The Armenians in Syria are Syrian citizens of either full or partial Armenian descent.
Syria and the surrounding areas have often served as a refuge for Armenians who fled from wars and persecutions such as the Armenian genocide. However, there has been an Armenian presence in the region since the Byzantine era.
According to the Ministry of Diaspora of Armenia, the estimated number of Armenians in Syria is 100,000, with more than 60,000 of them centralized in Aleppo. With other estimates by Armenian foundations in Syria putting the number around 70–80,000. However, since the start of the conflict, 16,623 Syrian citizens of ethnic Armenian background have arrived in Armenia. Of these displaced persons, 13,000 remained and found protection in Armenia as of July 2015. The government is offering several protection options including simplified naturalization by Armenian descent (15,000 persons acquired Armenian citizenship), accelerated asylum procedures and facilitated short, mid and long-term residence permits.
According to Hranush Hakobyan by 2016 only 15,000 Armenians were left in Syria and the rest have been settled in Armenia or Nagorno-Karabakh, with another 8,000 having left for Lebanon, and others going to destinations including Europe, the United States and Canada. However, Armenian foundations in Syria estimate around 35,000 are left based on rough estimates, including a method which multiplies the number of students enrolled in Armenian minority schools by 3 or 4, since minors would only take up around 25–30% of an age pyramid.
The Syrian border villages of Kessab and Yakubiyah had Armenian majorities prior to the civil war. Kessab was attacked and looted by Islamist Syrian rebels who were given safe passage by Turkey through Turkish land, though they were later expelled by the Syrian Army. Yacubiyah, which was a mixed Armenian-Catholic town, saw its Armenian population fleeing for fear of violence while the Catholics stayed behind according to local residents.
In 2018 Professor John Shoup said that the Armenian population in Syria formed about 2% of the country's total population, making them the fifth largest ethnic group in the country.
History
Early history During ancient times, there was a small Armenian presence in northern Syria. Under Tigranes the Great, Armenians invaded Syria and the city of Antioch was chosen as one of the four capitals of the short-lived Armenian Empire.
In 301, Christianity became the official religion of Armenia through the efforts of Saint Gregory the Illuminator. Armenian merchants and pilgrims started to visit the earliest Christian centres of the region of Syria including Antioch, Edessa, Nisibis and Jerusalem. Close relations were established between the Armenians and the Christian congregations of Syria after the apostolic era.
Middle Ages
During the first half of the 7th century, Armenia was conquered by the Arab Islamic Caliphate. Thousands of Armenians were carried into slavery by the Arab invaders to serve in other regions of the Umayyad Caliphate including their capital Damascus in the Muslim-controlled Syria.Kurkjian, Vahan M.A History of Armenia hosted by The University of Chicago. New York: Armenian General Benevolent Union of America, 1958 pp. 173–185
During the 2nd half of the 11th century, Armenia -being under the Byzantine rule- was conquered by the Seljuq Turks. Waves of Armenians left their homeland in order to settle in more stable countries. Most Armenians established themselves in Cilicia where they founded the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Many other Armenians have preferred to settle in northern Syria. Armenian quarters were formed during the 11th century in Antioch, Aleppo, Ayntab, Marash, Kilis, etc.
Prior to the Siege of Antioch, most Armenians were expelled from Antioch by the Turkish governor of the city Yaghi-Siyan, a move that prompted the Armenians of Antioch, and the rulers of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia to establish close relations with the European Crusades rather than the mostly-Turkish rulers of Syria. Thus, the new rulers of Antioch became the Europeans. Armenian engineers also helped the Crusaders during the Siege of Tyre by manipulating siege engines.
However, the Armenian population of Syria and its surrounding areas has greatly diminished after the invasion of the Mongols under Hulagu Khan in 1260.
After the decline of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the 14th century, a new wave of Armenian migrants from the Cilician and other towns of northern Syria arrived in Aleppo. They have gradually developed their own schools and churches to become a well-organized community during the 15th century with the establishment of the Armenian Diocese of Beroea in Aleppo.
Ottoman Syria
During the early years of the Ottoman rule over Syria, there was relatively smaller Armenian presence in northern Syria due to the military conflicts in the region. A larger community existed in Urfa which is considered part of the region of Syria. The Ottoman Empire had a large indigenous Armenian population in its Eastern Anatolia region, from where some Armenians moved to Aleppo in search of economic opportunity. Later on, many Armenian families moved from Western Armenia to Aleppo escaping the Turkish oppression. Thus, large numbers of Armenians from Arapgir, Sasun, Hromgla, Zeitun, Marash and New Julfa arrived in Aleppo during the 17th century. Another wave of migrants from Karin arrived in Aleppo in 1737. There were also families from Yerevan.Aztag Daily, 10 February 2000, article edited by Mania Ghazarian and Ashod Sdepanian
Armenian population increased in Aleppo. By the end of the 19th century, the Mazloumian family established the "Ararat hotel" that became a renowned international establishment and renamed Baron Hotel.
Under the Ottomans, Syrians and many other ethnic groups lived in a religious and culturally pluralist society, with each community exercising a degree of local autonomy:
Under the Ottomans, the area known today as Syria hadn't been a single entity but rather a collection of "wilayats," or provinces, that at times included areas of modern-day Lebanon and Israel. Nor was the population homogenous. The wilayats of Ottoman Syria each comprised an array of ethnicities, cultural identifications and economic structures. After 400 years of rule under the Ottomans, certain particularities of the political system became ingrained. In modern-day Syria before the civil war, cities were divided into culturally distinct quarters: one where you would find the Armenians, another populated by Assyrians. I especially remember the Kurdish markets, where vendors would come dressed in their bright colors to sell fruits and vegetables from the countryside.
In fact, the way in which Syria was governed reinforced the autonomy of these distinct ethnic and religious communities. The Ottomans enforced a policy of pluralism, intended to appease different nations and quell the rise of nationalist movements, in which Jews, Christians and Muslims were all empowered to assert their own identities and therefore had no need to vie for power. Each religious community, known as a "millet," had a representative in Istanbul and was allowed to organize its own affairs, including its people's education, social services and charities and even some of the legal standards by which they lived. The millet controlled all internal disputes such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and the distribution and collection of taxes. The residue of this community-specific system remained in modern Syria; for example, everyone knew you went to the Armenian quarter to get your silver.
Armenian genocide and the 20th century
Although the Armenians have had a long history in Syria, most arrived there during the Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire. The main killing fields of Armenians were located in the Syrian desert surrounding Deir ez-Zor (Euphrates Valley). During the genocide, more than a million Armenians were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced from historic Armenia. The native Arabs in addition to the Armenian community of 10,000 in Aleppo came together to aid the deportees, with the Armenian Apostolic Church in Aleppo initially providing improvised support for the newcomers. They did not hesitate to shelter and support persecuted Armenians. Arabs and Armenians have traditionally had good relations, especially after they sheltered the Armenians during the Armenian genocide. There was also a minor Arab genocide in Anatolia at the same time, which meant they had affinity with one another.
Aleppo's large Christian population swelled with the influx of Armenian and Assyrian Christian refugees during the early 20th-century and after the Armenian genocide and Assyrian genocide of 1915. After the arrival of the first groups of Armenian refugees coming from the death camps in Deir ez Zor and historic Armenia (1915–1922) the population of Aleppo in 1922 counted 156,748 of whom Muslims were 97,600 (62.26%), native Christians -mostly Catholics- 22,117 (14.11%), Jews 6,580 (4.20%), Europeans 2,652 (1.70%), Armenian refugees 20,007 (12.76%) and others 7,792 (4.97%).Alepppo in One Hundred Years 1850–1950, vol.3-page 26, 1994 Aleppo. Authors: Mohammad Fuad Ayntabi and Najwa OthmanThe Golden River in the History of Aleppo, (), vol.1 (1922) page 256, published in 1991, Aleppo. Author: Sheikh Kamel Al-Ghazzi
Armenian refugees were faced with some degree of resistance from Syrian nationalists. Some saw their arrival as a demographic change that could reshape Syria’s social structure. Moreover, upon the arrival of Armenians, they faced an unenthusiastic reaction from their co-ethics “Arman al-Qadim” (Old Armenians), which was a wealthy established community in Syria, and they feared that their fellow ethnics would affect their status amongst Syrian authorities and ruin their reputation. Some Old Armenians, already integrated into Syrian society, viewed the refugees as a potential burden or a disruption to their existing way of life. Once it became clear to others that the refugees fled to Syria to rebuild and reconstruct their community, they became idealized as a highly regarded minority group. While the newcomers began integrating into Aleppo, they started to build private schools, such as Karen Jeppe Private High School, which was initially founded in 1947 by a Danish missionary on the grounds of a nursing home. The emerging educational and cultural institutions proved the resilience of diaspora Armenians.
The second period of Armenian flow towards Aleppo was marked by the withdrawal of the French troops from Cilicia in 1923.The Golden River in the History of Aleppo (), vol.3 (1925) pages 449–450, published in 1991, Aleppo. Author: Sheikh Kamel Al-Ghazzi That wave brought more than 40,000 Armenian refugees to Aleppo between 1923 and 1925, and the population of the city skyrocketed up to 210,000 by the end of 1925, with Armenians forming more than 25% of the population.
Armenians in Syria found a new home, where they built one of the most substantial diasporas in existence. They are considered one of the largest Armenian communities outside of Armenia, with an estimated 70,000 individuals. Aleppo was one of the leading centers of Syria to host Armenians and let them build their communities, churches, and schools. By 1923, 200,000 Armenians had passed through Aleppo, establishing a strong Middle Eastern community where Armenians could flee. However, many were also concentrated in other cities and villages, including Damascus, Jarablus, Der Zor, Qamishli, Latakia, Homs, Hama, and Kessab. In Aleppo alone, ten Armenian schools were built to serve the community and preserve the Armenian identity amongst foreigners.