By the start of the First World War, the village of Efkere, in central Anatolia, would be home to 500 Armenian families, and 50 Turkish families. Centuries old, it was known to Armenians throughout the region as the home to a monastery which housed relics of St. John the Baptist, and was therefore an important site of pilgrimage. A French traveler, in the mid-19th century, found the village so beautiful that he said it could be compared to Switzerland.
And yet, by the 1960s, the village had officially disappeared. Its population was a tiny fraction of what it once was. Its buildings were crumbling. Its history was largely forgotten.
With this website, an attempt is being made to gather together all surviving information on Efkere. It’s a bit of a personal journey for me, as a portion of my own family lived there for generations.
The information presented on this website was obtained from several sources. First-person written accounts, interviews with former residents of the village, and Arshag Alboyajian’s 1937 book entitled ‘Badmootiun Hye Gessarea’ formed the core of the site when it first appeared online in 2001.
Since that time, I have received information from people all over the world regarding this village. Not only has the website proven informative for Armenians with familial ties to Efkere, but it has also been embraced by Turks who are living in the area currently, and by those Turks who may have ancestral ties to the village, as well. Both Turks and Armenians have provided me with invaluable information. I am very grateful. I would appreciate any suggestions, or any further information on Efkere.
I hope that the website will continue to grow, and that we continue to learn more about the history of this fascinating village. Please feel free to email me at any time.
— Dr. Jonathan Varjabedian
This website is dedicated to my grandfather, Garabed Charles Kojaian.