Armenian Orphanages

[Anoush]

Re: Armenian Orphanages

Tikranagert, thus the Armenian race has been royally screwed (thanks to the attaturk criminals) to say the least.

[Anoush]

Re: Armenian Orphanages

As far as Armenian orphanages; I very well know this beautiful and talented Armenian girl who was adopted from Armenia when she was less than a month old and the Armenian couple spent good money for her; but in the end they were able to adopt her and bring her to the States. She has been very well brought up and she is a healthy, beautiful and very intelligent young teenager now.

[dikranagert]

Re: Armenian Orphanages

That is a good to hear - but unfortunately, the majority were raised in present day Turkey.

I think Hrant Dink was about to have a major discussion about this topic and that is the real reason the ultra-nationalists murdered him.

Also, now it makes even more 'sense' why the government does not allow any church recognition or renovation in the 6 eastern provinces (i.e. Western Armenia) as this issue is just bubbling under the surface. Many times, these women, as they get closer to death, will finally open up and divulge their background and thier real beliefs in terms of religion.

Once these thousands of women had children, they raised them in accordance to the wishes of the husband (as was the protocol of the day), however, I believe the vast majority imparted their true roots to their offspring and so on and on. Paradoxically, this information exchange led to bitterness and resentment in the 1st generation of kids (born in the 1920s) but as time passes, it will and has changed.

Think about it: At the minimum, 10-15% of the ENTIRE population of Turkey has Armenian roots in a significant portion TODAY.

From personal experience, my grandfather had 4 sisters in their teens ALL of which were taken and married, some by force and some without (i.e. realistically it was death or conversion). SO now my father has over 10! first cousins who are 1/2 Turk and 1/2 Armenian. He used to see them over the border but the children were raised as Turkish Muslims (especially in that era) even when a trip to the Catholicase in Beirut was made, it made no difference. Environment trumps genetics in most cases. Consequently, I have DOZENS of second cousins who are 25-50% Armenian in Southeastern Turkey.

Now if religious expression was not so SEVERELY repressed, don't you think more of these people would think about and reflect about who they were - I mean even if 5% converted, that is 500,000 at a minimum. Hence, the obsession with denying the Genocide and keeping that whole region in a time warp of the late 19th century. These types of demographic and religious upheavals can threat the existense of the whole state which is the Turk's ultimate fear to the exclusion of all else - see what they are doing to their fellow muslim 'brothers' - the Kurds.

This is not about these crypto-Christians expressing themselves out in the open - rather, it is their acknowledgement of an Armenian ancestry (i.e. more tribal than religious) that can make everything extremely volatile.

Also, keep in mind, even if there are 20 million of these mixed offspring from the Genocide on, it does not necessarily mean that they will become ARF members overnight - the vast majority will continue living as before, albeit with a better understanding of their roots.

Think of it this way, if I told you that 1 out of every 5 Armenians worldwide had Kurdish or Turksih grandparents, how would you react?

Sorry for the long post but I really feel that this is the crux of the whole matter and behing all the denialist rhetoric. Indeed, the Genocide had three components:

1. Kill all the young men because
2. You want all the women and most of the children, especially female (who won't have defenders)
3. March the rest to death (the elderly, etc)

Compare this to the xxxish holocaust, in which any xxx with 1/16 xxxish blood was targeted for exterminaton, and very few Germans wanted to marry xxxish women (externally, anyway) - so the relationship between the Armenians and Turkish societies was more complex.

Also remember that even when young men converted they were usually killed but when females converted, they were accepted without question the majority of the time.

[MrHyeSev]

Re: Armenian Orphanages

When I went to Armenia a while ago, we went to go visit the orphanage there. It was very hard & sad to see kids in those tough situations.

[AlphaPapa]

Re: Armenian Orphanages

Catch 22 for the government...allow them to be adopted by diasporans, and thus leave the country or keep them as cattle? Like almost all governments, they're choosing the inhumane option.

There's long term benefits to letting Diasporans adopt, should the Republic of Yerevan ever decide to have long term interests.