Armenian schools open doors to a different audience
Sunday, January 30, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian schools in Turkey are set to begin admitting students according to a new policy in light of the increasing number of children born to couples of mixed Turkish-Armenian and non-Armenian descent.
A number of children born to intercultural couples are already attending a variety of the 18 Armenian schools in Istanbul.
Previously, for a child to be allowed to register at an Armenian school both parents had to be members of the Armenian Apostolic Church, however the Education Ministry recently issued a notice stating that only one of the parents had to be a church member.
Principal Karekin Barsamyan of the Private Pangaltı (Mıhitaryan) Armenian High School told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review recently that a number of the school’s students were registered as Muslim on their identity cards, while some were registered as Syriac and others were registered as having Turkish-Greek parents. “Regardless of what their identity cards say, these kids are receiving an Armenian-Christian education and they will decide upon their identities themselves in the future,” Barsamyan said.
Mıhitaryan High School has been the “coordinating school” of all Armenian Minority Schools since the first years of the Turkish Republic, according to an official notice issued at the time.
Parents are content
While intercultural parents who send their kids to Armenian schools in Istanbul were mostly reluctant to speak on the record about the issue, Hacer – unwilling to reveal her surname – told the Daily News that she had a very happy marriage with two kids, aged 12 and 6, who both attended Armenian schools. “I am learning Armenian together with them,” she said.
Aylin, also unwilling to reveal her surname, said her heritage was in the eastern province of Muş, adding that her parents chose to convert to Islam in 1915. Her family members were all very devout Muslims, she said. "My family is extremely conservative, but they did not say anything against me marrying an Armenian man,” she said. However, her 9-year-old son is having trouble with his identity.
“He is asking me how I became a Christian and married his father, while my parents were Muslim,” Aylin said. “I wear a headscarf and go to a mosque when required, but I also attend mass at church. This is very confusing for him. I am trying to explain the situation to him as best I can.”
Answering a question about why she decided to send her son to an Armenian school, she said: “I could not learn about my language and my culture. I want him to at least have a notion about it.”
Elif Baharol, who told the Daily News she was about to divorce her husband for economic reasons, said her child would continue to receive an Armenian-Christian education “as it is supposed to be.”
The new Education Ministry regulation opens the way for children of the Armenian immigrants who have come to Turkey since 1988 to also be educated at these schools.
In the 2011-2012 academic year, Armenians who have already obtained work and/or residence permits can have their children registered in these schools, according to Barsamyan.
Mıhitaryan High School officially applied to the Education Ministry to be allowed to admit children born to intercultural couples in the past because of the great number of Armenian kids being deprived of their right to an education, Barsamyan said, adding that the request was granted without fuss. “Most probably, we will be admitting these kids next year,” he said.
Barsamyan believes the new situation might help the currently strained relations between Turkey and Armenia. “I am keeping an eye on how well the kids from intercultural marriages and Armenian parents relate to each other,” he said.
“It is really promising. This will absolutely contribute greatly to establishing sound relations between the nations in the future.”
31 Ocak 2011 Pazartesi
26 Ocak 2011 Çarşamba
Nuclear leak rumors scare eastern Turkey
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian authorities rejected claims Tuesday that a nuclear plant near the town of Metszamor was leaking radiation, denying an Anatolian news agency report from the previous day that radioactive fallout from the station was affecting nearby eastern Turkey.
“Turkey does not need to worry. If there were a danger, we would have measures first for our own people,” Ashot Mardirosyan, chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Security Committee, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry also rejected the claims of a leak Monday on its website.
The news agency erroneously reported Monday that special devices placed in several eastern Turkish provinces were measuring radiation leakage from the Haygagan Atomagayan nuclear power plant – sparking brief panic before concerns were allayed by authorities.
With the wire report spreading quickly, the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, or TAEK, compounded the worry when it later said it had placed detectors in 100 spots. TAEK released a statement at 5 p.m. Monday noting that there was no increase in the radiation’s dosage speed, but did not clarify that there was no leak.
After news of the supposed leakage was broadcast, Erzurum’s Atatürk University scrambled to say the special devices in eastern Turkey were designed to measure cancer-causing radon gas resulting from the cracks and paint on buildings in eastern Turkey and to provide data for an earthquake map.
Afterward, the Iğdır Governor’s Office released a statement saying “only radon measurements were done” and not radiation measurements on nuclear fears. Anatolia later changed the phrase it had used in its coverage from “leak” to “a leak claim.”
“It should not be suggested that we have worries about Haygagan Atomagayan. We are investing for the future as we think about our country’s energy need. I am sure these steps will disturb some circles too as Armenia gets stronger and sustains itself despite its closed borders,” Arthur Hovhannesian, deputy head of the Armenia’s State Nuclear Regulatory Security, told the Daily News in regard to a new nuclear power plant under joint construction with Russia.
Gyumri earthquake and the plant
Anatolia’s original story also reported that the Haygagan Atomagayan power plant, which was constructed in the 1970s and came online in 1980, was erected in the eastern Anatolian fault zone, thus posing a danger.
However, Mardirosyan said, the devastating 1988 Spitag Earthquake that killed thousands of people when it hit Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri, proved that the plant was sound. “It was constructed with necessary precautions. It was not harmed in the Spitag quake and it clearly proved that the plant is extremely safe.”
Hovhannesiyan also said similar media stories questioning the plant’s safety frequently crop up in the press.
“Unfortunately, Turkey’s policy on the power plant is very bad. We haven’t been able to understand why,” he said.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
Armenian authorities rejected claims Tuesday that a nuclear plant near the town of Metszamor was leaking radiation, denying an Anatolian news agency report from the previous day that radioactive fallout from the station was affecting nearby eastern Turkey.
“Turkey does not need to worry. If there were a danger, we would have measures first for our own people,” Ashot Mardirosyan, chairman of the State Nuclear Regulatory Security Committee, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday. The Armenian Foreign Ministry also rejected the claims of a leak Monday on its website.
The news agency erroneously reported Monday that special devices placed in several eastern Turkish provinces were measuring radiation leakage from the Haygagan Atomagayan nuclear power plant – sparking brief panic before concerns were allayed by authorities.
With the wire report spreading quickly, the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, or TAEK, compounded the worry when it later said it had placed detectors in 100 spots. TAEK released a statement at 5 p.m. Monday noting that there was no increase in the radiation’s dosage speed, but did not clarify that there was no leak.
After news of the supposed leakage was broadcast, Erzurum’s Atatürk University scrambled to say the special devices in eastern Turkey were designed to measure cancer-causing radon gas resulting from the cracks and paint on buildings in eastern Turkey and to provide data for an earthquake map.
Afterward, the Iğdır Governor’s Office released a statement saying “only radon measurements were done” and not radiation measurements on nuclear fears. Anatolia later changed the phrase it had used in its coverage from “leak” to “a leak claim.”
“It should not be suggested that we have worries about Haygagan Atomagayan. We are investing for the future as we think about our country’s energy need. I am sure these steps will disturb some circles too as Armenia gets stronger and sustains itself despite its closed borders,” Arthur Hovhannesian, deputy head of the Armenia’s State Nuclear Regulatory Security, told the Daily News in regard to a new nuclear power plant under joint construction with Russia.
Gyumri earthquake and the plant
Anatolia’s original story also reported that the Haygagan Atomagayan power plant, which was constructed in the 1970s and came online in 1980, was erected in the eastern Anatolian fault zone, thus posing a danger.
However, Mardirosyan said, the devastating 1988 Spitag Earthquake that killed thousands of people when it hit Armenia’s second largest city, Gyumri, proved that the plant was sound. “It was constructed with necessary precautions. It was not harmed in the Spitag quake and it clearly proved that the plant is extremely safe.”
Hovhannesiyan also said similar media stories questioning the plant’s safety frequently crop up in the press.
“Unfortunately, Turkey’s policy on the power plant is very bad. We haven’t been able to understand why,” he said.
24 Ocak 2011 Pazartesi
Widow of Turkish-Armenian journalist remains steadfast since murder
Sunday, January 23, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE - Hürriyet Daily News
Pastor Gilbert Leonian of the Armenian Protestant Bible Church in Marseille tells the Daily News how Rakel Dink, widow of slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, has coped since her husband’s murder. The pastor adds that he himself has changed since the killing, saying, ‘The seeds of peace sewn by Hrant Dink are now sprouting inside me’
A strong faith has helped the widow of slain journalist Hrant Dink endure the four years since she lost her husband, according to a French pastor close to the bereaved. He also said the murder has paradoxically worked to change his views on Turkey.
Rakel Dink, who was the wife of the murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist, delivered a powerful speech at her husband’s funeral, lamenting how “murderers are raised from babies.” “If you pay attention to the text, you see that she seeks shelter in God despite pain and sorrow. You will hear the voice of a true believer. Rakel, our dear daughter, is such a strong and faithful woman,” Pastor Gilbert Leonian of the Armenian Protestant Bible Church in Marseille recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Leonian knows Rakel Dink well, and since Hrant Dink’s murder on Jan. 19, 2007, the widow has had relations with the church in Marseille even though she remains a member of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
“Rakel is a member of our congregation, but I do not want to stress her name and talk much about it,” Leonian said, relating Rakel Dink’s story to the Daily News.
Racing to the crime scene
As soon as he received news of the murder four years ago, Leonian said he called Rakel Dink in Istanbul and that she was too overcome with grief to speak. As such, Leonian said he immediately called Pastor Krikor Ağabaloğlu, the religious leader of the Armenian Protestant Church at Gedikpaşa, in Istanbul.
“I was helpless. I wanted to be there and help Rakel,” said Leonian. “I talked to Ağabaloğlu. He was on his way to the murder scene. I warned him to be careful because [a year before] Priest Andreas Santaro was murdered in Trabzon. Missionaries were facing danger. Krikor insisted on a trip to the crime scene. He said: ‘I, as a religious leader, am not in a place to think of myself. I have to be with Rakel.’ I understood him very well. If I were him, I would’ve done the same thing.”
‘Hrant showing the way’
“Rakel’s pain is naturally deeper than ours,” said Leonian. “But our son Hrant left a tremendous gap inside us which is impossible to fill. I don’t think anyone from now on will continue as courageously as he did. His heart was pounding for friendship and peace. Hrant was removing prejudices.”
Having lost a big part of his family during the 1915 events in eastern Anatolia, Leonian said he had had many prejudices against Turkey, much like many others in France’s large Armenian diaspora.
Leonian said he was forced to push his prejudices aside on his first visit to Turkey in 1999 as he rushed to help victims of the Aug. 17 Marmara earthquake that coincidentally occurred on the night of his arrival.
"It was my first time in Turkey and with Turkish people. Then, the Dink murder took place. Pain surfaced again. In the name of friendship, however, Hrant has left something beautiful and I, as a man of religion, decided to claim this heritage and now walk on his path,” Leonian said.
The pastor also said he attended a conference with a high-ranking figure from Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate – whose name he chose to withhold for privacy reasons – and added that they prayed together at a Paris church for the Turkish and Armenian peoples.
“The seeds of peace sewn by Hrant are sprouting now. I hope they will sprout in all of us,” he said.
Rakel meets Hrant
Rakel Dink is a member of one of Turkey’s largest Armenian clans, the Varto, also known as Vartan, of Southeast Anatolia. Born in the present-day province of Şırnak, Rakel Dink and several other children from the clan were located by then-Armenian Patriarch Shinorhk Kalustyan and brought to Istanbul for an education because there was no Armenian church or school in the region.
Pastor Hrant Küçükgüzelyan, the religious leader of the Armenian Protestant Church in Gedikpaşa, Istanbul, was also instrumental in the children’s education, transforming the basement of his church into an orphanage before opening a summer camp in the Tuzla district on the Asian side of the city for his charges.
Rakel Dink was also taken under Küçükgüzelyan’s wing, resulting in her Protestant upbringing. While at the Tuzla camp, she met and fell in love with Hrant Dink.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE - Hürriyet Daily News
Pastor Gilbert Leonian of the Armenian Protestant Bible Church in Marseille tells the Daily News how Rakel Dink, widow of slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, has coped since her husband’s murder. The pastor adds that he himself has changed since the killing, saying, ‘The seeds of peace sewn by Hrant Dink are now sprouting inside me’
A strong faith has helped the widow of slain journalist Hrant Dink endure the four years since she lost her husband, according to a French pastor close to the bereaved. He also said the murder has paradoxically worked to change his views on Turkey.
Rakel Dink, who was the wife of the murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist, delivered a powerful speech at her husband’s funeral, lamenting how “murderers are raised from babies.” “If you pay attention to the text, you see that she seeks shelter in God despite pain and sorrow. You will hear the voice of a true believer. Rakel, our dear daughter, is such a strong and faithful woman,” Pastor Gilbert Leonian of the Armenian Protestant Bible Church in Marseille recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
Leonian knows Rakel Dink well, and since Hrant Dink’s murder on Jan. 19, 2007, the widow has had relations with the church in Marseille even though she remains a member of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
“Rakel is a member of our congregation, but I do not want to stress her name and talk much about it,” Leonian said, relating Rakel Dink’s story to the Daily News.
Racing to the crime scene
As soon as he received news of the murder four years ago, Leonian said he called Rakel Dink in Istanbul and that she was too overcome with grief to speak. As such, Leonian said he immediately called Pastor Krikor Ağabaloğlu, the religious leader of the Armenian Protestant Church at Gedikpaşa, in Istanbul.
“I was helpless. I wanted to be there and help Rakel,” said Leonian. “I talked to Ağabaloğlu. He was on his way to the murder scene. I warned him to be careful because [a year before] Priest Andreas Santaro was murdered in Trabzon. Missionaries were facing danger. Krikor insisted on a trip to the crime scene. He said: ‘I, as a religious leader, am not in a place to think of myself. I have to be with Rakel.’ I understood him very well. If I were him, I would’ve done the same thing.”
‘Hrant showing the way’
“Rakel’s pain is naturally deeper than ours,” said Leonian. “But our son Hrant left a tremendous gap inside us which is impossible to fill. I don’t think anyone from now on will continue as courageously as he did. His heart was pounding for friendship and peace. Hrant was removing prejudices.”
Having lost a big part of his family during the 1915 events in eastern Anatolia, Leonian said he had had many prejudices against Turkey, much like many others in France’s large Armenian diaspora.
Leonian said he was forced to push his prejudices aside on his first visit to Turkey in 1999 as he rushed to help victims of the Aug. 17 Marmara earthquake that coincidentally occurred on the night of his arrival.
"It was my first time in Turkey and with Turkish people. Then, the Dink murder took place. Pain surfaced again. In the name of friendship, however, Hrant has left something beautiful and I, as a man of religion, decided to claim this heritage and now walk on his path,” Leonian said.
The pastor also said he attended a conference with a high-ranking figure from Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate – whose name he chose to withhold for privacy reasons – and added that they prayed together at a Paris church for the Turkish and Armenian peoples.
“The seeds of peace sewn by Hrant are sprouting now. I hope they will sprout in all of us,” he said.
Rakel meets Hrant
Rakel Dink is a member of one of Turkey’s largest Armenian clans, the Varto, also known as Vartan, of Southeast Anatolia. Born in the present-day province of Şırnak, Rakel Dink and several other children from the clan were located by then-Armenian Patriarch Shinorhk Kalustyan and brought to Istanbul for an education because there was no Armenian church or school in the region.
Pastor Hrant Küçükgüzelyan, the religious leader of the Armenian Protestant Church in Gedikpaşa, Istanbul, was also instrumental in the children’s education, transforming the basement of his church into an orphanage before opening a summer camp in the Tuzla district on the Asian side of the city for his charges.
Rakel Dink was also taken under Küçükgüzelyan’s wing, resulting in her Protestant upbringing. While at the Tuzla camp, she met and fell in love with Hrant Dink.
Sculptor Mehmet Aksoy to sue prime minister
Sunday, January 23, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
With the 'Monument of Humanity,' sculpted by Mehmet Aksoy in the eastern city of Kars, already a subject of controversy, authorities are delaying the installation of Aksoy’s broken-winged white dove statue, which he has dedicated to Hrant Dink, and he is planning to sue Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 'The Monument of Humanity, dedicated to Turkish and Armenian people, and even the little broken-winged white dove are enough to scare some people,' Aksoy says
Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy has decided to take legal actions after not being permitted to finish his “Monument of Humanity” in Kars and not being able to exhibit his broken-winged white dove statue made in memory of assassinated Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink. The intervention in his attempts to further friendship between Turkish and Armenian people spurred Aksoy to take action.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent description of Aksoy’s Monument of Humanity as “freakish” and his order to demolish it was the final straw, Aksoy said. Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Aksoy said he was preparing to sue Erdoğan and that he would publicly announce the lawsuit at a press conference in the next few days.
If the Monument of Humanity, which began construction in 2006, had been completed, it would be 35 meters tall and 300 tons. The statue, in two parts symbolizing Cain and Abel in the holy book, would have symbolized the Turkish and Armenian peoples. One of the pieces would have shed tears to show regret.
During his visit to Kars a few weeks ago, Erdoğan said the height of the hill where the statue was placed was equal to the height of the Seyyid Hasal El Harakani tomb and mosque, arguing that the statue would overshadow the historic edifices, and ordered its demolition.
“The Monument of Humanity and a small, broken-winged dove were enough to scare some people,” said Aksoy. “I understand that the concepts of friendship and brotherhood bother some people. They are against the reconciliation of the Turkish and Armenian people. But despite all these, the two publics will find their own way and nobody will be able to prevent it.”
White dove prevented
Aksoy completed his sculpture of a broken-winged white dove coincidentally just a short time before daily Agos editor-in-chief Dink was assassinated on Jan. 19, 2007. Aksoy knew Dink closely; he decided to place the sculpture at the place where his body fell. The dove would have symbolized Dink. After meeting with Dink’s family, he applied to the Şişli Municipality and the plan was approved.
“They first gave me permission and work started on the installation of the piece. But later, they took a step backward, citing various reasons. One of the reasons was that the glass was slippery and would cause people to fall and break their leg. Although I told them that I would find nonskid glass, they did not change their mind,” Aksoy said. “They not only prevented the white dove sculpture from being erected, they also said they would name the avenue after Hrant but they have not.”
In response to Aksoy’s claims, Şişli Deputy Mayor Vasgen Barın, who has Armenian heritage, said they agreed to let Aksoy install the dove, but he did not meet the requirements. “We told him to find nonskid glass but he could not. We told him that the sculpture should be 1.2 by 0.6 meters, but it was 1.2 by 1.2.”
Refuting Barın’s claims, Aksoy said: “I told them to narrow the area where the sculpture would be placed rather than downsize the sculpture, but they did not accept this. These are just excuses.”
‘I don’t have financial expectations’
Barın said: “Aksoy did not make the sculpture for Dink. He decided later to dedicate it to him.” Aksoy noted: “I do not deny that I made the sculpture before his death, I told this to Dink’s family, too. I don’t understand what they are trying to say. I don’t have any financial expectations, either. Should I have made the sculpture after the assassination?”
Speaking about the recent unpleasant developments about his works, Aksoy said: “We artists and other right-minded people are prevented from doing something. Moreover, the municipal official whom I talked to, Barın, is Armenian, but no one wants to lose their job. We draw attention to sensitive issues. We want to serve peace and friendship.”
Sunday, January 23, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
With the 'Monument of Humanity,' sculpted by Mehmet Aksoy in the eastern city of Kars, already a subject of controversy, authorities are delaying the installation of Aksoy’s broken-winged white dove statue, which he has dedicated to Hrant Dink, and he is planning to sue Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. 'The Monument of Humanity, dedicated to Turkish and Armenian people, and even the little broken-winged white dove are enough to scare some people,' Aksoy says
Turkish sculptor Mehmet Aksoy has decided to take legal actions after not being permitted to finish his “Monument of Humanity” in Kars and not being able to exhibit his broken-winged white dove statue made in memory of assassinated Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink. The intervention in his attempts to further friendship between Turkish and Armenian people spurred Aksoy to take action.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent description of Aksoy’s Monument of Humanity as “freakish” and his order to demolish it was the final straw, Aksoy said. Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Aksoy said he was preparing to sue Erdoğan and that he would publicly announce the lawsuit at a press conference in the next few days.
If the Monument of Humanity, which began construction in 2006, had been completed, it would be 35 meters tall and 300 tons. The statue, in two parts symbolizing Cain and Abel in the holy book, would have symbolized the Turkish and Armenian peoples. One of the pieces would have shed tears to show regret.
During his visit to Kars a few weeks ago, Erdoğan said the height of the hill where the statue was placed was equal to the height of the Seyyid Hasal El Harakani tomb and mosque, arguing that the statue would overshadow the historic edifices, and ordered its demolition.
“The Monument of Humanity and a small, broken-winged dove were enough to scare some people,” said Aksoy. “I understand that the concepts of friendship and brotherhood bother some people. They are against the reconciliation of the Turkish and Armenian people. But despite all these, the two publics will find their own way and nobody will be able to prevent it.”
White dove prevented
Aksoy completed his sculpture of a broken-winged white dove coincidentally just a short time before daily Agos editor-in-chief Dink was assassinated on Jan. 19, 2007. Aksoy knew Dink closely; he decided to place the sculpture at the place where his body fell. The dove would have symbolized Dink. After meeting with Dink’s family, he applied to the Şişli Municipality and the plan was approved.
“They first gave me permission and work started on the installation of the piece. But later, they took a step backward, citing various reasons. One of the reasons was that the glass was slippery and would cause people to fall and break their leg. Although I told them that I would find nonskid glass, they did not change their mind,” Aksoy said. “They not only prevented the white dove sculpture from being erected, they also said they would name the avenue after Hrant but they have not.”
In response to Aksoy’s claims, Şişli Deputy Mayor Vasgen Barın, who has Armenian heritage, said they agreed to let Aksoy install the dove, but he did not meet the requirements. “We told him to find nonskid glass but he could not. We told him that the sculpture should be 1.2 by 0.6 meters, but it was 1.2 by 1.2.”
Refuting Barın’s claims, Aksoy said: “I told them to narrow the area where the sculpture would be placed rather than downsize the sculpture, but they did not accept this. These are just excuses.”
‘I don’t have financial expectations’
Barın said: “Aksoy did not make the sculpture for Dink. He decided later to dedicate it to him.” Aksoy noted: “I do not deny that I made the sculpture before his death, I told this to Dink’s family, too. I don’t understand what they are trying to say. I don’t have any financial expectations, either. Should I have made the sculpture after the assassination?”
Speaking about the recent unpleasant developments about his works, Aksoy said: “We artists and other right-minded people are prevented from doing something. Moreover, the municipal official whom I talked to, Barın, is Armenian, but no one wants to lose their job. We draw attention to sensitive issues. We want to serve peace and friendship.”
22 Ocak 2011 Cumartesi
Armenia diaspora wing flies in new direction
Friday, January 21, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE, France - Hürriyet Daily News
Liberal members of one of the most conservative Armenian diaspora groups have called for the renewal of rapprochement efforts with Turkey, saying the border between the two countries should be opened to trade and travel.
“[Diplomatic] protocols were signed and a new process was beginning. For once we believed things were going to change, but it ended up quite contrary,” politician and businessman Didier Parakian, a member of the French Armenian diaspora in Marseille, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “We were planning to start trade [between Turkey and Armenia], and I was planning to lead this process, but everything got turned upside down.”
Parakian said he is unhappy with the way the Armenian diaspora is understood by the Turkish public. “We cannot take the diaspora as a homogenous whole. There of course is a very strict conservative segment, but there are also liberals like us,” he said, adding that the liberal wing would gain more power if the border between Turkey and Armenia were to be opened, while leaving it closed fuels negative radicalism.
The apology campaign started by Turkish intellectuals in late 2008 to atone for the events of 1915, when Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically killed in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, received positive reactions within the diaspora, according to Parakian, who is also the deputy mayor of Marseille.
The businessman said they never blamed the Turkish people for the events of 1915, which Armenia has characterized as genocide. “They [Turks] only know what the official history tells them, but there is a bitter truth,” he said. “As liberals we could have started trade activities as a first step if the borders were opened. But it is impossible for us to take a step back in terms of our efforts to get the genocide recognized in other countries.”
Colette Babouchian, another Armenian politician from Marseille, was among the first supporters in the diaspora of the Armenian apology petition campaign launched in Turkey. He said he is not against the formation of a historians committee to further investigate the events of 1915.
“I believe in communication. There must be a historians committee, but one composed of objective, impartial scholars,” Babouchian told the Daily News. “If the truth will really be uncovered with no vested interest involved, there is nothing to be afraid of on our part. The evidence is already in the open.”
Launched in December 2008, the “I apologize” campaign has drawn harsh criticism within Turkey, even as approximately 30,000 people, including many intellectuals and journalists, have signed the petition, which reads in part: “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Armenians were subjected to in 1915.” Turkey denies claims of genocide, saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that erupted when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.
Efforts to bridge the diplomatic gap between the two countries started in 2008, when Turkish President Abdullah Gül made a historic visit to Armenia to watch a World Cup qualifier football match between the Turkish and Armenian national football teams. Armenian President Serge Sarkisian visited Turkey to watch the return match in 2009.
Following this “football diplomacy,” Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols for the development of relations and the mutual opening of their sealed border in 2009, but the two countries have been unable to complete the process of ratifying the protocols.
Asked why much of the diaspora is against renewing relationships with Turkey, Babouchian said: “If I am to exemplify those from Marseille, almost all the Armenians here are the sons and daughters of those who luckily survived the events of 1915 and moved here. How do you expect them to feel?”
He immediately agreed with Parakian that the Armenian diaspora does not blame the Turkish people for the historical events and only seeks acknowledgment of the truth and an apology for it. “We will never come back to Turkey; my country is now France,” he said.
Remembering the slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, whose murder four years ago was commemorated in Istanbul this week, Parakian said: “When Hrant was shot we thought history was repeating itself. He was trying to open doors and establish a dialogue between these cultures. Besides, he genuinely loved Turkey and Turkish people.”
Friday, January 21, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE, France - Hürriyet Daily News
Liberal members of one of the most conservative Armenian diaspora groups have called for the renewal of rapprochement efforts with Turkey, saying the border between the two countries should be opened to trade and travel.
“[Diplomatic] protocols were signed and a new process was beginning. For once we believed things were going to change, but it ended up quite contrary,” politician and businessman Didier Parakian, a member of the French Armenian diaspora in Marseille, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “We were planning to start trade [between Turkey and Armenia], and I was planning to lead this process, but everything got turned upside down.”
Parakian said he is unhappy with the way the Armenian diaspora is understood by the Turkish public. “We cannot take the diaspora as a homogenous whole. There of course is a very strict conservative segment, but there are also liberals like us,” he said, adding that the liberal wing would gain more power if the border between Turkey and Armenia were to be opened, while leaving it closed fuels negative radicalism.
The apology campaign started by Turkish intellectuals in late 2008 to atone for the events of 1915, when Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were systematically killed in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, received positive reactions within the diaspora, according to Parakian, who is also the deputy mayor of Marseille.
The businessman said they never blamed the Turkish people for the events of 1915, which Armenia has characterized as genocide. “They [Turks] only know what the official history tells them, but there is a bitter truth,” he said. “As liberals we could have started trade activities as a first step if the borders were opened. But it is impossible for us to take a step back in terms of our efforts to get the genocide recognized in other countries.”
Colette Babouchian, another Armenian politician from Marseille, was among the first supporters in the diaspora of the Armenian apology petition campaign launched in Turkey. He said he is not against the formation of a historians committee to further investigate the events of 1915.
“I believe in communication. There must be a historians committee, but one composed of objective, impartial scholars,” Babouchian told the Daily News. “If the truth will really be uncovered with no vested interest involved, there is nothing to be afraid of on our part. The evidence is already in the open.”
Launched in December 2008, the “I apologize” campaign has drawn harsh criticism within Turkey, even as approximately 30,000 people, including many intellectuals and journalists, have signed the petition, which reads in part: “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Armenians were subjected to in 1915.” Turkey denies claims of genocide, saying that any deaths were the result of civil strife that erupted when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia.
Efforts to bridge the diplomatic gap between the two countries started in 2008, when Turkish President Abdullah Gül made a historic visit to Armenia to watch a World Cup qualifier football match between the Turkish and Armenian national football teams. Armenian President Serge Sarkisian visited Turkey to watch the return match in 2009.
Following this “football diplomacy,” Turkey and Armenia signed two protocols for the development of relations and the mutual opening of their sealed border in 2009, but the two countries have been unable to complete the process of ratifying the protocols.
Asked why much of the diaspora is against renewing relationships with Turkey, Babouchian said: “If I am to exemplify those from Marseille, almost all the Armenians here are the sons and daughters of those who luckily survived the events of 1915 and moved here. How do you expect them to feel?”
He immediately agreed with Parakian that the Armenian diaspora does not blame the Turkish people for the historical events and only seeks acknowledgment of the truth and an apology for it. “We will never come back to Turkey; my country is now France,” he said.
Remembering the slain Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, whose murder four years ago was commemorated in Istanbul this week, Parakian said: “When Hrant was shot we thought history was repeating itself. He was trying to open doors and establish a dialogue between these cultures. Besides, he genuinely loved Turkey and Turkish people.”
18 Ocak 2011 Salı
Dink marriage flew in face of tradition, stepsister says
Monday, January 17, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE - Hürriyet Daily News
Rakel Dink rebelled against an ingrained sense of family tradition when she declared that she would marry Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist slain Jan. 19, 2007, according to one of the widow’s stepsisters.
“We were younger than Rakel, but at the [Armenian children’s] camp in Tuzla we saw the love of my big sister Rakel and ‘aghparig’ (brother) Hrant. But my father was not aware of the situation. When he and the [family] elders learned about Rakel and Hrant’s love, he raised all hell,” Yerchanik Mungan, Rakel Dink’s stepsister and a member of the formerly powerful Varto (Kurdish), or Vartan (Armenian), clan from Southeast Anatolia, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Econonic Review.
Recounting the efforts Rakel Dink and Hrant Dink, who later became the editor-in-chief of daily Agos until his killing four years ago, made to marry, Mungan said the 82nd Armenian Patriarch of Turkish Armenians, Shinorhk Kalustyan, mediated and eventually convinced Rakel’s father, Siamant Ağa, to reluctantly accept the marriage.
Still, he demanded a bridewealth for his daughter of about 20,000 Turkish Liras – an astronomical sum, she said. “Although the patriarch said, ‘We don’t have such a custom,’ my father insisted on it and they agreed on 6,000 Turkish Liras.”
Siament Ağa eventually returned the money to Hrant Dink, Yerchanik Mungan said. “His only aim was to make it more difficult for Hrant, so he demanded money. When he realized that he could not succeed in it, my father returned the money, saying, ‘Spend this on your wedding.’”
Rakel was likely the first bride to be given to a man from outside the Varto clan, Yerchanik Mungan said, adding that the clan married within itself despite the practice being impermissible in Christianity.
“I am not as radical as my big sister Rakel,” she said, noting she married her cousin, Mesrop Mungan.
Yerchanik Mungan is Siament Ağa’s daughter from his second wife. She began living in the same household as Rakel when the latter’s mother left the house while Siament Ağa took another wife. In all, 13 children were raised in the house. “Rakel was the apple of my father’s eye,” Mungan said.
Patriarch Kalustyan had found the remnants of the Varto members living in Silopi and Cizre in the southeastern province of Şırnak in the 1960s.
Seeking to connect them to Armenian culture, he sought to convince the clan to move to Istanbul, but the members did not want to abandon their land, although Siament Ağa and other elders were eventually persuaded to send their children for education in the city. The offspring were brought to Istanbul gradually, with Rakel Dink in the second group and Yerchanik in the third. “We came together in the Tuzla camp,” she said.
Wife devastated by killing
Rakel Dink and Hrant Dink’s love was just like in fairy tales, according to Mungan. “When Hrant was killed, they in fact killed two people,” she said, adding that the two could not live without each other. “The only thing that keeps Rakel alive is her faith in God. Without it, she couldn’t survive a life without Hrant.”
Yerchanik Mungan said they were devastated on Jan. 19, 2007 when they received news that Hrant Dink had been gunned down outside his newspaper’s offices in Istanbul’s Şişli district.
“I was driving. They called me and asked me to come home,” said Yerchanik Mungan. “I had a sense that something was wrong, but I couldn’t accept what I heard upon my return. Hrant couldn’t have died. It was impossible.”
Mesrop Mungan said he could never forget that day. “I’ve known Rakel and Hrant since my childhood. As I heard the news, I felt deep pain inside.”
‘I will die where I was born’
Both Mungans said the real perpetrators of Hrant Dink’s killing can never be found.
Asked whether she thought the journalist had become a target, Yerchanik Mungan said: “They should’ve come here, near us. But Hrant said, ‘I will die where I was born.’ If my father were alive, he would have died when he learned about the murder. We, as 13 siblings, are trying to not let Rakel feel alone.”
Yerchanik Mungan said she could not accept the journalist’s death on the day of the killing and would never be able to do so in the future either. “He still lives in Istanbul next to my dear Rakel.”
“We lost a heart; a heart that was beating with friendship and love,” Mesrop Mungan said.
Monday, January 17, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE - Hürriyet Daily News
Rakel Dink rebelled against an ingrained sense of family tradition when she declared that she would marry Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist slain Jan. 19, 2007, according to one of the widow’s stepsisters.
“We were younger than Rakel, but at the [Armenian children’s] camp in Tuzla we saw the love of my big sister Rakel and ‘aghparig’ (brother) Hrant. But my father was not aware of the situation. When he and the [family] elders learned about Rakel and Hrant’s love, he raised all hell,” Yerchanik Mungan, Rakel Dink’s stepsister and a member of the formerly powerful Varto (Kurdish), or Vartan (Armenian), clan from Southeast Anatolia, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Econonic Review.
Recounting the efforts Rakel Dink and Hrant Dink, who later became the editor-in-chief of daily Agos until his killing four years ago, made to marry, Mungan said the 82nd Armenian Patriarch of Turkish Armenians, Shinorhk Kalustyan, mediated and eventually convinced Rakel’s father, Siamant Ağa, to reluctantly accept the marriage.
Still, he demanded a bridewealth for his daughter of about 20,000 Turkish Liras – an astronomical sum, she said. “Although the patriarch said, ‘We don’t have such a custom,’ my father insisted on it and they agreed on 6,000 Turkish Liras.”
Siament Ağa eventually returned the money to Hrant Dink, Yerchanik Mungan said. “His only aim was to make it more difficult for Hrant, so he demanded money. When he realized that he could not succeed in it, my father returned the money, saying, ‘Spend this on your wedding.’”
Rakel was likely the first bride to be given to a man from outside the Varto clan, Yerchanik Mungan said, adding that the clan married within itself despite the practice being impermissible in Christianity.
“I am not as radical as my big sister Rakel,” she said, noting she married her cousin, Mesrop Mungan.
Yerchanik Mungan is Siament Ağa’s daughter from his second wife. She began living in the same household as Rakel when the latter’s mother left the house while Siament Ağa took another wife. In all, 13 children were raised in the house. “Rakel was the apple of my father’s eye,” Mungan said.
Patriarch Kalustyan had found the remnants of the Varto members living in Silopi and Cizre in the southeastern province of Şırnak in the 1960s.
Seeking to connect them to Armenian culture, he sought to convince the clan to move to Istanbul, but the members did not want to abandon their land, although Siament Ağa and other elders were eventually persuaded to send their children for education in the city. The offspring were brought to Istanbul gradually, with Rakel Dink in the second group and Yerchanik in the third. “We came together in the Tuzla camp,” she said.
Wife devastated by killing
Rakel Dink and Hrant Dink’s love was just like in fairy tales, according to Mungan. “When Hrant was killed, they in fact killed two people,” she said, adding that the two could not live without each other. “The only thing that keeps Rakel alive is her faith in God. Without it, she couldn’t survive a life without Hrant.”
Yerchanik Mungan said they were devastated on Jan. 19, 2007 when they received news that Hrant Dink had been gunned down outside his newspaper’s offices in Istanbul’s Şişli district.
“I was driving. They called me and asked me to come home,” said Yerchanik Mungan. “I had a sense that something was wrong, but I couldn’t accept what I heard upon my return. Hrant couldn’t have died. It was impossible.”
Mesrop Mungan said he could never forget that day. “I’ve known Rakel and Hrant since my childhood. As I heard the news, I felt deep pain inside.”
‘I will die where I was born’
Both Mungans said the real perpetrators of Hrant Dink’s killing can never be found.
Asked whether she thought the journalist had become a target, Yerchanik Mungan said: “They should’ve come here, near us. But Hrant said, ‘I will die where I was born.’ If my father were alive, he would have died when he learned about the murder. We, as 13 siblings, are trying to not let Rakel feel alone.”
Yerchanik Mungan said she could not accept the journalist’s death on the day of the killing and would never be able to do so in the future either. “He still lives in Istanbul next to my dear Rakel.”
“We lost a heart; a heart that was beating with friendship and love,” Mesrop Mungan said.
15 Ocak 2011 Cumartesi
Varto Armenian clan makes long trip from Turkey to France
Friday, January 14, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE - Hürriyet Daily News
Istanbul was not the final destination the once biggest Armenian tribe in Southeast Anatolia, as many continued further west, moving to France and Belgium.
An Armenian clan’s journey from isolation in southeastern Turkey to France reflects the trials and tribulations experienced by immigrants everywhere, but is also indicative of a larger trend within Turkey’s dwindling Armenian population.
Once the biggest Armenian clans in Southeast Anatolia, the Varto (in Kurdish) or Vartan (in Armenian) clan has only one member left in Turkey now: Rakel Dink, the wife of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly, Hrant Dink, who was killed in 2007.
Rakel Dink’s father, Siament Ağa, was the owner of thousands of hectares of land in the area around the southeastern towns of Silopi and Cizre, in present-day Şırnak province, where the Varto clan members lived and where their journey to Marseille began.
In the late 1960s, the 82nd Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, Sinorhk Kalustian, initiated a move to bring members of the clan to Istanbul in groups. Istanbul, however, was not the final destination, as many continued further west, moving to France and Belgium in the 1980s.
According to information provided by clan members, there are now 1,200 relatives in Belgium and Marseille.
‘We thought there were no Armenians in the world’
One of the elderly members of the group, 63-year-old Fidel Barkev Yaliç, is the son of Rakel Dink’s uncle. For 100 years, the clan survived in Şırnak, he said. But following the troubles of 1915, they cut their connections with the world.
“We thought we were the only Armenians left in the world,” Fidel Barkev Yaliç recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “We were a few hundred. For this reason, though it was not allowed in Christianity, we bred within the family to protect our identity.”
Although Rakel Dink married outside the clan, few others did. Until the present generation, members of the clan could only marry other Apostolic Armenians while, after marriage, newlyweds would be forced to adhere to strict social mores within the group, which included deference to the family. Clan members, meanwhile, spoke little Armenian, and were most comfortable in Kurdish or Turkish.
From 1915 to 1968 the clan members lived totally isolated from the outside world, Fidel Barkev Yaliç said, adding that when they finally learned that other Armenians also lived in Turkey, they were left in tears.
“Orhan Bakır, a half-Syriac, half-Armenian from Mardin [who was not part of the clan] went to Istanbul for military service. He found other Armenians there and learned about the Patriarchate. Owing to him, we established ties with the Patriarchate,” he said.
Until that time, they did not even have identity cards, said Fidel Barkev Yaliç, adding that they did not even know exactly how old they were. “Later on, only males were granted IDs for military service purposes.”
Three different migration waves
Another cousin of Rakel Dink, Samuel Yağır, explained how the clan began to migrate.
“Right after we contacted the patriarchate, they wanted to bring children to Istanbul for education. So I went to Istanbul in the first party, Rakel was in the second,” he said.
Later, as the result of a unanimous decision taken by clan elders, the Varto clan decided to leave its land and all had migrated to Istanbul by 1977.
Members of the clan settled in the Şişli district, where there was a significant Armenian population.
Although they had chosen to end their isolation in Turkey with the patriarchate’s protection, elders considered emigrating, sending a family delegation to Soviet Armenia in 1978. The communist regime there, however, led the Varto to opt against settling in the republic.
Within time, the family started to look at options of settling in Western Europe. “A young man from the clan got involved in the skirmishes that led to the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup and escaped to France. If one of us moves to another place, we all act together,” said Yağır. “You may call it the drive for protection of the identity. The elderly convened again and this time a new migration map was determined. So we hit the road.”
New generation becomes involved in new occupations
Younger members of the clan in France are active in different areas from politics to trade. Although they do not deny their Armenian identity, they see themselves as French.
Yağır said they faced no difficulties in either France or in Belgium, but added: “Our heart is with Armenia. We might suddenly decide to move to Armenia someday, who knows.”
Vartuhi Yaliç, 28, was raised in France and is an English teacher, but is also fluent in Kurdish, Turkish and Armenian.
Noting that he moved to France when he was 8 years old, Vartuhi Yaliç said, “I had cultural problems at first, so I had to learn the language and get involved in modern life, too.”
Rakel Dink’s cousin, 37-year-old Garo Yaliç, is the only clan member actively involved in politics; he became active in French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union for Popular Movement, or UMP, a few years ago and is currently a member of a city council.
The politician organized many activities in France in memory of the late Hrant Dink, even leading efforts to rename a street in Marseille after the slain journalist.
Although clan members do not travel to Turkey, they all remain in contact with Rakel Dink.
Friday, January 14, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
MARSEILLE - Hürriyet Daily News
Istanbul was not the final destination the once biggest Armenian tribe in Southeast Anatolia, as many continued further west, moving to France and Belgium.
An Armenian clan’s journey from isolation in southeastern Turkey to France reflects the trials and tribulations experienced by immigrants everywhere, but is also indicative of a larger trend within Turkey’s dwindling Armenian population.
Once the biggest Armenian clans in Southeast Anatolia, the Varto (in Kurdish) or Vartan (in Armenian) clan has only one member left in Turkey now: Rakel Dink, the wife of slain Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly, Hrant Dink, who was killed in 2007.
Rakel Dink’s father, Siament Ağa, was the owner of thousands of hectares of land in the area around the southeastern towns of Silopi and Cizre, in present-day Şırnak province, where the Varto clan members lived and where their journey to Marseille began.
In the late 1960s, the 82nd Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, Sinorhk Kalustian, initiated a move to bring members of the clan to Istanbul in groups. Istanbul, however, was not the final destination, as many continued further west, moving to France and Belgium in the 1980s.
According to information provided by clan members, there are now 1,200 relatives in Belgium and Marseille.
‘We thought there were no Armenians in the world’
One of the elderly members of the group, 63-year-old Fidel Barkev Yaliç, is the son of Rakel Dink’s uncle. For 100 years, the clan survived in Şırnak, he said. But following the troubles of 1915, they cut their connections with the world.
“We thought we were the only Armenians left in the world,” Fidel Barkev Yaliç recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “We were a few hundred. For this reason, though it was not allowed in Christianity, we bred within the family to protect our identity.”
Although Rakel Dink married outside the clan, few others did. Until the present generation, members of the clan could only marry other Apostolic Armenians while, after marriage, newlyweds would be forced to adhere to strict social mores within the group, which included deference to the family. Clan members, meanwhile, spoke little Armenian, and were most comfortable in Kurdish or Turkish.
From 1915 to 1968 the clan members lived totally isolated from the outside world, Fidel Barkev Yaliç said, adding that when they finally learned that other Armenians also lived in Turkey, they were left in tears.
“Orhan Bakır, a half-Syriac, half-Armenian from Mardin [who was not part of the clan] went to Istanbul for military service. He found other Armenians there and learned about the Patriarchate. Owing to him, we established ties with the Patriarchate,” he said.
Until that time, they did not even have identity cards, said Fidel Barkev Yaliç, adding that they did not even know exactly how old they were. “Later on, only males were granted IDs for military service purposes.”
Three different migration waves
Another cousin of Rakel Dink, Samuel Yağır, explained how the clan began to migrate.
“Right after we contacted the patriarchate, they wanted to bring children to Istanbul for education. So I went to Istanbul in the first party, Rakel was in the second,” he said.
Later, as the result of a unanimous decision taken by clan elders, the Varto clan decided to leave its land and all had migrated to Istanbul by 1977.
Members of the clan settled in the Şişli district, where there was a significant Armenian population.
Although they had chosen to end their isolation in Turkey with the patriarchate’s protection, elders considered emigrating, sending a family delegation to Soviet Armenia in 1978. The communist regime there, however, led the Varto to opt against settling in the republic.
Within time, the family started to look at options of settling in Western Europe. “A young man from the clan got involved in the skirmishes that led to the Sept. 12, 1980 military coup and escaped to France. If one of us moves to another place, we all act together,” said Yağır. “You may call it the drive for protection of the identity. The elderly convened again and this time a new migration map was determined. So we hit the road.”
New generation becomes involved in new occupations
Younger members of the clan in France are active in different areas from politics to trade. Although they do not deny their Armenian identity, they see themselves as French.
Yağır said they faced no difficulties in either France or in Belgium, but added: “Our heart is with Armenia. We might suddenly decide to move to Armenia someday, who knows.”
Vartuhi Yaliç, 28, was raised in France and is an English teacher, but is also fluent in Kurdish, Turkish and Armenian.
Noting that he moved to France when he was 8 years old, Vartuhi Yaliç said, “I had cultural problems at first, so I had to learn the language and get involved in modern life, too.”
Rakel Dink’s cousin, 37-year-old Garo Yaliç, is the only clan member actively involved in politics; he became active in French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Union for Popular Movement, or UMP, a few years ago and is currently a member of a city council.
The politician organized many activities in France in memory of the late Hrant Dink, even leading efforts to rename a street in Marseille after the slain journalist.
Although clan members do not travel to Turkey, they all remain in contact with Rakel Dink.
11 Ocak 2011 Salı
Armenia shares taste of art critic/Turkish PM Erdoğan on statue
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s description of a peace monument in the eastern city of Kars as an “abomination” has reverberated on the other side of the border, but not in a way many would expect.
Armenians in the city of Gyumri, only 60 kilometers from Kars, are closely following developments involving the “Monument of Humanity,” sculpted by Mehmet Aksoy, after Erdoğan said while in the eastern city over the weekend that he hoped not to see it again when he visited Kars in the future. “They have placed an abomination next to the Mausoleum of Hasan Harakani [a religious figure from the 10th century]; they erected a strange thing,” Erdoğan told citizens.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday, Karine Harutyunyan, a top executive at Gyumri-based Gala TV, said the channel is following the developments closely.
Culture minister defends Erdoğan
In an attempt to defend Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from criticism, Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay said the prime minister did not call a sculpture in the Turkish city of Kars “freak,” daily Radikal reported Tuesday.
“The prime minister saw many structures not in harmony with Kars’ urban tissue and articulated his sorrow. He never mentioned at any time the word ‘sculpture’,” Günay said.
During a visit to Kars on Jan. 8, Erdoğan reportedly said: “They put a freak near Hasan Harakani’s tomb. It is unacceptable that a thing like that could be erected near all these foundational and artistic pieces. Our mayor will quickly do his job.”
“Erdoğan’s statements are an indication of the current level of Turkey-Armenia ties,” Harutyunyan said. “No dialogue is wanted. Politicians are punishing the people, but we remain committed to dialogue.” The people of Kars “acknowledge the importance of the monument,” according to Harutyunyan, who nevertheless said the sculpture is “ugly.”
Hagop Çakıryan, a political columnist at the Yerevan-based Azg newspaper, gave support to the Turkish government, telling the Daily News that he believes in the sincerity of Erdoğan.
Opening the border
“It would not be correct to relate the monument controversy to bilateral relations,” Çakıryan said. “I still believe Erdoğan would like to open the border. But Turkey is not only about the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. The nationalist [current] opposes the opening of the border.”
Çakıryan said he has seen the monument during his visits to Kars. “It is, frankly, aesthetically ugly. And I do not believe it has artistic value,” he said.
Levon Barseghyan, head of the Gyumri-based Journalists Club Asbarez, said he agrees with the Turkish prime minister on the “aesthetic ugliness of the sculpture.”
“Still, the solution is not demolishing it,” Barseghyan said. The club is known for friendship and dialogue projects that involve frequent visits to Kars.
“Erdoğan is trying to win votes through political maneuvering,” he claimed, saying that former Mayor Naif Alibeyoğlu’s loss in the local elections in March 2009 was an indication of the political climate in the city.
Alibeyoğlu had lost to the candidate from the governing AKP, Nevzat Bozkuş, who is the current mayor.
“It doesn’t really matter whether that monument remains or is demolished,” said Barseghyan. “The relations that warmed with the football diplomacy in 2008 remain frozen anyway.”
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s description of a peace monument in the eastern city of Kars as an “abomination” has reverberated on the other side of the border, but not in a way many would expect.
Armenians in the city of Gyumri, only 60 kilometers from Kars, are closely following developments involving the “Monument of Humanity,” sculpted by Mehmet Aksoy, after Erdoğan said while in the eastern city over the weekend that he hoped not to see it again when he visited Kars in the future. “They have placed an abomination next to the Mausoleum of Hasan Harakani [a religious figure from the 10th century]; they erected a strange thing,” Erdoğan told citizens.
Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Tuesday, Karine Harutyunyan, a top executive at Gyumri-based Gala TV, said the channel is following the developments closely.
Culture minister defends Erdoğan
In an attempt to defend Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan from criticism, Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay said the prime minister did not call a sculpture in the Turkish city of Kars “freak,” daily Radikal reported Tuesday.
“The prime minister saw many structures not in harmony with Kars’ urban tissue and articulated his sorrow. He never mentioned at any time the word ‘sculpture’,” Günay said.
During a visit to Kars on Jan. 8, Erdoğan reportedly said: “They put a freak near Hasan Harakani’s tomb. It is unacceptable that a thing like that could be erected near all these foundational and artistic pieces. Our mayor will quickly do his job.”
“Erdoğan’s statements are an indication of the current level of Turkey-Armenia ties,” Harutyunyan said. “No dialogue is wanted. Politicians are punishing the people, but we remain committed to dialogue.” The people of Kars “acknowledge the importance of the monument,” according to Harutyunyan, who nevertheless said the sculpture is “ugly.”
Hagop Çakıryan, a political columnist at the Yerevan-based Azg newspaper, gave support to the Turkish government, telling the Daily News that he believes in the sincerity of Erdoğan.
Opening the border
“It would not be correct to relate the monument controversy to bilateral relations,” Çakıryan said. “I still believe Erdoğan would like to open the border. But Turkey is not only about the Justice and Development Party, or AKP. The nationalist [current] opposes the opening of the border.”
Çakıryan said he has seen the monument during his visits to Kars. “It is, frankly, aesthetically ugly. And I do not believe it has artistic value,” he said.
Levon Barseghyan, head of the Gyumri-based Journalists Club Asbarez, said he agrees with the Turkish prime minister on the “aesthetic ugliness of the sculpture.”
“Still, the solution is not demolishing it,” Barseghyan said. The club is known for friendship and dialogue projects that involve frequent visits to Kars.
“Erdoğan is trying to win votes through political maneuvering,” he claimed, saying that former Mayor Naif Alibeyoğlu’s loss in the local elections in March 2009 was an indication of the political climate in the city.
Alibeyoğlu had lost to the candidate from the governing AKP, Nevzat Bozkuş, who is the current mayor.
“It doesn’t really matter whether that monument remains or is demolished,” said Barseghyan. “The relations that warmed with the football diplomacy in 2008 remain frozen anyway.”
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