6th International Symposium Oriental Studies

The 6 th International Symposium on Oriental Ancient Documents Studies 42 Anahit Kartashyan The Missing Link in the Chain of the Armenian National Constitution: the Draft of Armenian National Regulation of 1857 The aim of this paper is to analyze the first draft of the Armenian National Constitution (Ottoman Turkish: “ Nizâmnâme-i Millet-i Ermeniyân ”) of 1857. This document (BOA, I.MVL, 00382) held by the Ottoman State Archives (Istanbul), have been considered as lost until 2013. The archival document is an important and most valuable source not only for the history of the Armenian community of Constantinople in the 19 th c., but also for the history of the Ottoman Empire. The text of the draft is arranged in two parallel columns in two languages— Armenian and Ottoman Turkish. There is a number of differences between two texts. Comparative study of it gives us the opportunity to restore mechanisms, used by the Ottoman state to interfere into internal affairs of non-Muslim communities and draw borders of socio-cultural autonomy of non-Muslim millets. Key words: Arminian national Constitution, “Nizâmnâme-i Millet-i Ermeniyân”, Constantinople, the Ottoman Turkish language, the Armenian language.