ERGINEL) asked:

[EE] No, no flaming here. Just a simple question.

...with a simple answer!

[EE] As far as I know most of the Armenians belong to the Gregorian Orthodox
[EE] faith and such was the case in nineteenth century Ottoman Empire. It is
[EE] also known that some Armenian communities were converted into Catholicism
[EE] and Protestantism by the Western European missionaries in this period. 

The vast majority of Armenians in eastern Anatolia were Gregorian or Armenian
Apostolic. There was, however, a higher percentage of non-Gregorian Armenians 
in Cilicia, closer to the Mediterranean, in Adana, Marash, Aintab, etc.  

[EE] Another known fact is that almost half of the Armenians living in Anatolia
[EE] did not speak any Armenian, but used Turkish in their everyday lives.

This is not true. While it was forbidden for Armenians to speak Armenian in
certain areas of Cilician Armenia, most all Armenians spoke Armenian. In fact,
Turks who interacted with Armenians also spoke Armenian! For sure, most all
Armenians, especially men, also knew Turkish in order to function in larger 
society.

[EE] My question is, given so many separations in the Armenian community, what
[EE] was the common denominator of the Armenian people that allowed Armenian
[EE] nationalism to emerge in the nineteenth century? As I stated, religion
[EE] was not uniform (unlike the Greeks) and many Armenians couldn't even speak
[EE] Armenian. I would like to know what factors brought the Armenians in the
[EE] Ottoman Empire together and led to the formation of an Armenian 
[EE] consciousness.

The Armenians in Turkey were persecuted because they were Armenian, regardless
of the specific branch of Christianity they professed. The resultant Armenian
nationalism was in direct reaction to this persecution. Even at the later 
stages of WWI, and after the genocide, many Armenians who were converted to 
Islam were also exterminated because they continued as Armenian Moslems. This 
practice continued well into the 1920s by Ataturk in parallel with the policy 
of clearing out pockets of steadfast Islamic fundamentalism. Many of these
converted Armenians, ironically, in order to stay alive, were staunch Moslems. 

[EE] Any information will be appreciated.

You answered your own question! The common thread throughout your inquiry
was the word Armenian!

[EE] Regards,

