Armenian translations to take Turkish lit across borders

Armenian translations to take Turkish lit across borders
Works by leading poets of contemporary Turkish literature will be translated for the first time into Armenian. The project will be backed the Turkish Culture Ministry's Translation Subvention Project

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU YEREVAN - Hürriyet Daily News

Armenia is taking a radical step: From now on, not only the works of authors who sympathize with the Armenian problem but also the leading names in Turkish literature will be translated into Armenian.
As part of a project coordinated by Yerevan State University and Armenian Authors’ Union member, poet, critic and interpreter Professor Arthur Antranikyan, more than 20 poets who have left their mark on Turkish literature will be translated into Armenian by a commission of specialists.
Armenian readers will have access to works by well-known Turkish poet Orhan Veli Kanık, who played a leading role in modernizing Turkish poetry, in the form of a 300-page special selection.

Turkish support via TEDA project

“Let’s realize this project together. We can’t overcome our problems unless we know each other. We need to jointly contribute to this project. I am waiting for support from you,” said Antranikyan, calling on the Turkish Culture Ministry and Turkish artists.
The Turkish Culture Ministry Translation Subvention Project, or TEDA, coordinator and Publications Deputy General Manager Ümit Yaşar Gözüm said they were ready to support the project. “This project is important in helping the two publics become closer,” he said. “We are ready to make things easier for Armenia for copyright matters. We can start working once we receive the applications.”

Turkish literature through Russian

The people of Armenia experienced Turkish literature for the first time during the period of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They read Turkish works in Russian. It did not change after the union dissolved because the Russian language is still significant in all of the republics, which acquired their independence in the beginning of the 1990s.
In recent years, interest in their mother tongue has increased in the young republics of the Caucasus, which started to turn their face to the Western world. Although the old generations did not abandon their tradition and attempted to keep Russian culture alive, the new generation has already given signals of change.

‘I wish Pamuk was shown interest in my country due to his literary value’

Interest in Turkish literature has increased in Armenia in recent years; many books have been translated into Armenian. The most recent one was Nobel laureate author Orhan Pamuk’s “Kar” (Snow). The book was translated with the initiation of the Hamazgayin Education and Culture Institute in Yerevan. But the most important detail here is that almost all authors whose books are translated into Armenian are those who sympathize with the Armenian problem.
Antranikyan criticized the special interest in Pamuk: “Pamuk is a master, and the Nobel Prize is the biggest evidence to that. The reason Armenia shows a special interest in Armenia is evident. I wish Pamuk was shown interest in my country for his literary value.”
Pamuk’s statements such as, “One million Armenians and 30,000 Kurds have been murdered on this land,” before he won the Nobel Prize were applauded by Armenia and diaspora.

Antranikyan calls for common sense

Because of threats that he received after his statements, Pamuk did not talk about the issue again, causing confusion among the Armenian community. Although he doesn’t mention names, Antranikyan defends the idea that some Turkish authors take advantage of the Armenian problem for their own benefit in order to make their names heard internationally.
He said this manner made the already troubled Turkish-Armenian relations more complicated. “It cannot be denied that people have suffered too much. But we must think of our own people more than our personal interests and act with common sense,” he said.

Turkish, Armenian interaction

Antranikyan made some Turkish literature translations from Russian to Armenian in the 1980s. He said the project on which he worked had been shaped in those years, adding that as part of his project, he also searched for the effects of contemporary Turkish literature on Armenian literature in Istanbul. Based on his research, Antranikyan said common themes like “otherness” and “alienage” existed both in Turkish and Armenian literature, and they had a strong interaction with each other.
“Orhan Veli Kanık’s effects on Istanbul Armenian poems especially cannot be denied,” he said.
He said he attached great significance to translating Turkish literature into Armenian. “This project will be realized by any means,” he said. “Another step of this project will be translating Armenian literature into Turkish. I will form a commission and work with members of the Turcology department from Yerevan State University.”