Armenian diaspora through the eyes of Turkish diplomats (1928-1939)

Until World War I, Armenians lived intensively in the Russian Empire, Iran and the Ottoman Empire. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Armenians migrated to other countries for various reasons, and a significant Armenian diaspora was formed in European countries and the USA, in addition to the Middle Eastern countries. Especially after the deportations within the Ottoman Empire, a new wave of migration increased the number of Armenian communities living in countries in Europe and Asia. In the 12-year period between 1914 and 1926 alone, the number of Armenian immigrants who emigrated to countries such as France, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Russia, the USA, South America, Bulgaria, Georgia and Greece exceeded five hundred thousand. On the eve of World War II, the Armenian diaspora was close to one million Armenians living in various foreign countries. These Armenians were able to integrate into different socio-cultural societies without disintegrating and disappearing despite the migrations in different periods, managed to establish various institutions and structures for this purpose, and constituted one of the rare diasporas in the world that can influence the decision-making mechanisms in the societies they live in. In this thesis, the situation and activities of the Armenian Diaspora between 1928 and 1939 will be revealed in the light of the correspondence of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Turkish diplomats working in embassies and consulates in many countries such as the USA, Russia, France, Belgium, Austria, Lebanon, Syria, Greece, etc. by using the documents of the Turkish Diplomatic Archive.