Turkish song about an Armenian girl

[ashot24]

A song from Kharberd (Harput) in Western Armenia, now Elazığ in Turkey. The song is called Ahçik (Turkish phonetics from the Armenian "Aghjik"). This song is about the love of a Turkish boy for an Armenian girl.

Version by Erkan Oğur (who has performed with Jivan Gasparyan) and İsmail Hakkı Demircioğlu.

Version by Muzaffer Ertürk.

Lyrics:

Ahçiği yolladım Urum eline
I took the girl to the Urum's* house
Eser bad-ı sabah zülfün teline
The soft breeze is blowing on her hair
Gel seni götürem İslam eline
Come, and I’ll take you to a Muslim home

Serimi sevdaya salan o Ahçik
Aman o Ahçik civan o Ahçik
Oh the girl...

Vardım kiliseye baktım haçına
I have looked at the cross above the church
Gönlümü bağladım sırma saçına
My heart got captured at seeing her beautiful hair
Gel seni götürem islam içine
Come, and I’ll take you to a Muslim home

Serimi sevdaya salan o Ahçik
Aman o Ahçik civan o Ahçik
Oh the girl...

Vardım kiliseye hac suda döner
At the church, I saw the cross above the [baptismal] water
Ahçiği kaybettim yüreğim yanar
I have lost the girl, my heart is burning
Ben dinen dönersem el beni kınar
But If I change my religion, I will be condemned

Serimi sevdaya salan o Ahçik
Aman o Ahçik civan o Ahçik
Oh the girl...

*"Urum" is a Turkish denomination for Greek people

-------------------------------------

I don't know if any of you has already heard it, but a friend showed it to me and I thought it was worth of sharing with you. I would like to hear your comments about it...

[UrMistake]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

I dont like such kind of literature that tends to creat a falls stories about love especially with such enemys,to love it u need to be very naive and that brings to me stupid people in my mind.

[ashot24]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

I dont like such kind of literature that tends to creat a falls stories about love especially with such enemys,to love it u need to be very naive and that brings to me stupid people in my mind.

I disagree, the thing here is not whether you like or you don't like the song or what it means, the thing here is that this song was written long before the Genocide, this song comes from and was performed both by Armenians and Turks in our ancient homeland (those whose families came from Kharberd or nearby in Western Armenia). Also, this song is a very popular Turkish song which is famous enough to be played on TRT (which if you don't know is the national channel there), which in my opinion is something very important given the ultra-nationalism and policy of denial of history and racism inside the Turkish governments along times and Turkey in general, where as you know the mention of the word "Armenian" comes with very bad thoughts amongst the majority of its population.

Just imagine, how can those ultra-nationalist Turks who hate Armenians and deny the Armenian Genocide be singing a song about a Turk who fell in love with an Armenian? Ironic, isn't it? I know the words are nothing special and at some point they are even silly, but most Turkish people will tell you "it's a cute song”, but for me, as an Armenian, the mention of this song draws into a bigger issue. To me, it draws into where I think Armenians and Turks should start the "reconciliation process", instead of playing with the dirty politics which at the end are mere formalisms where you can find only fights and disagreements and controversies, here we have music and culture finding a common link, which is a link of unity instead of separation.

I believe that instead of being fighting and arguing over the opening of a stupid physical border, Armenians and Turkish people must open the mental border we created, by first start talking to each other instead of insulting, Turkish people must look into their history and acknowledge and apologize for the crimes of their predecessors and understand that they have been fooled and they have suffered mind control feeding them hate and lies and prejudices, which has brought them nothing more than problems with people they used to live with. If the music that was created by our people and their people can be the bridge that helps us talk to each other, then so be it...it has helped me, and it has helped a lot of Turkish people who know I call friends instead of "the enemy", for they have seen that the reality they were presented is false and has brought them nothing more than feelings of resentment to people who only wants peace and has always wanted peace. That is the power of music I think, and that is why this song has a deeper meaning than what it seems...just my opinion.

[bell-the-cat]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

I disagree, the thing here is not whether you like or you don't like the song or what it means, the thing here is that this song was written long before the Genocide, this song comes from and was performed both by Armenians and Turks in our ancient homeland (those whose families came from Kharberd or nearby in Western Armenia). Also, this song is a very popular Turkish song which is famous enough to be played on TRT (which if you don't know is the national channel there), which in my opinion is something very important given the ultra-nationalism and policy of denial of history and racism inside the Turkish governments along times and Turkey in general, where as you know the mention of the word "Armenian" comes with very bad thoughts amongst the majority of its population.

Just imagine, how can those ultra-nationalist Turks who hate Armenians and deny the Armenian Genocide be singing a song about a Turk who fell in love with an Armenian? Ironic, isn't it? I know the words are nothing special and at some point they are even silly, but most Turkish people will tell you "it's a cute song”, but for me, as an Armenian, the mention of this song draws into a bigger issue. To me, it draws into where I think Armenians and Turks should start the "reconciliation process", instead of playing with the dirty politics which at the end are mere formalisms where you can find only fights and disagreements and controversies, here we have music and culture finding a common link, which is a link of unity instead of separation.

I believe that instead of being fighting and arguing over the opening of a stupid physical border, Armenians and Turkish people must open the mental border we created, by first start talking to each other instead of insulting, Turkish people must look into their history and acknowledge and apologize for the crimes of their predecessors and understand that they have been fooled and they have suffered mind control feeding them hate and lies and prejudices, which has brought them nothing more than problems with people they used to live with. If the music that was created by our people and their people can be the bridge that helps us talk to each other, then so be it...it has helped me, and it has helped a lot of Turkish people who know I call friends instead of "the enemy", for they have seen that the reality they were presented is false and has brought them nothing more than feelings of resentment to people who only wants peace and has always wanted peace. That is the power of music I think, and that is why this song has a deeper meaning than what it seems...just my opinion.

In an ideal world the above would be true. But these sort of songs come out of a context of absolute subjection at the hands of Muslims - a Christian population that is so powerless that it cannot even retain possession of its women. And they also come out of an unpleasant trait found amongst middle-eastern men be they Christian or Muslim, Armenian or Turk (and also in their diaspora counterparts): have some short-term pleasure at the long-term expense of the girl (she's only some worthless gavur/odar), then go back to your community and live all moral and upright. Remember what happened to sad_eyes.

[egeli]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

A song from Kharberd (Harput) in Western Armenia, now Elazığ in Turkey. The song is called Ahçik (Turkish phonetics from the Armenian "Aghjik"). This song is about the love of a Turkish boy for an Armenian girl.

Version by Erkan Oğur (who has performed with Jivan Gasparyan) and İsmail Hakkı Demircioğlu.

Version by Muzaffer Ertürk.

Lyrics:

Ahçiği yolladım Urum eline
I took the girl to the Urum's* house
Eser bad-ı sabah zülfün teline
The soft breeze is blowing on her hair
Gel seni götürem İslam eline
Come, and I’ll take you to a Muslim home

Serimi sevdaya salan o Ahçik
Aman o Ahçik civan o Ahçik
Oh the girl...

Vardım kiliseye baktım haçına
I have looked at the cross above the church
Gönlümü bağladım sırma saçına
My heart got captured at seeing her beautiful hair
Gel seni götürem islam içine
Come, and I’ll take you to a Muslim home

Serimi sevdaya salan o Ahçik
Aman o Ahçik civan o Ahçik
Oh the girl...

Vardım kiliseye hac suda döner
At the church, I saw the cross above the [baptismal] water
Ahçiği kaybettim yüreğim yanar
I have lost the girl, my heart is burning
Ben dinen dönersem el beni kınar
But If I change my religion, I will be condemned

Serimi sevdaya salan o Ahçik
Aman o Ahçik civan o Ahçik
Oh the girl...

*"Urum" is a Turkish denomination for Greek people

-------------------------------------

I don't know if any of you has already heard it, but a friend showed it to me and I thought it was worth of sharing with you. I would like to hear your comments about it...

What if this Ottoman Muslim (no such thing as Turks in the Ottoman Empire) did take this Armenian Christian into "a Muslim home"? Given the monetary and social benefits of conversion, its entirely possible that this Armenian lady would convert especially if her Muslim lover was an affluent ağa.

If she did convert, I wonder what nationality her descendants would be? If the answer isn't obvious, than one does not understand the mixed ethnic heritage of Turks.

This song reminds me of the love between Kanuni Süleyman Padishah (Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent) and Roxelana, his legal monogamous wife. Roxelana was an Orthodox Christian from Ukraine who after attracting Suleiman as a courtesan (Haram Girl), quickly became his favorite. She eventually became his legal monogamous wife, and the mother of future Padishahs (Sultans). Roxelana henceforth was known as Hürrem Sultan.

The Queen-Mother, or Valide, was the most powerful position in the Ottoman Empire after her reigning Padishah son. If the Valide's son happened to be ineffectual, the Queen-Mother became the de-facto leader of the whole empire.

So, in the case of Roxelana, a peasant girl eventually became one of the most powerful elites in the Ottoman Empire. The only cost was her conversion to Islam. To many contemporary Ottoman Christians and their descendants, this is equivalent to death at the hands of Muslims. This is far from the reality.

[ashot24]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

None of you understood, didn't you?

[egeli]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

None of you understood, didn't you?

After re-reading my post i realized it is offensive to Armenians, as Christianity even if nominal is a central part of Armenian identity. The issue of conversions would also be offensive to most Turks, because it suggests that Turkish identity in based on Islam, not Turkic identity.

Yes, Turks and Armenians can love each other. The divisions between us however are real, and will always inevitably exist because both identities are mutually exclusive. Artificial divisions are the essence of humanity.

[Gavur]

Re: Turkish song about an Armenian girl

What if this Ottoman Muslim (no such thing as Turks in the Ottoman Empire) did take this Armenian Christian into "a Muslim home"? Given the monetary and social benefits of conversion, its entirely possible that this Armenian lady would convert especially if her Muslim lover was an affluent ağa.

If she did convert, I wonder what nationality her descendants would be? If the answer isn't obvious, than one does not understand the mixed ethnic heritage of Turks.

This song reminds me of the love between Kanuni Süleyman Padishah (Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent) and Roxelana, his legal monogamous wife. Roxelana was an Orthodox Christian from Ukraine who after attracting Suleiman as a courtesan (Haram Girl), quickly became his favorite. She eventually became his legal monogamous wife, and the mother of future Padishahs (Sultans). Roxelana henceforth was known as Hürrem Sultan.

The Queen-Mother, or Valide, was the most powerful position in the Ottoman Empire after her reigning Padishah son. If the Valide's son happened to be ineffectual, the Queen-Mother became the de-facto leader of the whole empire.

So, in the case of Roxelana, a peasant girl eventually became one of the most powerful elites in the Ottoman Empire. The only cost was her conversion to Islam. To many contemporary Ottoman Christians and their descendants, this is equivalent to death at the hands of Muslims. This is far from the reality.

More than likely this "Moslem" was a convert or a descendant of Christian convert's to be able to get so close to a Christian girl.