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Yegparian: Occupation, Liberation

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  • Yegparian: Occupation, Liberation

    YEGPARIAN: OCCUPATION, LIBERATION
    By: Garen Yegparian

    http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/10/17/yegparian-occupation-liberation/
    Mon, Oct 17 2011

    Nope, this article is not about the new movement that's working to
    take back the reins of government from Wall Street. It's about a
    strange juxtaposition, somewhat jarring, that exists in our Armenian
    reality. It struck me on the two days of this past weekend.

    Entrance to the "Anatolian Cultures and Food" festival I, with my
    youngest brother to keep me well behaved, went to check out the
    "Anatolian Cultures and Food" festival (October 6-9) held in Orange
    County and the bitterness of occupation slapped me resoundingly. This
    festival is a huge production. I find it hard to believe it is the
    doing, exclusively, of the Pacifica Institute, whose name was plastered
    all over the place. I'm convinced the Turkish government has a hand
    in this (especially since a similar event has already taken place
    in Melbourne, Australia). That same Turkish government currently
    controls our lands, so they get away with representing the history,
    reality, and culture of the region any which way they please. Hence,
    that bitter taste of occupation.

    Imagine, ambling down a walkway created by walls of history. One
    side is written in English, the other, Turkish. Hittites, Phrygians,
    Turks, and all other occupants of Asia Minor (NOT just Anatolia which,
    as Richard Hovanissian pointed out recently, includes Anatolia and
    the Armenian Plateau/highlands; the Turks are conflating the two for
    their own nefarious reasons). Except, of course, we, the Armenians,
    are largely missing. How is that possible? How is it possible to tell
    the story of the Roman conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean without
    ever mentioning Dikran the Great? It's eminently possible if you're
    a liar, a historical revisionist, and a genocidal state striving at
    all costs to avoid accountability.

    After the walkway, on the right (the south end of the festival area),
    the visitor is treated to reproductions (images printed on material
    attached to framing) of parts of the Topkapi palace with pictures
    of various artifacts inside. There was even a reading going on, from
    what I assume was the Quran. Upon leaving this exhibit, I was struck
    by the size ofthe festival area, probably on the order of at least
    thrice the footprint of the Navasartian Games Homenetmen organizes
    at Birmingham High School.

    Continuing to the right, there was a food preparation show, with
    audience participation, going on and dozens of dishes pictured on
    the wall. Next door were some booths- Pacifica Institute, books, the
    Turkish Journal, and the like. Then, the visitor turns right into the
    food area with various vendors and some on the spot preparation in
    traditional ways. Unfortunately, there was one booth with an Armenian
    name. This may be good or bad, and I've already encountered arguments
    on both sides of the issue. Regardless, it's bad because it was not
    done in consultation with our community institutions. A substantial
    stage for various dance troupes and other performances bounds the
    packed food area on the north.

    Beyond lay the most frustrating and insulting exhibit... a
    representation of Akhtamar. This is the height of cultural thievery,
    despite mention of Armenians as the builders, though as minimally as
    possible. Comically, the texts describing the church alternately used
    its correct name or the Turkified "Akdamar", sometimes in sequential
    sentences! This is a clever Turkish revisionist tactic, essentially
    saying "yeah, there are these things called Armenians, and a few of
    them were around, even built a church, but they ain't worth much
    mention beyond that". They thus insulate themselves somewhat from
    criticism, but must be called out for every gimmick they use.

    After Akhtamar, Constantinople, and other exhibits (all photographic
    representations as I described Topkapi) are laid out on the northern
    end of the festival area. Interspersed are booths with stone carving,
    carpets, various locales soliciting tourism, etc. The northwest corner
    was set up as a children's playground. Finally, the western part had
    numerous booths selling handcrafts, more tourism-hawking towns, and,
    what might be the most interesting booth in this medley... an FBI
    and DEA recruiting station!

    But the festival exhibits are not the only aspects of the festival
    that jarringly drove home the occupation of our homeland. The
    positive propaganda garnered for Turkey is immense. I heard lots
    of Farsi being spoken, followed by Arabic, three families speaking
    (Western) Armenian, and I saw many East Asians and Europeans wandering,
    gawking, and sampling. Add to this the lecture series proffered on
    Saturday and Sunday which not only gave an intellectual veneer to
    this propaganda-fest, but included a lecture by an Armenian titled
    "Cultural legacy of Armenians in Anatolia and in the Ottoman Empire".

    For the same reasons as above, this presentation was out of line. It
    allows Turkish propagandists to claim "even-handedness" when we appear
    at their affairs. But again, I emphasize, the biggest problem with
    this is that our community institutions were not consulted, while the
    speaker's biography referenced leadership posts held in some of our
    organizations. This makes the organizations unwitting accomplices to
    Turkish propaganda.

    On the other end of the spectrum was liberation. The Artzakh
    Development Group had organized a conference on Sunday at the
    Glendale Public Library. Unfortunately, I could only attend the
    first half. It was very informative with discussions of development,
    propaganda activity by Azerbaijan in the scholarly war over that part
    of our homeland, and the diplomatic front. The lineup of speakers
    was impressive, as you've seen in media reports. But mostly, it spoke
    to me of the possibilities that open up for progress towards a free,
    independent, and united Armenia, when we actually control our lands
    and even more importantly... when we live on them.

    Next time, let's thwart the Turks' taking advantage of the occupation
    of our lands.

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