The oral history project, conducted with the kind assistance of Olof Palme Center, is focusing on Turkey's Armenians in 2011. The interviews are now published.This project will trace the political and cultural memory carried by the Armenians living in Turkey and the Armenian society as a whole. It will bring to light the continuity of cultural existence, illustrating how Armenians see themselves and ‘others’ and will reflect on the context of an oral history study in its political, cultural and historical dimensions – the ‘reality’ inhabited by the Armenians still living in Turkey.
Armenians living in İstanbul, as well as in the various Anatolian cities, will be reached and their personal stories collected through in-depth interviews. Participants will be chosen from those living their Armenian identity in four distinct ways – those who have lived under Armenian identity since birth, those who hide their identity, thirdly those who were born Islamised Armenians but who came back to their Armenian identity, and, lastly, those who are living as moslems.
The interviews will be carried out by ten researchers investigating a target group of 40 people who represent these four different types living in İstanbul and various regions and cities of Anatolia. The researchers will be chosen amongst those young researchers who are working, or who would like to work, on the Armenian identity, culture, and memory. Two researchers – one of whom will be Armenian, so that interviewees will feel secure to share their experiences and perspectives openly – will conduct each interview. Fifteen interviews will be conducted with Armenians living in İstanbul, while the remaining 25 will involve those living in various regions and cities of Anatolia.
Interviews will be supplemented by two separate focus group studies in İstanbul. One of these will consist of members of just one family. Both focus groups will include people of different generations.

Once the researchers have been selected, we will decide which Anatolian cities to choose the Armenian interviewees from. Based on examples of migration, such as Armenians who moved from Kastamonu and now live in Küçükçekmece, cities will be chosen by contacting the relatives of those Armenians who have settled in İstanbul. It will be useful for the researchers to decide on cities considering their own place of origin and family connections. Before the interviews, researchers will attend a seminar by Ali Bayramoğlu on project objectives, methodology and interview skills. They will report their findings and analysis to project management immediately after each interview.
In June 2011, an interim report will be prepared on the project progress, as well as the outcomes of the interviews and focus groups. A final report will be synthesized by project management after all interviews and focus groups have been completed and their findings analysed. In December 2011, final project findings will be shared with public at a conference in İstanbul and simultaneously a book will be launched compiling all the interviews made during the project.