Epress.am News from Armenia
A 1 million AMD grant from the RA Ministry of Diaspora helped Ruben Melkonyan publish a new book about the current state of Istanbul’s Armenian community.
At a press conference today, the author presented the book and said that in compiling it, he used both Armenian and Turkish sources. He also paid a few visits to Turkey and conducted his own research.
“When the book was ready, a problem came up in publishing it, in which the leader of the Gugarats Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church had a large contribution,” he said and explained that the book covers topics such as education, language and mixed marriage in Istanbul’s Armenian community.
“The latter [i.e. mixed marriage] has become a serious issue since there are already a large number of mixed marriages in Turkey’s Armenian community,” he said, adding that the shortcomings of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (Istanbul) also have played their role in the deepening of this issue.
According to the Turkologist, the book includes the Istanbul-Armenian community’s economic life, press and its historical development, culture, sports, as well as the community’s political leanings.