Hemshin peoples

The Hamshenis (Armenian: Համշէնցիներ,  Hamshents’iner) are an people of Armenian origin who traditionally lived in the Rize and Artvin provinces in the Turkey. They are Armenian in origin, and were originally Christian and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, but over the centuries evolved into a distinct group and converted to Sunni Islam after the conquest of the Ottomans of the region during the second half of the 15th century.Simonian, Hovann H. "Preface" in The Hemshin: History, society and identity in the Highlands of Northeast Turkey. Hovann H. Simonian (ed.) London: Routledge, 2007, p. xx.

 History 
The Principality of Hamamshen was founded in the 790.Simonian (2015), p. 3. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Turkish influence emerged strongly in the region, after which the Seljuk Turks and other Turkic tribes established a strong presence in Central Anatolia and the Western Armenian Highlands, often referred to as Eastern Anatolia. In the 15th century, the principality of Hamamshen was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the Turkish rule, two most important developments are human migrations and conversions.Simonian, pp. 61–83. Most sources agree that prior to Ottoman era majority of the residents of Hemshin were Christian and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The details and the accompanying circumstances for the migrations and the conversions during the Ottoman era are not clearly known or documented.Simonian, pp. 52, 58, 61–66, 80.
Language
Hamshenis are speak the Homshetsi dialect of Armenian. UNESCO has categorised Homshetsi as a language that is "clearly in danger".Altunkaya, Tuba (2021). "Dünya nüfusunun yüzde 40'ı ana dilinde eğitimden yoksun: Türkiye'de 15 dil yok oluyor". Euronews. "Açıkça tehlikede: Abazaca, Hemşince, Lazca, Pontus Yunancası, Çingene dilleri, Süryaniceye benzeyen Suret, Batı Ermenicesi".

 Genetics 
The results of a 2011 genetic survey based on the Y-chromosomal markers of the Hemshin Armenians indicated the central part of the historical Armenian highlands as a plausible place of origin for the Hemshin population.

 Notable people 

 Damat Mehmed Ali Pasha (1813–1868) was an Hemshin statesman and diplomat. He served as the Grand Vizier of Ottoman empire from October 3, 1852, to May 14, 1853, on the eve of the Crimean War.
 Mesut Yılmaz (1947–2020) - was an Hemshin politician. He was the leader of the Motherland Party (Turkish: Anavatan Partisi, ANAP) from 1991 to 2002, and served three times as Prime Minister of Turkey.
 Tevtik İleri (1911–1961) - was an Turkified Hemshin civil engineer, civil servant, politician and government minister.
 Murat Karayalçın (1943) - is a prominent politician of Hemshin origin. He is a former foreign minister, deputy prime minister, and a former mayor of Ankara.

 References 

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 Notes 


Category:Ethnic groups in Asia