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.

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.”

Turkish Red Crescent provides aid for Armenian poor

Thursday, December 30, 2010

VERCIHAN ZIFLIOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Needy people in the Kumkapı area of Istanbul, including poor unregistered Armenian immigrants, will receive donations of food and shoes to start the new year thanks to Türk Kızılay (Turkish Red Crescent).

The organization signed an agreement Wednesday with the Armenian patriarchate, which has been delivering aid to people in need for a decade, about making the deliveries.

“Some 1,000 food packages and 300 pairs of shoes, given to the patriarchate, have started to be distributed to the people in need,” Avedis Hilkat, a member of the Turkish Red Crescent’s board of directors for its Princes’ Islands branch, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Thursday. Hilkat is also deputy head of the Princes’ Islands organization for the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP.

“The patriarchate has long been distributing aid to the poor in the [Kumkapı] area, regardless of their ethnic or religious background, which is why I so much wanted to bring this joint project to life,” Hilkat said.

Distribution of the first aid boxes started Thursday, Hilkat said, adding that all the details on the project implementation, prepared in cooperation with the patriarchate, had already been handed to Turkish Red Crescent Chairman Tekin Küçükali.

“We first started distributing clean secondhand clothes to people in need,” Aram Ateşyan, the patriarchate’s vice chairman, said in the delivery ceremony, adding that they soon realized clothes were not enough and that poor people living in Kumkapı needed food donations as well, the Doğan news agency reported Thursday.

“We, however, faced problems with funding,” Ateşyan said, adding that the patriarchate had contacted the Turkish Red Crescent to ask for a charitable donation. “Kızılay donated 1,000 food packages within a very short period of time,” he said.

The Turkish Red Crescent will continue to distribute aid to people in need, not only by continuing its partnership with the Armenian patriarchate, but by extending the effort to work with the Greek patriarchate as well.

Unregistered Armenian immigrants

The patriarchate is very pleased to help people in need, regardless of their ethnic origin or religion, Hilkat told the Daily News. “Our possibilities [to provide aid] are much higher now,” he said.

Thousands of immigrants of Armenian origin live in Istanbul’s Kumkapı area. The total number of Armenians living in Turkey is 15,000, according to data provided by the Foreign Ministry. Other authorities in Turkey place this figure at more than 20,000.

Most Armenian immigrants have illegally entered Turkey due to their poor financial conditions; Hilkat said the majority live in very poor conditions in Turkey as well. He said some 3,000 immigrants have been receiving assistance funded by the patriarchate’s own sources.

“Now we will be able to provide more assistance, thanks to the Kızılay-patriarchate cooperation,” he said.

Landmark Istanbul hotel threatened by stall on restoration

Monday, December 27, 2010

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

The Tokatlıyan Pera Hotel, an Istanbul landmark on İstiklal Avenue, is in urgent need of repair but the building’s owners, the Beyoğlu Üç Horan Armenian Church Foundation, have reportedly refused to permit any refurbishment. ‘The Tokatlıyan is the history of Istanbul. Destroying this building means betraying history,’ says an architectural history expert

One of Istanbul’s grandest old hotels, the Tokatlıyan Pera Hotel, requires urgent restoration if the historical structure is to be preserved for the future, according to a number of architectural experts.

“It is murder not to restore this building,” Efrim Bağ, a businessman and prominent member of Turkey’s Armenian community, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review.

The Tokatlıyan Pera on Istanbul’s İstiklal Avenue is the last remaining property of a former Armenian-owned hotel chain in the city. The hotel, which has hosted Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Leon Trotsky and countless other prominent national and international figures since it was constructed in 1897, is now in a state of severe disrepair. Although many projects have been submitted for its restoration, its owner, the Beyoğlu Üç Horan Armenian Church Foundation, has reportedly failed to grant permission to any refurbishment plan.

Currently, the building’s lower floors are used as a hotel, while other rooms now house shops. Many of the upper floors, which replaced the structure’s once-magnificent dome, are now off-limits as even walking can be dangerous.

“[The Tokatlıyan] belongs to the community, not to a person. It is unbelievable that such a structure, which might provide millions of Turkish Liras for the community, is abandoned to its fate even as the state gives permission for its restoration,” said Harutyan Şanlı, another community member.

The Üç Horan foundation, which owns dozens of valuable properties around Beyoğlu, did not respond to the Daily News’ questions about the claims.

An executive from another Armenian community foundation speaking on condition of anonymity, said the problem stemmed from Üç Horan’s fear of losing its current power and wealth.

“The management of the Üç Horan foundation wants to hold onto its power. They have been managing the foundation for 30 years without holding an election. They don’t provide information about their work, the proposals they receive and the income they bring into their society,” he said.

The executive said part of the reason the foundation’s management has resisted approving any refurbishment plan is because it already receives substantial income from the offices that presently pay rent for use of the structure’s lower floors.

‘Betraying history’

The building is not simply a hotel, but an important part of Istanbul’s history, architectural history expert Professor Afife Batur recently told the Daily News.

“Destroying this building means betraying history,” she said, urging that the edifice be protected immediately.

“It is very important that the building serve as a hotel again in order to maintain its historical function,” she said.

Noting the recent fire that destroyed the roof of Kadıköy’s historical Haydarpaşa Train Station, Batur said: “We can’t protect our history and values we have. We are not aware of the fact that we lose ourselves along with our history. What is this selfishness [in not restoring this building]?”

“I don’t know about the disagreement [with Turkey’s Armenian community], but it should be considered that history is about to die,” restoration expert and architect Fatma Sedes told the Daily News.

Sensitive restoration crucial

Any restoration should be undertaken with extreme care so as to avoid damaging the historical structure, Sedes said.

“The Tokatlıyan Pera, which is one of the structures that best reflects the history of Istanbul, should undergo a very sensitive restoration process; its original structure should not be touched. The project is very important because history has been destroyed in Istanbul in the name of restoration,” she said.

Architect Melih Güneş said the hotel should be taken under protection as soon as possible, adding that the edifice was a treasure. “It should be restored like its original. The additional floors should be removed and it should be reopened as a hotel.”

Sedes said the Tokatlıyan Pera used to be Istanbul’s second largest hotel, trailing only the legendary Pera Palas in Tepebaşı.

“There were 160 rooms in the [Tokatlıyan Pera]. It was one of the most striking structures in Beyoğlu in terms of its architectural features. Its furnishings were brought from Europe. It is painful to see that such a significant building has been abandoned to its fate,” Sedes said.

A second branch of the hotel, the Tokatlıyan Therapia, used to stand in the present location of the Büyük Tarabya Hotel overlooking the Bosphorus in Sarıyer, but it was destroyed by fire at the turn of the 20th century. The Therapia was built by Armenian businessman Mıgırdiç Tokatlıyan in 1897.

Istanbul literary figure receives final send-off


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Writer Yervant Gobelyan died last week at the age of 87, leaving behind an impressive literary career that included eight books, one of which was devoted to poetry. Born in Istanbul, Gobelyan was known for emphasizing his profound love of the city in his literary works. The writer also spent his last 14 years at Agos, a weekly of Turkey’s Armenian community


Gobelyan had spent many years away from newspapers until he was hired at Agos in 1996 by Hrant Dink.

Prominent Istanbul literary figure and weekly Agos writer Yervant Gobelyan will be buried Wednesday after succumbing to illness last week.

The 87-year-old writer was best known for his poetic and literary works that reflected an overwhelming love of Istanbul.

Gobelyan died Thursday at Yedikule Surp Pırgiç Armenian Hospital after a long treatment process. He will be buried at the Balıklı Cemetery in Zeytinburnu after a funeral service starting at 1 p.m. at Beyoğlu’s Üç Horan Armenian Church.

Gobelyan was born in Rumelihisarı in the Istanbul district of Sarıyer, a neighborhood known for is beauty next to the Bosphorus. Like many other Armenian writers from his generation, Gobelyan enjoyed close relations with members of the Turkish literary world, including one of the country’s most famous poets, Orhan Veli Kanık, as well as many others. Gobelyan and others, such as Kanık, used to come together at Eptalafos, an old Greek-style tavern in Taksim.

Writing was a passion for him

Writing was Gobelyan’s main interest in life, but financial difficulties often prevented him from earning a living solely from his literary pursuits. Like many other leading figures in Turkish-Armenian literature, Gobelyan graduated from Esayan Armenian School in Taksim. After finishing school, however, Gobelyan had difficulty in making ends meet as a writer, leading him to work as an apprentice, auto mechanic, carpenter and in other professions. Despite the hardships, Gobelyan never ceased his literary pursuits.

His first book of poetry was published in 1948, after which he found a job writing for the local Armenian community’s weekly “Luys” (Light) paper. Financial difficulties, however, soon forced Luys to close, after which Gobelyan was again forced to find other employment. Within time, Gobelyan would work for all of the major Armenian community’s papers in Istanbul, working the final 14 years of his life at Agos.

Gobelyan had spent many years away from Armenian newspapers until he was hired for the Agos job in 1996 by Editor-in-Chief Hrant Dink, the prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist assassinated in 2007.

Remained inaccessible to non-Armenian readers

Despite his close relations with Turkish writers and poets, most of Gobelyan’s works, including one book of poetry among a total of eight books, remained only in Armenian for many years and were thus inaccessible to the wider Turkish society.

Eager to bring the writer’s work to the Turkish public, Aras Publishing House, which began publishing in the 1990s, released a number of Gobelyan’s stories in “Memleketini Özleyen Yengeç” (The Crab Missing His Country) in 1998.

The book, which featured stories from Gobelyan telling of the daily routines of Turks, Greeks and Armenians in Istanbul, quickly drew interest from Turkish readers.

Slain Turkish-Armenian bride laid to rest in Istanbul
Tuesday, December 14, 2010

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

A Turkish-Armenian newlywed who was allegedly shot and killed by her brother for marrying a Muslim man without the family’s approval was laid to rest at Istanbul’s Surp Kevork Armenian Church on Tuesday.

Soney Vural, 26, and her new husband Zekeriya Vural, 29, were both shot to death in their car in the Fatih district of Istanbul on Saturday.

Soney Vural’s brother, Göney Ö., was detained after the killings, confessing to the crime, according to news agencies.

According to media reports, Göney Ö. told police that his family objected to the marriage on grounds that the couple were "from different cultures.” In his testimony, Göney Ö. said he killed the couple because Zekeriya Vural had "insulted [his] Christian identity" and had said it was against his honor to hold a wedding ceremony at a church.

The couple had married without their families’ knowledge less than two weeks ago.

Sorrow and anger permeated the atmosphere in the church Tuesday, as women from Soney Vural’s family accepted condolences and her father went to the cemetery for preparations.

“I wish she had not married [him],” said a family member, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on the condition of anonymity. “I still cannot believe what happened.”

A white bridal veil was put on Soney Vural’s coffin; the veil is traditionally put on the coffins of women who die before wearing their bridal dress. Television cameras were not allowed into the ceremony.

Zekeriya Vural’s funeral was held on Monday in Istanbul's Kocamustafapaşa neighborhood. His mother, Hazal Emine Vural, cried during the ceremony, saying that her son’s only crime was falling in love with the wrong person.

“Our children agreed among themselves. They would each live according to their own religion,” said Murat Vural, the father of Zekeriya

Armenian foundation ventures into real estate sector with Istanbul project

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Istanbul’s Armenian community has ventured into the city’s booming property sector with the completion of Lotus Evleri, a luxury housing project whose foundations were laid four years ago by Patriarch Mesrop II.

The project was built on 11,250 acres of land on a ridge overlooking the Bosphorus. The land is the biggest piece of land owned by Istanbul’s Armenian community.

The Ortaköy Surp Asdvazsazsin Armenian Church Foundation handed over the land to a construction company in return for a portion of the apartments to be built.

The construction of Lotus Evleri was completed last year and tenants have been moving into the 200 luxury apartments for some time now.

Speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, İskender Şahingöz, president of the foundation, said the community reclaimed the valuable land through intense efforts.

“This land was taken [from us] by the Treasury in 1973, just after the Bosphorus Bridge was built. The reason was national security. Then the land was assigned to the Defense Ministry,” Şahingöz said.

The foundation filed a lawsuit in 1996 against the state and won the land back. “This case was a first in the history of minority foundations,” Şahingöz said.

Jesus the fugitive

In Ottoman times, minority foundation property was registered under the names of Jesus Christ, Mary and the apostles to prevent inheritance disputes.

Later, however, the Treasury declared the owners of the land to be “fugitives” when it confiscated the land from the community, according to Şahingöz.

The foundation leader praised European Union adjustment laws and the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, government as keys to getting the land back.

“We were not even able to use our money as we wanted [in the old days],” he said. “Now we can use it as we like. The new regulations on minority foundations, though not enough, give us hope for the future.”

As foundation lands are notoriously mired in various ownership disputes in Turkey, finding a construction company for the project proved difficult.

The Lotus Evleri have 20 luxury blocks as well as shopping and sports complexes. Şahingöz declined to say how many apartments the foundation received in return for the land, but added that the rent revenues would be used to finance the expenditures of the Tarkmançazs school and church, which belong to the foundation, and to engage in new investments.