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The Armenians of Aintab: The Economics of Genocide in an Ottoman Province
A Turk's discovery that Armenians once thrived in his hometown leads to a groundbreaking investigation into the local dynamics of genocide.
�mit Kurt, born and raised in Gaziantep, Turkey, was astonished to learn that his hometown once had a large and active Armenian community. The Armenian presence in Aintab, the city's name during the Ottoman period, had not only been destroyed--it had been replaced. To every appearance, Gaziantep was a typical Turkish city.
Kurt digs into the details of the Armenian dispossession that produced the homogeneously Turkish city in which he grew up. In particular, he examines the population that gained from ethnic cleansing. Records of land confiscation and population transfer demonstrate just how much new wealth became available when the prosperous Armenians--who were active in manufacturing, agricultural production, and trade--were ejected. Although the official rationale for the removal of the Armenians was that the group posed a threat of rebellion, Kurt shows that the prospect of material gain was a key motivator of support for the Armenian genocide among the local Muslim gentry and the Turkish public. Those who benefited most--provincial elites, wealthy landowners, state officials, and merchants who accumulated Armenian capital--in turn financed the nationalist movement that brought the modern Turkish republic into being. The economic elite of Aintab was thus reconstituted along both ethnic and political lines.
The Armenians of Aintab draws on primary sources from Armenian, Ottoman, Turkish, British, and French archives, as well as memoirs, personal papers, oral accounts, and newly discovered property-liquidation records. Together they provide an invaluable account of genocide at ground level.
�mit Kurt, born and raised in Gaziantep, Turkey, was astonished to learn that his hometown once had a large and active Armenian community. The Armenian presence in Aintab, the city's name during the Ottoman period, had not only been destroyed--it had been replaced. To every appearance, Gaziantep was a typical Turkish city.
Kurt digs into the details of the Armenian dispossession that produced the homogeneously Turkish city in which he grew up. In particular, he examines the population that gained from ethnic cleansing. Records of land confiscation and population transfer demonstrate just how much new wealth became available when the prosperous Armenians--who were active in manufacturing, agricultural production, and trade--were ejected. Although the official rationale for the removal of the Armenians was that the group posed a threat of rebellion, Kurt shows that the prospect of material gain was a key motivator of support for the Armenian genocide among the local Muslim gentry and the Turkish public. Those who benefited most--provincial elites, wealthy landowners, state officials, and merchants who accumulated Armenian capital--in turn financed the nationalist movement that brought the modern Turkish republic into being. The economic elite of Aintab was thus reconstituted along both ethnic and political lines.
The Armenians of Aintab draws on primary sources from Armenian, Ottoman, Turkish, British, and French archives, as well as memoirs, personal papers, oral accounts, and newly discovered property-liquidation records. Together they provide an invaluable account of genocide at ground level.
- GenresHistoryWarNonfiction
400 pages, Hardcover
Published April 13, 2021
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About the author
Ümit Kurt
15 books8 followers1984'te doğdu. 2006'da ODTÜ l.l.B.Fden mezun oldu. 2006-2007'de İngiltere'de Keele Üniversitesi'nde Uluslarası İlişkiler ve Sosyoloji Bölümü'nde araştırmacı olarak bulundu. 2008'de Sabancı Üniversitesi Sanat ve Sosyal Bilimler Fakültesi'nde yüksek lisansını tamamladı. Gaziantep Zirve Üniversitesi İ.İ.B.F.'de tam zamanlı öğretim görevlisi olarak çalıştı. Türkiye'de ordu ve siyaset, sekülarizm ve din, Türkiye düşünce ve siyasi tarihi, Türkiye-AB ilişkileri gibi konularda Culture and Religion, Turkish Studies, European Journal of Economic and Political Studies, Turkish Journal of Politics, Civil Academy Journal of Social Sciences ve Turkish Poli-ticy Quarterly gibi dergilerde makaleleri yayımlanan Kurt'un, AKP Yeni Merkez Sağ mı? başlıklı ilk kitabı 2009'da (Dipnot Yayınları); Bülent Aras ve Şule Toktaş ile birlikte kaleme aldığı Araştırma Merkezlerinin Yükselişi: Türkiye'de Dış Politika ve Ulusal Güvenlik Kültürü (SETA Yayınları) başlıklı kitabı 2010'da yayımlandı. Bunun yanında Kurt'un Toplumsal Tarih, Birikim, Cogito, Virgül, Notos Edebiyat, Milliyet Sanat ve Mesele dergilerinde, Radikal İki, BirGün ve Taraf gazetelerinde yayımlanmış çok sayıda makalesi vardır. Halen Clark Üniversitesi Tarih Bölümü Holocaust and Genocide Studies Merkezi'nde Antep Ermenileri üzerine doktora çalışmasına devam etmektedir.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 2, 2022
An interesting and a well-researched book on the process of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Aintap sanjak (today's Turkish Gazıantep province).
I'd liked the way where the writer, Ümit Kurt done by writing the book in a chronological process from the Armenian genocide till post-WWI until Allied mandatory and finally the Kemalist movement and the formation of the republic of Turkey.
It was fascinating to see how Kurt researched and gave us in details about deportees, repatriated persons (after WWI) and belongings and ownership of Aintab's Armenians.
What's most important in this book is his revealing of Ottoman authorities' laws on deportation and seizure of Armenians' belongings, how did the CUP government used code words to deprive Armenians from their belongings and deport them forever from their hometown (same methods would be used by NAZIs during the Holocaust).
It will be incredible if further research and studies be done on the genocidal processes in other Ottoman villayets and sanjaks.
I'd liked the way where the writer, Ümit Kurt done by writing the book in a chronological process from the Armenian genocide till post-WWI until Allied mandatory and finally the Kemalist movement and the formation of the republic of Turkey.
It was fascinating to see how Kurt researched and gave us in details about deportees, repatriated persons (after WWI) and belongings and ownership of Aintab's Armenians.
What's most important in this book is his revealing of Ottoman authorities' laws on deportation and seizure of Armenians' belongings, how did the CUP government used code words to deprive Armenians from their belongings and deport them forever from their hometown (same methods would be used by NAZIs during the Holocaust).
It will be incredible if further research and studies be done on the genocidal processes in other Ottoman villayets and sanjaks.
September 12, 2023
A friend, I don’t remember out of which context, mentioned about this book. I first listened to a youtube interview with the author. He recites the same story in the book. Although he was a native of Aintab, until he got his college degree he was unaware of the former Armenian neighborhood of the city. One day he goes to a coffee shop there and getting fascinated with the building, he starts exploring about the past. People are hesitant in responding but eventually they whisper about the Armenian owners from a long time ago.
So I asked our university library and they kindly acquired the book. After I started reading I was a little bit skeptical about my decision. Maybe the interview had been sufficient and there was no need to read this book. I changed my mind after the first half or so was over.
The book starts by the claim that the Armenians were the economic power class prior to 1915 there and this was causing jealousy. This reminded me of something an Ankara friend had told me when we were in college. At that time the burgeoning industrial strength of Aintab was the talk of the day. My friend told me that it was because once there were Jews in the city from whom the locals had learned the trade. There is a story in this book around this line, o school kid observing Armenian textile shops in awe who was going to become the first westernized textile tycoon in the city. Yet especially after the Balkan wars the Turks get into the anxiety of being wiped out, Kurt says. This leads to the deportation etc.
The main claim the book makes is that the Muslim notables of the city were not passive in following the central governments policies in 1915 but they were active to complain about their peaceful neighbors so that eventually the central government sent these Armenians as well and the notables participated actively in their suffering and transferring their wealth on to themselves.
I asked many questions while reading it. Our papers are reviewed by a couple of reviewers at most and they basically trust us. When it comes to books like this who goes through all the reference checks? The opinions shared by some contemporary city dwellers, or a sentence from an unpublished phd thesis that anyone can say, do they count as serious sources? Who is aimed at as the reader? How can a person like me follow the details of so many laws and edicts? I can’t even differentiate between a commission and a committee.
However it gave me some ideas on why there had to be such laws, why the Lausanne peace treaty was handling very difficult problems. I will visit Gazlantep this October hopefully. But we need also books who should open up to healing. They could be in the form of writing alternative scenarios so that in similar situations that we hope not to occur we can think of alternative peaceful solutions. Or healing process now. I will continue reading on this topic.
So I asked our university library and they kindly acquired the book. After I started reading I was a little bit skeptical about my decision. Maybe the interview had been sufficient and there was no need to read this book. I changed my mind after the first half or so was over.
The book starts by the claim that the Armenians were the economic power class prior to 1915 there and this was causing jealousy. This reminded me of something an Ankara friend had told me when we were in college. At that time the burgeoning industrial strength of Aintab was the talk of the day. My friend told me that it was because once there were Jews in the city from whom the locals had learned the trade. There is a story in this book around this line, o school kid observing Armenian textile shops in awe who was going to become the first westernized textile tycoon in the city. Yet especially after the Balkan wars the Turks get into the anxiety of being wiped out, Kurt says. This leads to the deportation etc.
The main claim the book makes is that the Muslim notables of the city were not passive in following the central governments policies in 1915 but they were active to complain about their peaceful neighbors so that eventually the central government sent these Armenians as well and the notables participated actively in their suffering and transferring their wealth on to themselves.
I asked many questions while reading it. Our papers are reviewed by a couple of reviewers at most and they basically trust us. When it comes to books like this who goes through all the reference checks? The opinions shared by some contemporary city dwellers, or a sentence from an unpublished phd thesis that anyone can say, do they count as serious sources? Who is aimed at as the reader? How can a person like me follow the details of so many laws and edicts? I can’t even differentiate between a commission and a committee.
However it gave me some ideas on why there had to be such laws, why the Lausanne peace treaty was handling very difficult problems. I will visit Gazlantep this October hopefully. But we need also books who should open up to healing. They could be in the form of writing alternative scenarios so that in similar situations that we hope not to occur we can think of alternative peaceful solutions. Or healing process now. I will continue reading on this topic.
May 18, 2024
Academic book: well thought out, documented, and clearly stated concepts.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews