An Armenian Minister in the Ottoman Foreign Ministry: Gabriyel Noradunkhian Effendi

Abstract

At the beginning of the 19th century, the multinational structure of the Ottoman Empire was one of the primary problems that threatened the empire’s survival. There were also various acts of rebellion against the state by the Armenians who went up to the highest degrees of the Ottoman state administration and were given the title “Millet-i Sadıka – the loyalist nation.” Gabriel Noradunkhian Effendi, who served as a bureaucrat and minister for approximately a half century, was rewarded by being bestowed a lot of medals by the Empire because of the result of that service. He went abroad and settled in France before World War I. Then he was on the Armenian Committee during the Paris Peace Conference in which the collapse of the Ottoman Empire was intended and the Lausanne Peace Treaty that accepted the independence of the new Turkish State.

Keywords

Gabriel Noradunkhian Effendi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Armenian File, Armenian Home, Sevres, Lausanne.

Citation

Karakoç, Ercan, “An Armenian Minister in the Ottoman Foreign Ministry: Gabriyel Noradunkhian Effendi”, International Relations, Volume 7, Issue 25 (Spring 2010), pp. 157-177.

Affiliations

• Ercan Karakoç, Dr., Gebze Advanced Technology Institute, Department of National Security Strategies