Hamshenis

Hamshenis (Turkish Hemşinli(ler)) are a distinct ethnic group (of Armenian origin) in the Black Sea region of Turkey. They are Sunni Muslims.

There are two main groups of Hamshenis: Baş Hemşin (the Western group) reside in the mountainous villages in the province of Rize, abundantly in districts of Çamlıhemşin and Hemşin. Hopa Hemşin (the Eastern group) takes its name from the district of Hopa, where, in and around the town of Kemalpaşa, they form the majority of the population. A small community of this group also live in Kazakhstan, where they were exiled from Georgian SSR during the Stalinist era.

Significant differences exist between the two groups. The main difference is linguistic; Western group speaks a peculiar dialect of Turkish, Eastern group speaks an archaic dialect of Armenian known to its speakers as Homshetsi ("the Hamshen language"). In the West, tulum (the Pontic bagpipe) accompanies the local dances, in the East, şimşir kaval (a wooden flute).

There is a current cultural revival among the Eastern group. First motion picture in Homshetsi, Momi (Grandma), was shot in 2000 and younger generations (particularly those with leftist leanings) prefer to identify themselves as Armenians. But because Armenians are Christians and Hamshenis are Muslims, they're not easily accepted.