Izmirian Discovery

Izmirian Heritage Trail

My travels are to determine if the Izmirian Family originated from Izmir, Turkey as there is no living knowledge of them being there. They are Armenians and the Armenian History records of their past are missing. This discovery trip will hopefully find some solid facts that will be of interest to the wider Izmirian family. This Journey will require me to incorporate not just the Izmirian story but the broader Armenian migration.

Shortening history to a paragraph or two is always dangerous as so many events are intertwined to make the entire story.  I am not trying to write the history of Turkey, Wars, Izmirians and Armenians.  I am trying to document the movements and visit the locations associated with the Izmirian family and families.

An overview as best I can describe it for those who know nothing about Armenians as I did 10 years ago.  Armenia is a small land locked country just east of Turkey.  Recently it was part of the Soviet Union.  They won their independence in 1991.  Armenia is a very old Christian country and over the centuries their borders have expanded and contracted with the various conflicts and conquering powers.  At the height of the country’s expanded borders they reached down to Syria, deep into modern day Turkey and North.  Armenians were merchants, tradesmen spreading themselves around the globe.

Sarkis (Sam) Izmirian is my partner’s father.  He was born is a village which is near the Turkish Syria border in a remote and mountainous region called Musa Dagh at that time (1934).  Musa Dagh took in the region of  7 villages.  His father (Hapet) was from there, as was his grandfather (Garabed).  Armenians have been in this region from the time of Tigran the Great  95 – 55 BC, most likely outlaws and criminals hiding from the authorities.  The Izmirians since 1915  have been forced to flee from Musa Dagh to Port Said, Egypt, back again, to Lebanon and then dispersed to various parts of the world including Israel, Canada and Australia.

The common thought is that the Izmirian family name came from the city of Izmir.  It is one of the places I will visit first.  Izmir has never been within the borders of Armenia.   The interesting thing to me is that Izmir was called Smyrna and only changed its name in 1923. So how could the name Izmirian come from a place that was not known by that name until recent times?

Lets go back to where we can start. Somewhere around the 1890s Garabed was living in the village of  Azer, in the Musa Dagh region.   This is in the South of present day Turkey on the Syrian border. This area was a French colony at this time.

During the 18th century the crumbling Ottoman Empire (1299 – 1923) sustained extensive territorial losses.  Most Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire lived in provinces bordering Russia to the north. Russia became increasingly involved in Ottoman affairs. After the Russian intervention of 1877-1878, Russia gained control over a large part of Armenia, and became the champion of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

In 1907 a political revolution took place in Turkey and a group known as the Young Turks gained control of the parliament.  The Young Turks were an umbrella name for the minorities and included ethnic Albanians, Bulgarians, Arabs, Slavs, Jews, Greeks, Turks, Kurds and Armenians.  Through internal disputes about national identity and other internal alliances within the group the Young Turks soon fragmented and became suspicious of particularly the Armenians and the militia groups they had set up.  This Armenian militia was allegedly funded by the Russians.

The Ottoman Empire was attempting to create a national identity and convert all the Non Turks or move them out of the country.  If you were not a Turk you paid a significantly higher tax, and were subjected to anything from harassment, discrimination through to death. Conversion would require you to change your name and convert to Islam.  Many did convert.  The Turks were now killing and deporting many people mainly Christians and mainly in the North of the country.

By 1914 with the outbreak of WW1 the Turkish were fighting the Russians, Greeks, French, whilst being aligned with present day Germany.  The Armenians and others were seen as an insurgent group by the Turkish and widespread killings of Armenians and others occurred.  The Armenians consider these actions to be Genocide.  The dispute is still raging today.

At Musa Dagh some of the villagers (4000 plus) decided to fight the oncoming Turkish Army and took up a position on top of a Mountain and held off the army for 53 days.  This event was a defining moment for the Armenians and one of the focus points of national pride. A French naval ship came to their rescue and bombarded the Turkish Army positions rescuing the people from the mountain top.   These people were taken by boat to Port Said, Egypt.   There were no Izmirians amongst this group or was there?

Garabed was married to Mary.  They had 4 sons and two daughters.  Garabed , his wife and two sons were killed in 1908.  Hapet, baby Anania, and the two daughters survived. Garabed and his family were not killed at Musa Dagh.  Baby Anania was found by Armenian commandos lying beside his dead mother, Mary.  Anania had wounds to his head and body but was alive.

At the end of WW1 all the Armenians were allowed to return to Musa Dagh and began to rebuild. Hapet and the two daughters return to Musa Dagh.  Hapet is about 19 years old.  He marries Yeghsapet.  Anania is in Israel which at the time was Palestine.

The Armenians primarily returned to Musa Dagh because they were under the protection of the French as it was still a French colony.   The Ottoman Empire had crashed after their defeat at the end of WW1.

In 1939 the world was heading towards WW2 and the French and British wanted Turkey to join the Allied Forces.  An agreement was reached and France handed to Turkey the area down to the Syrian border.  This took in the region of Musa Dagh.  The French in conjunction with some Armenians purchased land from a War Lord in Lebanon.  The Armenian people from Musa Dagh were again on the move against their will. They were given land in Anjar Lebanon and taken there where they lived in a tent city until the one bedroom houses were built for each family.

Hapet Izmirian had 6 children.  Four boys and two girls.  Some were born in Musa Dagh and the others in Anjar.  In the 1970s as Lebanon fractured under the weight of civil war many of the family moved again.  Garro his brother Yessayi and sister Alice plus their families went to Canada, Haig and Marianne stayed in Lebanon and Sarkis ended up in Australia.

I am going to travel to Izmir, Musa Dagh and on to Lebanon  following the trail of the Izmirians generations that went before. I want to visit the relatives that still occupy the region and gain a connection with them. I hope to be able to flesh out some additional information from the region adding to complete the Izmirian story.

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