Religious Affiliation and the Armenian Diaspora in the Middle East

Abstract

This chapter is about the history of the Armenian community and its first exilic and then transnational Diaspora. We make use of relevant historic literature and introduce, within a comparativistic theoretical framework, a similar situation involving Diasporic Armenian communities. Armenian history, mostly narrated through events tracing back their roots to the Kingdom of Cilicia, will be contextualized by reference to both Asia Minor and the Arab peninsula. Emphasis will be placed in order to introduce the “Turkish Factor”. Attention will be also put on the historical role played by the Armenian Church as a transnational organization. Then Armenian population geographical distribution before and during the Genocide will be analysed. Middle Eastern deportation roots will later serve to assess the perceptions of contemporary Armenian communities dwelling in Syria.