The Armenians of Cyprus

Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra katoomba@cytanet.com.cy

here is a long link between the Armenians and Cyprus, possibly dating back to the 5th century BC. However, the real history of the Armenian community on the island began in 578 AD: campaigning against the Persian King Chosroes I, General Maurice the Cappadocian captured 10.090 Armenians as prisoners in Arzanene (Aghdznik), of whom about 3.350 were transferred to Cyprus. Judging by the strategic position of the colonies they established (Armenokhori, Arminou, Kornokipos, Patriki, Platani, Spathariko and perhaps Mousere), it is very likely that these Armenians served Byzantium as mercenary soldiers and frontiersmen.

said to have studied. Of the three Armenian churches of Famagusta, only Ganchvor survives, built in 1346. By 1425 the renowned Magaravank - originally the Coptic monastery of Saint Makarios near Halevga was given to the Armenians, while sometime before 1504 the Benedictine nunnery of Notre Dame de Tyre (Sourp Asdvadzadzin) in Nicosia came under Armenian possession. During the Latin Era, there was also a small number of Armenian Catholics in Cyprus. During the occupation of the island by the Ottomans (1570-1571), about 40.000 Ottoman Armenian craftsmen were recruited. Many of the ones who survived the conquest settled mainly in Nicosia, while the Armenian Prelature was recognised as an Ethnarchy (Azkayin Ishkhanoutiun). The Bishopric in Famagusta was abolished, as the entire walled city became forbidden for non-Muslims until the early years of the British Era. However, before long the number of Armenians dramatically declined due to the onerous taxation and the harshness of the Ottoman administration, compelling many Christians to become Linobambaki (Crypto-Christians) or to embrace Islam; a few became Catholics through marriage with affluent Latin families. Gifted with the acumen of industry, Armenians practised lucrative professions and in the beginning of the 17th century Persian Armenians settled here as silk traders. During the Tanzimat period (1839-1876), some improvements were observed, resulting to the participation of the Armenian Bishop in the Administrative Council (meclis idare) and the employment of some Armenians in the civil service. Additionally, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 benefited the Armenians and other merchants of the island. Throughout the Ottoman Era (1571-1878), the vast majority of the Armenian population of Cyprus had been Armenian Orthodox, although there is mention of a small Armenian Catholic community in Larnaca. Historically, the Armenian Prelature of Cyprus has been under the jurisdiction of the Catholicosate of Cilicia; however, for various reasons, it was at times under the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (1759-1775, 1800-1812, 1861-1864, 1908-1926), the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem (1775-1800, 1812-1837, 1888-1908), even the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin (1864-1888). Of the three religious groups, the Armenians are the only ones to have a continuous presence of Bishops throughout the Osmanian occupation. Based on various estimates, the Armenian-Cypriot community of the 19th century numbered between 150-250 persons, the majority of which lived in Nicosia, with smaller numbers living in Famagusta, Larnaca, the north and south of Nicosia (especially in Dheftera and Kythrea) and, naturally, in and near Magaravank. With the arrival of the British in July 1878 and their progressive administration, the already prosperous yet small Armenian community of the island was particularly strengthened. Known for their linguistic skills, several Armenians were contracted to Cyprus to work as interpreters at the consulates and the British administration. The number of Armenians in Cyprus significantly increased following the massive deportations, the horrific massacres and the Genocide committed by the Ottomans and the Young Turks (1894-1896, 1909 & 1915-1923). Cyprus widely opened its arms to welcome over 10.000 refugees from Cilicia, Smyrna and Constantinople, who arrived in Larnaca and all the other harbours, some by chance, others by intent. About 1.500 of them decided to stay, bringing new life to the old community, quickly establishing themselves as people of the arts, letters

More Armenians arrived during the reign of Armenian-descended Emperor Heraclius (610-641) for political reasons, during the time of Catholicos Hovhannes Odznetsi (717-728) for commercial reasons and after the liberation of Cyprus from the Arab raids by Niketas Chalkoutzes (965) for military reasons. In the mid-Byzantine period Armenian generals and governors served in Cyprus, like Alexius, Basil, Vahram and Levon (910-911), who undertook the construction of the Saint Lazarus basilica in Larnaca. In 973 Catholicos Khatchig I established the Armenian Bishopric in Nicosia. Between 1136-1138, Emperor John II Comnenus moved the entire population of the Armenian city of Tell Hamdun to Cyprus. After Isaac Comnenus wedding to the daughter of the Armenian prince Thoros II in 1185, Armenian nobles and warriors came with him to Cyprus, many of whom defended the island against Richard the Lionheart (1191) and the Knights Templar (1192). After the purchase of Cyprus by Guy de Lusignan in 1192, a massive immigration of Armenian and other bourgeois, noblemen, knights and warriors took place, to whom fiefs, manors and privileges were bounteously granted. Because of their proximity, their commercial ties and a series of royal and nobility marriages, the Kingdoms of Cyprus and Cilicia were inextricably linked. Cilician Armenians sought refuge in Cyprus after the Fall of Jerusalem (1267), the Fall of Acre (1291), the attack of the Saracens (1322), the Mamluk attacks (1335 and 1346) and the Ottoman occupation (1403 and 1421). In 1441 Armenians and Syrians from Syria and Cilicia were encouraged to settle in Famagusta. Due to the continuous decline of Lesser Armenia, its last King Levon V fled to Cyprus in 1375. After he died in Paris in 1393, his title and privileges were transferred to his cousin, King James I de Lusignan, in the Saint Sophia cathedral in 1396; subsequently, the royal crest also bore the lion of Armenia. During the Frankish and the Venetian Eras (1192-1489 & 1489-1570) there were Armenian churches in Nicosia, Famagusta, Spathariko, Kornokipos, Platani and elsewhere, while Armenian was one of the official languages of Cyprus. The Armenians of Nicosia had their Bishopric and lived in their own quarter, called Armenia or Armenoyitonia. In Famagusta, a Bishopric was established in the 12th century and Armenians lived around the Syrian quarter; historical documents suggest the presence of an important monastic and theological centre there, at which Saint Nerses Lampronatsi (1153-1198) is

and sciences, able entrepreneurs and merchants, formidable craftsmen and pioneering professionals, thus contributing to Cyprus development. In their vast majority they were Armenian Apostolic, but there were also small numbers of Armenian Catholics and Armenian Protestants. Law-abiding by nature, Armenian-Cypriots always had a high profile with the British administration and many became civil servants and policemen or were employed in the Cyprus Government Railway and in Cable and Wireless. Throughout the 1920s-1950s, some worked at the asbestos mines at Amiandos and the copper mines at Mavrovouni and Skouriotissa, many of whom had been trade unionists. Some Armenian-Cypriots participated in the 1897 GrecoTurkish War, the two World Wars (1914-1918 & 1939-1945) and the EOKA liberation struggle (1955-1959). Also, the Eastern Legion (later called Armenian) was formed and trained between December 1916 and May 1918 in Monarga village, near Boghazi, consisting of over 4.000 Diasporan Armenian volunteers who fought against the Ottoman Empire. Some Armenian refugees arrived from Palestine (1947-1949) and Egypt (1956-1957). The Armenian-Cypriot community prospered throughout the British Era (1878-1960), by establishing associations, choirs, scout groups, sports teams, musical ensembles, churches, cemeteries and schools, including the Melkonian Educational Institute. In many ways unique across the whole Armenian Diaspora, it was built just outside Nicosia between 1924-1926, after the generous and benevolent donation of the Egyptian-Armenian tobacco trading brothers Krikor and Garabed Melkonian, initially in order to shelter and educate 500 orphans of the Genocide and gradually becoming a world-renowned boarding secondary school. Examining the population censuses of the British Era, we observe a fluctuation in the number of Armenians in Cyprus: about 175 in 1881, about 550 in 1901, about 1.575 in 1921 and about 3.960 in 1946. In the 1960 population census, 3.628 Armenians were recorded. With the Independence of Cyprus, on 16 August 1960, under Article 2 3 of the Constitution, the Armenians, the Latins and the Maronites were recognised as religious groups. In the referendum held on 13 November 1960, all three religious groups opted to belong to the Greek-Cypriot community (as it was expected), which consequently defined their political options in the game of the inter-communal controversy and somewhat affected their relations with the Turkish-Cypriots, who in turn viewed them as an extension of the Greek-Cypriot political choices. This is why the religious groups were treated similarly or even worse during the inter-communal troubles (19631964), following the Turkish-Cypriot mutiny, and the brutal and unlawful Turkish invasion (1974). In accordance with the provisions of Article 109 of our Constitution, Armenian-Cypriots were given political representation: as a result of their choice to belong to the Greek-Cypriot community, an Armenian participated in the Nicosia members of the Greek Communal Chamber, which acted as a lower Parliament, with jurisdiction over religious, educational and cultural affairs. After the secession of the Turkish-Cypriots from the common state in 1963 and the transfer of the legislative powers of the Greek Communal Chamber to the House of Representatives in 1965, it was decided that the Representatives of the religious groups would continue to represent their communities in the

Parliament on issues pertaining to the jurisdiction of their Chamber and that the House was to request their opinion before legislating on pertinent matters (Law 12/1965). So far, there have been six Armenian Representatives: Berj Tilbian from Nicosia (19601970), Dr. Antranik L. Ashdjian from Nicosia (19701982), Aram Kalaydjian from Larnaca (1982-1995), Bedros Kalaydjian from Larnaca (1995-2005), Dr. Vahakn Atamyan from Nicosia (2005-2006) and Vartkes Mahdessian from Nicosia (2006). The former Speaker of the House was also an ArmenianCypriot, Marios Garoyian (2008-2011). The religious leader of the community (since 1997 Catholicosal Vicar Archbishop Varoujan Hergelian) is accountable to the Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia. During the 1963-1964 inter-communal troubles, the Armenian-Cypriot community suffered major losses, as the Armenian quarter of Nicosia was captured by Turkish-Cypriot extremists: taken were the Prelature building, the Sourp Asdvadzadzin church, the Melikian-Ouzounian school, the Genocide Monument, the Armenian Club, AYMA and AGBU and the Armenian Evangelical church; also taken was the Ganchvor church in Famagusta. In total, 231 Armenian-Cypriot families became refugees. As a result, many Armenian-Cypriots left for Soviet Armenia, Great Britain and elsewhere. After the 1974 Turkish invasion, the Armenian-Cypriot community suffered additional losses: about 4-5 families living in Kyrenia, 30 families in Nicosia and 40-45 families in Famagusta became refugees, while an Armenian-Cypriot lady has been missing since then; the renowned Magaravank monastery in Pentadhaktylos was also taken by the Turkish troops. On 24 April 1975, Cyprus became the first European country (and the second world-wide, after Uruguay) to recognise the Armenian Genocide. Despite its losses and with the help of the government, the small yet industrious Armenian community of Cyprus continued to prosper in the remaining urban areas, contributing culturally and socioeconomically to the development of our homeland. In Nicosia, a new school was built (1972, called Nareg), a new Sourp Asdvadzadzin church (1981), a new Prelature building (1984), a new Genocide Monument (1991) and premises for AYMA (1987) and AGBU (1989), as well as the Kalaydjian Rest Home for the Elderly (1988), statues depicting important Armenian figures (1990-1991), two ossuaries and an obelisk with remains of Genocide martyrs (2000 and 2001), a khachkar (2001), the bust of Archbishop Zareh Aznavorian (2005) and a commemorative plaque in the old cemetery (2010). There is also the Armenian Genocide Memorial (Larnaca: 2008) and a khachkar (Limassol: 2008). The community has a daily radio programme, a football and two futsal teams, two newspapers, numerous web pages and it organises various social, cultural and charity events, as well as camps. As of 01/12/2002, Armenian is a minority language, the mother tongue of the vast majority of Armenian-Cypriots, taught at Nareg schools. Over the past decades, the dynamics of the Armenian-Cypriot community have changed with the increased number of marriages with Greek-Cypriots and the arrival over the last 30-35 years of thousands of Armenian political and economic immigrants from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Georgia and Russia, some of whom have settled permanently in Cyprus. Today it is estimated that Armenians in Cyprus number over 3.500 persons (about 2.500 from Cyprus, 500 from Armenia and 500 from elsewhere), of whom 65% reside in Nicosia, 20% in Larnaca, 10% in Limassol and 5% in Paphos and some villages.