For centuries, thousands of Armenian settlements thrived across the Ottoman Empire, specifically in the territory of modern-day Türkiye. Nowadays, only Vakıflı remains – a village of 130 Armenians clinging to their heritage between Musa Dagh mountain peaks and the Mediterranean coast.

110 years after the Armenian genocide put an end to more than 2,000 years of Armenian civilisation in eastern Anatolia, Vakıflı's story is about hanging on, against all odds. After a century of geopolitical turmoil, Türkiye's last Armenian village is now fighting to stay alive and keep its Armenian identity intact.

Life in Vakıflı is simple: orange trees, church bells, and slow days. Most villagers are elderly now, spending their days tending orange groves and making fruit liqueurs. You can still hear western Armenian spoken in Vakıflı's streets – an endangered language that elsewhere in Türkiye fell silent generations ago.

The Turkish government still denies the genocide. It classifies the 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenians killed during the First World War as a tragic period of civil strife rather than a systematic campaign of destruction.

In Türkiye, publicly recognising the events as genocide can lead to prosecution under laws that criminalise ”insulting Turkishness.” Though Armenia and Türkiye pursue normalisation, the two countries do not maintain diplomatic relations – with genocide recognition still a key obstacle.