Karamanlides

The Karamanlides (; ), also known as Karamanli Greeks: "Turkophone Greeks are called Karamanli Greeks or Karamanlides, and their language and literature is called Karamanli Turkish or Karamanlidika, but the scholarly literature has no equivalent terms for Turkophone Armenians." or simply Karamanlis, are a traditionally Turkish-speaking and Greek Orthodox people native to the region of Karaman in Anatolia.

Some scholars regard Karamanlides as the Turkish-speaking Greeks from Karaman, though their exact ethnic origin is disputed; they could either be descendants of Byzantine Greeks who were linguistically Turkified, or of Christian Turkic soldiers who settled in the region after the Turkic conquests, or even both. The Karamanlides were forced to leave Anatolia during the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey. Today, a majority of the population live in Greece and have fully integrated into Greek society.

Language

The language used by the Karamanlides was called Karamanli Turkish, sometimes referred to as or , and is an endangered language, as there are very few speakers left in Greece today. It originally belonged to the family of Anatolian Turkish dialects. As for structure and vocabulary, the language followed the basic features of Turkish in Anatolia in grammar, lexicon, and phonetics; nevertheless, it sometimes incorporated regional influences. Its uniqueness, however, was due to the way it was written since, unlike the official Ottoman Turkish, which was based on Arabic script, the Karamanlides employed the Greek alphabet supplemented with some Turkish phonetic symbols, giving rise to an abundant literary corpus of books, religious literature, and publications dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

A fragment of a manuscript written in Karamanli was also found in the Cairo Geniza.Julia Krivoruchko Karamanli – a new language variety in the Genizah: T-S AS 215.255 http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Taylor-Schechter/fotm/july-2012/index.html

Origins and history

The origin of the Karamanlides is disputed; they are either descendants of Byzantine Greeks who were linguistically Turkified through a gradual process of assimilation by the Ottomans, or of Turkic soldiers who settled in the region after the Turkic conquests and converted to Christianity.Vryonis, Speros. Studies on Byzantium, Seljuks, and Ottomans: Reprinted Studies. Undena Publications, 1981, , p. 305. "The origins of the Karamanlides have long been disputed, there being two basic theories on the subject. According to one, they are the remnants of the Greek-speaking Byzantine population which, though it remained Orthodox, was linguistically Turkified. The second theory holds that they were originally Turkish soldiers which the Byzantine emperors had settled in Anatolia in large numbers and who retained their language and Christian religion after the Turkish conquests..." Greek scholars incline to the view that the Karamanlides were of Greek descent and adopted Turkish as their vernacular, either by force or as a result of their isolation from the Greek-speaking Orthodox Christians of the coastal regions. Turkish scholars regard them as the descendants of Turks who had migrated to Byzantine territories before the conquest or had served as mercenaries in the Byzantine armies and who had adopted the religion but not the language of their new rulers. Some foreign scholars consider them to be ethnically Greek. Another theory supports that the Karamanlides may have been a mixture of Anatolian Greeks and Christian Turks. There is not enough evidence to prove how the early Karamanlides identified themselves.

Partial or full Turkification of Anatolian Greeks dates back to the early 1100s, as a result of living together with neighboring Turks. Oriental and Latin sources indicate that Greek-Turkish bilingualism was common in Anatolia in the 13th and 14th centuries, and by the early 15th century it was very widespread. Furthermore, an anonymous Latin account from 1437 states that Greek bishops and metropolitans in Anatolia, were "dressed in the Muslim style and spoke Turkic"; "although the liturgy was still read in Greek the sermons were pronounced in Turkic." Daniel Panzac elaborates that the Greeks of Karaman were fully Turkified during the reign of Murad III (), and some of them had also converted to Islam. Karamanlides could be descendants of those Turkified Greeks.

The Ottoman explorer Evliya Çelebi, who visited the Karamanlides and experienced their lifestyle, wrote that they spoke with an authentic Turkish accent but used Greek and Latin words as well. They printed books, particularly the bible, in Turkish language and chanted hymns in Karamanlidika, despite their neighborhoods also having Greek-speaking communities.Hayati Develi, Osmanlı'nın Dili, Kesit Yayınları, İstanbul 2010, s. 26. ISBN 978-605-4117-33-8 The British historian Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975) emphasized that there was no definite answer to the question of their origins.

The German traveler Hans Dernschwam (1494–1568/69) encountered the Karamanlides living in Istanbul during his travel throughout Anatolia in 1553–1555; he described them as "a Christian folk of the Greek faith whom Selim I had transplanted from the emirate of Karamania." The Armenian historian Eremia Chelebi (1637–1695), also stated that Karamanlides lived around and within the city walls of Istanbul, and despite being Greek, they did not know Greek and spoke only Turkish. A Karamanlis author named Mauromates (1656–1740) wrote that the Greek language was replaced by Turkish in Anatolia, and were thus unable to read the "masterpieces of Greek literature." Another Karamanlis author named Iosepos Moesiodax, wrote in his Paedagogy (1779) that "the need of our public demands good Turkish, because it is the dialect of our Rulers." The English writer William Martin Leake (1777–1860), who travelled in Konya in 1800, wrote:

The German orientalist Franz Taeschner (1888–1967) observed that the Karamanlides were completely Turkified, with the exception of their religion. The British historian Edwin Pears (1835–1919), who lived in Turkey for approximately 40 years, wrote that the Karamanlides were originally Greeks, who had lost their native language and spoke Turkish. Robert Pinkerton (1780–1859) stated that the Turkish oppression had made them adopt the Turkish language:

Similarly, the British scholar David George Hogarth (1862–1927) attributed the Turkification of the Karamanlides to oppression; in 1890 while visiting Lake Eğirdir, he wrote that "the Moslems were eating them up."

British Archaeologist Richard MacGillivray Dawkins traveled between the KaramanlidesXIX. yüzyıla kadar genel olarak iç ve güneybatı Anadolu'da yaşayan Hristiyan Türkler olan Karamanlı Rumlar olarak adlandırılmışlardır. Karamanlılar için bkz. Baykurt, a.g.e., s. 22; Ferruh Ağca, "Hıristiyan Karamanlı Türkleri ve Karamanlı Ağzı Üzerine", Türkbilig, Sayı: 11, Ankara 2006, s. 3; Eröz, a.g.e., s. 30; Aydın, "a.g.m.", s. 13; Vryonis, a.g.e., s. 452–455. and Bithynia between 1909 and 1911. Dawkins came to İzmit and Bursa regions after this trip and stated that there are Turkish-speaking Greek villages here. According to him, the Greek spoken here was very close to the language spoken by the Karamanlides. Even Dawkins stated that their language was Asiatic and showed different features from Greek.R.M. Dawkins, Modern Greek In Asia Minor, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1916, s. 37. It is known that some Karamanlides lived in İznik as well as Bursa, İzmit and Yalova, and they left Turkish inscriptions written in Greek letters.Semavi Eyice, "Anadolu'da Karamanlıca Kitabeler (Grek Harfleriyle Türkçe kitabeler II)", Belle- ten, C. XLIV, S. 176, Ekim 1980, s. 683; Semavi Eyice, "Anadolu'da Karamanlıca Kitabeler (Grek Harfleriyle Türkçe Kitabeler)", Belleten, C. XXXIX, S. 153, Ocak 1975, s. 25–56.Anastasios Iordanoglou, "A Karamanlidic Funerary Inscription (1841) In Nicea (İznik) Museum", Balkan Studies, Cilt: 19, Selanik 1978, s. 185–191

Population exchange between Greece and Turkey Many Karamanlides were forced to leave their homes during the 1923 population exchange. Estimates place the number of Turkish-speaking Orthodox Christians expelled from central and southern Anatolia at around 100,000.Blanchard, Raoul. "The Exchange of Populations Between Greece and Turkey." Geographical Review, 15.3 (1925): 449–56.

The Turkish government considered cutting a deal for Turkish-speaking Christians to be exempt from the population exchange. At the end however, it was decided that religion would be the only criterion of the exchange. Greek political elites saw no harm in taking in more Greek Orthodox Christians, but Turkish political elites remained fearful that the Karamanlides' loyalty to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople would eventually undercut efforts to consolidate state control in the poor and underdeveloped region of Karaman. Only Papa Eftim I (born ), an ardent Turkish nationalist and the creator of the Autocephalous Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate, was allowed to remain in Anatolia. Upon their arrival in Greece, Karamanlides faced many instances of discrimination by the local Greek population "because they spoke the language of the age-old enemy of Hellenism"; sometimes even taunted with the allegation that they were of Turkish background. By the 1980s, they were well integrated into Greek society.: "A nativist reaction of this type was perhaps predictable, and, after the passage of some sixty years, these Karamanlı refugees are well integrated into Greek society. Until recently, however, and perhaps even now, cinemas in predominantly refugee quarters of Athens such as Nea Smyrnē would show Turkish-language films for the benefit of those who retained a knowledge of Turkish, a poignant reminder of a chapter in the history of the Greek people that is now effectively closed."

Culture The distinct culture that developed among the Karamanlides blended elements of Orthodox Christianity with a Turkish-Anatolian culture that characterized their willingness to accept and immerse themselves in foreign customs. From the 14th to the 19th centuries, they enjoyed an explosion in literary refinement. Karamanlides authors were especially productive in philosophy, religious writings, novels, and historical texts. Their lyrical poetry in the late 19th century describes their indifference to both Greek and Turkish governments, and the confusion which they felt as a Turkish-speaking people with a Greek Orthodox religion.

Settlements

List of settlements where Turkish was the main language of the Greek Orthodox Cappadocian population in 1890:

Aksaray region Aksaray Çeltek Halvadere Gelveri Sivrihisar Kenatala

Nevşehir region Nevşehir Ürgüp

Niğde region Limni Enehil Matala Sazaca Keçiağaç Denei Andaval İloson Niğde Bor

Kayseri region Kayseri Endürlük Molou Erkilet Germir Talas Stefana Zincidere Tavlosun Taksiarchi Kesi Vekse Ağırnas Kerkeme Sarımsaklı Karacaören Çukur Taşlık Rüm Kavak İncesu

Develi–Farasa region Zile Karacaviran Ai Kösten (Develi) Beşkardeş Taşçı Bahçecik Görümce

See also Mixobarbaroi Urums

Footnotes

References