ON THE PROBLEMS OF “MILLET SYSTEM” AND THE STATUS OF THE “ARMENIAN MILLET” IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Abstract

The article looks into the controversial statements connected with the formation and role
of the “millet system” in the Ottoman Empire, put forward in works by Turkish, Western and
Armenian researchers. It also aims to throw light upon the choice of appropriate terminology.
All attempts to present the “millet system” as manifestation of exceptional national and
religious tolerance in contemporary Turkish and pro-Turkish historiography and public writing
are disproved. It is also stressed out that the relatively confessional “autonomy” to a certain
extent reveals the impotence of the subjects of the Empire against arbitrary rule.