The Aydinians: A Catholic Family Between Ankara and Istanbul

Abstract

Throughout history, Armenians, ancient peoples of Anatolia, lived either in vassal states of large empires such as Iran and the East Roman Empire or under their oppression when they were independent. A relatively peaceful historical period was under the 900 years of Turkish rule. In fact, Armenians rose to high levels of state during the Ottoman period and had a say in the state administration. There has been numerous research on Armenians living within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire; however, there are few that specifically focus on the Armenians of Ankara. One of main reasons for this lack of research is that, other than Ottoman records and memoirs of Western travelers who visited Ankara, there is only a small number of sources. The story of the Aydinians, who lived in Ankara between 1828-1920, gives us valuable information about the socio-economic status, belief forms, social and cultural lives of the Armenians of Ankara in the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century. Letters of Hagop Aydinian, who was in Ankara in 1920-1924, to his family in Istanbul gives us the opportunity to examine the attitude of Ankara’s Armenian community towards the declaration of Republic.

Keywords

• aydinian family
• armenian catholic
• ankara’s armenian communities
• mohair trade
• armanian tax farmer
• ankara