Yeşilçam veteran ‘Nubar Baba’ never
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Berç Alyanakziya, the son of immortal actor of Turkish cinema, Nubar Terziyan, who is known as ‘Nubar Baba’ and ‘Tonton Amca,’ speaks about Yeşilçam, Turkey’s Hollywood. 'Yeşilçam was a home, and the audience was the family in it,' he says
Nubar Terziyan
Nubar Terziyan, known as “Nubar Baba” or “Tonton Amca,” was an Armenian actor in Turkish cinema. Even though most Armenian and Greek artists changed their names to Turkish names for the screen upon request of producers, he never considered it necessary.
He played in more than 500 films and won the endless love of Turkish audiences. The actor, who died in 1994 at the age of 85, was bid farewell in a way that was not possible for many Turkish artists. A plaque was placed on his house on the shore of the Bosphorus.
The actor won the hearts of cinema lovers as well as the famous artists of Yeşilçam. Named as “baba” (father) by Turkish cinema’s “Ugly King” Yılmaz Güney and the handsome actor Ayhan Işık, Terziyan fell into deep sorrow when these two actors, who he loved like his sons, died at early ages.
Events that happened right after he placed a death notice for Işık in the daily Hürriyet made him more sorrowful. Işık’s wife Gülşen reacted negatively toward Terziyan, who wrote below the notice “your father Nubar” as Işık had called him. The reason was that the real surname of Işık was Işıyan, which had been kept a secret. Because the name Işıyan reminds one of an Armenian name, he changed it to Işık.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Terziyan’s son Berç Alyanakziya said the following about the reason for the wife’s reaction: “Everyone thought that Ayhan Işık was Armenian because of his real surname, Işıyan. When my father placed this notice and wrote ‘your father Nubar,’ people thought that they were close relatives and Işık was an Armenian, too.”
Because of this reaction, Terziyan disclaimed the notice in the paper.
Güney aimed for the target
Alyanakziya said he had spent his childhood in Yeşilçam film sets and mentioned one of his most interesting memories. “My father took me to the film set one day. Güney told my father: ‘Tonton baba, throw the money in your hand to the air.’ He pulled his gun from his belt, targeted the money in the air and shot it.”
He explained the reason why his surname was Alyanakziya even though his father’s was Terziyan. “One of the best known directors of Turkish cinema was Armenian Arşavir Alyanakyan.” He said his “father took the surname of an Armenian artist from the Ottoman theater, Terziyan,” so that people would not confuse them.
Alyanakziya said many artists who changed their surname over time became known by their real names. “Yeşilçam was a home, and the audience was the family in it. When they love you, they keep you in the deepest of their heart, regardless of your religion or language,” he said.
Terziyan on the silver screen with ‘Efsuncu Baba’
Terziyan’s cinema life started as a coincidence. Working for his father’s small drapery store in Istanbul, one day he met with Mike Rafaelyan, famous director of photography for hundreds of films at the time. He proposed for him to act in a film and introduced him to director Aydın Arakon.
Arakon asked Terziyan to act in his film “Efsuncu Baba,” and thus he stepped into the film sector in the mid-1940s. “In my childhood, my father used to prepare his clothes every night and took to the roads early in the morning,” said Alyanakziya. “Yeşilçam was not a matter of money but heart. This is the reason why Yeşilçam movies are still enjoyed by Turkish people.”
Big copyright problem
Even though Turkish cinema has been popular in Turkey as well as the international arena in recent years, Alyanakziya thinks that the Yeşilçam could never be replaced. “It is not possible for anyone to replace the immortal artists of Yeşilçam,” said Alyanakziya. “Turkish cinema should catch the soul of Yeşilçam again in order to become successful. Success is not reached by losing essence and imitating the West.”
Speaking about copyright problems, Alyanakziya said lots of names who served in Turkish cinema spent the last years of their life in poverty. “My father’s films are still shown on television but no one asks about the copyrights,” he said.
29 Aralık 2009 Salı
27 Aralık 2009 Pazar
Turks demand freedom for Armenian intellectualFont
Turks demand freedom for Armenian
Sunday, December 27, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Sarkis Haszpanyan was tortured in Turkey in the aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup, his friends say.
Turkish intellectuals have launched an online petition protesting the imprisonment of an Armenian who was arrested after he gave a newspaper interview in 2008.
The petition, published at the gercek-inatcidir.blogspot.com, is an effort to free Sarkis Haszpanyan, who was arrested and imprisoned in Armenia after he gave an interview. The petition was launched by Sait Çetinoğlu, author and editor at Belge International Publishing, and received more than 30 signatures in its first day.
The support is coming not only from Turkish intellectuals living in Turkey but also from other parts of the world. Visitors to the site can read an open letter to Armenian President Serge Sarkisian penned by Turkish intellectuals.
“Haszpanyan is being punished unjustly. Let this torture end,” said Çetinoğlu, speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “Sarkis was tortured in Turkey in the aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup. He escaped to France as a refugee. In 1991, when Armenia gained independence, he went there and put up a struggle. This should not be his fate.”
Temel Demirel, another leader of the campaign, said Haszpanyan is “a part of Anatolia.”
Demirel said he and Haszpanyan were tortured at the same time after the 1980 coup. “Authoritarian regimes that imprison and torture people because of their thoughts are enemies of humanity and democracy,” he said.
For an interview
What led to his imprisonment was a November 2008 interview published in the Haygagan Jamanag (Armenian Time) newspaper, known for supporting Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. Armenia was preparing for the presidential elections at the time.
“[In the interview] Hazspanyan said some people might be planning to assassinate Sarkisian,” Hayk Kevorkyan from the newspaper told the Daily News. “He was arrested right after the interview was published.”
“They were already looking for an excuse to arrest him. The interview played right into their hands,” Kevorkyan said, adding that there are currently 15 political prisoners in Armenia. “Bloody events occurred right after the March 2008 presidential elections, which are still waiting to be uncovered. At that time, 150 people were arrested and questioned for completely political reasons.”
David Shahnazarian, a representative of the Armenian National Congress, or ANC, congratulated Turkish intellectuals on their efforts. “We want Armenia to respect human rights, democracy and [freedom of] thought as soon as possible,” he told the Daily News. Shahnazarian is known as the “right hand” of Ter-Petrossian and was the president of the Armenian National Security Council in the 1990s.
Born in Hatay, Sarkis Haszpanyan was an active member of an outlawed communist organization in Turkey in the 1970s, together with the late Hrant Dink, who was a close friend of his. Dink was assassinated in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Sarkis Haszpanyan was tortured in Turkey in the aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup, his friends say.
Turkish intellectuals have launched an online petition protesting the imprisonment of an Armenian who was arrested after he gave a newspaper interview in 2008.
The petition, published at the gercek-inatcidir.blogspot.com, is an effort to free Sarkis Haszpanyan, who was arrested and imprisoned in Armenia after he gave an interview. The petition was launched by Sait Çetinoğlu, author and editor at Belge International Publishing, and received more than 30 signatures in its first day.
The support is coming not only from Turkish intellectuals living in Turkey but also from other parts of the world. Visitors to the site can read an open letter to Armenian President Serge Sarkisian penned by Turkish intellectuals.
“Haszpanyan is being punished unjustly. Let this torture end,” said Çetinoğlu, speaking to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “Sarkis was tortured in Turkey in the aftermath of the Sept. 12, 1980, military coup. He escaped to France as a refugee. In 1991, when Armenia gained independence, he went there and put up a struggle. This should not be his fate.”
Temel Demirel, another leader of the campaign, said Haszpanyan is “a part of Anatolia.”
Demirel said he and Haszpanyan were tortured at the same time after the 1980 coup. “Authoritarian regimes that imprison and torture people because of their thoughts are enemies of humanity and democracy,” he said.
For an interview
What led to his imprisonment was a November 2008 interview published in the Haygagan Jamanag (Armenian Time) newspaper, known for supporting Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian. Armenia was preparing for the presidential elections at the time.
“[In the interview] Hazspanyan said some people might be planning to assassinate Sarkisian,” Hayk Kevorkyan from the newspaper told the Daily News. “He was arrested right after the interview was published.”
“They were already looking for an excuse to arrest him. The interview played right into their hands,” Kevorkyan said, adding that there are currently 15 political prisoners in Armenia. “Bloody events occurred right after the March 2008 presidential elections, which are still waiting to be uncovered. At that time, 150 people were arrested and questioned for completely political reasons.”
David Shahnazarian, a representative of the Armenian National Congress, or ANC, congratulated Turkish intellectuals on their efforts. “We want Armenia to respect human rights, democracy and [freedom of] thought as soon as possible,” he told the Daily News. Shahnazarian is known as the “right hand” of Ter-Petrossian and was the president of the Armenian National Security Council in the 1990s.
Born in Hatay, Sarkis Haszpanyan was an active member of an outlawed communist organization in Turkey in the 1970s, together with the late Hrant Dink, who was a close friend of his. Dink was assassinated in Istanbul on Jan. 19, 2007.
12 Aralık 2009 Cumartesi
Armenian children forced to read in the dark in Turkey
Armenian children forced to read in the dark in Turkey
Friday, December 11, 2009
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Children from Armenia are attending classes and reading smuggled textbooks at an illegal school in the basement of a building in Istanbul. Forbidden to attend Armenian minority schools under the Lausanne Treaty and the Special Education Law, these children could not go to school even if the Turkish-Armenian border is opened, unless the law is changed
Tzsonivar is 8 years old and she misses her father and siblings who live in another country. Six-year-old Serge hopes to be president of that country some day. But for now, they are stuck in a legal twilight zone, unable to attend Turkish schools, studying in illegal elementary classes with smuggled textbooks and volunteer teachers.
Serge and Tzsonivar are Armenian. Unlike Turkish Armenians who can attend community schools established under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, these children are citizens of Armenia. Unlike expatriates, who often send their children to private foreign schools, Serge and Tzsonivar are poor. The tuition for a non-state school would be more than their undocumented parents can afford. Most parents would prefer their children to be educated in the Armenian language, even if they could afford to send them to private foreign schools in Turkey.
Even if all the problems between Turkey and Armenia are resolved, Armenian-born children currently studying in an Istanbul basement would still not be able to attend the country’s Armenian minority schools.
A change in Special Education Law would be required for those children to reclaim their right to an education. Only children with Turkish citizenship who are from the country’s Greek or Armenian minority are allowed to attend the minority schools in Istanbul, under the terms of the Lausanne Treaty.
Every knock on the door is cause for worry
The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review visited an illegal school several times over two weeks with the promise of keeping the students’ names and the neighborhood a secret. There were almost 20 children ranging in age from 5 to 14 at the school. Their greatest fear is that their location will be exposed and every knock on the door makes them afraid that the authorities are raiding the school. There are other illegal schools like this in Istanbul.
The children here are not only deprived of their right to an education, but they miss their families, too. Lusine, a teacher at the school said: “Our aim is to teach the children at least how to read and write and provide a social environment. For many, their family is in Armenia or other countries. They do not have the chance to see their mothers during the daytime either, which affects the children negatively.”
Reproach for Armenia’s rich
The 1989 earthquake in Gyumri, Armenia’s second-biggest city, and the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan have pushed the country into economic distress. The Turkish border being shut down due to the war has made the situation even worse. Many citizens of Armenia went abroad to find jobs due to the financial difficulties, and Turkey was the top choice. Today, economic problems continue and, even though their children have not had a proper education since, their parents do not wish to go back to Armenia.
According to Turkish authorities, there are 60,000 illegal Armenian workers in the country, while data from Armenia’s Foreign Ministry puts the number at 20,000. Although most of the illegal Armenian workers in Turkey are college graduates, many of them do basic jobs such as housecleaning or working at bazaars. Those with better economic positions engage in the suitcase trade, the practice of buying products at low cost in Istanbul’s bazaars and selling them for a higher price in their home country.
Most adults can cope with this struggle one way or another, but school-aged children often experience great difficulties.
“The politicians are after their own gains; it is us, the ordinary people, who suffer,” said Aghavni, a graduate of the Yerevan University faculty of economics who earns a living in Istanbul by cleaning houses. Criticizing the rich people of Armenia, Aghavni said: “They are your children, too. You know how to show off in the streets of Yerevan in luxury jeeps, but you do not even think of claiming those children, your future. We had to leave our country because of financial difficulties. We did not even have bread to eat.”
The psychologist of the illegal school
Armineh, another teacher at the school, came to Turkey 10 years ago from Gyumri, where her family still lives. “I came here unwillingly, to earn a living and send money to my family. I have been a housecleaner and I have worked at bazaars. Now I clean houses two days a week and have a stand at the bazaar,” she said. Like her other friends, Armineh has devoted herself to the children at the illegal school. She studied psychology in Armenia and is very concerned about the future of the children.
“They suffer great damage both psychologically and in a social sense; most of them are withdrawn,” she said. “It bears thought and is very sad that children are deprived of their educational rights in this century.”
The Armenian president is the idol of little Serge
The children’s textbooks are brought from Armenia. The biggest wish of 12-year-old Garoush is to go back to his school in Yerevan. “I miss my school and friends very much. We came to Turkey five years ago,” said Garoush. “I want to go back, but my mother says it is not possible now.”
Tzovinar is 8 years old and her father and siblings live in the village of Gavar, near Sevan Lake in Armenia. Her eyes were full of tears. “I miss my father and siblings so much. I cannot see my mother either because she has to work a lot to earn money.”
Serge is 6 years old and his favorite person is Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, for whom he was named. “I want to be president, too, like Serge Sarkisian, when I grow up,” he said. “The child at the house my mother cleans wears very nice clothes. He has a very nice school bag, but I do not. I will let everybody go to school when I become president.”
Lawyer Davuthan: ‘The law must change’
The Daily News asked for the opinion of Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, the spiritual leader of the Patriarchate of Armenians of Turkey, but received no comment. The Patriarchate Secretariat said it was due to Ateşyan’s busy schedule.
The archbishop met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently and mentioned the subject.
The Turkish branch of UNICEF also preferred to remain silent on the matter. “This is a very political subject. It would not be our place to voice an opinion,” said Şebnem Balkan, a UNICEF spokeswoman, and said she was just assigned to the job.
Setrak Davuthan, a lawyer for the foundations of the Armenian community of Istanbul, explained the matter as follows: “There is a law banning children from Armenia from attending the schools of the Armenian minority foundations. The law on private education institutions states that only citizens of the Republic of Turkey can study at minority schools. If that clause does not change, the problem will not go away even if the borders between Turkey and Armenia open.”
According to Davuthan, the roots of the problem date back to the Lausanne Treaty. He said such difficulties were because the articles of the Lausanne Treaty on minorities are interpreted as the government sees fit. “In the time of the Ottomans, not only Armenians, but also Turks studied in the minority schools because the level of education was good,” he said.
There are currently 18 Armenian minority schools in Istanbul
Friday, December 11, 2009
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Children from Armenia are attending classes and reading smuggled textbooks at an illegal school in the basement of a building in Istanbul. Forbidden to attend Armenian minority schools under the Lausanne Treaty and the Special Education Law, these children could not go to school even if the Turkish-Armenian border is opened, unless the law is changed
Tzsonivar is 8 years old and she misses her father and siblings who live in another country. Six-year-old Serge hopes to be president of that country some day. But for now, they are stuck in a legal twilight zone, unable to attend Turkish schools, studying in illegal elementary classes with smuggled textbooks and volunteer teachers.
Serge and Tzsonivar are Armenian. Unlike Turkish Armenians who can attend community schools established under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, these children are citizens of Armenia. Unlike expatriates, who often send their children to private foreign schools, Serge and Tzsonivar are poor. The tuition for a non-state school would be more than their undocumented parents can afford. Most parents would prefer their children to be educated in the Armenian language, even if they could afford to send them to private foreign schools in Turkey.
Even if all the problems between Turkey and Armenia are resolved, Armenian-born children currently studying in an Istanbul basement would still not be able to attend the country’s Armenian minority schools.
A change in Special Education Law would be required for those children to reclaim their right to an education. Only children with Turkish citizenship who are from the country’s Greek or Armenian minority are allowed to attend the minority schools in Istanbul, under the terms of the Lausanne Treaty.
Every knock on the door is cause for worry
The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review visited an illegal school several times over two weeks with the promise of keeping the students’ names and the neighborhood a secret. There were almost 20 children ranging in age from 5 to 14 at the school. Their greatest fear is that their location will be exposed and every knock on the door makes them afraid that the authorities are raiding the school. There are other illegal schools like this in Istanbul.
The children here are not only deprived of their right to an education, but they miss their families, too. Lusine, a teacher at the school said: “Our aim is to teach the children at least how to read and write and provide a social environment. For many, their family is in Armenia or other countries. They do not have the chance to see their mothers during the daytime either, which affects the children negatively.”
Reproach for Armenia’s rich
The 1989 earthquake in Gyumri, Armenia’s second-biggest city, and the Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan have pushed the country into economic distress. The Turkish border being shut down due to the war has made the situation even worse. Many citizens of Armenia went abroad to find jobs due to the financial difficulties, and Turkey was the top choice. Today, economic problems continue and, even though their children have not had a proper education since, their parents do not wish to go back to Armenia.
According to Turkish authorities, there are 60,000 illegal Armenian workers in the country, while data from Armenia’s Foreign Ministry puts the number at 20,000. Although most of the illegal Armenian workers in Turkey are college graduates, many of them do basic jobs such as housecleaning or working at bazaars. Those with better economic positions engage in the suitcase trade, the practice of buying products at low cost in Istanbul’s bazaars and selling them for a higher price in their home country.
Most adults can cope with this struggle one way or another, but school-aged children often experience great difficulties.
“The politicians are after their own gains; it is us, the ordinary people, who suffer,” said Aghavni, a graduate of the Yerevan University faculty of economics who earns a living in Istanbul by cleaning houses. Criticizing the rich people of Armenia, Aghavni said: “They are your children, too. You know how to show off in the streets of Yerevan in luxury jeeps, but you do not even think of claiming those children, your future. We had to leave our country because of financial difficulties. We did not even have bread to eat.”
The psychologist of the illegal school
Armineh, another teacher at the school, came to Turkey 10 years ago from Gyumri, where her family still lives. “I came here unwillingly, to earn a living and send money to my family. I have been a housecleaner and I have worked at bazaars. Now I clean houses two days a week and have a stand at the bazaar,” she said. Like her other friends, Armineh has devoted herself to the children at the illegal school. She studied psychology in Armenia and is very concerned about the future of the children.
“They suffer great damage both psychologically and in a social sense; most of them are withdrawn,” she said. “It bears thought and is very sad that children are deprived of their educational rights in this century.”
The Armenian president is the idol of little Serge
The children’s textbooks are brought from Armenia. The biggest wish of 12-year-old Garoush is to go back to his school in Yerevan. “I miss my school and friends very much. We came to Turkey five years ago,” said Garoush. “I want to go back, but my mother says it is not possible now.”
Tzovinar is 8 years old and her father and siblings live in the village of Gavar, near Sevan Lake in Armenia. Her eyes were full of tears. “I miss my father and siblings so much. I cannot see my mother either because she has to work a lot to earn money.”
Serge is 6 years old and his favorite person is Armenian President Serge Sarkisian, for whom he was named. “I want to be president, too, like Serge Sarkisian, when I grow up,” he said. “The child at the house my mother cleans wears very nice clothes. He has a very nice school bag, but I do not. I will let everybody go to school when I become president.”
Lawyer Davuthan: ‘The law must change’
The Daily News asked for the opinion of Archbishop Aram Ateşyan, the spiritual leader of the Patriarchate of Armenians of Turkey, but received no comment. The Patriarchate Secretariat said it was due to Ateşyan’s busy schedule.
The archbishop met with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently and mentioned the subject.
The Turkish branch of UNICEF also preferred to remain silent on the matter. “This is a very political subject. It would not be our place to voice an opinion,” said Şebnem Balkan, a UNICEF spokeswoman, and said she was just assigned to the job.
Setrak Davuthan, a lawyer for the foundations of the Armenian community of Istanbul, explained the matter as follows: “There is a law banning children from Armenia from attending the schools of the Armenian minority foundations. The law on private education institutions states that only citizens of the Republic of Turkey can study at minority schools. If that clause does not change, the problem will not go away even if the borders between Turkey and Armenia open.”
According to Davuthan, the roots of the problem date back to the Lausanne Treaty. He said such difficulties were because the articles of the Lausanne Treaty on minorities are interpreted as the government sees fit. “In the time of the Ottomans, not only Armenians, but also Turks studied in the minority schools because the level of education was good,” he said.
There are currently 18 Armenian minority schools in Istanbul
10 Aralık 2009 Perşembe
Fictional characters from book on trial in
Fictional characters from book on trial in
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
‘Ölümden Zor Kararlar’ (Decisions tougher than death), a novel by N. Mehmet Güler, has been banned and its author and publisher are standing trial because of imaginary characters in the work.
Author Mehmet Güler (l) and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu (r).
Fictional characters are being put on trial again in Turkey. “Ölümden Zor Kararlar” (Decisions tougher than death), a novel by N. Mehmet Güler that was published through Belge International Publishing last March, has become the focus of a criminal case for making propaganda for an illegal organization.
Author Güler and publisher Zarakolu are standing trial at the Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes. The novel was added to the list of banned books in June and copies have been recalled from the market. The second hearing of the trial was held Dec. 3 and the next hearing will be March 10.
Many writers and translators have been put on trial in recent years under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. The first example of imaginary characters standing trial occurred with Elif Şafak’s novel, “The Bastard of Istanbul.” Şafak stood trial for “insulting Turkishness” through an Armenian character in her novel and was acquitted.
‘My dreams are on trial’
The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review talked to Güler and Zarakolu right after the hearing. “The trial turned out to be like a present for my 40th anniversary in journalism,” said Zarakolu, who is a founder of a human rights association and won many national and international prizes for journalism. “Over 50 cases have been opened against me; I have become addicted to it,” he said. “Should the writer be free in his thoughts or should he serve the principles of the state and militarism?”
He compared current conditions to living in the era of Sultan Abduülhamit and noted that the “oppressor mentality” must be overcome. “These cases drag Turkey’s already bad image into a dead end,” he said.
“My dreams are on trial. They consider thoughts as crimes,” Güler said.
Autobiographic traces in the novel
The author of the novel tells stories of clashes between the right and left in Turkey during the 1970s, Kurdish youth who head for the mountains to join the ranks of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and torture experienced in prisons through characters named Sıti, Sadri and Hayri.
Güler’s novel features autobiographic traces. He is of Kurdish origin and was arrested in 1990 when he was a history student at Ankara University on charges of having contact with illegal organizations. Güler was put on trial and sentenced to 15 years. He served the sentence at the Ulucanlar and Çankırı prisons at Ankara. “I was only 22 years old. They could not find anything criminal against me; I had not made any action. They only determined that some of my friends were members of [illegal] organizations; that was it,” Güler said.
Writings confiscated by prison administration
Güler did not stop writing during his prison years while he was trying to prove his innocence. He wrote a three-volume book of 1,100 pages called “Yakınçağ Kürt Tarihi” (Contemporary Kurdish History), which was taken out of prison through personal efforts and published in France. According to Güler, the book can be found all over Europe today.
The writer also wrote two books of short stories called “Rüyalar yarım Kalmaz” (Dreams do not cut in half) and “Vakit Tamamdı” (It was time). “The prison administration confiscated them when I was being released,” said Güler. “The prosecutor told me, ‘If you take these books with you, I will have you arrested again.’ I had no choice but to leave them.”
Self-censoring while writing
Güler said he practices self-censoring while writing due to his bad experiences. “From time to time, I say to myself I should not write so keenly here,” he said, adding that he is ashamed of this.
He said “Ölümden Zor Kararlar” would be completed in three volumes and the next two will be finished soon. The book will be translated into foreign languages and will reach European readers next year. “I am a writer of Kurdish origin. I was shaped by the problems my society is experiencing; otherwise, my characters would not be this deep.”
He ended by reflecting that the “Kurdish initiative” will help solve the Kurdish problem “because there is no turning back from such a road.”
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
‘Ölümden Zor Kararlar’ (Decisions tougher than death), a novel by N. Mehmet Güler, has been banned and its author and publisher are standing trial because of imaginary characters in the work.
Author Mehmet Güler (l) and publisher Ragıp Zarakolu (r).
Fictional characters are being put on trial again in Turkey. “Ölümden Zor Kararlar” (Decisions tougher than death), a novel by N. Mehmet Güler that was published through Belge International Publishing last March, has become the focus of a criminal case for making propaganda for an illegal organization.
Author Güler and publisher Zarakolu are standing trial at the Istanbul Court of Serious Crimes. The novel was added to the list of banned books in June and copies have been recalled from the market. The second hearing of the trial was held Dec. 3 and the next hearing will be March 10.
Many writers and translators have been put on trial in recent years under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. The first example of imaginary characters standing trial occurred with Elif Şafak’s novel, “The Bastard of Istanbul.” Şafak stood trial for “insulting Turkishness” through an Armenian character in her novel and was acquitted.
‘My dreams are on trial’
The Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review talked to Güler and Zarakolu right after the hearing. “The trial turned out to be like a present for my 40th anniversary in journalism,” said Zarakolu, who is a founder of a human rights association and won many national and international prizes for journalism. “Over 50 cases have been opened against me; I have become addicted to it,” he said. “Should the writer be free in his thoughts or should he serve the principles of the state and militarism?”
He compared current conditions to living in the era of Sultan Abduülhamit and noted that the “oppressor mentality” must be overcome. “These cases drag Turkey’s already bad image into a dead end,” he said.
“My dreams are on trial. They consider thoughts as crimes,” Güler said.
Autobiographic traces in the novel
The author of the novel tells stories of clashes between the right and left in Turkey during the 1970s, Kurdish youth who head for the mountains to join the ranks of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and torture experienced in prisons through characters named Sıti, Sadri and Hayri.
Güler’s novel features autobiographic traces. He is of Kurdish origin and was arrested in 1990 when he was a history student at Ankara University on charges of having contact with illegal organizations. Güler was put on trial and sentenced to 15 years. He served the sentence at the Ulucanlar and Çankırı prisons at Ankara. “I was only 22 years old. They could not find anything criminal against me; I had not made any action. They only determined that some of my friends were members of [illegal] organizations; that was it,” Güler said.
Writings confiscated by prison administration
Güler did not stop writing during his prison years while he was trying to prove his innocence. He wrote a three-volume book of 1,100 pages called “Yakınçağ Kürt Tarihi” (Contemporary Kurdish History), which was taken out of prison through personal efforts and published in France. According to Güler, the book can be found all over Europe today.
The writer also wrote two books of short stories called “Rüyalar yarım Kalmaz” (Dreams do not cut in half) and “Vakit Tamamdı” (It was time). “The prison administration confiscated them when I was being released,” said Güler. “The prosecutor told me, ‘If you take these books with you, I will have you arrested again.’ I had no choice but to leave them.”
Self-censoring while writing
Güler said he practices self-censoring while writing due to his bad experiences. “From time to time, I say to myself I should not write so keenly here,” he said, adding that he is ashamed of this.
He said “Ölümden Zor Kararlar” would be completed in three volumes and the next two will be finished soon. The book will be translated into foreign languages and will reach European readers next year. “I am a writer of Kurdish origin. I was shaped by the problems my society is experiencing; otherwise, my characters would not be this deep.”
He ended by reflecting that the “Kurdish initiative” will help solve the Kurdish problem “because there is no turning back from such a road.”
3 Aralık 2009 Perşembe
800 peace artists give full support to Turkey’s
800 peace artists give full support to Turkey’s
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Hundreds of artists are providing their full support to Turkey’s initiatives. Some 800 artists from various disciplines have gathered to present a message of friendship and peace to the public, forming the ‘Peace Artists International Art Movement’ via Facebook
Musician Feryal Öner, left, and designer Ragıp İncesarı are members of the Peace Artists International Art Movement.
Turkey has been taking important steps in domestic and foreign politics in the past year, and issues that were regarded as taboo only a few years ago are now being discussed increasingly openly.
Turks and Armenians, who were separated by an unseen iron curtain as the result of the incidents that took place in 1915, have entered a new phase thanks to the “football diplomacy” that began in September 2008.
Even though the closed border between the two countries has not yet been opened, people have already started connecting in the social and cultural fields.
Turkey has recently taken determined steps to solve the Kurdish problem, which has dragged on since the 1980s. Much of the public is still confused about the developments and is clearly unsure as to what the initiative means.
Intellectuals, however, have largely supported the initiative even though they occasionally criticize the government’s handling of the opening.
The Peace Artists International Art Movement is one of the best examples of this intellectual support. The movement, which brings together 800 artists from various disciplines via Facebook, is determined to express the brotherhood of people regardless of ethnic identity in Turkey. The group aims to support each step Turkey takes toward peace.
Reaction against Kurdish songs
Designer Ragıp İncesarı; musician Feryal Öner, a member of the band Kardeş Türküler; and musician Servet Kocakaya spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review as representatives of the Peace Artists.
Kocakaya is a Kurdish musician. His first album “Keke” – Kurdish for “brother” – became a hot topic and generated debate when it was released in 1999. In the same year, the late Ahmet Kaya, a well-known Kurdish musician, became the target of attacks because of his comments at an award ceremony: “I will sing a Kurdish song on my album to be released in the coming days. I will also make a video for the song.”
Touching on the recent Kurdish initiative, Kocakaya said: “When I said I felt both Turkish and Kurdish only a few years ago, they tried to lynch me. We are at this point because politics is carried out over identities in this country. We need to make the initiative not in the political arena but on the street.”
Veto for Kurdish, Armenian on television
In addition to Kocakaya, Kardeş Türküler (Songs of Fraternity), a band that strives to reflect Turkey’s diverse ethnic make-up, has had similar difficulties with its music.
“Television channels that invited us to their program didn’t let us sing Kurdish and Armenian songs,” said band member Öner. “My generation grew up hearing that this country belongs to Turks only. Other ethnic identities have been ignored. … We will fight for ourselves,” she said, adding that though some say the initiatives have succeeded in reaching their goals, this has not been necessarily true in reality.
Call from Peace Artists
“History books taught us that we were surrounded by enemies from all sides,” said İncesarı. “We were told that we defeated the Greeks, that the Armenians stabbed us in the back, and that the Kurds and Arabs betrayed us. I am against the discourse of official history and say that friends surround us on all sides. We will demonstrate this to the Turkish people through films, exhibitions, documentaries and concerts.”
On the Kurdish issue, İncesarı said the real guilt was history on our shoulders. “In 1923, there was a plan to form an assembly including Turkish and Kurdish deputies. But because of the nation-state perception, the plan was abandoned. Otherwise, the Kurdish problem would never have existed.”
İncesarı also invited any interested foreign artists to also participate in the Peace Artists: “Our doors are open to all artists who believe in peace and friendship.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Hundreds of artists are providing their full support to Turkey’s initiatives. Some 800 artists from various disciplines have gathered to present a message of friendship and peace to the public, forming the ‘Peace Artists International Art Movement’ via Facebook
Musician Feryal Öner, left, and designer Ragıp İncesarı are members of the Peace Artists International Art Movement.
Turkey has been taking important steps in domestic and foreign politics in the past year, and issues that were regarded as taboo only a few years ago are now being discussed increasingly openly.
Turks and Armenians, who were separated by an unseen iron curtain as the result of the incidents that took place in 1915, have entered a new phase thanks to the “football diplomacy” that began in September 2008.
Even though the closed border between the two countries has not yet been opened, people have already started connecting in the social and cultural fields.
Turkey has recently taken determined steps to solve the Kurdish problem, which has dragged on since the 1980s. Much of the public is still confused about the developments and is clearly unsure as to what the initiative means.
Intellectuals, however, have largely supported the initiative even though they occasionally criticize the government’s handling of the opening.
The Peace Artists International Art Movement is one of the best examples of this intellectual support. The movement, which brings together 800 artists from various disciplines via Facebook, is determined to express the brotherhood of people regardless of ethnic identity in Turkey. The group aims to support each step Turkey takes toward peace.
Reaction against Kurdish songs
Designer Ragıp İncesarı; musician Feryal Öner, a member of the band Kardeş Türküler; and musician Servet Kocakaya spoke to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review as representatives of the Peace Artists.
Kocakaya is a Kurdish musician. His first album “Keke” – Kurdish for “brother” – became a hot topic and generated debate when it was released in 1999. In the same year, the late Ahmet Kaya, a well-known Kurdish musician, became the target of attacks because of his comments at an award ceremony: “I will sing a Kurdish song on my album to be released in the coming days. I will also make a video for the song.”
Touching on the recent Kurdish initiative, Kocakaya said: “When I said I felt both Turkish and Kurdish only a few years ago, they tried to lynch me. We are at this point because politics is carried out over identities in this country. We need to make the initiative not in the political arena but on the street.”
Veto for Kurdish, Armenian on television
In addition to Kocakaya, Kardeş Türküler (Songs of Fraternity), a band that strives to reflect Turkey’s diverse ethnic make-up, has had similar difficulties with its music.
“Television channels that invited us to their program didn’t let us sing Kurdish and Armenian songs,” said band member Öner. “My generation grew up hearing that this country belongs to Turks only. Other ethnic identities have been ignored. … We will fight for ourselves,” she said, adding that though some say the initiatives have succeeded in reaching their goals, this has not been necessarily true in reality.
Call from Peace Artists
“History books taught us that we were surrounded by enemies from all sides,” said İncesarı. “We were told that we defeated the Greeks, that the Armenians stabbed us in the back, and that the Kurds and Arabs betrayed us. I am against the discourse of official history and say that friends surround us on all sides. We will demonstrate this to the Turkish people through films, exhibitions, documentaries and concerts.”
On the Kurdish issue, İncesarı said the real guilt was history on our shoulders. “In 1923, there was a plan to form an assembly including Turkish and Kurdish deputies. But because of the nation-state perception, the plan was abandoned. Otherwise, the Kurdish problem would never have existed.”
İncesarı also invited any interested foreign artists to also participate in the Peace Artists: “Our doors are open to all artists who believe in peace and friendship.”
2 Aralık 2009 Çarşamba
The Armenian civil servant conflict between the Patriarchy and the community
The Armenian civil servant conflict between the Patriarchy and the community
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The Armenian community and its patriarchy are embroiled in a conflict over the patriarchy’s reported involvement in choosing a Turkish-born Armenian to work in the government’s EU Secretariat office. ‘The patriarchy should involve itself in matters of religion and its flock. It should avoid politics,’ says one Armenian scholar
Patriarch Mesrop II
The decision to appoint an Armenian to a civil service job looks to have created a rift rather than bring joy to Turkey’s Armenian community.
In recent months, there have been press reports that the EU General Secretariat plans to hire a civil servant of Armenian origin. The secretariat, affiliated to the office of State Minister Egemen Bağış, was to hire an expert consultant with screenings to be held by the Turkish Armenian patriarchy.
An announcement was then run on Lraper, the patriarchy’s official Internet site, indicating that Archbishop Aram Ateşyan had approved the matter. After the story appeared in the media, the secretariat immediately released a statement denying that the patriarchy was holding the screenings.
Patriarchy officials subsequently removed the announcement from the Web site despite receiving hundreds of applications. They also refused to make comments until Tuesday.
Reproachful statement from patriarchy
The primary reason behind the patriarchy’s desire to step in and conduct the screenings was to measure the candidates’ fluency in Armenian because no Turkish university has an Armenian language and literature department and instructors assigned to grammar and literature classes at Armenian schools are often limited to what they have learned from their families.
A news story by Sefa Kaplan was published on the front page of daily Hürriyet on Tuesday with the title “The first Armenian to work for the government outside a university,” putting the story on the agenda again.
According to Kaplan’s story, Leo Suren Halepli, who was born in Istanbul in 1981, passed the secretariat’s exam and is scheduled to be the first Turkish citizen of Armenian origin to become a civil servant outside an academic setting, provided he passes the security investigation by the National Intelligence Organization, or MIT.
Janet Donel from the Patriarchy said: “The screenings were started by the patriarchy two months ago, but we were excluded.”
Donel gave a vague reply to a question from the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review regarding whether the selected candidate had fit the criteria of the patriarchy. “We did not choose the mentioned candidate. That is all we can say.”
‘It is not like a priest would be hired for the patriarchy’
Pakrad Öztukyan, editor for the daily Agos and one of the community’s leading members, criticized the patriarchy’s stance. “It is not like a priest would be hired for the patriarchy and that they would get involved. It was absurd when it was announced that the patriarchy would handle the screenings two months ago because we are not an ecclesiastic community.”
Öztukyan also released background information on the events: “Bağış had visited the patriarchy and the topic came up during the conversation; that is all. Then patriarchy officials invented stories about it.”
Arsen Aşık, a retired scholar from Boğaziçi University also agreed with Öztukyan: “The patriarchy should involve itself in matters of religion and its flock. It should avoid politics.”
Criticizing the press
Aşık also criticized the stance of the Turkish media. “The story emphasizes that the candidate is to be investigated by MIT. In turn, it appears the media are trying to provoke a reaction against the candidate coming from a minority group. The matter is being presented to the public as if it is a state secret.”
Ara Koçunyan, owner of the daily Armenian newspaper of Istanbul, Jamang (Time), also made similar criticisms against the press.
“There were attempts to pull the patriarchy into the center of a polemic discussion.” However, unlike Öztukyan and Aşık, Koçunyan defended the patriarchy, saying, “Of course the patriarchy would choose the names from its community.
Koçunyan also said Halepli was one of the most likely to be selected.
What Deputy Mayor Barın says
Many people of Armenian origin were appointed to civil service positions in both the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey before 1968, after which the process was halted due to various reasons related to domestic politics.
A new process began when Vasken Barın was selected as deputy mayor of Şişli in the mid-1990s. Barın has been serving the public alongside Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül for more than 10 years.
Emphasizing the positive aspects of the developments, he said, “It is extremely positive that a young man from our community is to be assigned to such a position, but Halepli would not be the first Armenian in government service as is being said in the press.
“There were many deputies in Parliament during the Republican era, there are inspectors at the Education Ministry and there is me. If they are speaking in terms of the EU, then yes, Halepli is a first.”
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Vercihan Ziflioğlu
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
The Armenian community and its patriarchy are embroiled in a conflict over the patriarchy’s reported involvement in choosing a Turkish-born Armenian to work in the government’s EU Secretariat office. ‘The patriarchy should involve itself in matters of religion and its flock. It should avoid politics,’ says one Armenian scholar
Patriarch Mesrop II
The decision to appoint an Armenian to a civil service job looks to have created a rift rather than bring joy to Turkey’s Armenian community.
In recent months, there have been press reports that the EU General Secretariat plans to hire a civil servant of Armenian origin. The secretariat, affiliated to the office of State Minister Egemen Bağış, was to hire an expert consultant with screenings to be held by the Turkish Armenian patriarchy.
An announcement was then run on Lraper, the patriarchy’s official Internet site, indicating that Archbishop Aram Ateşyan had approved the matter. After the story appeared in the media, the secretariat immediately released a statement denying that the patriarchy was holding the screenings.
Patriarchy officials subsequently removed the announcement from the Web site despite receiving hundreds of applications. They also refused to make comments until Tuesday.
Reproachful statement from patriarchy
The primary reason behind the patriarchy’s desire to step in and conduct the screenings was to measure the candidates’ fluency in Armenian because no Turkish university has an Armenian language and literature department and instructors assigned to grammar and literature classes at Armenian schools are often limited to what they have learned from their families.
A news story by Sefa Kaplan was published on the front page of daily Hürriyet on Tuesday with the title “The first Armenian to work for the government outside a university,” putting the story on the agenda again.
According to Kaplan’s story, Leo Suren Halepli, who was born in Istanbul in 1981, passed the secretariat’s exam and is scheduled to be the first Turkish citizen of Armenian origin to become a civil servant outside an academic setting, provided he passes the security investigation by the National Intelligence Organization, or MIT.
Janet Donel from the Patriarchy said: “The screenings were started by the patriarchy two months ago, but we were excluded.”
Donel gave a vague reply to a question from the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review regarding whether the selected candidate had fit the criteria of the patriarchy. “We did not choose the mentioned candidate. That is all we can say.”
‘It is not like a priest would be hired for the patriarchy’
Pakrad Öztukyan, editor for the daily Agos and one of the community’s leading members, criticized the patriarchy’s stance. “It is not like a priest would be hired for the patriarchy and that they would get involved. It was absurd when it was announced that the patriarchy would handle the screenings two months ago because we are not an ecclesiastic community.”
Öztukyan also released background information on the events: “Bağış had visited the patriarchy and the topic came up during the conversation; that is all. Then patriarchy officials invented stories about it.”
Arsen Aşık, a retired scholar from Boğaziçi University also agreed with Öztukyan: “The patriarchy should involve itself in matters of religion and its flock. It should avoid politics.”
Criticizing the press
Aşık also criticized the stance of the Turkish media. “The story emphasizes that the candidate is to be investigated by MIT. In turn, it appears the media are trying to provoke a reaction against the candidate coming from a minority group. The matter is being presented to the public as if it is a state secret.”
Ara Koçunyan, owner of the daily Armenian newspaper of Istanbul, Jamang (Time), also made similar criticisms against the press.
“There were attempts to pull the patriarchy into the center of a polemic discussion.” However, unlike Öztukyan and Aşık, Koçunyan defended the patriarchy, saying, “Of course the patriarchy would choose the names from its community.
Koçunyan also said Halepli was one of the most likely to be selected.
What Deputy Mayor Barın says
Many people of Armenian origin were appointed to civil service positions in both the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey before 1968, after which the process was halted due to various reasons related to domestic politics.
A new process began when Vasken Barın was selected as deputy mayor of Şişli in the mid-1990s. Barın has been serving the public alongside Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül for more than 10 years.
Emphasizing the positive aspects of the developments, he said, “It is extremely positive that a young man from our community is to be assigned to such a position, but Halepli would not be the first Armenian in government service as is being said in the press.
“There were many deputies in Parliament during the Republican era, there are inspectors at the Education Ministry and there is me. If they are speaking in terms of the EU, then yes, Halepli is a first.”
1 Aralık 2009 Salı
Fight of a century: Where in Kayseri was Mimar Sinan born?
Fight of a century: Where in Kayseri was Mimar Sinan born?
Monday, November 30, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU - FIRST PERSON
KAYSERİ - Hürriyet Daily News
Ağırnas and Mimar Sinan, two villages in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri, have been fighting each other for nearly 100 years over their competing claims to be the birthplace of Ottoman architect Mimarbaşı Sinan. As a result, one resident says, families have gone so far as to forbid marriages between young people from the two villages
Kayseri’s Ağrınas village is officially recognized as the hometown of Mimarbaşı Sinan.
An entire century has proved an insufficient amount of time for residents of two neighboring villages in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri to determine which town was the birthplace of Turkey’s most renowned architect.
Kayseri’s Ağrınas village is officially recognized as the hometown of Mimarbaşı Sinan, the chief architect for the Ottoman Empire, who is often referred to as simply Mimar Sinan, or architect Sinan.
A member of a family from Kayseri, according to history books, Sinan is said to have created his first works as a child using kevenk, a volcanic stone unique to Kayseri, which sits amid the foothills of the extinct volcano Mount Erciyes.
During the time of Yavuz Sultan Selim, Sinan was taken into the guild of the janissaries, an Ottoman infantry corps. Sons of Christian families living within the borders of the empire were taken from their families, converted to Islam and educated in the guild of janissaries.
Before Ağırnas sits the village of Talas, which still maintains its historical character. We felt like time travelers as we visited the village’s abandoned and ruined churches and ancient streets.
The most interesting stop in Talas was undoubtedly the historical Talas American College and Hospital complex. The structure, which is affiliated with Erciyes University and makes a strong impression with its unique architecture, almost defies the years from its perch overlooking the village.
Ağırnas-born botany expert Sinan Demiroğlu, who guards the historical building and bears the same name as the famous architect, guided us throughout the day after learning that one person from our team has roots in Kayseri.
Fight to claim ownership
All historical sources cite Ağırnas as the birthplace of Mimarbaşı Sinan, but some Kayseri locals believe that the legendary architect was born in the nearby village of Mimar Sinan, just a few hundred meters away. The residents of the two villages have quarreled for decades over ownership of their most famous son.
“Mimar Sinan villagers say that he was born there; Ağırnas villagers say their village is mentioned as the birthplace in all records and thus claim ownership,” Demiroğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “According to my 93-year-old grandmother, this fight has been continuing for nearly 100 years.”
As a result, Demiroğlu added, families have gone so far as to forbid marriages between young people from the two different villages.
Cell towers changed the village
While visiting the villages one by one, we also passed through Germir, just a few kilometers from Talas and the birthplace of internationally renowned American director Elia Kazan. Demiroğlu said he had hosted Kazan in his grandmother’s mansion when the late director visited the village several years ago.
Unlike Talas, Germir has failed to preserve its historical fiber. The entrance to the village resembles a construction site; seven- or eight-story buildings rise from everywhere. There is nothing left in the village, which was famous for its vineyards and orchards.
Although rapid growth is cited as the cause of the changes in Germir, Demiroğlu says the main factors are the mobile phone towers placed in the village.
“The villagers went to court because of the towers,” he said, adding that they had filed suit in an ongoing case to have the mobile phone towers removed. “Germir was also famous for walnut trees, but like the vineyards and orchards, they are no longer producing.”
The story of the golden bell
The final destination on our tour with Demiroğlu was a ruined Armenian church in Germir. “I grew up playing in this church. We used to throw stones at the portraits of saints on the walls,” he said, adding that he now regrets this.
The church’s historic bell had been stolen, and Demiroğlu said he believed the legend that his grandmother tells about how the bell was taken away.
“A big airplane came close to the bell tower. My grandmother says that it was a German airplane,” he said. “Those in the plane took the church’s golden bell and flew away.”
Who was Mimarbaşı Sinan?
According to historical records, Mimarbaşı Sinan was born in Kayseri’s Ağırnas village and was taken into the guild of janissaries at the time of Yavuz Sultan Selim.
Sinan’s ethnic roots remain a matter of intense debate to this day, with some claiming he was of Armenian or Greek origin.
Earning the title of chief architect of the palace, Sinan decorated the empire with his works, including the Hüsreviye complex in Aleppo, Syria; the Çoban Mustafa Paşa complex in Gebze; and the Haseki complex, built for Hürrem Sultan, in Istanbul.
Three of his works built after he became chief architect can be viewed as steps displaying the development of his art.
The first is the Şehzade Mosque and complex in Istanbul. The Süleymaniye Mosque, built a few years later, is considered the architect’s most magnificent work in Istanbul. Lastly, the Selimiye Mosque, in the northwestern city of Edirne, is widely considered to be Sinan’s masterpiece.
The Selimiye Mosque, which he built while in his 80s, has a dome that is higher and deeper than that of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
Monday, November 30, 2009
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU - FIRST PERSON
KAYSERİ - Hürriyet Daily News
Ağırnas and Mimar Sinan, two villages in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri, have been fighting each other for nearly 100 years over their competing claims to be the birthplace of Ottoman architect Mimarbaşı Sinan. As a result, one resident says, families have gone so far as to forbid marriages between young people from the two villages
Kayseri’s Ağrınas village is officially recognized as the hometown of Mimarbaşı Sinan.
An entire century has proved an insufficient amount of time for residents of two neighboring villages in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri to determine which town was the birthplace of Turkey’s most renowned architect.
Kayseri’s Ağrınas village is officially recognized as the hometown of Mimarbaşı Sinan, the chief architect for the Ottoman Empire, who is often referred to as simply Mimar Sinan, or architect Sinan.
A member of a family from Kayseri, according to history books, Sinan is said to have created his first works as a child using kevenk, a volcanic stone unique to Kayseri, which sits amid the foothills of the extinct volcano Mount Erciyes.
During the time of Yavuz Sultan Selim, Sinan was taken into the guild of the janissaries, an Ottoman infantry corps. Sons of Christian families living within the borders of the empire were taken from their families, converted to Islam and educated in the guild of janissaries.
Before Ağırnas sits the village of Talas, which still maintains its historical character. We felt like time travelers as we visited the village’s abandoned and ruined churches and ancient streets.
The most interesting stop in Talas was undoubtedly the historical Talas American College and Hospital complex. The structure, which is affiliated with Erciyes University and makes a strong impression with its unique architecture, almost defies the years from its perch overlooking the village.
Ağırnas-born botany expert Sinan Demiroğlu, who guards the historical building and bears the same name as the famous architect, guided us throughout the day after learning that one person from our team has roots in Kayseri.
Fight to claim ownership
All historical sources cite Ağırnas as the birthplace of Mimarbaşı Sinan, but some Kayseri locals believe that the legendary architect was born in the nearby village of Mimar Sinan, just a few hundred meters away. The residents of the two villages have quarreled for decades over ownership of their most famous son.
“Mimar Sinan villagers say that he was born there; Ağırnas villagers say their village is mentioned as the birthplace in all records and thus claim ownership,” Demiroğlu told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “According to my 93-year-old grandmother, this fight has been continuing for nearly 100 years.”
As a result, Demiroğlu added, families have gone so far as to forbid marriages between young people from the two different villages.
Cell towers changed the village
While visiting the villages one by one, we also passed through Germir, just a few kilometers from Talas and the birthplace of internationally renowned American director Elia Kazan. Demiroğlu said he had hosted Kazan in his grandmother’s mansion when the late director visited the village several years ago.
Unlike Talas, Germir has failed to preserve its historical fiber. The entrance to the village resembles a construction site; seven- or eight-story buildings rise from everywhere. There is nothing left in the village, which was famous for its vineyards and orchards.
Although rapid growth is cited as the cause of the changes in Germir, Demiroğlu says the main factors are the mobile phone towers placed in the village.
“The villagers went to court because of the towers,” he said, adding that they had filed suit in an ongoing case to have the mobile phone towers removed. “Germir was also famous for walnut trees, but like the vineyards and orchards, they are no longer producing.”
The story of the golden bell
The final destination on our tour with Demiroğlu was a ruined Armenian church in Germir. “I grew up playing in this church. We used to throw stones at the portraits of saints on the walls,” he said, adding that he now regrets this.
The church’s historic bell had been stolen, and Demiroğlu said he believed the legend that his grandmother tells about how the bell was taken away.
“A big airplane came close to the bell tower. My grandmother says that it was a German airplane,” he said. “Those in the plane took the church’s golden bell and flew away.”
Who was Mimarbaşı Sinan?
According to historical records, Mimarbaşı Sinan was born in Kayseri’s Ağırnas village and was taken into the guild of janissaries at the time of Yavuz Sultan Selim.
Sinan’s ethnic roots remain a matter of intense debate to this day, with some claiming he was of Armenian or Greek origin.
Earning the title of chief architect of the palace, Sinan decorated the empire with his works, including the Hüsreviye complex in Aleppo, Syria; the Çoban Mustafa Paşa complex in Gebze; and the Haseki complex, built for Hürrem Sultan, in Istanbul.
Three of his works built after he became chief architect can be viewed as steps displaying the development of his art.
The first is the Şehzade Mosque and complex in Istanbul. The Süleymaniye Mosque, built a few years later, is considered the architect’s most magnificent work in Istanbul. Lastly, the Selimiye Mosque, in the northwestern city of Edirne, is widely considered to be Sinan’s masterpiece.
The Selimiye Mosque, which he built while in his 80s, has a dome that is higher and deeper than that of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.
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