In pursuit of a solution for the decrease in the Armenian population in Turkey

In Turkey, population of non-Muslim peoples has been in decreasing for about a century. Once reaching to hundreds of thousands or even millions, the population is now tens of thousands at best. There are no scientific data concerning the population and demographic structure of non-Muslim peoples. This also contributes to the concern about the decrease. 

Last week, Samatya Surp Kevork High School Chairman Yesayi Demir provided information concerning the number of funeral and baptism ceremonies and stated that Armenians loses at least 500 people in a year. After this statement, the concerns came to the agenda again.

General Vicar of the Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, Bishop Sahag Maşalyan, Representative of Minority (Community) Foundations and Council Member of the Directorate General of Foundations Toros Alcan DDS PhD and Samatya Surp Kevork High School Chairman Yesayi Demir spoke to Agos about the concerns about the decreasing population.

Ateşyan: “Families should take precautions”

General Vicar of the Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateşyan declared the number of baptism, wedding and funeral ceremonies within the Armenian society last year: 268 baptisms, 155 weddings and 501 funerals.

Stating that he is always emphasizing this issue in his sermons, Ateşyan said:

“First of all, families should take precautions. Given that the parents don't send their children to our schools, choirs and foundation, this is an expected outcome. And our foundations should do something for appealing young people. The schools should provide education befitting to our society. There is nothing that our Patriarchate can do about this. We talk about this issue in our sermons. Foundations, choirs and schools should make effort. However, the most important thing is the effort of parents. They must raise their children as Armenian. They should teach our culture, history and faith to their children.”

Need for scientific studies

Representative of Minority (Community) Foundations and Council Member of the Directorate General of Foundations Toros Alcan DDS PhD pointed out that there is a chronic population decrease and said that there should be scientific studies in order to consider future possibilities. 

“The data concerning baptism and funeral ceremonies are important, but we need more scientific data. Looking at the numbers of one year doesn't provide scientific insight. We need a demographic study. We need information like occupational status, average of age, children per family and so on. We should consider the future possibilities through these data. There had been such studies in Armenia. We should do the same and work with sociologists.”

“We need population data akso for elections”

Alcan also pointed out that such information is needed also for elections.

"There is a chronic population decrease. Looking at the number of students, we can say that there is not a rapid decline, but there is a decrease indeed. We need to work with a team of professionals. Collecting and storing such information would lead to legal debates; we should also work for eliminating such concerns.

"As for population growth, we may consider the models in the world. There might be various encouraging efforts. For instance, people should be given support in child birth, if they don't have enough money for the hospital expenses. We already provide free education for our children with financial difficulties. I don't know if it would be enough for solving this problem for good, but we have to encourage people to have kids.”

Maşalyan: “People need support”

Bishop Sahag Maşalyan said that he is not in the position for giving lessons, but he can offer some recommendations.

“Our people decided to have fewer children because of social, cultural and economic reasons. Mixed marriage is not a great problem anymore. It's their decision to make, we can only remind the word of God. In secularized societies, with the trend of individualization, people learned to say, 'No one can interfere in my private life.' In this sense, we are not in the position for giving lessons, but can only offer some recommendations. Thus, the issue is a sociological one. The people tending to reproduce were the ones who came from Anatolia. They had 3 or more children, but now, people are urbanized. Mixed marriages combined with migration makes this outcome inevitable.”

Intellectuals should be engaged in this issue

Stating that some people want to have a lot of children even if rarely, Maşalyan said that Armenian society should support such families:

“What can be done? Some people want to have a lot of children even if rarely and we have to support them. This depends on economic organization of the society. I think that intellectuals, rather than clergy, should be engaged in this issue. As you know, when Erdoğan demanded 3 children from every family, secular circles reacted against him. A similar reaction could be directed to clergy as well. Thus, the intellectuals of our society should take initiative. For instance, there might be a panel discussion where people can express their ideas. In this way, our society can understand this is not only a religious issue and also a vital one. They can see that having three children has nothing to do with conservatism or bigotry.”

A tendency of Islamization

Stating that they are not able to reach all members of the society, Maşalyan also noted that there is a tendency of Islamization: “In Catholic Christian world, there is a population growth, whereas the population of Protestant Christians has been increasing. In Catholic Church, there is a reaction against population and birth control. And in Protestant Western countries, those are private, personal matters and it is commonly accepted that no one can say anything about such matters. All of these issues should be discussed. It is certain that there is a decrease in Armenian population and it is not only about birth/death rate. There is also migration and mixed marriage; and there is the tendency of Islamization, even if we are not aware of it. We are not able to reach all members of our society, so we don't know what happens in the places that we cannot reach. People convert to Islam through marriage or other reasons; this is another reason of the decrease.”

Yesayi Demir: “We have to find a solution with experts”

Yesayi Demir said that changing life conditions also affect the Armenian society.

“We can achieve population growth by resisting the devotion to modern life. We should organize both religiously and socially in order to make our people understand this. In a family, in a society, reproduction is what makes people happy. However, in our modern society, women have to work. Urbanization, life conditions and various difficulties affect us, just like they affect anybody. Thus, I think that people should compromise. We have to consult our experts for organizing in order to solve this problem.”