'He is Armenian but he was born that way; there isn't much he can do about it': exploring identity and cultural assumptions in Turkey

If Armenians have a core belief, it is that they are an endangered people. They live as if under constant threat. After the annihilation of the Armenian population living in their historical lands-the Armenian heartlands were in eastern Turkey-by the Young Turk government during 1915-16, a new Turkish republic emerged from the old Ottoman-Turkish state in 1923, including an oppressive nationalistic hegemony. The resulting identity politics only fuelled the sense of being Other among Armenians and other minorities. By assessing the consequences and social impact of anxiety on this minority population defined as the Other, Anahit's paper aims to explore identity and cultural assumptions in Turkey through the Armenian experience. Leaving behind conceptualizations of the shifting modes of cultural representation, it seeks to go beyond the existing sociopolitical constraints that have persisted since 1915. Based on field research conducted between 2005 and 2011, Anahit examines the ever-changing set of norms of cultural identity by exploring the politics of collective memory. She asks whether a dominant culture is dependant on counter-cultural movements to remain all-powerful.