An Armenian church in Istanbul has submitted a request to the Turkish Interior Ministry for a list of persons designated as Armenians in the Turkish bureaucratic system.
The request comes in light of a report in the weekly Agos that as a result of a newly self-identified Armenian presenting a school application, it was revealed that official documents bear codes categorizing non-Muslim citizens: Greeks are coded 1, Armenians 2, Jews 3, Assyrians 4, non-nationals 5.
Nazar Ozsahakyan, chairman of the Boyacikoy Surp Yerits Mangants Armenian Church Foundation, requested the list from the Ministry’s General Directorate of Civil Registration and Nationality, explaining that they could use these lists as voter lists in upcoming church elections.
Agos editor and Surp Yerits Mangants Sayat Nova choir member Pakrat Estukyan said in an interview with CivilNet that these lists will make it possible for Armenians from all over the city to participate in the election of seven members to the church foundation. He added that the elections are likely to take place in approximately two years’ time.
Estukyan added that the Ministry is obliged to respond. He said the Armenian community suspected some kind of ethnic bureaucratic “profiling” existed, but was not certain until this recent revelation in Agos.
