Orhan Pamuk:Hero or Traitor

[Hovik]

Hovik

You won’t find much things about Armenians in ‘’My Name is Red’’ perhaps get angry when looking at the map due to not seeing Armenia on it but Azerbaijan. Don’t be discouraged. You’ll dive into mysterious story and have a real section about Ottoman history.

Have a good time.

Yes I noticed this on the map. I know it wasn't always easy to show what you know is true in Turkey. It took time for Pamuk to get the courage he has now... My name is red was an earlier book so I accept that at that time Pamuk perhaps wasn't as willing to put his neck on the chopping block...

I am very interested to read it and looking forward to it... Thank you cosmos...

[Hovik]

If this site is democratic ı want to say something.I deny Armenian Genocide because there was war and Russians used Armenians to fight for theır own brothers and sisters.Turks and Armenians are historically brother.

It's a democracy of sorts, probably not what you'd expect. There are rules in a democracy, there are rules on this site one of which promises the banning of any member who denys the Armenian Genocide. If you don't accept that the Genocide occurred this is not the site for you. Go somewhere else.

If you accept it occurred but don't know much about it, or don't agree with every detail of it's history, that is ok... we can help.

You choose what to do based on your stance on the fact of the Genocide, if you stay please read and abide by the "Forum Rules" in the Gen. Discussions Thread. Thanks.

[imported_RUDO]

I left Turkey when I was a child, and I've visited once when I was 18. But I grew up in L.A. with lots of Turkish and Armenian families within our family's close group of friends. My mother's boss for many years was a Turkish family who were very close to my parents. The lady of the family, who was the brains behind the operation, died a number of years ago from cancer and my mom was devastated for a long time. My parents don't really feel as I do, but they know what happened to our people. They just choose to not think about it.

My father lives in Istanbul, and has a small business there. A few years ago, one of the more racist Turkish papers published an article about him full of anti-Armenian lies. The article said that he was selling American products in Turkey and sending the money back to Armenian-American lobbies in the U.S. My father wouldn't know an Armenian-American lobby if one fell on his head. The accusation severely hurt his business for about a year until people forgot about it. When it came out, I begged my father to let me file a lawsuit against the paper for defamation in the U.S., since the paper is distributed here as well. He refused, saying that it would make things much worse for him if he made a big stink out of it. He was right, eventually people forgot about it, and he has been able to go about his business quietly. But this example illustrates the anti-Armenian propoganda that permeates life in Turkey. Armenians are only able to survive and prosper, because they act like my dad; they let it go, and sweep it under the rug. Again, we are meek people, particularly the Istanbul Armenians. If we weren't meek but complained against every abuse against us in Turkey, there wouldn't be an Armenian left in Turkey, we would all be finished by now. You don't know these inside stories, because we rarely ever make a stink about them.

Kurds are like you(Armenians in Turkey).If they live without freedoms,Turks don't do anything but assimilation.But if they want their freedoms,they start to fight with Kurds.They want to assimilate the minorities in Turkey.

[imported_RUDO]

And I am one of them.(Assimilated Kurd).Because I don't know my mother tongue.