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ISTANBUL: Turkey's Armenians speak out in 'Sounds of Silence'

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  • ISTANBUL: Turkey's Armenians speak out in 'Sounds of Silence'

    Today's Zaman
    Dec 29 2011

    Turkey's Armenians speak out in 'Sounds of Silence'

    30 December 2011 / YONCA POYRAZ DOĞAN, İSTANBUL


    Armenians who live in Turkey have related their personal stories in a
    book as part of an oral history project by the Hrant Dink Foundation:
    "Sounds of Silence, Armenians of Turkey Speak" (Sessizliğin Sesi,
    Türkiyeli Ermeniler Konuşuyor).
    Introducing the book on Thursday, writer Ali Bayramoğlu said it is
    about the people who were killed and who live in this land.

    "This is the story of a group who have been silent, who will not tell
    us about themselves, who consider remembering and passing on their
    stories to be dangerous. ... Even though they knew, they did not
    remember; even though they remembered, they did not want to tell. They
    tried to protect future generations by hiding," he said, pointing out
    that the Armenians of Turkey were not even able to talk about what it
    is like being an Armenian.

    "They are few in numbers. Most of them who had first-hand information
    about 1915 from their mothers and fathers, from their uncles and aunts
    left this world," he added, saying that their memories are going to
    disappear as they also leave this world soon.

    "This work is a result of a desire to capture what is becoming a
    void," he said. What he referred to by saying "1915" was the killing
    of Armenians in 1915 in Ottoman lands.

    Ferda Balancar, who directed the group that conducted interviews with
    40 people in İstanbul and other provinces in Anatolia, said that this
    is a first of a kind study because it concentrated solely on the
    Armenians of Turkey.


    He added that the Armenians of Turkey are not a homogenous group of
    people as believed by a majority of people in Turkish society, and
    Turkey's Armenians include those who are born and raised as Armenians,
    who are either Muslims or have had to be Muslims or who live secretly
    as Armenians as reflected in the identities of the interviewees.

    The book included stories of eight females and seven males aged 19-70.

    Balancar also pointed out that Jan. 19, 2007, the date that Armenian
    journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated by an ultranationalist teenager
    in front of the office of his weekly Agos in İstanbul, seems to have
    been the breaking point for Turkey's Armenians.

    "After that, there were some who said they had a desire to leave
    Turkey, and there were some others who said they had a desire to stay
    and resist all odds," he said.

    When it comes to their feelings about Armenia, most of them said that
    their language and culture have a chance to live there, but they don't
    feel like they belong there.

    Sociologist Arus Yumul, who evaluated the interviews and wrote
    concluding remarks for the book, said that the Armenians of Turkey
    preferred to either stay silent or use the language of the "sovereign"
    because of their fears of being stigmatized and targeted in society
    for being "the other."

    "They had fears, and being silent was their survival strategy," she
    said. "The reason for not talking about 1915 with younger generations
    is to protect them. But even if nothing is being talked about it in
    the family, an Armenian identity is produced."

    BOX: People share their most personal recollections

    "When talking about Tehcir [forced emigration], [my grandmother]
    always would say 'Leave; never stay here. ... She would always tell us
    'Be careful, do not obtain much property, do not attract attention'."

    "When I heard that Hrant Dink was killed, I started to cry. ... At
    first, I was shocked; I was very afraid. I thought 'They can kill us,
    too'. But then the opposite happened. My courage increased; 'I started
    thinking 'I am an Armenian, too. If somebody has a problem with that,
    s/he should behave accordingly."

    "Hrant would talk about what was covered up. Nobody would say anything
    from our community; they were intimidated. Hrant tore apart that
    intimidation."

    "I don't care who did what in 1915. We know who did what because there
    is a result out in the open: One-third of a population vanished. I am
    interested in who did not do what was necessary to do. Why didn't you
    do something when your neighbors were killed? How did you allow it? I
    always think about this."

    http://www.todayszaman.com/news-267170-turkeys-armenians-speak-out-in-sounds-of-silence.html

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