TheHamshenis[a] (Armenian: Համշէնցիներ,romanized: Hamshents’iner) are an people of Armenian[1][2][3] origin who traditionally lived in the Rize and Artvin provinces in theTurkey. 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.[4]
Armenian: Համշէնցիներ,romanized: Hamshents’iner | |
|---|---|
 Hemshin women in Rize, Turkey | |
| Total population | |
| 150,000–200,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Turkey (Rize, Artvin), Russia (Krasnodar), Georgia, Abkhazia, Armenia. | |
 Turkey | 150,000[5] |
 Russia | 2,047[6] |
| Languages | |
| Armenian (Homshetsi dialect) Turkish | |
| Religion | |
Majority: Islam (Sunni)Minority:  Christianity (Armenian Apostolic) | |
The Principality of Hamamshen was founded in the 790.[7] 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 theOttoman Empire. During the Turkish rule, two most important developments are human migrations and conversions.[8][9] 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.[10]
Hamshenis are speak the Homshetsi dialect of Armenian. UNESCO has categorised Homshetsi as a language that is "clearly in danger".[11]
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.[b]
(...) Ankara eski Belediye Başkanı Murat Karayalçın da Hemşinlidir.
However, the results of the genetic survey based on the Y-chromosomal markers indicated the central part of historical Armenia as a plausible place of origin for the Hamsheni population (Margaryan et al. 2011).
(other designation, K̲h̲ems̲h̲ili), a numerically small group of Muslim (Sunnī)Armenians who had been converted from Christianity in the beginning of the 18th century.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)Hemshins, who live in northeastern Turkey, are recognizably both Muslim and ofArmenian origin.
TheHamshenis are an ethnic group ofArmenian origin that inhabit primarily the coastal areas of Turkey, Russia, and Georgia; a small group also lives in Armenia. Some are Sunni Muslim while others are Christian.