Academic and activist Hrag Papazian speaks about his research which took place in the Republic of Turkey, and consisted of studying Armenian-identifying Muslims and Alevis. Together with AI’s Nik Matheou, the pair discuss the associated parameters within Armenianness, the diversity found through Hrag’s research and the interrelated activism between ethno-religious minorities within Turkey today.
Hrag Papazian recently received his DPhil in Anthropology from the University of Oxford, and is currently based at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan. His research examines the various Armenian factions living in contemporary Turkey: the traditional Christian Armenian community, the Muslim and Alevi Armenians who have publicly emerged only during the recent decades, and the migrants from neighbouring Armenia who started to arrive since the early 1990s. He studies the differing meanings, interpretations, productions and experiences of Armenianness among all three factions, revealing the diversity of Turkey’s Armenian population. He also analyses these three groups’ relations with the Turkish state and majority, their mutual conflictual relationships and intra-ethnic boundary making processes.
Zanazan Sounds is also available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.