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Dersim Armenian speaks at Turkish parliament
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/06/15/dersim/
12:49 - 15.06.12
A Turkish parliamentary sub-committee conducting an inquiry into the
fate of the Dersim massacre survivors has invited several `lost
daughters' to hear their stories about the tragedy.
Fatma Yavuz, who concealed her Armenian origins for 57 years, was also
among the invitees.
Exiled from Konya at age five and learning her real surname 78 years
later, the woman presented her recollections to the Turkish
legislators.
She told how soldiers were lining up the people on the edge of the
river, killing them and throwing the bodies to the river. She was
either 4 or 5 years old. `I was saved by a person who covered me with
a blanket. Later I was taken by an officer. His family adopted me. I
was beaten there a lot and even had my finger broken. Later, another
family took me, but there too, I was subjected to violence. When I was
13, I was finally married to a man of 35, who converted me to Islam. I
was still a child, homeless, jobless and without anyone to take care
of me. And I raised my children in such conditions,' she said.
Later, after continuous attempts to reveal her past, she has found out
that her father's name was Hakob and mother's Havas.
The other adopted girl after Dersim massacres is Halazur Gevis. `Let
such things never happen again, leaving children orphans and mothers
crying,' she said, starting her speech. She told how her stepfather
took away her mother's property, and she was like a prisoner forced to
live in camps. `I was forced to live as a slave. How can people be so
bad?!' she said.
The offspring of a family that survived Dersim massacres Erdak Karakoc
said for many years he has been searching for his sister Sakine and
uncle's daughter Semsi.
He said his father was searching them until he died without finding
his daughter.
`We knew that they are alive. We had a document dating back to 1941.
However, the more we were coming closer to them, the more they were
moving away from us. I think, it was a step directed toward
annihilation of Alevis of Dersim,' he noted.
Erdak Karakoc said if the `lost daughters' are alive he wants to find
them, if they have passed away he wants to know where their grave is.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2012/06/15/dersim/
12:49 - 15.06.12
A Turkish parliamentary sub-committee conducting an inquiry into the
fate of the Dersim massacre survivors has invited several `lost
daughters' to hear their stories about the tragedy.
Fatma Yavuz, who concealed her Armenian origins for 57 years, was also
among the invitees.
Exiled from Konya at age five and learning her real surname 78 years
later, the woman presented her recollections to the Turkish
legislators.
She told how soldiers were lining up the people on the edge of the
river, killing them and throwing the bodies to the river. She was
either 4 or 5 years old. `I was saved by a person who covered me with
a blanket. Later I was taken by an officer. His family adopted me. I
was beaten there a lot and even had my finger broken. Later, another
family took me, but there too, I was subjected to violence. When I was
13, I was finally married to a man of 35, who converted me to Islam. I
was still a child, homeless, jobless and without anyone to take care
of me. And I raised my children in such conditions,' she said.
Later, after continuous attempts to reveal her past, she has found out
that her father's name was Hakob and mother's Havas.
The other adopted girl after Dersim massacres is Halazur Gevis. `Let
such things never happen again, leaving children orphans and mothers
crying,' she said, starting her speech. She told how her stepfather
took away her mother's property, and she was like a prisoner forced to
live in camps. `I was forced to live as a slave. How can people be so
bad?!' she said.
The offspring of a family that survived Dersim massacres Erdak Karakoc
said for many years he has been searching for his sister Sakine and
uncle's daughter Semsi.
He said his father was searching them until he died without finding
his daughter.
`We knew that they are alive. We had a document dating back to 1941.
However, the more we were coming closer to them, the more they were
moving away from us. I think, it was a step directed toward
annihilation of Alevis of Dersim,' he noted.
Erdak Karakoc said if the `lost daughters' are alive he wants to find
them, if they have passed away he wants to know where their grave is.