Gyoksel Gyulbey, president of the Turkish ASİMDER , which is known for its efforts against recognition of the Armenian Genocide and anti-Armenian moods, has touched upon the issue of crypto-Armenians residing in Turkey.

According to Ermenihaber, Gyulbey has stated that the Armenians who didn’t wish to leave their homes during “the displacement of the Armenians” (meaning the Armenian Genocide) were hidden under the names of Kurds, Alevis and Turks and that crypto-Armenians make up a large number in Turkey. As evidence, the Turkish figure also reminded the statement of former Vicar of the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Aram Ateshian, according to whom Armenians make up 90 percent of the population of Tunceli.

According to the president of ASİMDER, based on various studies and estimates, there are currently 37,055 crypto-Armenian families living in Turkey.

“Thus, 1,000 Armenian families of Diyarbakir live under the name of Kurds, Assyrians or Alevis, while 3,655 – in Malatia, 1,000 – in Elazig, 2,000 – in Tunceli, 1,200 – in Siirt, 1,300 – in Yerznka (Erzinjan in Turkish), 2,000 in Sebastia (Sivas in Turkish) and 3,000 Armenian families in Kahramanmaras present themselves as Kurds or Alevis.

In Kesaria, there are 5,000 Armenian families who hide themselves as Turks; 4,000 in Van and 1,600 in Adiyaman are hidden as Kurds; 3,000 families in Shanliurfa present themselves as Arabs or Kurds; 1,500 Armenian families in Mardin present themselves as Arabs; 2,000 Armenian families in Adana are hidden as Kurds, Arabs or Alevis,” Gyulbey declared.

According to the anti-Armenian Turkish figure, there are many Armenians among the members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish and oppositional Democratic Party of Nations (HDP) and the Kurdish Labor Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization in Turkey.

Gyulbey also stated that his organization is following the crypto-Armenians very closely and wants state organizations to take relevant measures to identify and control them.