Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey

It has long been assumed that no Armenian presence remained in eastern Turkey after the 1915 massacres. As a result of what has come to be called the Armenian Genocide, those who survived in Anatolia were assimilated as Muslims, with most losing all traces of their Christian identity.
In fact, some did survive and together with their children managed during the last century to conceal their origins. Many of these survivors were orphans, adopted by Turks, only discovering their `true' identity late into their adult lives. Outwardly, they are Turks or Kurds and while some are practising Muslims, others continue to uphold Christian and Armenian traditions behind closed doors.
In recent years, a growing number of `secret Armenians' have begun to emerge from the shadows. Spurred by the bold voices of journalists like Hrant Dink, the Armenian newspaper editor murdered in Istanbul in 2007, the pull towards freedom of speech and soul-searching are taking hold across the region. Avedis Hadjian has travelled to the towns and villages once densely populated by Armenians, recording stories of survival and discovery from those who remain in a region that is deemed unsafe for the people who once lived there.
This book takes the reader to the heart of these hidden communities for the first time, unearthing their unique heritage and identity. Revealing the lives of a peoples that have been trapped in a history of denial for more than a century, Secret Nation is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide in the very places where the events occurred.

• The Thirty-Year Genocide: Turkey's Destruction of Its Christian Minorities, 1894-1924
• The Armenian Highland: Western Armenia and the First Armenian Republic of 1918
• Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide
• The Armenian Legionnaires: Sacrifice and Betrayal in World War I
• Armenians in Ottoman Turkey, 1914: A Geographic and Demographic Gazetteer
• Killing Orders: Talat Pasha's Telegrams and the Armenian Genocide (Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide)
• The Ruins of Ani: A Journey to Armenia's Medieval Capital and its Legacy
• Armenia: Art, Religion, and Trade in the Middle Ages
• Mr Five Per Cent: The many lives of Calouste Gulbenkian, the world's richest man
• Historic Armenia After 100 Years: Ani, Kars and the Six Provinces of Western Armenia