The Example of Hagop Ekızıan’s Mıgratıon From The Ottoman Empıre to Amerıca

Armenians entered under the rule of Seljuks and then the Ottoman Empire after the Turks gained dominance in Anatolia. Armenians lived in an environment of tolerance and justice under the rule of Turks. There are scarcely any difference between the Armenians and Turks apart from religion. They had quite an interaction and close relationships which built an environment of trust between the Turkish and Armenians. However, Armenians started to rebel where they lived in the late 19th century as a result of the weakening of Ottoman Empire, oriental policy of the Western states and most accordingly their seditious acts towards minorities, specifically Armenians. In the 1820s, American missioners came to Ottoman lands and wanted to spread Protestantism by being especially active in the fields of education and health. The Ottoman Empire recognized the Protestant Armenian Community in the mid-19th century. During the migration of Armenians, who were subjects of Ottoman Empire, to the US, missioners nearly prepared the migration infrastructure with their activities in the Ottoman Empire. Some of the Armenian citizens migrated to the US and acquired American citizenship. This was due to the rights that arose from the 1830 American-Turkish Treaty of Commerce and Navigation. According to the treaty, those that became US citizens could not be judged by the Ottoman courts and were exempt from Ottoman taxes. Armenians even used that treaty as a protective shield in the rebels they started. Hagop Ekizian, a rich Armenian merchant and an Ottoman subject, also acquired American citizenship and took advantage of these privileges. The problem of nationality led to distress between the Ottoman Empire and the US who assumed a protective attitude against the crimes committed by the Armenians.