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True or False? Armenians Really Don't Want to Return to Western Armenia
Hrant Gadarigian
hetq
19:28, September 28, 2012
I came across an article in Hurriyet Daily News and I would like to
get reader feedback on it.
The article, written by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu, is entitled `Armenians
snub mayor's call for return'.
It deals with the September 25 statement of Diyarbakır Mayor Osman
Baydemir in which he invited Armenians and other Non-Muslim people
with roots in the area to return.
Here's what Mayor Baydemir allegedly said:
`An Armenian, an Assyrian and a Chaldean, whose grandfathers or
great-grandfathers were born in Diyarbakır, have the same right to
live in Diyarbakır as I have, [speaking] as a Kurdish person who was
born in Diyarbakır. I would like to invite all the ethnic groups whose
ancestors once lived in Diyarbakır back to Diyarbakır again. Come back
to your city,'
Baydemir made the call to Turkish and visiting Armenian journalists at
a conference entitled `Expanding the Scope of Dialogue: Media and
Armenia-Turkey Relations at the Current Stage'.
The article then provides quotes of various Armenians responding to
the mayor's statement. Here's what they had to say. (Let us assume
that the quotes are credible)
Ara Sarafian, Director of the Gomidas Institute in London - `
Baydemir's call is not enough. And what is more, it could be
manipulated by Turkish nationalists. As in most provinces, Armenians
were also massacred in Diyarbakır. Why should they return to the city
they left with great pain?'
Suzanne Khardalian (Stockholm-based film director whose family hails
from Adiyaman and Marash) - I don't believe it is a serious and
sincere call. It has no meaning for us; no one could come back. What
would we find out about ourselves if we returned? I would of course
want to return to the land where my ancestors were born, but it is not
possible under such conditions.'
Garo Yalick (Resident of France whose family has roots in Van and
Mardin) - `They only remember to call on Armenians when they are faced
with political problems. So I want to ask, why should we come back?'
Hakob Chakiryan (columnist for the newspaper Azg in Armenia) -
"Diyarbakır is being introduced as the capital of North Kurdistan,
while Osman Baydemir is regarded as the Kurdish Workers Party
representative. Diyarbakir is a city associated with the Kurdish
problem. It must be the last place to go in terms of Turkey-Armenia
relations.'
So what are your thoughts? Here's a few of my own to get the discussion rolling.
I get the sneaking feeling that the writer went out of her way to
present the impression that Armenians have no intention to `return' to
any part of western Armenia.
The fact that she managed to get the director of the Gomidas Institute
to pose the question `Why should they return?' and a film director to
comment `It has no meaning for us' leaves the impression that
Armenians have turned the page on 1915 - the Genocide eviction and
exile - and have moved on.
What about Chakiryan's confusing response? Many Kurds regard
Diyarbakır as the capital of north Kurdistan; so what? It's also the
site of the recently renovated Saint Giragos Church that officially
reopened last year. Many Armenians, contrary to what Chakiryan
believes, see the city as a potential site for an expanded Armenian
cultural presence.
Of course, Osman Baydemir is a politician who probably does have
ulterior motives, but why do these and other Armenians use it as an
excuse for inaction and closing the door on any attempt to prove
whether the mayor is sincere or not.
This isn't the first time that Baydemir has made such calls. I don't
hear the mayors of Erzeroum, Elazig or Van urging Armenians to `come
home'.
When Garo Yalick asks `Why should we come back?', I can only assume
that he and others like him would ask the same regarding the Republic
of Armenia?
When Suzanne Khardalian states `I would like to return but it's not
possible under such conditions', what conditions is she referring to?
Would she return if all the Kurds disappeared magically overnight?
Would she return if the Republic of Armenia magically gained control
of the lands promised by the Treaty of Sevres?
This is the same rational that many in the diaspora hid behind while
at the same time spouting patriotic rhetoric about `Our Lands'. They'd
all return if only....
The same excuses are used not only regarding their imagined western
Armenia, but also regarding the present-day reality of the Republic of
Armenia.
Unbelievably, there are still many so-called patriots who argue that
the ROA isn't their `homeland'.
Fine, to all those who claim this to be the case I would recommend
that you contact Mayor Baydemir about his invitation to return to
Diyarbakır; one of the six villayets of western Armenia.
That is if you are serious about returning to the lands of your ancestors...
Hrant Gadarigian
hetq
19:28, September 28, 2012
I came across an article in Hurriyet Daily News and I would like to
get reader feedback on it.
The article, written by Vercihan ZiflioÄ?lu, is entitled `Armenians
snub mayor's call for return'.
It deals with the September 25 statement of Diyarbakır Mayor Osman
Baydemir in which he invited Armenians and other Non-Muslim people
with roots in the area to return.
Here's what Mayor Baydemir allegedly said:
`An Armenian, an Assyrian and a Chaldean, whose grandfathers or
great-grandfathers were born in Diyarbakır, have the same right to
live in Diyarbakır as I have, [speaking] as a Kurdish person who was
born in Diyarbakır. I would like to invite all the ethnic groups whose
ancestors once lived in Diyarbakır back to Diyarbakır again. Come back
to your city,'
Baydemir made the call to Turkish and visiting Armenian journalists at
a conference entitled `Expanding the Scope of Dialogue: Media and
Armenia-Turkey Relations at the Current Stage'.
The article then provides quotes of various Armenians responding to
the mayor's statement. Here's what they had to say. (Let us assume
that the quotes are credible)
Ara Sarafian, Director of the Gomidas Institute in London - `
Baydemir's call is not enough. And what is more, it could be
manipulated by Turkish nationalists. As in most provinces, Armenians
were also massacred in Diyarbakır. Why should they return to the city
they left with great pain?'
Suzanne Khardalian (Stockholm-based film director whose family hails
from Adiyaman and Marash) - I don't believe it is a serious and
sincere call. It has no meaning for us; no one could come back. What
would we find out about ourselves if we returned? I would of course
want to return to the land where my ancestors were born, but it is not
possible under such conditions.'
Garo Yalick (Resident of France whose family has roots in Van and
Mardin) - `They only remember to call on Armenians when they are faced
with political problems. So I want to ask, why should we come back?'
Hakob Chakiryan (columnist for the newspaper Azg in Armenia) -
"Diyarbakır is being introduced as the capital of North Kurdistan,
while Osman Baydemir is regarded as the Kurdish Workers Party
representative. Diyarbakir is a city associated with the Kurdish
problem. It must be the last place to go in terms of Turkey-Armenia
relations.'
So what are your thoughts? Here's a few of my own to get the discussion rolling.
I get the sneaking feeling that the writer went out of her way to
present the impression that Armenians have no intention to `return' to
any part of western Armenia.
The fact that she managed to get the director of the Gomidas Institute
to pose the question `Why should they return?' and a film director to
comment `It has no meaning for us' leaves the impression that
Armenians have turned the page on 1915 - the Genocide eviction and
exile - and have moved on.
What about Chakiryan's confusing response? Many Kurds regard
Diyarbakır as the capital of north Kurdistan; so what? It's also the
site of the recently renovated Saint Giragos Church that officially
reopened last year. Many Armenians, contrary to what Chakiryan
believes, see the city as a potential site for an expanded Armenian
cultural presence.
Of course, Osman Baydemir is a politician who probably does have
ulterior motives, but why do these and other Armenians use it as an
excuse for inaction and closing the door on any attempt to prove
whether the mayor is sincere or not.
This isn't the first time that Baydemir has made such calls. I don't
hear the mayors of Erzeroum, Elazig or Van urging Armenians to `come
home'.
When Garo Yalick asks `Why should we come back?', I can only assume
that he and others like him would ask the same regarding the Republic
of Armenia?
When Suzanne Khardalian states `I would like to return but it's not
possible under such conditions', what conditions is she referring to?
Would she return if all the Kurds disappeared magically overnight?
Would she return if the Republic of Armenia magically gained control
of the lands promised by the Treaty of Sevres?
This is the same rational that many in the diaspora hid behind while
at the same time spouting patriotic rhetoric about `Our Lands'. They'd
all return if only....
The same excuses are used not only regarding their imagined western
Armenia, but also regarding the present-day reality of the Republic of
Armenia.
Unbelievably, there are still many so-called patriots who argue that
the ROA isn't their `homeland'.
Fine, to all those who claim this to be the case I would recommend
that you contact Mayor Baydemir about his invitation to return to
Diyarbakır; one of the six villayets of western Armenia.
That is if you are serious about returning to the lands of your ancestors...