Արթիւր Պէյլէրեան2025-10-272025-10-272001Պէյլէրեան, Ա., «Ազատ որմնադրութեան մուտքը Օսմանեան կայսրութիւն եւ Պոլսոյ հայկական «սէր» օթեակը ԺԹ. դարուն», «Հայկազեան հայագիտական հանդէս», 2001, Պէյրութ, էջ 143-182https://haigrepository.haigazian.edu.lb/handle/123456789/858The article studies the first attempts to establish freemasonic lodges in the Ottoman Empire starting from the second quarter of the 18th century and more intensively after the end of the Crimean War in 1856. This period coincided with official promises of radical reform within the empire, including Christian-Muslim equality. Various lodges established during this period were supported by West European diplomatic missions. Prominent Muslim and non-Muslim individuals (including Armenians) in the capital and other important Ottoman cities joined these lodges. The article then concentrates on the activities of Serovpe Aznavour, a dedicated Armenian freemason, who first joined a number of non-Armenian lodges in Constantinople and then established the Haik branch of the international Odd Fellows union (1862) and the Ser freemasonic lodge (1866), both of which were primarily for Armenian members. The activities of the Ser lodge, until its formal closure in 1898, are analyzed in detail. The article also provides useful information regarding the Armenian Dekran Lodge established in Smyrna (1864). The freemasonic movement in the Ottoman Empire, including the activities of the Ser lodge, was greeted with suspicion and even outright hostility by some quarters in the empire's elite, including the leaders of many Christian churches. The article also sheds light on many details in this regard.