New Reality in the Middle East in Wake of Revolts, Reforms and
Religion: Eroding Diasporas Cling to Traditions
Posted on May 14, 2011 by Editor
By Alin K. Gregorian
Mirror-Spectator Staff
WATERTOWN, Mass. – Political events of the past three decades have
uprooted or altered the lives of many Armenians living in Middle
Eastern countries. From Iran to Lebanon, and now Syria, Jordan, Egypt
and Iraq, communities that seemed well-established – and well-heeled –
now seem to have either shrunk dramatically or shifted as equally
dramatically because of past, present or anticipated revolutions.
Two scholars studying Armenian diasporas shed some light on the
changing nature of the Middle Eastern communities, once home to the
largest Armenian Diaspora.
Prof. Ara Sanjian, director of the University of Michigan at
Dearborn’s Armenian Research Center, suggested that in the past three
decades, there has been a shift out of the Arab world for Armenians.
`If we take a very broad view since 1920, we see that there was an
influx of Armenians in the Arab world and some migration of Armenians
within the Arab world,’ he said.
The revolution in Iran, he said, changed the dynamics. When Armenians
left that country, he said, none went to Arab countries; instead, they
all headed West.
Regarding Iran, Khachig Tölölyan, a professor of English and letters
at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, as well as the editor of
Diaspora magazine there, cited an interesting change. About half of
Iranian-Armenians left when the revolution happened. Yet, the
remaining Armenians are still able to carve a strong presence for
themselves, albeit within the government-proscribed and sanctioned
church organizations. For Muslim fundamentalists, he said, it is
easier to recognize religion, therefore church organizations can play
a more prominent role.
Sanjian said that Armenian populations within the Arab world are
decreasing, but that decrease is not only a result of emigration; it
is that there is normal attrition and new people are not coming in to
take the places of those who have died.
`Arab countries are not attractive for new migration among Armenians,’
he stressed. The major group on the move among Armenians, he said, is
those from Armenia proper, and they don’t go to any countries in the
Middle East, except Israel.
The decrease of Armenians in the Arab world, he said, should also be
seen in the context of the Christian exodus out of the region. The
total number of Christians in the Middle East is decreasing, he said.
As for Lebanon, Sanjian said, the number of Armenians just prior to
the 1975 civil war was appropriately 180,000. Now that number is about
80,000, thought about 145,000-150,000 Armenians hold Lebanese
citizenship.
There are three kinds of diasporas, explained Tölölyan.
The first is residual, in which the community gradually and steadily
weakens, such as the Armenian community in Ethiopia, which was `very
strong’ from the 1920s through the 1970s and now has practically
disappeared.
Next, there are the emergent communities, which are the result of new
migration, thus they have higher numbers and great commitment to their
culture.
Third, he said, are the dominant communities, for example, Lebanon
before 1975 and Iran before 1979.
Tölölyan said that `just the passage of time changes the nature of any country.’
He ascribed many changes in the Armenian community there to those of
the greater host community, including the introduction of widespread
media, including Al Jazeera and Western program, as well as wealth
from oil and greater Islamization.
Tölölyan said that perhaps one should consider that a smaller
community is not necessarily a weakened community. `The core group
becomes even more committed. I don’t feel that everything is in
decline,’ he said, though in some communities the numbers are halved.
Western Armenian Culture in Jeopardy
One result of the move out of the Middle East, Sanjian said, is the
erosion of Western Armenian culture and language. In fact, he said,
last year the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) declared Western Armenian an endangered
language.
`Western Armenian culture is under serious threat. This is a delayed
consequence of the Armenian Genocide,’ he added.
The Middle East, including Istanbul, traditionally has
Armenian-speakers for about three generations, Sanjian said. However,
in Iran, he said, Armenians have been able to keep their language for
generations.
In France, the US and Canada, where newer waves of immigration have
led, there is more pressure to conform and speak the host country’s
language.
Tölölyan agreed that the attitude in Lebanon, unlike Iran, has been
much more inclusive.
`The attitude is, `Let’s all be Lebanese together.’ It is much more
receptive. Intermarriage has tripled and quadrupled. They say we can’t
keep separate,’ Tölölyan said.
Sanjian agreed that assimilation is happening rapidly. In countries,
like Egypt and Lebanon, he said, with large Christian Arab
populations, Armenians regularly intermarry with them. The region is
`overwhelmingly Muslim’ and thus, Armenians are marrying within their
group, though increasing the definition to mean Christians.
`They think it’s much easier to be with fellow Christians,’ Sanjian said.
At the same time, Tölölyan said, what is going on in Turkey, namely `a
debate among themselves to figure out if there is a pluralist way’ to
define their identity and to find out what makes a pluralist society,
makes it unique.
>From about 1900-1940s, the Middle East experienced a pan-Arab
movement, with the movement peaking in the 1960s. However, since the
1970s, instead of pan-Arab nationalism, it is pan-Islamism that has
risen.
`Since the 1970s, there has been a shifting identity’ in the Middle
East, so that any person does not define themselves as Arab, but
rather as Libyan, Egyptian, Syrian, Lebanese, etc., Tölölyan noted.
The number of students in Armenian schools in Lebanon has gone down
accordingly – if not alarmingly. In 1975, he said, there were 21,000
Armenian students in grades K-12, but now it is about 7,000. There are
many more ethnic Armenian school children, but now, he said, most
parents opt for private Arabic-language schools in hopes of creating a
better future for their children by making them more fluent in Arabic.
In Syria, he said, the number of students has been holding,
approximately around 15,000.
In Egypt, Sanjian said that the number of Armenians, once so numerous,
is down to a few thousand. The creation of the new Egyptian
government, he said, once the dust settles, will resonate throughout
the Arab world. `It will affect policy and discourse in other Arab
countries,’ he said, including Lebanon and East Jerusalem. `The
changes are not going to stop at the Egyptian border,’ he said.
One bright light, paradoxically, is Istanbul, he said. `It still has a
thriving community,’ though many are Turkish or Kurdish speakers. `It
has recovered the feel of a community.’