter backpack was ripped off thanks to AirAstana! I asked an officer to help me reach to AirAstana or relative authorities to file a report regarding to my ripped off backpack!
My bad, I left the airport because I followed a wrong direction and when I got back, the information called for someone. A Turkish woman’s reaching to me. “Hello this is …, I’m sorry for what happened. Please, follow me.” Well, at least they’re polite, one of many things to dig to see when you enter a country. Long story, short they said even though I left the airport, they helped me file a report, and God they were polite.
Trying to catch the train from airport and I realise I don’t have small changes at all. I see some officer, dude they looked scary I tell you that. I ask some people and they seem like they don’t understand me, so I reach out to the officers and one of them ask me to follow her. She reach out to a small kiosk where they refused to give me small change first time I asked them, but then they changed a 50 lira note to smaller notes. I thank them all and get myself a card. Later on, I realised its not that cheap to travel around the town so, waste of time changing the money.
Next day, I arrive at my host’s house. Named Ali, a good looking lawyer in his mid 40. He invited me for dinner with his family, spent a great deal of time with them. Learnt so much about what’s really going on in Turkey from a well educated man. You then can realise what medias can do to a country, anyhow…not the main topic in here. They were absolutely lovely. Unfortunately, he had to go for a trip after my second day of stay, but he left me his keys!!! Unbelievable!! He left his house keys to a stranger from Couchsurfing. One of many things that you do not see at all.
The other days, walking in Bazzar, it’s enough if they catch your eyes direction on tea. You can’t get away from there without drinking at least 2 cups of tea. One guy even invited me and my wife for Baghlava. Hospitality, 10 out of 10. These stories can go on and on. I once catched a wrong ferry, and a girl on board guided me on how to deal with somehow Istanbul confusing ferries routes. And, she used her card for me to get pass through the gate when I wanted to go back to where I got on board the first time. Apparently, students get some sort of discount for public transportations. Interacting with polices, I reached one of Prince Islands and two police men gave me a ride to a campsite called madam Martha when they saw I was carrying a heavy bag. They didn’t even ask me to show them my passport or anything. Brilliant!
84 days of stay in Turkey. Istanbul, Bodrum, Antalya, Ankara, Samsun. Spent most of our -I and my wife- time with locals from different backgrounds, Turks, Syrian, and Kurds. They welcomed us to their houses, picked us up when we were pointing our fingers toward the road, and showed us the true face of Turkey and its people.
Sure, we had bad experiences too, but we mostly had good experiences. So, answering your question, I alone and many other people from Iran, at least those who seek for a deeper understanding of the people, and it’s culture, send our love to the people of Turkey. Thank you for the amazing time.
According to the QS World University Rankings (QS WUR) 2025 results, ITU rose 78 places and ranked 326th this year, achieving its best ranking to date. ITU, which ranks 1st in Türkiye in the “International Research Network” and “Sustainability” indicators, was also awarded the QS “Most Improved-Europe” Award for its outstanding achievements in the last 5 years.
ITU also ranked 112th among the 1503 universities listed in the “employer reputation” indicator, once again demonstrating the strong bond of its graduates and members with the industry. This achievement, which refers to ITU’s global recognition, was also in line with the theme of our university, which declared 2024 as the “Year of Global Impact”.
Originally Answered: Which country do you prefer, Turkey or Azerbaijan, as a an Armenian?
I find it amusing that this question is meant for Armenians and yet Turks and Azerbaijanis are answering it.
There is no choice really. Hundreds of Armenians travel in and out of Turkey every day (including from Armenia). Nearly no Armenians travel in and out of Azerbaijan. This “voting with feet” should answer the question.
The Republic of Turkey does not discriminate against Armenians entering and traveling the country. The Republic of Azerbaijan nearly universally denies all Armenians of the world entry. As a result, many Armenians (myself included) travel to Turkey and have fond associations and experiences there, where as such a thing is not possible with Azerbaijan.
Shut the doors that belong to another, never open them again,
destroy the servitude of one human to another
this call is ours.
To live free and solitary like a tree
and in fraternity like a forest
this yearning is ours.
Translation by Robin Turner, Former English lecturer at Bilkent University.
[The translation is my own – apologies for any inaccuracies. In particular, I couldn’t find a good translation for el kapıları – literally “the doors of strangers”. I also took some liberty in translating davet as “call” rather than the more common “invitation”, but I think it fits better.]
