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Author chronicles the hidden story of Turkey's Armenian remnants
* Kemal Yalcin speaks in Glendale
by Adrineh Gregorian
GLENDALE, Calif. -- On March 16, the Glendale Public Library
auditorium was filled with an audience anxiously waiting to hear
Turkish author Kemal Yalcin talk about his book, You Rejoice My Heart.
Recently translated into English by Paul Bessemer and published for
the Tekeyan Cultural Association by the Gomidas Institute, the book
tells the seldom-discussed story of Armenian remnants, the so-called
secret or hidden Armenians, who still live in the provinces of Turkey.
These survivors, along with the scant ruins of churches and other
landmarks of their communities, are the last reminders of Armenian
civilization, which has thrived on the lands of Western Armenia for
thousands of years before being decimated by Turkish repression and
genocide.
As if frozen in time, the small numbers of Armenian remnants
continue to live on the soil of their ancestors, secretly holding on
to their Armenian heritage and sometimes even their religion.
In his opening remarks, Ara Sarafian of the Gomidas Institute cast a
brief look at the Turkish treatment of minorities that remained in
Turkey after 1915. In light of the prejudice and hostility to which
these minorities continue to be subjected, Mr. Sarafian described You
Rejoice My Heart as a "seminal work" which is "opening a new chapter
of understanding Armenian history." "The Armenian Genocide didn't
finish in 1915," Mr. Sarafian said. "Turkish nationalism has become
institutionalized."
Mr. Sarafian explained that concerted efforts to repress ethnic
minorities persevered throughout modern Turkish history. By the 1950s,
many Greeks, Jews, and Armenians who still lived in Turkey fled the
country, and the few who remained, especially in the provinces, were
assimilated by converting to Islam.
Armenians survived by adopting Turkish names, no longer speaking
Armenian, and not telling their children about their ethnic origins.
Children usually found out that they were Armenian much later in life.
While traveling throughout the eastern provinces of Turkey, Mr.
Sarafian has come across Armenians who have assumed Muslim identity.
But "they are Armenians," he said. "They will let you know if they
choose to let you know. They all have Genocide stories [to tell]. They
all had horrible experiences."
Part memoir, part travelogue, You Rejoice My Heart peers into the
world of Turkey's secret Armenians. "For the first time we have
insight into their lives," Mr. Sarafian said. "As Yalcin collects all
these biographies, we get a more coherent picture of Armenian
history,... a sense of what it means to be a Turkish-Armenian over the
past 90 years."
* The author
Mr. Yalcin began his address by welcoming the audience in Armenian.
Afterward he spoke in Turkish, with an Armenian translator relaying
his words to the audience. With a personable style that captivated his
listeners, the author focused on his personal journey of uncovering
the hidden links of a shared past that hold the keys to many
unanswered questions.
Born in the Honaz subdistrict of Turkey's southwestern Denizil
province, Mr. Yalcin was a product of the Turkish educational system,
which reinforces the notion of an ethnically and religiously
homogeneous Turkish society and teaches little about minorities -- let
alone the Armenian Genocide. After earning degrees in education and
philosophy, Mr. Yalcin went on to become a journalist and an
award-winning author. He moved to Germany in the 1980s.
Mr. Yalcin recalled that there were about 1,000 Greeks in Honaz
during the years he grew up there. His grandparents were never
prejudiced against their Greek neighbors. In fact, they agreed to hold
on to a Greek family's dowry for safekeeping. The Greek family never
came to retrieve their belongings. Mr. Yalcin recalled his grandfather
saying, "Whether it's 40 days or 40 years, we will hold on to this
dowry until we return it to their family."
Mr. Yalcin's family stayed true to their promise until, decades
later, Yalcin himself handed the dowry over to the Greek family's
grandchildren in Greece. It was there that he learned about the
Armenian Genocide and began what would become the journey of a
lifetime. "If you think what they did to the Greeks was bad, listen to
what they did to the Armenians in other parts of Turkey," the Greek
family told him.
Mr. Yalcin then began meeting with Armenians. He took time to
nurture relationships and gain trust in order to get the secret
Armenians to tell their often unbearably painful stories -- which
would eventually be included in his book.
* The book
You Rejoice My Heart opens in Germany, where Mr. Yalcin, working as a
Turkish instructor, befriended an Armenian cultural-immersion teacher
named Meline. Through her guidance, Mr. Yalcin eventually embarked on
a project to seek out Armenians living in Turkey as Muslims or Turks.
His journey took him on a trajectory that started with his native
Honaz and included Amasya, Erzurum, Askale, and Kars, and ended in the
ancient city of Ani.
One example of the secret Armenians whom Mr. Yalcin met is Madame
Safiye. In the book, she tells her story with the effervescence of a
person who has waited 70 years to speak. She is one of the last
remaining Armenians of Amasya. Born in 1931, she ran away from home to
marry a Turkish man. Through her conversation with Mr. Yalcin, she
opens up, for the first time since she was 15, about her Armenian
past. She reveals that her real name is Zaruhi, after an aunt who had
perished during what she calls "the Deportations."
Safiye's mother, Zeytimya, was the sole survivor of "the
Deportations." As Safiye remembers her parents, her memory drifts
away, Mr. Yalcin explains. Her own children and grandchildren never
knew about their Armenian past until Yalcin's arrival.
Through her story, we learn about the lives of other Armenians
living in Amasya after 1915. Amasya once had a thriving Armenian
population. The community, along with its churches and schools, was
utterly devastated during the Genocide. After 1915, only about 60
Armenian families remained. All they knew was that they were Armenian
and their religion was different. "We didn't let a lot of people know
about it," Madame Safiye says. "Even so, we were so afraid!"
Armenians tried their best to marry within their tiny community.
They prayed in secret and adopted Armenian orphans who had survived
the massacres. While some Armenians eventually fled, most of those who
remained stopped speaking their native tongue and denied ever being
Armenian.
"These are hard things to talk about!" Madame Safiye tells Mr.
Yalcin. "If you think about all the things that happened to us, you
can't believe how we managed to make it till now...."
* The aftermath
Mr. Yalcin has been living in Germany for years and speaks freely
about this topic, though he is aware that he might be the target of
Turkish retribution. "I'm scared," he said. "But the reality is more
important."
"There is big work to do," Mr. Yalcin added. "As humans we have to
address and expose this inhumanity." He went on to stress that his
work is about promoting communication between Turks and Armenians.
"Researchers deal with the archives, but my job is working with
survivors and their grandchildren," he said.
When asked about Turkish public opinion and whether the Turkish
educational system will ever allow future generations to learn about
what really happened prior to 1923, Yalcin answered optimistically,
"Today what we see in Turkey was unimaginable 30 years ago."
"Things are changing in Turkey regarding this matter," he continued,
referring to the recent wave of Turkish intellectuals and authors
writing about the Armenian Genocide. "Dividing is easy; coming
together is hard," he stressed. "Always live with hope."
You Rejoice My Heart has been published in Italian, Armenian,
Spanish, and French, in addition to Turkish. After the destruction of
the entire first Turkish edition in Istanbul on June 21, 2002, the
book is now once again in print and widely read in Turkey.
Mr. Yalcin has dedicated the English translation of the book to the
memory of "his dear brother," Hrant Dink.
The English translation of You Rejoice My Heart is available at Abril
Bookstore (818-243-4221).
connect:
gomidas.org/books/KemalYalcin.htm
* Kemal Yalcin speaks in Glendale
by Adrineh Gregorian
GLENDALE, Calif. -- On March 16, the Glendale Public Library
auditorium was filled with an audience anxiously waiting to hear
Turkish author Kemal Yalcin talk about his book, You Rejoice My Heart.
Recently translated into English by Paul Bessemer and published for
the Tekeyan Cultural Association by the Gomidas Institute, the book
tells the seldom-discussed story of Armenian remnants, the so-called
secret or hidden Armenians, who still live in the provinces of Turkey.
These survivors, along with the scant ruins of churches and other
landmarks of their communities, are the last reminders of Armenian
civilization, which has thrived on the lands of Western Armenia for
thousands of years before being decimated by Turkish repression and
genocide.
As if frozen in time, the small numbers of Armenian remnants
continue to live on the soil of their ancestors, secretly holding on
to their Armenian heritage and sometimes even their religion.
In his opening remarks, Ara Sarafian of the Gomidas Institute cast a
brief look at the Turkish treatment of minorities that remained in
Turkey after 1915. In light of the prejudice and hostility to which
these minorities continue to be subjected, Mr. Sarafian described You
Rejoice My Heart as a "seminal work" which is "opening a new chapter
of understanding Armenian history." "The Armenian Genocide didn't
finish in 1915," Mr. Sarafian said. "Turkish nationalism has become
institutionalized."
Mr. Sarafian explained that concerted efforts to repress ethnic
minorities persevered throughout modern Turkish history. By the 1950s,
many Greeks, Jews, and Armenians who still lived in Turkey fled the
country, and the few who remained, especially in the provinces, were
assimilated by converting to Islam.
Armenians survived by adopting Turkish names, no longer speaking
Armenian, and not telling their children about their ethnic origins.
Children usually found out that they were Armenian much later in life.
While traveling throughout the eastern provinces of Turkey, Mr.
Sarafian has come across Armenians who have assumed Muslim identity.
But "they are Armenians," he said. "They will let you know if they
choose to let you know. They all have Genocide stories [to tell]. They
all had horrible experiences."
Part memoir, part travelogue, You Rejoice My Heart peers into the
world of Turkey's secret Armenians. "For the first time we have
insight into their lives," Mr. Sarafian said. "As Yalcin collects all
these biographies, we get a more coherent picture of Armenian
history,... a sense of what it means to be a Turkish-Armenian over the
past 90 years."
* The author
Mr. Yalcin began his address by welcoming the audience in Armenian.
Afterward he spoke in Turkish, with an Armenian translator relaying
his words to the audience. With a personable style that captivated his
listeners, the author focused on his personal journey of uncovering
the hidden links of a shared past that hold the keys to many
unanswered questions.
Born in the Honaz subdistrict of Turkey's southwestern Denizil
province, Mr. Yalcin was a product of the Turkish educational system,
which reinforces the notion of an ethnically and religiously
homogeneous Turkish society and teaches little about minorities -- let
alone the Armenian Genocide. After earning degrees in education and
philosophy, Mr. Yalcin went on to become a journalist and an
award-winning author. He moved to Germany in the 1980s.
Mr. Yalcin recalled that there were about 1,000 Greeks in Honaz
during the years he grew up there. His grandparents were never
prejudiced against their Greek neighbors. In fact, they agreed to hold
on to a Greek family's dowry for safekeeping. The Greek family never
came to retrieve their belongings. Mr. Yalcin recalled his grandfather
saying, "Whether it's 40 days or 40 years, we will hold on to this
dowry until we return it to their family."
Mr. Yalcin's family stayed true to their promise until, decades
later, Yalcin himself handed the dowry over to the Greek family's
grandchildren in Greece. It was there that he learned about the
Armenian Genocide and began what would become the journey of a
lifetime. "If you think what they did to the Greeks was bad, listen to
what they did to the Armenians in other parts of Turkey," the Greek
family told him.
Mr. Yalcin then began meeting with Armenians. He took time to
nurture relationships and gain trust in order to get the secret
Armenians to tell their often unbearably painful stories -- which
would eventually be included in his book.
* The book
You Rejoice My Heart opens in Germany, where Mr. Yalcin, working as a
Turkish instructor, befriended an Armenian cultural-immersion teacher
named Meline. Through her guidance, Mr. Yalcin eventually embarked on
a project to seek out Armenians living in Turkey as Muslims or Turks.
His journey took him on a trajectory that started with his native
Honaz and included Amasya, Erzurum, Askale, and Kars, and ended in the
ancient city of Ani.
One example of the secret Armenians whom Mr. Yalcin met is Madame
Safiye. In the book, she tells her story with the effervescence of a
person who has waited 70 years to speak. She is one of the last
remaining Armenians of Amasya. Born in 1931, she ran away from home to
marry a Turkish man. Through her conversation with Mr. Yalcin, she
opens up, for the first time since she was 15, about her Armenian
past. She reveals that her real name is Zaruhi, after an aunt who had
perished during what she calls "the Deportations."
Safiye's mother, Zeytimya, was the sole survivor of "the
Deportations." As Safiye remembers her parents, her memory drifts
away, Mr. Yalcin explains. Her own children and grandchildren never
knew about their Armenian past until Yalcin's arrival.
Through her story, we learn about the lives of other Armenians
living in Amasya after 1915. Amasya once had a thriving Armenian
population. The community, along with its churches and schools, was
utterly devastated during the Genocide. After 1915, only about 60
Armenian families remained. All they knew was that they were Armenian
and their religion was different. "We didn't let a lot of people know
about it," Madame Safiye says. "Even so, we were so afraid!"
Armenians tried their best to marry within their tiny community.
They prayed in secret and adopted Armenian orphans who had survived
the massacres. While some Armenians eventually fled, most of those who
remained stopped speaking their native tongue and denied ever being
Armenian.
"These are hard things to talk about!" Madame Safiye tells Mr.
Yalcin. "If you think about all the things that happened to us, you
can't believe how we managed to make it till now...."
* The aftermath
Mr. Yalcin has been living in Germany for years and speaks freely
about this topic, though he is aware that he might be the target of
Turkish retribution. "I'm scared," he said. "But the reality is more
important."
"There is big work to do," Mr. Yalcin added. "As humans we have to
address and expose this inhumanity." He went on to stress that his
work is about promoting communication between Turks and Armenians.
"Researchers deal with the archives, but my job is working with
survivors and their grandchildren," he said.
When asked about Turkish public opinion and whether the Turkish
educational system will ever allow future generations to learn about
what really happened prior to 1923, Yalcin answered optimistically,
"Today what we see in Turkey was unimaginable 30 years ago."
"Things are changing in Turkey regarding this matter," he continued,
referring to the recent wave of Turkish intellectuals and authors
writing about the Armenian Genocide. "Dividing is easy; coming
together is hard," he stressed. "Always live with hope."
You Rejoice My Heart has been published in Italian, Armenian,
Spanish, and French, in addition to Turkish. After the destruction of
the entire first Turkish edition in Istanbul on June 21, 2002, the
book is now once again in print and widely read in Turkey.
Mr. Yalcin has dedicated the English translation of the book to the
memory of "his dear brother," Hrant Dink.
The English translation of You Rejoice My Heart is available at Abril
Bookstore (818-243-4221).
connect:
gomidas.org/books/KemalYalcin.htm
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