The ATLAS Blog is dedicated to the exploration of Armeno-Turkish texts and reflects the growing interest in the role of Armeno-Turkish writing as a medium that encapsulated the cultural, linguistic, and intellectual exchanges within the Ottoman Empire.
Armeno-Turkish documents late 19th and early 20th century
Kübra Uygur (Brunel University of London)
Armeno-Turkish in the Multiscriptural Landscape of the Ottoman Empire
Throughout its history, the Ottoman Empire encompassed a diverse array of ethnic groups, linguistic communities, and religious affiliations, including Arabs, Arameans, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Kurds, Roma, Slavs, and Turks, among others. Each of these communities contributed to a vibrant and interwoven cultural legacy, producing texts in numerous languages and scripts. Reflecting this diversity, Ottoman society was not only multiethnic, multireligious, and multilingual but also multiscriptural. Ottoman Turkish, for example, appeared not only in Arabic script but was also written in Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Armenian characters.
Within this rich heritage, Armeno-Turkish medium—writing Turkish in Armenian script, or Dačkerēn/Տաճկերէն—holds a distinct place in Ottoman literary and cultural history. While Armeno-Turkish manuscripts date back to the fourteenth century, printed Armeno-Turkish works began emerging in the eighteenth century and continued until the 1960s. These texts spanned a wide range of formats, genres, and topics, including religious works, poetry, novels, dictionaries, theatre, folk literature, legal texts, and newspapers.[1] The extensive corpus of Armeno-Turkish literature comprises several hundred manuscripts and over 2,000 printed books, produced across 50 countries and over 200 publishing houses. Additionally, more than 120 Armeno-Turkish periodicals were published between 1840 and 1940.[2]
Among the Ottoman Empire’s multiscriptural traditions, Armeno-Turkish became one of the most widespread, largely due to its accessibility for Armenian communities who primarily spoke Turkish but were not literate in Arabic script. Its prominence grew significantly in the 19th century during the Tanzimat era (1839-1876), a time when modernisation efforts, the expansion of the printing press, and the rise of a literate middle class converged to encourage widespread publication. The surge in Armeno-Turkish publications from this period reflects the Armenian community’s active engagement in the Ottoman Empire’s cultural and political discourses, establishing Armeno-Turkish as a vital literary medium that shaped both Armenian and Ottoman intellectual spheres.
The Scholarly Evolution of Armeno-Turkish Studies
Early scholarship on Armeno-Turkish writing was limited, with much of this literary tradition marginalised or overlooked within both Ottoman and Armenian studies. However, over time, Armeno-Turkish texts have gradually gained recognition as a vital part of both fields, and research in this area has expanded. This section provides a concise overview of selected works rather than offering a detailed literature review, that readers can explore further through the footnotes.
Studies in the field of Armeno-Turkish initially focused on cataloguing and identifying texts highlighting religious works, poetry, novels, and periodicals along with the publishers and printing presses.[3] Some foundational studies laid the groundwork for future exploration by bringing attention to this body of work as a window into the complex linguistic and cultural dynamics of the late Ottoman Empire. The evolving understanding of Armeno-Turkish literature has revealed its central role in the empire’s literary ecosystem, challenging earlier national narratives that placed these texts at the margins of cultural production.[4]
In the past decade, scholarly attention on Armeno-Turkish literature has grown significantly, producing an expanding body of research that highlights the cross-cultural exchanges that shaped the Ottoman world, indicating how Armenian and Ottoman identities intertwined within shared intellectual and cultural spaces. This scholarship has demonstrated how Armeno-Turkish writing transcended national and linguistic boundaries, establishing it as a crucial component of the Ottoman literary and intellectual landscape. Scholars have shown that these texts served not only as channels of communication between Armenian and Turkish-speaking communities but also as influential forces in shaping communal identities within the Ottoman imperial framework. Research has also emphasised the critical role that newspapers and periodicals played in the 19th century as platforms for intellectual and political discourse, fostering dialogue on social, political, and cultural issues. Through these platforms, Armeno-Turkish writing emerged as more than a linguistic adaptation; it became a significant vehicle for cultural and intellectual exchange, addressing both community-specific concerns and broader imperial dynamics within the complex sociopolitical landscape of the Ottoman Empire.[5] As scholarship has shifted beyond traditional national or linguistic frameworks, recognition of the hybrid nature of Armeno-Turkish writings has become central, with studies increasingly positioning Armeno-Turkish literature within both Armenian and Ottoman traditions. This approach has enriched perspectives on cultural interaction in the Ottoman Empire, indicating how these texts traverse conventional boundaries. As research continued to expand, critiques of the earlier hybridity framework have emerged, advocating for interpretations that view Armeno-Turkish texts as integral to a deeply interconnected Ottoman intellectual landscape.[6] This shift has repositioned these texts within the broader Ottoman discourse, opening new avenues for study and highlighting their interdisciplinary relevance. Recent studies, for instance, have drawn on Armeno-Turkish newspapers to examine themes in business history and cosmopolitanism within Ottoman Istanbul, demonstrating these texts’ contributions to diverse areas of historical research through an interdisciplinary approach.[7]
Recent advancements in the digitisation of manuscripts and printed works, along with the development of standardised transcription methods for Turkish texts in Armenian script, have significantly facilitated the integration of Armeno-Turkish texts into broader Ottoman Turkish studies. These tools have provided scholars with a systematic approach to exploring the depth and complexity of this corpus.[8]
Armeno-Turkish studies have grown from a niche interest into a dynamic and expanding field, with scholars worldwide contributing to a richer understanding of the linguistic and cultural history of Ottoman Armenians. In recent decades, numerous MA and PhD dissertations have explored Armeno-Turkish texts, with a noteworthy concentration emerging from Turkey. [9] This trend is particularly significant, as Armeno-Turkish literature has historically been excluded from Turkish national literary histories, creating a gap that recent scholarship is beginning to address. This expanding body of research challenges conventional views on national and linguistic boundaries, revealing the complex multicultural and multilinguistic dynamics of the Ottoman Empire. The interdisciplinary nature of Armeno-Turkish texts enriches fields such as Ottoman studies, Armenian studies, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, and literary theory. These texts engage with contemporary discourses on multiculturalism, minority literatures, press and public opinion, public sphere and the preservation of linguistic diversity. The mixed nature of Armeno-Turkish literature emphasises the fluidity of identity and cultural boundaries, offering a historical perspective on modern discussions around marginalised communities and diasporic identities.
Further Research Avenues
Although Armeno-Turkish studies have garnered increased scholarly interest, substantial gaps persist, particularly in areas where interdisciplinary research could offer deeper insights. Studies that examine the specific social and economic conditions influencing Armeno-Turkish print culture—such as the role of Armenian publishers, financial networks, and denominational conflicts within Ottoman Armenian communities—could illuminate the motivations and challenges faced by publishers. Comparative analyses between Armeno-Turkish and other Ottoman multiscriptural practices, such as Karamanlidika or Judeo-Turkish, would further offer valuable insights into shared cultural frameworks within the empire. Additionally, an exploration of Armeno-Turkish periodicals as platforms for political discourse would deepen our understanding of their influence on public opinion and communal identity. Cross-examinations of different publishers, missionary activities, and internal community politics—set against both the internal dynamics of the Ottoman Armenian communities and the broader imperial framework—could reveal the complex interactions between religious, social, and political forces. Such studies would not only enrich our understanding of the Ottoman Armenian community’s engagement with the Ottoman state but would also highlight the role of Armeno-Turkish texts in shaping both intra-communal relations and broader imperial dynamics.
Furthermore, the educational role of Armeno-Turkish literature offers another important avenue for exploration. While commonly associated with religious instruction, the Armeno-Turkish corpus includes a broad array of secular schoolbooks and textbooks. Research could investigate how Armeno-Turkish served as a mediating language in educational settings, where vernacular languages intersected, shaping communal and educational practices across religious groups.
Armeno-Turkish’s linguistic diversity, particularly its use of Western Armenian pronunciation and local dialects, presents another area for in-depth analysis. Studying orthographic variations and how Armeno-Turkish text production displayed inconsistent orthography could shed light on the standardisation and evolution of vernacular languages in response to sociopolitical changes.
Another valuable area of research lies in the comparative study of Armeno-Turkish transliterations based on intermediary translations. Many literary works, originally written in French or German, were first translated into Armenian and subsequently published in Armeno-Turkish. Comparative analyses of these texts—examining both the Armenian version and its Armeno-Turkish transliteration—could reveal nuanced differences in interpretation, adaptation, and cultural transmission.
Finally, applying digital humanities methods to the Armeno-Turkish corpus could enhance accessibility and analytical depth, offering innovative ways to visualise linguistic and thematic patterns. Expanding research in these areas would not only fill existing gaps but also position Armeno-Turkish studies as central to broader enquiries into identity, language, and culture in the Ottoman Empire and beyond.
[1] Haig Berbérian, “La Littérature Arméno-Turque,” in Philologiae Turcica Fundamenta, vol. 1, edited by Louiz Bazin et al., 809–819. Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1964; Ardashes Kardashian, Matenagitutʻiwn Hayataṛ Ōtar Lezwov Tpagir Girkʻeru. Paris: Hratarakutʻiwn “Ṛubēn Sewak” Mshakutʻayin Himnarki, 1987; Rober Koptaş, “Ermeni Harfleriyle Türkçe,” in Kevork Pamukciyan, Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Metinler (-Ermeni Kaynaklarından Tarihe Katkılar –II), XI–XIII. Istanbul: Aras Yayıncılık, 2002; Hasmik Stepanyan. Ts‘uts‘ak hayeren dzeṛagreri hayataṛ turkʻeren nyuteri ev hayataṛ turkʻeren dzeṛagreri (Catalogue of Armeno-Turkish materials of Armenian manuscripts and Armeno-Turkish manuscripts). Yerevan: Published by the author, 2008.
[2] Hasmik Stepanyan, Hayataṛ turkʻeren grakanut’yuně. Yerevan: Institute of Oriental Studies, National Academy of Sciences, 2023.
[3] Hasmik Stepanyan, Hayataṛ turkʻeren grkʻeri ev hayataṛ turkʻeren parberakan mamuli matenagitutʻyun (1727–1968)-Ermeni harfli Türkçe kitaplar ve süreli yayınlar bibliyografyası: (1727–1968) (Istanbul: Turkuaz Yayınları, 2005); Zakarya Mildanoğlu, Ermenice süreli yayınlar 1794–2000 (Istanbul: Aras Yayıncılık, 2014); Tēotig [Teotoros Lapçinciyan], Baskı ve Harf: Ermeni Matbaacılık Tarihi, trans. Sirvart Malhasyan and Arlet Incidüzen (Istanbul: Birzamanlar Yayıncılık, 2012; first published 1912 in Armenian); Garo Aprahamyan, “A Note on Sdepanyan’s Bibliography of Armeno-Turkish Periodicals,” in Cultural Encounters in the Turkish-Speaking Communities of the Late Ottoman Empire, ed. Evangelia Balta, 303–310 (Istanbul: The ISIS Press, 2014); Garo Aprahamyan, “A Note on the Bibliographic Catalogues of Armeno-Turkish Literature,” in Between Religion and Language: Turkish-Speaking Christians, Jews and Greek-Speaking Muslims and Catholics in the Ottoman Empire, ed. Evangelia Balta and Mehmet Ölmez, 147–152 (Istanbul: Eren Yayınları, 2011); Kevork Pamukciyan, Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Metinler (Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Metinler: Ermeni Kaynaklarından Tarihe Katkılar II) (Istanbul: Aras Yayıncılık, 2000); Kevork Pamukciyan, Ermeni Kaynaklarından Tarihe Katkılar, vol. 4 (Istanbul: Aras Yayıncılık, 2003).
[4] Selected works for further reading: Johann Strauss, “Who Read What in the Ottoman Empire (19th–20th Centuries)?” Middle Eastern Literatures 6, no. 1 (January 1, 2003): 39–76; Johann Strauss, “Préface,” in L’histoire d’Akabi: le premier roman turc (1851), écrit en ottoman avec des caractères arméniens, by Vartanian Hovsèp, translated and presented by Haïk Der Haroutiounian, IX–XVII. Paris: Société des études arméniennes, 2018; Johann Strauss, “Is Karamanli Literature Part of a ‘Christian-Turkish (Turco-Christian) Literature?’” in Cries and Whispers in Karamanlidika Books. Proceedings of the First International Conference on Karamanlidika Studies (Nicosia, 11th–13th September 2008), edited by Evangelia Balta and Matthias Kappler, 153–200. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2010; Evangelia Balta and Mehmet Ölmez, eds. Between Religion and Language: Turkish-Speaking Christians, Jews and Greek-Speaking Muslims and Catholics in the Ottoman Empire: Karamanlidika, Armeno-Turkish, Hebrew-Turkish, and Aljamiado Texts in the Ottoman Empire. Istanbul: Eren Yayınları, 2011; Laurent Mignon, Uncoupling Language and Religion: An Exploration into the Margins of Turkish Literature.Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2021; Laurent Mignon, “A Pilgrim’s Progress: Armenian and Kurdish Literatures in Turkish and the Rewriting of Literary History.” Patterns of Prejudice 48, no. 2 (2014): 182–200; Laurent Mignon, “Lost in Transliteration: A Few Remarks on the Armeno-Turkish Novel and Turkish Literary Historiography.” In Between Religion and Language: Turkish-Speaking Christians, Jews and Greek-Speaking Muslims and Catholics in the Ottoman Empire, edited by Evangelia Balta and Mehmet Ölmez, 111–123. Istanbul: Eren Yayınları, 2011; Murat Cankara, “Comparative Glimpse of the Early Steps of Novelistic Imagination in Turkish: Armeno-Turkish Novels of the 1850s and 1860s,” in Routledge Handbook on Turkish Literature, edited by Didem Z. Havlioğlu, 198–208. London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2023; Günil Özlem Cebe Ayaydın, “Viçen Tilkiyan Hakkında Bilgilerimize Ekler ve Osmanlı Edebiyat Piyasasında Taktikler.” Nesir: Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi 4 (2023): 71–109; Edith Gülçin Ambros, Hülya Çelik, and Ani Sargsyan, “Intertwined Literatures: Karamanlı, Armeno-Turkish, and Regular Ottoman Versions of the Köroğlu Folktale,” in Literary and Cultural Crossroads in the Late Ottoman Empire, edited by Evangelia Balta, 1–54. Istanbul: Boyut, 2024.
[5] Selected works for further reading: Murat Cankara, “Rethinking Ottoman Cross-Cultural Encounters: Turks and the Armenian Alphabet,” Middle Eastern Studies 51, no. 1 (2015): 1–16; Murat Cankara, “Reading Akabi, (Re-)Writing History: On the Questions of Currency and Interpretation of Armeno-Turkish Fiction,” in Cultural Encounters in the Turkish-Speaking Communities of the Late Ottoman Empire, ed. Evangelia Balta, 53–75 (Istanbul: The ISIS Press, 2014); Sebouh D. Aslanian, “Prepared in the Language of the Hagarites: Abbot Mkhitar’s 1727 Armeno-Turkish Grammar of Modern Western,” Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies 25 (2016): 54–86; Bedros Der Matossian, “The Development of Armeno-Turkish (Hayatar T‘rk‘erēn) in the 19th Century Ottoman Empire: Marking and Crossing Ethnoreligious Boundaries,” Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 1, no. 1 (2019):1–34; Bedross Der-Mattossian, “Representing the 1909 Adana Massacres in Armeno Turkish: Garabed Artinian and the Case for a Historical Reading,” International Journal of Armenian Genocide Studies 8, no. 1 (2023): 5-50; Masayuki Ueno, “One Script, Two Languages: Garabed Panosian and His Armeno-Turkish Newspapers in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire,” Middle Eastern Studies 52, no. 4 (2016): 605–22; Murat Cankara, “Çifte Maduniyet, Çifte İşlev: Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Basında Dil ve Kimlik,” İlef Dergisi 2, no. 2 (2015): 105–130; Kübra Uygur and Yıldız Deveci Bozkuş, “1863 Ermeni Milleti Nizamnamesi’nin Yansımalarını Varaka-i Havadis Üzerinden Okumak,” Ankara Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi 13, no. 1 (February 2, 2022): 94–104; Hülya Eraslan and Doğanay Eryilmaz, “Turkish Edition of Ceride-i Havadis in Armenian Letters,” Erciyes İletişim Dergisi 9, no. 2 (July 22, 2022): 931–49.
[6] Selected works for further reading: Murat Cankara, “Armeno-Turkish Writing and the Question of Hybridity,” in An Armenian Mediterranean: Words and Worlds in Motion, ed. Kathryn Babayan and Michael Pifer, 173–192 (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); Kubra Uygur, “Understanding a Hybrid Print Media and its Influence on Public Opinion: The Case of Armeno-Turkish Periodical Press in the Ottoman Empire, 1850–1875” (Unpublished PhD diss., University of Birmingham UK, 2021); Aram Ghoogasian, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Armeno-Turkish,” Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association 9, no. 1 (November 1, 2022): 319–23.
[7] Kubra Uygur, Cagri Yalkin, and Selcuk Uygur, “Market-making Strategies in Tanzimat Era Istanbul: The Quest for an Elusive Cosmopolitanism,” Business History, (November 30, 2023): 1–31.
[8] Selected works for further reading: Hülya Çelik and Ani Sargsyan, “Introducing Transcription Standards for Armeno-Turkish Literary Studies,” DIYÂR 3, no. 2 (January 1, 2022): 161–89; Aysu Akcan, Hülya Çelik, Yavuz Köse, and Ani Sargsyan. “Digital Preservation, Publishing, and HTR of Armeno-Turkish Manuscripts, Printed Books, and Newspapers from the Mekhitarist Congregation in Vienna (MEKHITAR),” Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association 9, no. 2 (2022): 67–75.
[9] Selected dissertations for further reading: Erkan Erğinci. “Öteki metinler, öteki kadınlar: Ermeni harfli Türkçe romanlar ve kadın imgesi / The Other Texts, the Other Women: Turkish Novels in Armenian Scripts and the Image of Women in These Works.” MA thesis, Bilkent University, 2007; Murat Cankara. “İmparatorluk ve roman: Ermeni harfli Türkçe romanları Osmanlı Türk edebiyat tarih yazımında konumlandırmak / Empire and Novel: Placing Armeno-Turkish Novels in Ottoman Turkish Literary Historiography.” PhD diss., Bilkent University, 2011; Günil Özlem Ayaydın Cebe. “19. yüzyılda Osmanlı toplumu ve basılı Türkçe edebiyat: etkileşimler, değişimler, çeşitlilik.” PhD diss., Bilkent University, 2009; Pınar Karakılçık. “Hovsep H. Kurbanyan’ın “İki Kapu Yoldaşları Yahod Hakku Adaletin Zahiri”si, 1885, İkinci Cilt (İnceleme, Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Metin, Dizin).” MA thesis, Marmara University, 2011; Aysel Güneş. “Hovhannes Balıkcıyan’ın Karnig, Gülünya ve Dikran’ın Dehşetlu Vefatleri hikayesi ile Hovsep Maruş’un -Bir Sefil Zevce- isimli Ermeni harfli Türkçe romanları (İnceleme-metin-dizin) / The Turkish Novels Karnig, Gülünya ve Dikran’in Dehşetlu Vefatleri Hikayesi by Hovhannes Balıkcıyan and Bir Sefil Zevce by Hovsep Marus in Armenian Script (Review-Texts-Directory and Glossary).” PhD diss., Marmara University, 2015; Ömer Delikgöz. “Tanzimat dönemi Türk romanı ve Ermeni harfli Türkçe romanda kimlik / Identity in Turkish Novels of the Tanzimat Period and in Armeno-Turkish Novels.” MA thesis, Istanbul University, 2016; Sidar Zeynep Ergen. “Son dönem Osmanlı yemek kültüründe Ermeni mutfağının katkısı: Ermeni harfli Türkçe yemek kitapları / The Contribution of Armenian Cuisine to Late Ottoman Food Culture: Cookbooks in Ottoman Turkish in Armenian Script.” MA thesis, Istanbul Bilgi University, 2016; Ayla Kandemir. “Ermeni harfli “İnciler” isimli Türkçe dua kitabının Türk latin alfabesine aktarımı ve ses bilgisi / Transcription to Turkish Latin Alphabet and Phonology of the Turkish Prayer Book Written with Armenian Letters, “Koharner.” MA thesis, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University, 2016; Berna Sert. “19. yüzyıla ait Ermeni harfli Türkçe “Agnes veya Ney Çalan Kızcağız” hikayesi (çeviriyazı, aktarma, inceleme, gramatikal dizin, tıpkıbasım) / Turkish in Armenian Letters from the 19th Century: “Agnes veya Ney Çalan Kızcağız” Hikayesi (Transcription, Translation, Examination, Grammatical Index, Facsimile).” MA thesis, Ordu University, 2021; Büşranur Yücel. “Ermeni harfli Türkçe “Gülinya Yahod Kendi Görünmeyerek Herkesi Gören Bir Kız” adlı eserin halkbilimsel açıdan değerlendirilmesi / Evaluation of the Work “Gülinya Yahod Kendi Görünmeyerek Herkesi Gören Bir Kız” in Turkish with Armenian Letters from a Folklore Perspective.” MA thesis, Istanbul University, 2022; Furkan Dirican. “Vartan Paşa (1816-1879) ve Ermeni harfli Türkçe matbuat / Vartan Pasha (1816-1879) and Armeno-Turkish Literature.” MA thesis, Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University, 2024; Arif Tapan. “Reading Armeno-Turkish Novels Narratologically in the Context of the Nineteenth-Century Modern Ottoman Novel: Akabi Hikayesi and Bir Sefil Zevce / Ermeni Harfli Türkçe Romanları On Dokuzuncu Yüzyıl Modern Osmanlı Romanı Bağlamında Anlatıbilimsel Olarak Okumak: Akabi Hikayesi ve Bir Sefil Zevce.” MA thesis, Istanbul Şehir University, 2018.
