Hello /r/AskHistorians
My family is originally from Anatolia and from what I gather they never lived in Armenia (like most diasporans).
Asking my uncles/grand-parents it seems that they probably either migrated a very long time ago from Armenia to Armenia, lived there since the Roman/Byzantine Empire Era or when Anatolia was part of Armenia Major.
I'm looking for an explanation or texts that discuss this subject. Why did the Armenians (and Greeks) stay in Anatolia after it was first conquered by the Seljuk Turks? What were the living conditions of Christians under the Turks? Why would they not go to Armenia where they would be treated better? Did they think that the Turks would go away or simply get used to the fact of living amongst their conquerors?
This subject is very interesting to me and I wish to learn more about this subject. I look forward to seeing your answers.
Aside from a few exceptions, nomadic cultures were mostly very tolerant of foreign religions and ethnic groups. During the initial Seljuk invasion, Turks have not been muslims for too long; and the main component of the army, the Turkmen nomads, probably still had a great amount of Tengriists among their ranks as well.
That being said, the thing about nomads is, even when they are converted, they don't necessarily adopt the brutal assimilation policies. The local Anatolian population did not become second class citizens all of a sudden, they were allowed to keep their homes, businesses, and in a few cases, even land.
Your ancestors probably did not have a reason to migrate; and national identity or "pride" wasn't really a big deal back then.