Questions linger as Armenian-Turkish solider receives final rites

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Mourners at the Istanbul funeral of a Turkish solider of Armenian descent called Wednesday for further investigation into his death while performing his military service in the southeastern province of Batman.

Sevag Şahin Balıkçı, who was killed in an alleged accident April 24, was buried in the Armenian Cemetery in Istanbul’s Şişli district following rituals conducted at the Surp Vartananzs Armenian Church in the Feriköy neighborhood. A military ceremony for the dead solider was conducted Monday.

“Every boy wants a toy gun, but Sevag had never touched a gun [in his life], even for a single day,” Ani Balıkçı, the soldier’s mother, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, adding that she had spoken to him on the phone the day before Easter, April 24, and sent him Easter “çöreks,” a sweet Turkish bread that he liked.

“He shared his çöreks with his friends in the unit. The soldier who accidentally killed him was his closest friend,” Balıkçı said. “I just want to ask the officials why no measures were taken to prevent such an accident.”

Sevag Şahin Balıkçı, 25, was allegedly killed by a stray bullet while one of his friends was joking around with a rifle.

Speculation within the Armenian community has centered around the fact that Balıkçı’s death coincided with the date when some countries commemorate the alleged Armenian genocide in the last days of the Ottoman Empire.

Many of Turkey’s Armenians believe the accident occurred under dubious circumstances, despite Ani Balıkçı’s comments urging people not to create a link between her son’s death and the events of 1915.

“The fact that the accident coincides with April 24 is highly dubious. This issue must be thoroughly investigated... The family perhaps is afraid of expressing their anxiety because they hesitate, but we are waiting for an answer,” said Mari Yalınbaş, one of the attendants at the church funeral.

Raffi H. Araks, the deputy mayor of the Princes’ Islands in the Marmara Sea, said he believes Balıkçı’s death was an accident, arguing that the soldier who died could have been of Turkish, and not of Armenian origin. “Of course, a proper investigation needs to be conducted in order to remove all doubt, but as the family’s statement also shows [this incident] was accidental,” Araks said.

Balıkçı’s coffin was covered with a Turkish flag as he had died while performing his service in the Turkish military, and a cross-shaped wreath was placed on the flag.

The funeral was attended by State Minister and chief EU negotiator Egemen Bağış, several high-ranking officers representing the Turkish General Staff, the religious leaders of several minority communities and churches, Şişli Mayor Mustafa Sarıgül and Deputy Mayor Vasgen Barın, Princes’ Islands Mayor Mustafa Farsakoğlu, as well as Araks.

Wreaths sent by Turkish General Staff and the Office of the Commander in Chief were placed both inside and outside the church. During the funeral, which was attended by hundreds of people, Muslims and members of the Armenian community prayed together for Balıkçı.