The Armenian Weekly Magazine

April 2015: A Century of Resistance

The voice of a sighing heart, its sobs and mournful cries,

I offer up to you, O seer of Secrets,

Placing the fruits of my wavering mind

As a savory sacrifice on the fire of my grieving soul

To be delivered to you in the censer of my will.

—St. Grigor Narekatsi

As I read and look through various books and papers on the Armenian Genocide, I think of the genocide survivors I met and got to know years ago in the Chicago Armenian community. The community elders would say with reverence, “See that lady over there, she is one of the Survivors… That man there, he is one of the Survivors…” There were several of them, and they were always working—serving our Armenian community—in the church, church hall, kitchen, school, and on picnic grounds. Occasionally, one of them would begin singing in the church hall’s kitchen. Within no time, others would join in, and as one voice they would sing, as they diligently prepared Armenian dishes for a community function, as they stayed behind after an event to clean and tidy up.

Though the aromas that wafted from the kitchen or picnic grounds were delightful and inviting, the unwavering enthusiasm and devotion these particular individuals felt for their people and community were awe-inspiring and unforgettable, for they had come from a place where they had suffered and survived unspeakable horrors simply because of who they were—Armenians and Christians. As a result, they had lost everything—family and childhood, home and hearth, hopes and dreams, even their identity at times. Despite the carnage, destruction, and immeasurable loss that had befallen them, they were able not only to overcome their sufferings and go on with their lives in far-away lands, learning new languages, customs, and traditions, but also to give of themselves and enrich the lives of others, especially their Diasporan Armenian communities.

Years ago, during interviews I had conducted with some of these survivors in their homes, I noticed that though each had come from different regions in their homeland, and from different socio-economic standings, when they spoke of the horrors they had suffered they all described similar atrocities. And, when they spoke, each had the same heart-wrenching sorrow in his or her eyes.

I began the interviews first with a male survivor of the 1894-96 Hamidian Massacres. The Ottoman Constitution of 1876 had granted the Armenians certain rights. At last, the Armenians thought, they could allow themselves to look forward to a decent life, free of fear, brutality, and massacres. That sentiment, however, was short lived. During the late 1800’s, sporadic massacres of Armenians were carried out, beginning in Van. Upon learning of the atrocities that had begun soon after the signing of the constitution, Patriarch Khrimian Hayrik “charged that the government was guilty of perpetrating the crime and inciting violence.” In a pamphlet called “Haikouyzh,” the patriarch wrote, “They fell upon and covered Armenian villages and farms like locust and worm, devoured and withered all vegetation and turned fertile villages and towns into barren wastelands” (from The Pillars of the Armenian Church by Dickran H. Boyajian).

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Painting of Grigor Narekatsi by artist Arshag Fetvadjian

Mrs. Carlier, the wife of the French Consul in Sepastia, an eyewitness to the massacres and deportations that took place in 1895-96, wrote: “They killed everyone in the market place. Not a single Armenian remains. … Right at this moment they are killing with bayonets. … Since the mob was not armed with weapons, they had grabbed whatever they had found, axes, clubs, stones and shovels. They crushed the heads of the victims… Everywhere there is blood; wherever you step, you step on human brains and scalps. … I saw dogs dragging human body parts in their mouths… blood dripping from their mouths. … The majority of the victims were men. A large number of women and girls were put up for auction by the criminal Turks. … The women and girls were raped with extreme barbarism…” (from Village World [Kiughashkharh] by Vahan Hambartsumian).

The following are brief excerpts from four of the interviews.

The survivor of the 1896 massacres described the day the Turks came in these words: “My family was from Sepastia,

and we Armenians always lived in fear. My father was a priest. I was five years old and playing with my friends

outside, when suddenly we heard a great deal of noise down the street. There was much yelling and screaming. A crowd was coming and they were carrying daggers, pieces of wood, anything with which to kill a person. People were running, and there was blood everywhere. The Turks were killing anyone they could get their hands on. … I ran and hid in a hole in the ground, which was filled with ashes, for about two or three days. When I came out of the hole, I was very thirsty and hungry… Because of what I had witnessed I developed a severe stutter. Nearly 90 now, I still stutter.”

In 1915, four years after immigrating to the United States and making Chicago his home, this survivor, upon learning of the plight of the Armenians in his homeland, left for the Caucasus to join other “gamavors” (volunteers) in fighting the Turks.

A female survivor of the genocide recalled, “I was seven years old when the Turks came to our village in Sepastia. They killed so many Armenians, including my parents, sisters, and brothers—my whole family. I do not know how I survived, but I remember seeing blood everywhere and so many people on the ground. I was walking and walking, calling for my mother, when two gendarmes saw me and hurt me… I was full of blood. Someone carried me to a hospital, where the doctor, who knew my family, wept when he saw me… Later, I was taken to a Turkish couple and I stayed with them.

One day, when I was outside, some Turkish boys and girls screamed and shouted ‘gavour’ [nonbeliever or infidel] at me. As they repeated that word, again and again, they threw rocks at me… You can still see the scar on my face. … After staying with the Turkish couple for a while, I was taken to an orphanage in Marsovan, then to one in Greece, and later, when we orphans were older, some of us were sent to France. So many lost their minds because of what the Turks had done… Whenever I thought of my family, my home… I could not stop crying. … We had such fun playing together, my sisters, brothers, and I.  We had a nice home, and a beautiful church before the Turks did the things they did.”

A female survivor from Dikranagerd told of her ordeal in 1915 as she looked down at her hands resting in her lap. “I was fortunate to only have my fingers cut off of one hand. Some had hands and other body parts cut off, but mostly they were murdered.”

A male survivor from Urfa recalled, “I was 10 years old in 1915 when it happened. I was outside walking down the street, when I saw some Turks killing an Armenian. They were striking him with canes, knives, swords, shovels… I was terrified and found a place to hide. When it was safe I ran back home where I found my uncle dead. They had slaughtered him like a lamb on the steps of our house. His head was down and his feet were up; there was blood everywhere. My father and other Armenian men were taken away. We never saw them again. My older brother, who was 19, had his head smashed. Some of my other relatives were killed. My mother suddenly could not speak and died three days after they took away my father and killed my brother. … The Turks filled our church with Armenians, and they burned them, even the children. They burned them all! I saw it.  I saw a lot. … A Turkish family, the one that had earlier taken away my sister to be a wife, took my little brother and me to their house. There, we were made Turks and given Turkish names. I was called Hasan…  Eventually, when we got older, we left and once again used our Armenian names. … It was God’s miracle that the two of us survived. At times, after all these many years, I still see my dead mother and my brother with his smashed head, and all the others who had been killed, before my eyes.”

Though the survivors I spoke with, and got to know many years ago, have all passed away, their stories—the story of a nation nearly annihilated by another—can still be “heard” via countless pages of printed material. For example, in the Oct. 7, 1896 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, an article titled, “Chicago’s Work for the Armenians.” described the efforts of the “Chicago Armenian committee” in collecting $13,000 for the “International committee” in Constantinople to assist destitute Armenians who had survived the 1894-96 massacres. Also mentioned were the efforts of the Salvation Army in preparing to assist these refugees in establishing homes in America once they arrived.

As the sporadic massacres of the later 1800’s continued into the early 1900’s, behind the backdrop of World War I, methodically and with great acumen, the Turkish government, in 1915, began its ultimate endeavor in the total annihilation of the Armenian people and culture. The following are more examples published in the Chicago Daily Tribune, reporting on the plight of the Armenians.

In the May 18, 1915 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, a caption on page 4 announced the slaughter of 6,000 Armenians by the Turks, and that aid to Armenia was needed.

In the Jan. 26 1916 issue of the same paper, an article titled, “Chicago Asked to Open Purses for Armenians,” described the dire plight of the Armenians, growing more critical every day because of the countless massacres, as well as the starvation, disease, exposure to the elements, and homelessness they were suffering.

In the Feb. 1, 1919 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, an article titled, “5^th Liberty Loan Workers Told of Armenians’ Woe,” outlined a speech given by the former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Abram L. Elkus at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. The ambassador began his speech by telling the audience that he had no real idea what hunger and poverty were until he saw the devastation of Turkey’s Armenians. He told of the hunger and poverty, the despair and death, and the 400,000 Armenian orphans that crowded into available buildings. He described how he and a friend had counted on the roads of Asia Minor the skeletons of hundreds of Armenians who had been “butchered by Turks.”

In the March 17, 1920 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, an article titled, “Evanston Girl One of Three Helping 67,000 Armenians,” described the work of Miss Alice K. Clark of Evanston, Ill., the daughter of the manager of the American Stove Company, and 2 other members of the American Relief Committee in Hadjin, Turkey, caring for 67,000 Armenian refugees.

After all these years—One Hundred—Turkey continues to deny any wrongdoing, stating that the Armenian Genocide never took place and that the issue of the Armenians “should be left to historians.” Yet, as one reads the numerous eyewitness accounts, reports, newspaper articles, and books, one wonders, How can a crime of such magnitude—a government’s systematic annihilation of nearly an entire race—be denied, and for so long? The numerous accounts, reports, and documents do not lie. The bones scattered across the land, the crumbling age-old churches and edifices do not lie.

In New York, the Alliance Weekly: A Journal of Christian Life and Missions published several articles, including eyewitness accounts, of the atrocities against the Armenians from 1909-19. The following are examples.

On Oct. 2, 1915, the Alliance Weekly published a piece titled, “Armenian Atrocities,” describing the condition of the Armenians in Turkey: “An appalling condition prevails in Armenia. A representative committee of Americans have secured and sifted reports from all parts of Turkey. A preliminary statement has been given to the press and a detailed survey will follow in a few days. Atrocities unparalleled in modern history will be revealed. Armenia is being depopulated of its Christian population whether Gregorian or Protestant. At least half a million have perished in massacres or of hunger in the wastes to which they are driven. The missionaries of the American Board at Bitlis, Van, and Diyarbakir have been driven out. …”

On Oct. 23, 1915, the Alliance Weekly published the following: “The Christian world is again shocked by the new story of Armenian atrocities. There, horrid cruelties are on a scale surpassing even the frightful wrongs of other years, which justified the title Mr. Gladstone gave to the Turkish ruler, ‘Abdul, the Assassin.’ The present policy of the Turkish authorities, with the tacit support, it is feared, of their German allies, is the utter extermination of this sturdy and superior race… the entire destruction of the race.”

In the Oct. 30, 1915 issue of the same publication, a returning missionary from Turkey, Dr. McNaughton, reported, “…The missionary work in Asia Minor, under the American Board, has been almost entirely wiped out. … Before the war there were 148 stations, 309 missionaries, 158 organized churches, 1,310 native helpers, 26,000 scholars in 450 schools and colleges, and 60,000 in attendance upon the missions. Today these flocks are scattered, and more than 1,000,000 Armenian Christians appear to have perished. … Is it the last drop in the full cup of Turkish crime?”

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Painting of Gomidas, ‘Vercheen Geesher – Debee Aksor’ (‘Final Night – Toward Exile’)

In the Dec. 30, 1916 issue, an article titled, “Famine Horrors in the World War,” by A. E. Thompson describes the Armenian atrocities: “It has not been a conquered province that has suffered, but a subject nation, over which the Turks have ruled for centuries. Abdul Hamid shocked civilization by the massacres of a few thousand Armenians… He probably never conceived such horrors as the Young Turks, who dethroned him, have perpetrated. The report published by the Relief Committee states that out of a total Armenian population of 2,000,000 no less that 850,000 have died in massacres or of disease, exhaustion, and starvation… The report of the Relief Committee reads: ‘Men were led away in groups outside their villages and killed with clubs and axes. The Consul of one of the European nations reported that on one occasion 10,000 Armenians were taken out in boats, batteries of artillery trained upon them, and the entire company killed. Girls and women were reserved for an indescribable fate in terrible marches; in harems, in the houses of officials, or in tents of the wild tribes. Villages and towns by the hundreds were wrecked. The whole Armenian population of large sections deported. Of 450 in one village only one woman lives… Read the most graphic pictures in prophecy of horrors and outrages and you have a mild picture of what has occurred…”

In the Jan. 13, 1917 issue of the Alliance Weekly, an article titled, “The Turkey of Tomorrow,” by an author who signed the piece as “A Missionary Resident For Thirty Years In Turkey,” asks the questions, “What, then about the future? How about the wreck of work for Armenians after the holocaust that has destroyed more than half a million of them, deported and impoverished more than half a million more, forced another quarter million to flee the country? Can the churches ever be revived or the schools reopened? …

When many thousands have been faithful unto death, preferring a martyr’s crown to a Moslem life, the people all see that faith and life are the essentials, rather than creeds and ceremonies. The ancient Armenian Church will come forth from this ordeal ‘tried as by the fire.’”

In the Oct. 6, 1917 issue, an article titled, “The Crimes of Turkey,” begins: “An important conference of the friends of the great movement for Armenian and Syrian relief was held in New York City during Tuesday and Wednesday, September 11^th and 12^th, at which there was a representative attendance from the various churches, charitable and missionary boards and societies. … The Alliance Weekly was represented at this conference…” The article outlines the account of Dr. Frederick Coan, who was “an eyewitness of both tragedies.” He had stated, “the present massacre [1915] far exceeds in loss of life and desolation of land than that of the massacre of 1894-5.” He said he had stood by “a huge trench—the grave of two thousand Armenians, who had sought to defend themselves from the Turks until their ammunition gave out; who on asking at what terms they might surrender, and on being promised their safety (sworn to on the Koran) by the Turks, surrendered, and were immediately given spades and shovels and ordered to dig a trench. When this trench was completed, those 2,000 Armenians were driven into it at the point of bayonets, and there buried.” He told of standing by a pit, “the grave of 1,600 little children who had been gathered together, saturated with oil, and burned alive, while the fanatical Turks beat drums to drown their dying cries,” and “a bridge from which 1,600 young Armenian maidens had plunged to their deaths rather than live as slaves in Turkish harems.”

The piece included Dr. Coan’s appeal to America: “Christian America—help save those who still can be saved. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to Russia. Here they can be reached, and the Russian government will not refuse their relief. Russia has never refused to help us in relief, even handing money to us to be distributed by us as we thought best.” The doctor’s presentation concluded with: “There are Mohammedans who do not approve of this massacre. Over and over again I have heard them say, ‘I wonder that God in heaven does not bring fire down and smite us for these deeds…’” (When the Russian and Armenian volunteer forces liberated Van in May 1915, working along with the American missionary aid workers were the Countess Aleksandra Lvovna Tolstaya, the youngest daughter of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, and her aid workers. See the correspondence of Grace H. Knapp [1895-1916], Mt. Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections.)

The article also includes the account of a 17-year-old boy who had been brought to the United States. At the time of the genocide, he was 15 and had escaped. He told of his harrowing experience: “On March 31^st or April 1^st, 1915, our city was suddenly surrounded by Turkish soldiers. Most of the prominent Armenians were imprisoned, among them my father, who was a professor in a college. They were asked to give up their guns, but as most of them were merchants, doctors, professors, etc., there were few guns among them. Then the officers beat them. The professor of history in our college was first beaten with a stick; his fingers were then burned, then his hair, and finally he was crucified. … The mothers began at once to cut off the hair of the girls, but they could not hide their beautiful eyes. … We were surrounded by other Turkish soldiers. They separated the men from the women and put the men in a great dungeon…in that prison 550 men were weeping. … The women and children were placed in another prison. … The next night 549 men were taken to the nearby mountains and killed one by one… From that group only one boy is living—myself. … Those 2,500 women and children. . . …they took away their clothing … drove them out to the deserts. Children were taken by the Turks…some of the women became Moslems and were spared. Others threw themselves into the river. … The prettiest children were selected by the Turks, especially the boys and girls from ten to twelve years. … Once they were free as birds, now the girls are imprisoned in Turkish harems, buried alive.” The boy’s account ended with: “A whole nation is being killed and deported by the Turks, and those remaining are dying of starvation…”

In the Oct. 25, 1962 issue of Milliyet (Istanbul), an article by Gunay Erinal (Assistant to the Agricultural Inspector) titled, “A Modern Turk on the Armenian Past,” describes what the Turkish people experienced years after the genocide. It begins: “There is a famine in Eastern Turkey. Last winter all the newspapers reported that animals were dying of hunger. … In the beginning of 1962 in Saimbeyli (Hagin), the villagers said: ‘In the days of the Armenians more people lived here; the grapes and their wine were very well known. At that time there was also a college, which disappeared with the Armenians. … In the days of the Armenians here…’ I had heard these words long ago, and I heard them very often recently. … ‘The villages of Hunu and Lorsun…’ Afsin and Elbistan as well… ‘When the Armenians were here there was a dam on the river by virtue of which we had no shortage of water. …’ In Hakkari also I heard Armenians mentioned. … ‘The Armenians, by planting terrace-vineyards on the steep mountain-side, produced grapes, and it was very successful. But it does not exist now. … Our people neglected the land. … In the Catak ‘kaza’ of Van there are thousands of pistachio nut trees, but they are not fertile. …’”

As the Armenian communities throughout the world prepare to commemorate the 100^th Anniversary of the 1915 Genocide, one cannot help but wonder, how has this small nation continued to thrive despite all it has suffered? The answer must lie in the Armenian people’s deep reverence for church, language, heritage, culture, and patriotism.

Author J. Alston Campbell, who was witness to the deplorable conditions and sufferings of the Armenians in Turkey, wrote, “The thousands of Armenians who laid down their lives at the time of the massacres did not die on behalf of a political propaganda, they laid down for the Gospel, as a testimony to the Moslem world of the power of a living Christ. Most of those martyrs, had they wished, might have saved themselves by holding up one little finger as a sign that they accepted Islam. But they chose death rather than deny His Name…” And, of the patriotism of the Armenians, he wrote, “A strong feature in their character, and this, together with a wonderful recuperative power which they possess, has often enabled them to rise phoenix-like from disasters which would have ruined other nations.”

In April, One Hundred Years of Remembering, Praying, Commemorating, and Demanding Justice for the wrongs committed by the perpetrators of the 1915 Genocide of the Armenians will be marked by an historic event in Armenia at Holy Etchmiadzin—the Canonization of our Martyrs. His Holiness Karekin II and His Holiness Aram I will preside together over this momentous ceremony.

As candles burn, choirs sing, and incense fill Armenian churches on our National Day of Remembrance, I will light three candles: One for our Martyrs, One for Armenia, and One for Armenians Everywhere.

“Dour ashkharhis khaghaghoutiun,

Azkis Hayots, ser, mioutiun.

Der voghormia, Der voghormia…”

“Bless the world with peace, and the Armenian Nation with love and unity.

Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy…”

—Gomidas Vartabed

***

References

Boyajian, Dickran H., The Pillars of the Armenian Church. Watertown, Mass.: Baikar Press, 1962.

Campbell, J. Alston, In The Shadow of the Crescent. London: Marshall Brothers, 1906.

Chicago Daily Tribune (now Chicago Tribune).

Chookaszian, Levon, Arshag Fetvadjian. Yerevan: 2011. (Painting of Narekatsi)

Hambartsumian, Vahan, Village World (Kiughashkharah), translated from the Armenian by Murad A. Meneshian. Providence, R.I.: Govdoon Youth of America, 2001.

Narekatsi, St. Grigor, Speaking with God from the Depths of the Heart, translated from the Armenian by Thomas J. Samuelian. Armenia: 2002. (Narekatsi quote)

Knapp, Grace H., “Grace H. Knapp Papers—All Correspondence, 1895-1916.” Mt. Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections. South Hadley, Mass.

Simeonian, Very Rev. Arsen, Gomidas Vartabed. Boston, Mass.: 1969. (Drawing of Gomidas)

The Alliance Weekly: A Journal of Christian Life and Missions (now ALife). Christian and Missionary Alliance, Colorado Springs, Colo. (Archives Department)

***

Note: The author wishes to express her deep appreciation to the following for kindly providing material used in this article:

Christian and Missionary Alliance Archives Department staff

Mt. Holyoke College Archives & Special Collections staff

Being a landlocked country, Armenia has an economy that depends on transport and cross-border access. Armenia has a few railway lines and an extensive road network. While the rate of car ownership has been growing steadily in recent years, it is still relatively low. Public transport plays a critical role, especially in cities. The transportation network capacity is adequate for accommodating estimated demand up to the year 2020, but the infrastructure has deteriorated due to a lack of funds. In recent years, the government has given priority to rehabilitation and reconstruction of the infrastructure. A major issue that hinders transportation in Armenia is severe climate where low temperatures and heavy snowfall in winter limit economic activity.

Roadway System

Roads provide access to employment, markets, education, and health services, and thus are crucial for economic development. Since 1990, road networks have expanded in all developing countries in Asia except Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Tajikistan. China and India account for almost two-thirds of the roads in Asia. Armenia has slightly less than 8,000 kilometers of roads, 94 percent of which are paved; however, some of the paved roads need major rehabilitation.

The number of vehicles has surged in developing Asian countries. In 1990, only 2 countries recorded 100 or more motor vehicles per 1,000 people. In 2010, 19 countries had more than 100 vehicles per 1,000 people. Armenia has 92 registered vehicles per 1,000 people. In comparison, Azerbaijan has 110 and Georgia has 170 per 1,000 people. In developed countries, this number is typically more than 700.

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The primary type of vehicle in each country—whether cars and other four-wheeled vehicles, or two- and three-wheeled vehicles—depends on a mix of factors, such as an economy’s level of development and population density as well as sub-regional characteristics. The distribution of registered vehicles by type in Armenia is as follows: cars, SUVs, vans, and light four-wheeled trucks: 83 percent; buses: 12 percent; heavy trucks: 5 percent.

The increase in the number of registered motor vehicles in developing countries has been accompanied by a relatively high incidence of fatal road accidents. The relatively high fatality rates are the result of underdeveloped road networks, mixed traffic, limited availability of traffic engineering expertise, governance issues, and rapid growth of the vehicle fleet.

The death rate per 100,000 people is about 18 in Armenia, which is 3 times higher than in developed countries with good roadway networks. Azerbaijan and Georgia have about the same rate. Measures including safer road construction, better protection for pedestrians, stricter enforcement of traffic regulations, and road safety education typically reduce road deaths.

Rehabilitation of the road network is a top priority for Armenia. Improving roads will increase trade, investment flows, and jobs. Better connectivity aids regional cooperation and integration as well as increases the country’s competitiveness.

The government of Armenia initiated the North-South Road Corridor project, which will be starting from Bavra (a neighboring area of Georgia); continuing to Gyumri, Talin, Yerevan, Goris, and Kapan; and ending in Meghri (next to the border of Iran). The North-South Road Corridor, once completed, will be 556 km. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to support the government of Armenia in this initiative with initial financing of $500 million. The estimated cost for the entire project is $1.5 billion.

The North-South Road will link to the East-West Highway in Georgia that leads to the ports of Poti and Batumi on the Black Sea, two key shipment points for Armenia.

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The government of Armenia initiated the North-South Road Corridor project

Numerous socio-economic improvements are expected in Armenia as a result of the construction of the North-South Corridor; these include:

– doubled Armenian exports and imports;

– increased cross-border traffic (up to 10 billion tons from current 5 billion);

– reduced travel time through the corridor (down to 2 days from 3-4 days);

– doubled average daily traffic (from 3,000 to 6,000 vehicles);

– new jobs and higher incomes; and

– reduced number of accidents, as well as lower road transport and maintenance costs

Presently the first two segments of the North-South roadway from Artashat to Ashtarak and from Ashtarak to Talin are under construction, and the 31-kilometer Artashat to Ashtarak segment is due to open this year. It is estimated that the entire project will be completed by 2019, depending on the availability of funds.

Rail Transportation

Armenia’s railway network plays a crucial role in providing mobility for people and freight. The network includes the metro system that serves commuters in Yerevan. The metro has limited coverage and in recent years has lost some of its market share to minibuses.

Most of Armenia’s railways were built during the Soviet era. Central planning dictated that rail would be the primary mode of transport, so little emphasis was placed on costs and market needs. The system was designed to handle large traffic volumes and in some cases served remote areas. The former Soviet Union rarely updated its railway technology after the 1960’s.

The railway system has seen its operations shrink 10-fold since independence, primarily due to the closing of Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey. The growing mining industry in southern Armenia has become a major market for freight service, as the mine output needs to be transported to ports on the Black Sea.About 370 km. of the 732 km. network are fully operational. Armenia relies on its railway system for about 70 percent of imports and exports, but there used to be a lot more passengers and freight.

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The former Soviet Union rarely updated its railway technology after the 1960’s

Since June 2008, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, the South Caucasus Railway, has been operating the Armenian rail system. They have invested more than $250 million in upgrading the infrastructure and modernizing the system.

In 2012, a contract was awarded to Dubai-based Rasia FZE (a Rasia Group investment company) for the feasibility, design, financing, construction, and operation of a new railway link between Armenia and Iran. The Armenia-Iran railway is called the Southern Armenia Railway project. The feasibility study results indicated that the route will be 305 km. long and would cost approximately $3.5 billion to build. As the key missing link in the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Southern Armenia Railway would create the shortest transportation route from the ports of the Black Sea to the ports of the Persian Gulf.

Air Transportation

Air traffic has increased significantly in much of East, South, and Southeast Asia since 1990. There were smaller increases, and even some declines, in air traffic in Central and West Asia and the Pacific. Azerbaijan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Turkmenistan had lower levels of air traffic in 2012 than in 1990. However, Armenia had a 20 percent growth of air passenger flow in 2014.

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Armenia has three main airports: Zvartnots, Shirak, and Erebuni. Zvartnots Airport is the principal gateway to Armenia. The new, two-story terminal building that was built by a private developer for $173 million is able to handle about 3.2 million passengers a year, which should be able to accommodate the ever-growing demand until 2030.

In October 2013, Armenia passed the “open skies” policy for air transportation. According to this policy, the civil aviation in the country is now open to all airlines that meet international standards. It was expected that this policy would spur economic development and the reduction of airfares. However, the latest data indicates that the number of operating air carriers in Armenia has decreased from 35 to 27 since the launch of the “open skies” policy. Czech Airlines and Al Italia are two of the major airlines that stopped flying to Armenia, and Etihad Airlines is planning to discontinue its operation in September 2015.

Moscow airports are become the main air hub for Armenian passengers as a result of three Russian airlines—Aeroflot, Transavia, and S7—providing regular daily flights. Approximately 50 percent of flights from Zvartnots Airport land in the Russian capital.

Key Challenges

Globalization presents both challenges and opportunities. One challenge is the increasing demand for more timely transport services and the need to reduce transport costs. Other major challenges for the transport sector of Armenia include:

– completing road network rehabilitation;

– upgrading the international railway and road infrastructure;

– overcoming urban transport problems, and achieving a sustainable balance between private and public transport;

– successfully implementing railway concession;

– further developing air services;

– reducing the negative impact of increased transport demand; and

– achieving long-term sustainability in transport asset management, particularly in the road network.

The Global Competitiveness Index 2014 ranked Armenia’s infrastructure at 78 out of 144 countries, with the score of 3.83 in a range of 1 (very bad-quality infrastructure) to 7 (very good-quality infrastructure).

By Ronald Grigor Suny

“No, young man, you cannot see the library,” the old woman told the eager student.  “I am the only one with the key.  Even I do not allow the archbishop into the library.”  This was the second time that Balint Kovacs, a Hungarian student, had tried to find materials on Armenians in Transylvania. He had hitchhiked from Budapest across the border to the mountain town of Gherla in Transylvania, Romania, only to be turned away by the elders who guarded the Armenian Church in the colony that had been known as Armenopolis or Hayakaghak in the 17^th and 18^th century.  They had sent him on to Elisabethopolis, now Dumbraveni, where he was confronted by the stubborn old woman who refused to let him see the library.  But Balint would not give in or give up.  Perhaps something could be worked out.  The determined woman, whom Balint would later call Marish neni, mentioned that she needed medication for her eyes, and Balint promised to bring it to her from Hungary.  A nephew was called; the key appeared; and Balint Kovacs’ life and work changed in an instant.

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Balint Kovacs

In the sacristy of the large Armenian Catholic church they opened a metal door with a complicated antique lock, climbed a winding staircase, and came upon six cabinets filled with old books in Armenian, Hungarian, and Latin.  But there was more:  an archive of early modern manuscripts documenting the past of the Armenians who had come to this town.  As if a light turned on, Balint knew that he had found a treasure.  No one had seen these books and documents for decades, perhaps longer.  He had originally come as a student from Pazmany Peter Catholic University in Budapest to study Hungarian dialects in Cluj Napoca, the capital of Transylvania.  Like many other young Hungarians coming of age after the fall of Communism, he was interested in recovering the heritage of the Hungarian people.  Inspired by the words of Zoltan Kodaly, who had said that Transylvania is the keeper of treasures, the clean source of the historical past, Balint won a scholarship to study in Transylvania.  His teacher in Budapest, Sandor Őze, had asked him to see what he could find on the Armenians while he was in Transylvania since they were planning an exhibition on Armenian history in the Hungarian capital.  Balint had found more than he had been looking for.  When he returned to Budapest and told his mentor what he had uncovered, Sandor told him that he had to make a catalogue of the materials.  Although still an undergraduate, Balint’s life course had taken a new turn, and he would become the principal investigator of the history of the Transylvanian Armenian colonies.

Armenians had crossed from Moldavia, through the Carparthian Mountains, into Transylvania in the 17^th century.  They settled as craftsmen and merchants in four towns:  Elisabethopolis, Armenopolis, Sibviz (Szepviz, Frumoasa), and Gheorgheni (Gyergyószentmiklós, Djurdjov).  There they converted to Catholicism, using an Armenian rite, singing the hymns in Armenian (to this day), and gradually losing their mother language and speaking Hungarian and Romanian.  Their towns grew wealthy, and along the main streets the rich bankers and merchants built their mansions, many of which have been preserved.  Their communities flourished for 300 years, but by the 20^th century they dwindled to a few hundred members.  Locked in closed rooms were the stories of these people, records and books that no one now could read.

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Balint Kovacs thumbs through ‘Mirror without Macula,’ perhaps the only manuscript written in Armeno-Hungarian

Balint Kovacs was raised in a small provincial town, Kiscsősz, and first went to a local secondary school in Veszprém.  He soon transferred to Pazmany Peter University where he was encouraged by Sandor Őze.  Balint was a devout Catholic, who shared the patriotism that Hungarians were permitted to express after Communism.  Intellectually curious, he thinks of himself as shy and naïve, but a more accurate description would be modest, innocent, and idealistic. Straightforward and honest, he was disgusted by the careerism and corruption that permeates East-Central Europe.  Finding these lost archives of the Armenians, he came to believe that he had found his mission in life and began the work of organizing and cataloguing the collection in Elisabethopolis.

Soon the priest and community elder in Armenopolis, who earlier had been suspicious of Balint’s intentions, accepted him as a trustworthy researcher and opened up the riches of their library and archive housed in a room above the main altar in the church.  Balint traveled to Germany to Halle and took courses on Armenian studies with Professor Armenuhi Drost Abgarjan.  He then moved on to Armenia where he studied the Armenian language.  He wrote his dissertation at the Peter Pazmany Catholic University in Hungary on the Armenian libraries of Transylvania. Since 2008 he has worked as a research fellow in the Research Center of the University Leipzig on East-Central Europe (GWZO) under the supervision of Professor Stefan Troebst. Catalogues of the Armenian holdings were published in collaboration with his universities.  Through complicated arrangements with the archbishop of the Catholic Armenians, the archives of the four colonies were brought together in a single archive in Armenopolis, where they are now available to researchers, at least to those who can convince the priest that they are serious and worthy of their trust.

For five days in May 2015, as part of our work on the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Balint and I traveled by car through Hungary and Transylvania visiting Armenian sites.  After stops at the beautiful Hungarian town of Pecs and the battlefield at Mohacs where the Ottomans defeated the Hungarian king in 1526 and established their rule over Hungary for 150 years, we crossed into Romania.  Our first “Armenian” stop was in Elisabethopolis.  The church was closed; the key unavailable; but the now frail Marish neni was waiting for us with the local liquor and cakes.  She was thrilled to meet another Armenian and took my arm, guiding me into her living room.  It was clear that she adored Balint and depended on him.  The widowed, childless woman considered him her son.

We spent that night in a hotel in the walled castle of Sighisoara.  The area is now living off memorabilia and tourism generated by the figure of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Dracula.  The next morning we drove off to Szepviz, where the Catholic priest impatiently showed us a large manuscript in Armeno-Hungarian.  A translation from the famous Hungarian book Mirror without Macula (Makula nélkül való tükör), it was written in Armenian letters but in the Hungarian language.  No one had known what this was until Balint discovered it, and having learned Armenian in Yerevan, he immediately recognized it as a transliteration, not a translation, of the original Hungarian text, perhaps the only manuscript written in Armeno-Hungarian.

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The Armenian Church of Armenopolis

Each of our visits was punctuated by the obligatory lunch of Hungarian or Romanian meat and potatoes, dumplings or goulash soup, followed invariably by the extraordinary pastries for which these nations are renowned.  We moved on to Gheorgheni.  The church was open, and dozens of Hungarian tourists had settled in to hear a lecture about the church and the Armenians of the region from the local authority, who proudly considered himself an Armenian, although the only words he knew were “bari or” (“good day”).  There in the church was a magnificent painting of Grigor Lusavorich baptizing King Trdat.  The inscriptions were in Armenian, Latin, and Hungarian.  The church and congregation clearly were more Catholic than traditionally Armenian, but they clung to their sense of being Armenian.  Their identity as distinct from Latin Catholics was strong even though their numbers were small.  Both the Hungarian and Romanian governments, as members of the European Union, officially recognized the Armenian communities as distinct and supported them financially.  For some this was a long-awaited business opportunity; for others it was the last hope for continuity and the preservation of a fading culture.

Our final stop was Armenopolis.  Besides a smaller, older church, the principal church was enormous.  The priest, Endre Szakács, was gracious and eager to have us stay with him, though we needed to move westward.  The head of the local Armenians, János Esztegar, was our guide.  Vigorous and enthusiastic, with a sharp sense of humor, he showed us the church, the library, and the archive (both of which Balint had organized and catalogued), as well as the Armenian cemetery.  Several hundred Armenian Catholics still attend the church and sing the Badarak in Armenian from a hymnal transliterated into Latin letters.  In the archive, Balint did a bit of research in the old baptismal records that had been sent from Elisabethopolis.  There he confirmed that Ferenc Szalasi, the leader of the infamous Arrow Cross, the Hungarian fascists in the 1930’s and 1940’s, was a descendent of Transylvanian Armenians.  His father had been baptized in the Elisabethopolis church.

Our journey ended but the story goes on.  Balint has become a dedicated investigator of early modern and modern Armenian history.  He organized an exhibition about the Armenians in historical Hungary (“Far Away from Mount Ararat: Armenian Culture in the Carpathian Basin”) in Budapest in 2013, and this year he mounted a joint exhibition about the Armenian Genocide (“Tragedy of the Armenians in World War I”) at the Hungarian National Library.  In May 2015, he organized a conference on the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide at Pazmany Peter University, bringing scholars from a half-dozen different countries (among them myself, Dickran Kouymjian, Yair Auron, Harutyun Marutyan, Elke Hartmann Vahe Tachjian, Yusuf Dogan Çetinkaya, Artem Ohandjanian), as well as from Hungary.  He made possible the publication and translation into Hungarian of my book on the Armenian Genocide (‘They Can Live in the Desert But Nowhere Else’:  A History of the Armenian Genocide [Princeton University Press, 2015]), and put together a special issue of the popular illustrated history magazine Rubicon on the genocide.

Thanks to the work of Balint Kovacs and his colleagues at Pazmany Peter Catholic University, the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide was commemorated in Hungary, and Hungarians can read about the tragic events that brought a new generation of Armenians to Hungary. Two Armenian communities uneasily coexist in Budapest today:  the descendants of the Transylvanian Armenians, Catholic but without knowledge of the Armenian language; and the more recent immigrants, who know the language.  As in so many other diaspora communities the two sides refuse to cooperate, accuse the other of not being authentic Armenians, and compete for the support of the state.  One of the few unifying forces, able to communicate and work with both sides, is the young scholar Balint Kovacs.

Ronald Grigor Suny is the Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History at the University of Michigan, and Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago

Special for the Armenian Weekly

ISTANBUL (A.W.)—On April 24, 2015, Armenians from all over the world converged in Istanbul to commemorate the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. In the sea of people, Sevag Balıkçı’s portrait loomed overhead. Who was this young Armenian soldier killed during his military service four years ago, on April 24, 2011?

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Ani and Garabet Balıkçı hold a photograph of their son Sevag (Photo: Elsa Landard)

A Century after the Genocide

On April 24, 2015, the sun rose on Istanbul just like any other day. In Kadikoÿ, in the Asian part of the city, the streets were quiet. Shops were open and people were eating breakfast outside. It seemed as though everyone had chosen the same dish: a big white plate with cucumbers, greens, tomatoes, ham, cheese, and olives, and another plate with little compartments filled with jelly, butter, Nutella, and, in the middle, a boiled egg. I grabbed a quick bite and walked to the ferry station to get to the European side of Istanbul. I took the ferry heading in the direction of Eminönü. On the boat, waiters walked around with silver trays, offering orange juice, tea, and paninis to people on board. For 2 Turkish liras—not even $1.50—we could enjoy an apple tea while watching the landscape along the Bosporus.

When I arrived in Eminönü, I could see that we had to walk through a tunnel to get to the other side of the road and into the city. I followed the crowd, past little kids asking for money or selling things. I wondered who they were; someone would later tell me that they were Syrian refugees. In the spice bazaar, I wanted to stop and admire all of the colors in those little stores. But the streets were too small and the crowd was too big. And I needed to move fast. I had to be somewhere in less than 15 minutes.

For the inhabitants of Istanbul, April 24 is a day just like any other. But it is a symbolic day for the more than 40,000 Armenians who live there. This April 24, Armenians the world over united to commemorate the Armenian Genocide Centennial. Politicians headed to Yerevan. But for many Armenians, Istanbul was the place to be. At 11 a.m., the first event of the day took place in front of the Islamic and Turkish Arts Museum. One hundred years before, on April 24, 1915, this had been the Central Prison where 250 Armenian intellectuals were rounded up before being taken to the Haydarpasa Train Station, and then sent to their deaths.

Around 300 people were present this April 24 to commemorate the memory of the intellectuals. Arkan, 28, is Turkish. He was at the demonstration for one reason: “It is important to recognize the genocide of the Armenians. My whole life, it was like a subject we couldn’t talk about. I think it is our responsibility to show some solidarity. We did it. My ancestors did it. And since the genocide is not recognized, I feel ashamed. And until it is recognized, I will be [here]… All Turks should be [here] too.”

This is a feeling shared by human rights lawyer Eren Keskin. “We are the grandchildren of the perpetrators of genocide,” she said. “Perhaps not each and every one of us comes from the lineage of the people who directly participated in the massacres…but we were born into their ethnic and religious identity. We belong to a social group that has unquestioningly benefited from the order and privileges created by the perpetrators of the genocide.”

Hovhannes lives and works in Istanbul. As an Armenian, being in front of this prison is more than symbolic. “It is where it all started. We had to be here,” he told me.

One activist read a statement at the demonstration—“What we are speaking of here is a crime lasting 100 years. A denial lasting 100 years…”—that was signed by Anadolou Kultur; the Human Rights Association; the Committee Against Racism and Discrimination; Nor Zartonk; the Platform for Confronting History; the Turabdin Assyrians Platform; and the Zan Foundation for Social, Political, and Economic Research.

Some people wore a pin or a T-shirt with the design of the forget-me-not flower, and the words “Project 2015.” Inna is 25, and she came from Ankara. “I’ve been waiting a long time to wear this badge here in Istanbul. This flower means lots of things, but the most important for us is: ‘Don’t forget me.’ We will never forget,” she told me.

Many demonstrators held up portraits of the arrested intellectuals of 1915: Daniel Varoujan, Krikor Zohrab, Hagop Terzian, Roupen Zartarian… And in the middle of these old pictures, one was more recent than the others. It bore the words: “SEVAG, unutturmayacağız,” which translates to “Sevag, we won’t forget you.” Sevag Balıkçı was a young Armenian soldier who was killed on April 24, 2011, during his military service in the Turkish Army.

On the way to the ferry, to go to the next step of the commemoration, Benoît Marquaille, Regional Council of the Ile-de-France region, expressed his commitment to the recognition of the genocide. “I came with Benjamin Abtan, president of the Anti-racist European Movement. They are doing such an amazing job. I think I am the only French politician here today because they are all in Yerevan for the commemoration. It is symbolic to be here in Istanbul. It is where everything started. It is here that everything has to be played,” he said.

After 30 minutes on the boat, we got off at the Haydarpasa Train Station. As we had witnessed in front of the museum, people stood up in front of the station holding portraits of victims of the genocide, as well as signs that read, “This building is a crime scene,” “Genocide! Compensate!” and “Genocide! Recognize!” Some also came with portraits of their ancestors or with a red flower with the names of the intellectuals who were arrested and later killed. The train station is on the Asian side of Istanbul. The intellectuals were taken there to be deported to their deaths. And still, in the middle of the crowd, Sevag’s face stared back.

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A demonstrator holds a poster of Sevag’s face and the words, ‘Sevag, we won’t forget you.’ (Photo: Elsa Landard)

At the end of the day, Istiklal Street, the longest street in Istanbul near Taksim Square, was filled with protesters, still holding pictures of the intellectuals and other victims of the genocide. They shouted slogans calling for unity, marking this day as only the beginning, and vowing to continue the struggle for recognition. Demonstrations are usually forbidden in Taksim Square, but Nesrin Goksungur, who is my translator, says the police can’t do anything in front of the French Consulate. “France recognized the genocide. In front of the consulate, we are normally safe. Normally. When there is a demonstration here, usually the police let it happen for about half an hour, just to let people say what they have to say. But after, we have to scatter. If we don’t, the police could intervene, and it won’t be fun,” she explained.

Turkish and Armenian songs were heard during the evening demonstration. Between the speeches, we could hear noise coming from the streets behind. No one around me could say with certainty if the approaching noise was coming from ultranationalist protesters. In fact, earlier that day, ultranationalists had held speeches in front of the French Consulate claiming that the Turks did not commit genocide, that they defended their native land.

Yervart Danzikyan, the editor in chief of Agos, told the Armenian Weekly that black flowers had been placed in front of the newspaper’s offices that very same day. “Being an Armenian journalist and especially writing about this issue is not easy. Sometimes, we can be fearful, but if there is no hope there is no life. So we hope things are going to change,” he said.

And everywhere along Istiklal Street, we still see Sevag’s portrait.

Who Was Sevag?

I am in a cab with my translator, Nesrin. Martin, who will record the interview, and Elsa, who will photograph, are also with us. Nesrin is on the phone with Ani Balıkçı, Sevag’s mother. The driver decided to drop us off early; thankfully, we are on the right street, but not the right number. Ani tells us where to go. Walking down this street, we can see a woman, wearing black clothes, on the phone on the terrace of an apartment building. Located on a quiet street of Kadıköy, the Balıkçıs’ apartment is on the last floor of the building. Ani motions to us to come up. She welcomes us. As do her cat and her dog. Nesrin is not very comfortable since she is afraid of cats and dogs—very ironic in a city where cats are everywhere and are often cherished. Ani reassures her: “We took him in because he was crying on the street. But I don’t like the cat hair.” Ani invites us to take a seat around her living room table. She sits. Behind her, a portrait of Sevag is on the mantel. Ani takes a deep breath. She knows I want her to tell me about her son.

On April 1, 1986, Ani Balıkçı is taken to the hospital. She is 7 months and 2 weeks pregnant. She and Garabet (Garbis), her husband, think they still have time before the birth of their son. However, she delivers the child early. She names him Sevag. The name is a tribute to Roupen Sevag, the famous Armenian poet who was arrested on April 24, 1915, and later executed. It is also a tribute to Sevag’s eyes, as “sev ag” means “black eyes” in Armenian.

After 20 days of hospitalization, the steep hospital bills weigh on Ani. Her son is in stable condition, and she wants to go home. The doctors insist that she stay. The hygiene of the premature infant is important, they say. They fear for the baby. Ani is a teacher in an Armenian school. She has to be present for an event she has organized with her pupils. April 23 is a holiday in Turkey: National Sovereignty and Children’s Day. Every year on that day, Turks mark the birth of the Turkish Republic. Children are at the center of this event, and speeches are delivered in schools. Ani remembers the long weeks of preparation: “I thought I still had weeks before delivering my baby. I had prepared the celebrations with my pupils. I could not miss it.”

Even though Ani was a teacher in an Armenian school, the event was compulsory. In Istanbul, around 3,000 Armenian students attend 16 Armenian schools. Teachers work hard to keep the Armenian language and culture alive. But students must follow the Turkish school program. Armenian children live between two cultures, and the Turkish one is dominant. But Ani loves to teach and to pass on her values. On April 23, 1986, she leaves Sevag home with his grandmother. The celebration goes well as planned, but the following day, on April 24, 1986, Sevag turns purple. Ani has to call the doctor and bring Sevag to the hospital. His lips are blue, his life in danger. Doctors don’t have any hope and tell Ani she should be prepared to lose him. That same day, Sevag’s heart stops beating. “A few minutes after they told me this, we heard the sound of a baby. It was Sevag. I’ve never felt so happy in my entire life. How could I know that I would lose him the exact same day, 25 years later?” she asks.

Sevag is a good child; he smiles a lot. He is also close to his sister, Lerna, who is like a second mother to him. He is roguish and full of joy and life. He loves to smile when people point the camera at him. He is also very sociable. The Balıkçıs are a normal family. And like in other families, meals are occasions to talk about neighbors or acquaintances. The Balıkçıs sometimes talk about people they don’t appreciate. Sevag, on the other hand, eats and listens but remains disinterested in these conversations Unlike his friends, Sevag does not like to fight. He is against violence. Except once. “I’d never seen him get into a fight with his friends. But one time, he came back home with his clothes completely torn. I asked him what happened and he told me that he had a fight to defend a girl that others had offended,” Ani remembers.

One day the Balıkçıs go on vacation in Cappadocia. This area in the center of Turkey is protected as a World Heritage Site. It is a volcanic region with rock formations called “fairy chimneys” that were sculpted by the wind, and dot the landscape. The subterranean cities are everywhere. Centuries ago, men dug in the rock to protect themselves from potential invasion.

Sevag is 8 years old when he discovers this area. He has a revelation when he sees the ceramics produced in the region: When he is older, he will become a ceramist. Fascinated by the arts, he decides to study plastic arts in high school, and then ceramic art in college. When he is a teenager, he makes a sculpture. His parents are very proud and display his art in the street. The sculpture disappears, though, and no one knows where it ended up. The Balıkçıs keep a picture of Sevag with his sculpture—it is precious for them.

Sevag loves to walk. During the summer, his family goes to the Prince Islands—more specifically, the Kınalıada Island, the fourth biggest island of the Prince Islands. The family spends their vacations there, where cars and other motor vehicles are forbidden.

When he is in Istanbul, Sevag likes to walk in Kadıköy, and more particularly in Moda. “After his death, we found Sevag’s pictures. Most of them were taken in Kadıköy,” says Ani. This district is located in the Asian part of Istanbul, and has become a cultural hub. Kadıköy’s center has many car-free streets. Simit sellers are everywhere, as are fresh juice sellers. Even if they are common in Istanbul, they make Kadıköy seem like a village, unlike the European part of the city where crowds are constantly present. The center of the district welcomes artists, writers, and second-hand booksellers. Soccer-lovers go to this area when there is a game at the Fernerbahçe Stadium. The area also has a reputation of being more liberal. It is where students like to go out, where people from all over the world like to live. In Moda, the parks offer a view to the Marmara Sea. There are many playgrounds for children. Along the walkway, couples sit looking at the sea.

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Ani Balıkçı looks at photographs of her son in what was intended to be his bedroom in their new home (Photo: Elsa Landard)

It is here that Sevag likes to walk with his girlfriend, Melani Kumruyan. Sevag wants to marry her. He has a ring for her. He likes this area so much that his parents decide to move to there while Sevag does his military service. They know their son will be very pleased by this. They even set up a room for him.

Sevag’s room is bright. The walls are white. One bed is set up on the right corner of the room, in front of the door. At the bed end, there is a little table made of wood and glass. There is a soccer cup, shaped like a plate. Next to the table, there is a piece of furniture, built in the shape of a glass bottle. Ani is proud: “Sevag made this.” His pictures are everywhere in the room. We can see his baptism, but also Sevag with his friends and family. Ani smiles as she looks at a picture of her dancing with Sevag. But Sevag never saw his bedroom. He died 20 days after his parents moved here.

A Deliberate Execution?

Sevag starts his military service in February 2010. His family tries to convince him to change his mind. If he signs up for another year of school, he could postpone his compulsory military service. In fact, the military service has to be completed before a person’s 38^th birthday. At that time, in 2010, military service lasted 15 months—nowadays, it ends after 12. But in Turkey, men who have not completed their military service can’t do much else: They can’t get married; they can’t have a job. Military service is written on CVs, and is, almost always, a condition for employment. Being exempted is also not a good option. In fact, those who are exempted are called “kurut” in Turkish, which means “rotten.” The “kurut” are, for example, homosexuals. Homosexuality is not forbidden in Turkey, but it is considered a psychosexual disorder. Conscientious objection is not a good idea either, because it is considered as a crime for which you can go to jail. Ani remembers when she tried to convince him: “I told him to register at a college again, but he answered ‘I am sick of it. I want to do it, to end it, and I’ll be all set for the rest of my life.”

Military service has two parts. First, there is the learning portion. Sevag is sent to Bilejik, in the west of Turkey. When he takes the uniform, the army gives him a gun. Ani remembers their first phone call: “He told me, ‘Mum, they gave me a gun. What am I going to do with a gun?’” Ani tries to reassure him, telling him that he probably won’t have to use it. Even when he was a kid, Sevag never played with guns. “He neither liked weapons, nor the army. He has been raised in an anti-military way. He never had any plastic weapons as toys.”

After some time, Sevag is sent to the Batman area, in the southeast of the country, less than 100 kilometers from the Syrian border. The area is dangerous mainly because of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) who claim the area. Kurdish identity is rejected, the Kurdish language is forbidden. The Turkish Army bombards them, and the PKK strikes back. One more time, Sevag’s family asks him to request a transfer to somewhere else. But Sevag does not want to. In Batman, he can make phone calls, which is not the case in all the bases. He asks his mother to send him colorful clothes since he dislikes the army uniform. Ani smiles as she remembers how happy Sevag was when he received his clothes. He calls often but does not tell his parents what’s really going on at the base.

Nothing makes them think that things are going wrong with the other soldiers. Pictures show Sevag on good terms with the others, even with the man who shot him. But some incidents worried the family. Sevag’s father, Garbis, has to go to the Batman base. Sevag was beaten by non-commissioned officers. One soldier said that Sevag stole from him. Garbis wants to protect his son, and tells Sevag they will pay for the missing items. Sevag is angry. Ani explains: “He was very angry. He said, ‘I don’t want us to pay for something I did not do.’” Sevag protects his parents from the truth; he just talks to his girlfriend. She tells Ani and Garbis that at Sevag’s base, there are fascists and ultra-nationalists.

The army claims Sevag’s death was an accident. But the “accident” occurred on April 24, 2011, the day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. Coincidence or not, the family and the Armenian community have doubts regarding the army’s explanation.

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For Ani, April 24 is the day she lost her son. (Photo: Elsa Landard)

Ani asks if she can light a cigarette. I can feel that talking about her son brings forth many emotions. She tries to channel them. Tears are coming. She looks at the large glass of water in front of her, and takes a minute. She is going to tell me the day she learned about Sevag’s death.

April 24, 2011: It is a Sunday. The Balıkçıs are ready to celebrate Easter. They are not very religious but Garbis likes to go to church sometimes. This day is also the 96th commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. It is a symbolic day and a double occasion for Sevag’s father to go to church. On Easter morning, Ani calls Sevag to remind him that today, it is a holiday. Sevag asks if she can send him some pastries. Ani remembers: “I used around 7 kilograms of flour to make as much cake as I could.” She wants to please Sevag, but also the other soldiers of his unit. Sevag asks for clothes. He specifically wants white clothes. The post office is not too far from the apartment. Ani prepares the package and mails it to him. She wants her son to receive it as soon as possible. He only has around 20 more days to spend in the army before coming back home. Ani knows that very soon, he will be home and that he can eat as much cake as he wants. He will also go back to work at his father’s jewelry shop, not very far from the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

The day moves forward. Garbis is still at church. Ani receives a call. Her husband is calling. He seems worried. He tells her that a friend told him something was written about Sevag on Facebook. He asks Ani to look into it. Ani is not very familiar with social networks. “I wondered how I will find something about it. And I did some [online] search about the Batman area and the military [base] over there. I found a post in which I read that a soldier had been killed while joking with a friend. It was Sevag.” That is how she learned of her son’s death. The army tried to reach her but since the Balıkçıs had recently moved, they did not have time to notify the family. Ani couldn’t believe it. Sevag’s grandmother loses consciousness. She is still at the hospital—she hasn’t been the same since. During the funeral, officers from the Turkish Army are present in the Armenian church of Feriköy, in the Şişli area. Sevag’s coffin is covered with the Turkish flag. For the army, Sevag died a martyr.

Ani can’t talk anymore. Around the table, we can feel the emotion. Everyone is emotional. It was four years ago and I have the sense that it just happened. Ani has tears in her eyes. She asks if we want some coffee. We say yes without thinking about the fact that Turkish coffee is one of the strongest coffees in the world. Ani offers some chocolate to eat with the coffee. Garbis walks into the living room. He sits on the sofa and listens.

Symbol of a Community

When she learns about the death of her son, Ani is in shock. She tells the media that Sevag’s death has nothing to do with the Armenian Genocide. The soldier who killed Sevag was a friend of his. “I regret that. At that time I was in shock, and for me it was impossible to believe that he was killed intentionally. But he died on April 24.”

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Melani and Sevag

A week after Sevag passed away, a delegation of officers appears at their doorstep. They say, again, that it was an accident. That Sevag and Kıvanç Ağaoğlu, the shooter, were friends. That the two young men were joking around and that it was a single shot that killed him. This is also the version of the defendant. The army offers to take the family to where the shooting happened. It pays for the trip. Soldiers welcome the Balıkçıs in Batman. After a 15-minute helicopter ride they arrive at the base and meet the soldiers who were present the day of Sevag’s death, including Ağaoğlu. When it happened, Sevag and a few other members of the unit were fixing the fence around their station. They were not supposed to be armed, except for Ağaoğlu who was supposed to protect the unit in case of an attack. The area is on alert. On this day, no officer is present, which is unusual. For Ani, the incident was planned. “There was no officer, only soldiers are witnesses. One of them was shaking when we went over there. He was still afraid.” Ani asked him why he was so fearful. He said that he saw the shooter aim at Sevag. In court, the witness gets cold feet and on the day of the trial changes his story. Sevag’s family is now convinced: Their son was murdered.

The trial begins in the Diyarbakir Military Court, in eastern Turkey, a few weeks after the murder. Ağaoğlu is investigated. The Balıkçıs’ lawyer, Cem Halavurt, through an investigation of Ağaoğlu’s presence on various social media—especially Facebook—shows that he is a supporter of the nationalist politician Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and of the hit man Abdullah Çatlı, who was responsible for bombing the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Altfortville, France, in 1984. Ağaoğlu’s Facebook page also shows that he is a member of the Great Union Party, an extreme right-wing Islamist political party.

Another fact intrigues the family. During the first hearing on July 24, 2011, a witness declares that Ağaoğlu threatened Sevag, saying, “I’ll kill you fatty.” But the witness later changes his story.

Melani Kumruyan, Sevag’s fiancée, tells the family that Sevag told her more than once that he was being threatened. She says that a soldier told him once, “If there is a war with Armenia, you will be the first I kill.”

Because of witnesses’ unwillingness to come forward, Ağaoğlu is still a free man. The trial went on for three years; at each hearing, Ani and Garbis had to move to a different city. For Ani, this was “a way to make us give up. They wanted us to get tired of it.”

Since April 24, 2011, Sevag has become a symbol for the Armenian community. April 24 is not only the day of the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, it is also the day a 25-year-old Armenian was killed. It is what Garbis and Ani have been commemorating for the past 4 years now.

“We don’t commemorate April 24 as the day of the genocide, but as the day we lost our son,” says Ani. Last year, the Balıkçıs went to Paris to visit family members. It was on April 24. The French Armenian community was commemorating the genocide. Ani saw many portraits of Sevag held up high by the demonstrators on the Champs-Elysées. She is touched, but asks herself why her son’s picture is in the crowd. She wonders that on every April 24. It is a fate in the middle of history. Sevag’s fate. Between the insights provided by his family and the lack of evidence that continues to obstruct justice, Sevag’s family and the rest of the world will have to wait many more months, or perhaps years, before the truth comes out.

Until then, Ani and Garbis Balıkçı will keep wearing white on every April 24—the color Sevag mentioned when he last asked for new clothes. And every April 24, Sevag’s dark eyes will stare back at them from the crowd of demonstrators. Until justice is done.

Special for the Armenian Weekly 

Dolma. I was not expecting that. Nearly 80 percent of the restaurants listed in Trip Advisor in Venice are categorized as Italian. After gobbling pizza and pasta ad infinitum, the last thing I was expecting to see being advertised at the restaurant adjacent to my hotel was homemade dolma.

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Bogos Yaghoubian

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Dolma advertised in a restaurant window in Venice

I poked my head into the restaurant. I stared at the bartender. I knew immediately. “Parev dzez,” I offered. A smile grew on his face. I had just met Bogos Yaghoubian, Venetian resident, originally from Iran. He had ended up in Venice as a student at the Armenian College. After school, he settled in this former city-state. Once a month, Bogos would cook up a fresh batch of dolma as a special at the Italian restaurant.

After learning about Bogos’s background, I followed the map on a 30-minute walk to the Moorat-Raphael College of Venice, which Bogos attended upon arriving in Venice. The college rests on one of Venice’s many canals. The stately structure was built in Baroque style that dates to 1690. The college was funded by two Armenians from India in 1836 and is currently closed.

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The Moorat-Raphael College of Venice

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The Moorat-Raphael College of Venice

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A luxury leather works store named Serapian

Of course, with some additional wanderings I discovered two additional Armenian businesses. A luxury leather works store named Serapian. And in the heart of St. Mark’s Square, a jeweler and watchmaker, Tokatzian.

Armenians started arriving in Italy as early as the 6^th century, but Armenian communities began to take shape in the 12^th and 13^th century in Venice. Venice was a powerful city-state that traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea. One of its trading partners was the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Treaties were signed that allowed for Armenians to settle and build businesses in Venice.

In the Armenian community, Venice is best known as home of San Lazzaro degli Armeni. The Venetian Senate ceded this small island in 1717 to allow for the creation of an Armenian monastery that is still in use today. Mkhitar Sebastatsi of Anatolia founded the Mekhitarist Order (named in his honor at his death) in 1701. The order was dedicated to raising the educational and spiritual levels of Armenians. Escaping from persecution in the Ottoman Empire, he and his order had made their way to Venice and established the monastery.

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Approaching the island

During my recent stay in Venice, I took time to visit this square-shaped island. A quick and efficient vaporetto (water taxi) ride from San Marco brought me to the pier of San Lazzaro. I immediately recognized I was on Armenian terra firma. A blue sailboat stood at attention, appropriately named Armenia with the Armenian cross displayed on the bow. The sign that greeted me on the pier was written in the Armenian alphabet.

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The pier of San Lazzaro

My tour started promptly with a multilingual monk who hailed from Syria. And over the next 90 minutes I became acquainted with San Lazzaro degli Armeni. What originally began as a leper colony during the Middle Ages has blossomed into a center of Armenian learning and scholarship. “For more than two centuries this island has been an Armenian oasis transplanted to the Venetian lagoon” wrote the New York Times in 1919. Today, more than 30 residents make their home here, including monks, seminarians, and students.

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The library has the third largest collection of Armenian manuscripts numbering 3,000-4,000

The monastery has a vast library that was first built in 1740. The library contains more than 150,000 books and periodicals. And it has the third largest collection of Armenian manuscripts numbering 3,000-4,000. The largest collections can be found at the Matenadaran in Yerevan and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The tour was brought to the library to admire some of these ancient works. A publishing house was established in 1789 on the island. In fact, the printing press located here is the oldest continuously operating publishing house in the Armenian world.

The visit came to an abrupt end. I only had moments to catch the last boat to Venice. An Armenian oasis in Venice.

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San Lazzaro degli Armeni

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The library

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The Monastery of St. Magar, or Magaravank as it is better known to Armenians, is situated high in the Kyrenia Range of North (Turkish-occupied) Cyprus. The annual pilgrimage to the monastery was suspended in 1974 when the island was invaded by Turkey, and the north of the island cut off from the south.

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Magaravank in the 1940s (Photo by kind permission of Mrs. Marie Nishanian)

Magaravank, where Nicosia Armenians retreated in the heat of the summer, for idyllic picnics and long summer vacations en famille, and in groups from schools, holds a very dear, not to say sacred, place in the memories of many Armenians who lived in Cyprus before the 1974 invasion. It is remembered with a nostalgia and fondness verging on adoration.

For more than 35 years this important spiritual site for the Armenians of Cyprus, and indeed of Cilicia, remained inaccessible to them, and they were unable to maintain the monastery buildings. However, thanks to the efforts of the Armenian Prelature of Cyprus, Vartkes Mahdessian (representative of the Armenian community in the Cyprus House of Representatives), and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), the annual pilgrimage was revived in 2007.

This year, on May 10, I made my first pilgrimage to Magaravank, which in my imagination had taken on mythical proportions due to the stories I had heard about it over the years. Some 40 of us, including Vartkes Mahdessian and Der Momig Habeshian (pastor of Nicosia), drove up in two minibuses. The way is narrow and steep, and not suitable for large coaches. We crossed at the check-point from the South (Greek) to the North (Turkish). The Turkish border guards checked our passports and a U.N. escort arrived to follow us up to the monastery.

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The view from Magaravank across the Mediterranean and far into Turkey – May 2015

At first the way is through the suburbs of North Nicosia, much of it familiar to my fellow pilgrims many of whom had lived there until the invasion. “Look at that, another church turned into a mosque!” was a comment I heard a few times. “Isn’t that where your uncle/aunt/cousin lived?” was another. Soon, we were in the plains of the Mesaoria, once known as the bread basket of Cyprus and in antiquity, that of Egypt. A flat and fertile plain separated from the sea by the Pentadaktylos Mountains in the North and the Troodos Mountains in the South. The corn had been gathered in and the fields were neat and tidy, with just enough green, from olives and carobs, to make it interesting. Soon we started our climb towards Halevga (Turkish Alevkayasi) right beneath the ‘five fingers’ of the Pentadaktylos. I was dismayed to see that this beautiful slope has been scarred by huge quarries to provide materials for the unrelenting building work which is going on in the North of the island.

We drove through pine and conifer woods, up and around steep bends, to finally arrive at the entrance of the grounds of the monastery. Soldiers opened the barriers to let us through. One gets glimpses of the sea from here through the trees and the wild rhododendrons and rose bushes. Finally, we arrived and were told that we had one hour to say prayers and complete our visit.

We walked down steep steps to enter the monastery, with its courtyards, guest houses, fountain, chapel, and bell tower all in ruins, overgrown with cowslips and dog roses. The air was fragrant with pine, wild basil, wild sage, and marjoram. The beautiful old tiles on the floors were broken; possibly not one roof tile remains in place. We hurried into the chapel to hear Der Momig’s prayers and sermon, to sing “Our Father” and “Giligia,” and to light our candles.

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Restored precincts, Sourp Asdvadzadzin Church – May 2015

Situated about 500 meters above sea level, the quiet and ruined monastery sits in one of the best positions in Cyprus. Nothing had prepared me for the sleeping beauty that this place has become. The building is narrower at the valley head and broadens as the valley widens. The view is stupendous, all the way across the Mediterranean to the coastline of Turkey and beyond to the Taurus Mountains. It made me catch my breath.

There have been holy people at Magaravank since the 4th century A.D. when St. Magar (or Makarios), a hermit, took up residence in one of the caves in the mountainside. Monks arrived to settle there, and the present monastery dates from around 1000 A.D. The Armenians took over in 1425, or possibly earlier. The main occupation of the Armenian monks was copying old manuscripts and writing histories, works that began under the Lusignans, during their tenure of the island. Happily the ancient manuscripts were taken to the Armenian Church in Nicosia, and to the Catholicossate of Cilicia at Antelias, Lebanon, some time ago, and have not been lost. The property, which is vast, comprising some 10,000 donums (about 5,000 acres) of fertile land, still belongs to the Armenian Prelature of Cyprus, at least nominally.

No monks have resided at Magaravank since the 1800’s, but even so, it has been considered an important religious center, serving as a resting post for pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem. The monastery served as a place of safety for the Catholicosate of Cilicia, when it had to leave its ancient Seat at Sis (present-day Turkey) in 1918, until it moved to its new home at Antelias. It is of note that Abbot Mekhitar of Sebastia rested at Magaravank before going on to establish the Mekhitarist Order at St. Lazarus in Venice.

Very soon, our hour was up and we were encouraged by the Turkish soldiers to say goodbye to this lovely, broken place for one more year, and return to our present lives. On the drive down the mountain, it felt as if I were waking from a deep and pleasant dream into a harsher reality.

My second pilgrimage was to the Armenian Church of Sourp Asdvadzadzin on Victoria Street, North (Turkish) Nicosia. For many years since the 1974 invasion, this sweet church and its precincts, which housed the Armenian Prelature and schools, were left in ruins and vandalized to within an inch of existence. Happily it has recently been restored by UNDP-ACT with the sponsorship of USAID, winning a 2015 Europa Nostra Award.

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Restored interior, taken from the gallery, Sourp Advadzadzin Church – May 2015

I remember visiting the church in 2004 and coming away saddened and repelled by the state of it: The altar vandalized and daubed with unpleasant graffiti, littered with broken bottles and human excrement. The roof broken. The gallery broken. The windows broken. Outside, the once clean and airy buildings were occupied by recently arrived mainland Turks.

Again with the help of Vartkes Mahdessian, we were able to gain access to this now spick and span compound that houses a course of the “Eastern Mediterranean University.” My fellow pilgrims this time, who graciously allowed me to tag along, were all ex-Melikian-Ouzounian Varjaran pupils—that is to say, those who had been to kindergarten and primary school in the cathedral precinct in the 1950’s.

This church is unusual in that it was not built by Armenians, but by Franks as a convent for Carthusian nuns around 1192. A number of religious orders resided there until the great earthquake of 1303, which completely destroyed the convent. It was rebuilt in the Gothic manner in 1308 and became known as the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Tyre, or Notre Dame de Tortosa, after those Orders.

Sometime around 1491, after yet another big earthquake, the cathedral became Armenian. The Ottoman conquest of Nicosia in 1570 saw it used as a salt store, before it was returned to the Armenians by a Firman in 1571, serving the Armenian community until the Cyprus troubles of 1964.

During the deportations of Armenians from Turkey in 1915-23, the cathedral served as a sort of refugee center, with some families taking up temporary residence under its arches for lack of other accommodations. Later a monument was built to the Armenian Genocide. The precincts were used as barracks for the Turkish Cypriot militia and Turkish soldiers until an earthquake in 1998, when they were abandoned by the military.

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Magaravank – May 2015

Today it is a lovely space—an oasis among the dilapidated buildings of North Nicosia, clean and cool. We were let in by a Turkish soldier who stayed with us the entire time and was rather fascinated to hear the stories and reminiscences of the former Melikians, many of whom spoke fluent Turkish, having lived in what was the Armenian Quarter in the mainly Turkish area of Nicosia. The school buildings are pristine, the fountain clean, the Grecian column of the Genocide Monument still in its place, albeit broken and without its plaque or cross. It is a pity that the Melikian Mansion, which is believed to be the original monastery building and was home to the Armenian Prelature until the late 18th century, is completely derelict and in danger of falling down.

On Sun., May 11, 2013, the first Holy Liturgy since 1964 was heard, and the church re-consecrated. On Sun., Nov. 30, 2014, the new Catholicossal Vicar, His Eminence Archbishop Nareg, presided over the second Holy Liturgy. Mass is now celebrated at the Armenian Church of Sourp Asdvadzadzin once every three months. Should you find yourself in Nicosia on one of those days, be sure to go and be part of the history of this important building.

R.P. Sevadjian is the author of In the Shadow of the Sultan, a historical coming of age novel set during the Hamidian Massacres of 1896. Her book is available from amazon.co.uk.

Special for the Armenian Weekly 

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on July 14 released a comprehensive report on the inadequate treatment provided to terminally ill cancer patients in Armenia, where palliative care, which “seeks…to prevent suffering and improve quality of life,” remains largely unavailable. The treatment provided in Armenia diverges greatly from the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), leaving thousands of cancer patients without the proper care. Around 8,000 people die from cancer each year in Armenia, and more than 50 percent of cancer patients receive their diagnoses at a late stage. According to the 86-page report, titled, “‘All I Can Do Is Cry’: Cancer and the Struggle for Palliative Care in Armenia,” “Almost half of Armenia’s cancer patients are at stage 3 or 4 of the disease when they receive their initial diagnosis.” They are left in severe pain, which remains untreated or undertreated for the remainder of their lives. In recent years, Armenia has taken steps to develop palliative care; however, much more remains to be done.

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On July 14, HRW released a comprehensive report on the inadequate treatment provided to terminally ill cancer patients in Armenia, where palliative care, which ‘seeks…to prevent suffering and improve quality of life,’ remains largely unavailable.

Morphine is used to treat chronic pain in cancer patients, but in Armenia, oral morphine is not a registered medication. The WHO designates morphine as an essential medication that should be made available to all patients who need it; however, morphine is difficult to obtain in Armenia. The standard for palliative care there deviates from the principles and guidelines set by the WHO. The WHO estimates that 80 percent of people with cancer develop moderate to severe pain “and will require morphine for an average period of 90 days before death.” Yet, from 2010-12, Armenia only consumed enough morphine to adequately treat moderate to severe pain in about 3 percent of those who needed such treatment. The HRW traveled to Yerevan and many villages in Armenia to conduct its study on the need for palliative care.

According to the WHO, medication should be given by mouth whenever possible. However, in Armenia, oral morphine remains unavailable. Furthermore, doctors are only able to administer morphine through intramuscular injections. This method can be dangerous for patients who are frail and who have little muscle tissue, and the medication from an injection only lasts up to four hours. Standard care in Armenia is to provide only one to two shots per day, leaving patients in pain for the majority of the day.

One of the WHO’s principles for cancer pain treatment states that medication should be taken “by the clock.” Even when morphine is prescribed in Armenia, it is at painfully conservative doses; there is an unofficial rule that doctors only prescribe one to two ampoules of morphine for a patient. Doctors interviewed by the HRW explained that they will only increase the prescription from one ampoule to two ampoules after two weeks, even if it was clear from the beginning that one was not sufficient.

Sixty one-year-old Lyudmila was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and developed pain starting in 2010. When she was interviewed 2 years after first developing chronic cancer pain in 2012, she was still suffering from severe pain 22 hours of the day. “During the day I endure pain. What else can I do? I have a prescription only for one ampoule. I take it the way it’s prescribed,” she told HRW.

The WHO’s guidelines explain how the prescription for pain medication should be handled. Doctors should operate “by the ladder”: When a non-opioid is not sufficient in strength, an opioid for mild to moderate pain should be prescribed, in addition. If the non-opioid in combination with the stronger medication fail to relieve the pain, an even stronger opioid should be prescribed in place of the other medication.

“We start with one ampoule of morphine and increase later if need be,” one doctor told HRW. “In about 2 weeks or 20 days we usually increase the dosage. This might not be very humane, but that’s how it is. We know that 1 ampoule is enough for 4 to 6 hours, but we always start with 1 ampoule and give other painkillers too. I might not agree with it, but that’s how it is.”

Other doctors justified their actions by explaining that the pain not alleviated by the one ampoule of morphine could be offset with other medications. “One ampoule is not enough, we know. But we combine opioids with other analgesics, like Ketonal, Diclofenac, and others,” said one physician. These other medications, however, are weaker and less effective, sometimes still leaving patients in agonizing pain.

Medication should be administered at regular intervals. According to the WHO, “Most, if not all, pain due to cancer could be relieved if we implemented existing medical knowledge and treatments.” The WHO’s guideline emphasizes that “the use of morphine should be dictated by the intensity of pain, not by life expectancy”; however, in Armenia, morphine is only prescribed to cancer patients within the last month of their illness. As a result, many cancer patients suffer severe chronic pain for weeks, months, or years before they are prescribed the correct medication.

The HRW found that “Armenia’s drug regulations are at the heart of problems with availability and accessibility of palliative care and pain management.” The complex process of prescribing opioids is monitored closely by the police and requires written monthly reports from doctors that include the patient’s name, address, ID number, diagnosis, prescribed dosage, and information on whoever procures the prescription. Pharmacies also give similar reports. This practice violates patients’ right to privacy and confidentiality, which is an essential element of the right to health. Furthermore, the HRW found that police often survey establishments that fill opioid prescriptions and that, according to one pharmacy employee, “police regularly check prescriptions the pharmacy fills.”

Police involvement in the prescription process “generates a sense of trepidation among oncologists and pharmacists. As one former Health Ministry official explained, ‘one of the main problems in our system is that doctors are afraid to prescribe opioids or prescribe [inappropriately] low dosages.’”

Many pharmacies avoid seeking licenses to fill prescriptions for morphine; only a few clinics with pharmacies and one pharmacy in Yerevan have such a license. It is expensive to implement security measures, and the HRW observes that “Scrutiny by police and potential criminal liability may further serve to dissuade pharmacies and clinics from seeking licenses.” One health care personnel who deals with opioids told HRW, “[Y]ou lose one ampoule and prison is waiting for you…”

Regarding the prescription procedure in Armenia, medical personnel explained that “sometimes the procedures are so burdensome and take such a long time that by the time it is all cleared there is no need for it anymore. Needs are great for pain medications like opioids, but the amount of paper-pushing associated with it is not often worth it.”

Several doctors in addition to the oncologist, including the polyclinic’s chief, chief nurse, general practitioner, and at times others, are required to sign off on the decision to prescribe morphine. The HRW says that oncologists “must record each opioid prescription transaction in several different registries, including one that must be kept in a fireproof safe.”

The process for prescribing opioids is long and complicated, and “patients sometimes die in agonizing pain before opioids are prescribed.” The HRW interviewed Anahit Garibyan, whose father, Sergey, died in September 2012, a month after he was diagnosed with a stage four lung tumor. “My father was in agonizing pain,” she said. “He kept screaming for six or eight hours before he died.” She added that when she went to see the oncologist, “he told me that it was not that easy to prescribe opioids, and that a standing commission was to visit [my father] first. When I asked him to initiate the process, he told me that a tramadol injection should be prescribed first, which I got, but it did not help much, and [my father] died in pain.”

Armenia’s restrictive regulation and excessive police involvement “goes against WHO guidance on nationally controlled substance policies, which says that ‘when balancing drug control legislation and policies, it is wise to leave medical decisions up to those who are knowledgeable on medical issues.’”

Cancer patients (or their relatives) must at times travel far to secure their prescription. There are only a select few locations where patients can acquire morphine, and empty ampoules are required to refill the prescription. Oncologists will only prescribe opioids to last for 24 or 48 hours at a time; the prescription sometimes has to be refilled every day.

Doctors are only able to prescribe medication to a patient whose cancer diagnosis has been confirmed through a biopsy. In order to get the diagnosis confirmed, a patient must travel to one of three medical centers. If patients are too weak or cannot afford to travel, they will not be registered as cancer patients and therefore will be denied access to the proper medication. According to HRW, “Of 5,581 patients who died of cancer in 2013, 1,274 were diagnosed post-mortem, according to the data provided by the National Oncology Center. None of these people received a formal confirmed diagnosis yet a large percentage of them are likely to have had serious pain.”

Only about eight percent of cancer patients with chronic pain have access to the appropriate pain medication. Some oncologists interviewed by the HRW explained that they were fearful of their patients becoming drug-dependent, hence their reluctance to prescribe morphine. The WHO maintains that these fears are scientifically unfounded, and yet oncologists continue to prescribe weaker pills instead of morphine even with the consequence of severe pain for their patients.

In 2014, the World Health Assembly declared the provision of palliative care an “ethical responsibility of health systems.” The WHO recommends that all countries establish a standard for palliative care. In 2009, Armenia recognized palliative care as a medical service; however, oncologists still follow the 1994 directive and not the 2002 law.

Recommendations

The HRW issued a number of recommendations, one of which encourages Armenia to take steps that will lead to the availability of oral painkillers. The HRW recommends that oral opioids be registered to allow physicians—not only oncologists—to prescribe them. The HRW also advocates the abolition of restrictions associated with procuring opioids for late-stage cancer patients, including the requirement for biopsy-confirmed cancer.

The HRW also advises Armenia to cease excessive police involvement in the prescription process, simplify record-keeping, and eliminate the need for multiple doctors’ signatures on a prescription form. Patients should be allowed to collect a supply of opioids lasting 14 days. The HRW urges Armenia to establish a wide range of palliative care as well as a home-based palliative care system.

In developing a national strategy action plan, the HRW recommends reforms that will introduce palliative care as a subject of teaching in medical schools and will inform medical staff on the proper administration. The HRW proposes that Armenia appeal to the World Health Assembly for assistance. The HRW also calls upon several international organizations, including the WHO, the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), to assist Armenia in developing its palliative care system.

I wish to thank Vural Genç, Cihangir Gündoğdu, George Leylegian, Khatchig Mouradian, and the staff at the Ottoman archives (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi). Each was instrumental in assisting me in gathering and transcribing the data. In addition, I wish to thank Margaret Papazian for her encouragement as well as for bringing to light new information on my family I never imagined existed. All errors are, of course, my own.

A few months ago, I was visiting my parents in Rhode Island when my mother’s cousin Margaret Papazian called from New Jersey. I happened to pick up the phone and, as my mother had stepped out, we chatted a bit. The conversation touched on my numerous travels in Western Armenia and other research interests.

Sakrat, in the district of Palu, was a small village with an Armenian population of 650 in 75 households on the eve of the genocide. Margaret’s family was from the same village as my grandfather. In truth, we were not even sure how we were related other than my great-grandmother, Khachkatoun Yazujian, shared the same surname as Margaret’s ancestors from Sakrat.

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Aghjayan (in blue) with his aunt and an Armenian Genocide survivor in Sakrat in 1996.

Eventually, our conversation came around to the family roots. In a previous article, I had detailed finding my grandfather’s family in the 1840 Ottoman census of Sakrat and I mentioned to Margaret that, if she knew family members alive in 1840, I could check the census.

I was amazed to learn from Margaret that a native of the village of Sakrat, Khachig Yazujian, had written a book about the village and the Yazujian clan. Khachig was the brother of Margaret’s grandfather. Hishadagaran was published in 1951 by Asbarez Press and it included details on the Yazujian family tree dating back to the early 19^th century.

Khachig was born in 1878 in Sakrat, the youngest of five children born to Ohan and Gulvart Yazujian. The book details a fascinating life and the experiences of one family in one small village throughout the catastrophes that befell the Armenian people over a 30-year period. Khachig’s father and grandfather were killed during the 1894-96 massacres, and three of his siblings and countless other relatives were killed during the genocide. Further tragedy struck when he lost both of his sons in battle during World War II. The book was dedicated to the memory of his sons, Hovhannes and Garabed (Garo).

As Margaret read off the names of those mentioned in the book, I was quickly checking ancestry.com and found that someone had posted a portion of the family tree from the book.

The story begins with Nerses, who in the late 18^th century migrates from Kharpert to Sakrat. After establishing himself in farming, three sons are born to Nerses and his wife. The first born son, Antreas, remains in the village and marries. The second son, Asadour, goes to work in Constantinople and, while there, learns to read and write. He returns to Sakrat an educated man and marries. The youngest son, Hairabed, also travels to Constantinople in search of work, but leads a much more colorful, if unsavory, life.

The Ottoman census does not contain last names per se, most often the family identifier is simply the name of the father. Thus, it can be challenging to identify a family definitively. In this case, though, only 23 Armenian families were recorded in Sakrat in the 1840 (1256) census. I had already identified one family as the Der Manouelian family of priests. Of the remaining 22 families, only one contained the same names as recorded in Khachig’s book—voila, the Yazujians!

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The household (the 9^th listed) was recorded as follows; note that only males were included:

Nerses, son of Ohan, middle income, tall height, white beard, farmer, age 68

Astour, son of Nerses, middle income, tall height, black mustache, age 24

Hairabed, son of Nerses, age 9

Ohan, grandson of Nerses, son of Astour, age 4

Simo, brother of Nerses, middle income, medium height, white beard, age 67

Abryaz, son of Simo, middle income, tall height, black mustache, age 36, away in Constantinople

The census is consistent with Khachig’s book on a number of points. The name of the patriarch of the family was Nerses and he had sons named Astour (Asadour) and Hairabed. In addition, Asadour had a son named Ohan.

However, Khachig had not mentioned Simo (Simon), brother of Nerses. Nor did Khachig mention a person named Abryaz, an unusual spelling, In addition, Antreas, the third son of Nerses, is missing from the census. I have records from one other census for Palu from 1847 (1263).

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The 1847 census contains much less detail; only the name of the person and the guarantor of his tax obligation are listed. By this time both Simon and Nerses had passed away. Asadour was now the head of the household.

Even though the 1847 census does not contain the same level of detail as the 1840 census, it is still apparent that Abryaz was a misspelling of Antreas. Yet, Khachig states that Antreas was a son of Nerses. The 1847 census references Antreas both as a son of Simon and a brother to Hairabed. My inclination is to consider Antreas as the son of Simon. Since Antreas left no offspring, after the death of his father he was possibly treated as an elder brother to Hairabed and Asadour. However, since Antreas was away in Constantinople during the census taking in 1840, it could be that the relationship was recorded in error by the census taker along with the spelling of the name.

There is also the matter of dating the census. Even though the census book was dated 1840, it is most likely not the date the information was gathered. If we are to take the dates in Khachig’s book literally, then we have some inconsistencies to address. Khachig states that his father, Ohan, was born in 1838, which means he would have been only 2 years old in 1840 (not 4 years old as recorded in the census). Khachig also states that the patriarch of the family, Nerses, passed away in 1837. Yet, Nerses was recorded as still alive in the 1840 census.

Finally, Hairabed was much younger in the census than indicated by Khachig. My first thought was that his age was possibly recorded incorrectly in the census. However, Hairabed was not given a tax classification that is consistent with his recorded age. Thus, I am apt to retain the age as recorded in the census.

It is impossible to reconcile all of the inconsistencies in dates. However, I think it reasonable to assume that the 1840 census was recorded sometime between 1836 and 1838 and probably on the later side of that time period. Asadour was said to have married in 1833 and if Ohan was born soon thereafter, then he would have been 4 years old in 1838.

In short, I have been able to identify another part of my family as recorded in the Ottoman records. A crude family tree can be written as follows with year of approximate birth:

1 Ohan (b. prior to 1750)

2 Nerses (b. 1770)

3 Asadour (b. 1814)

4 Ohan (b. 1834)

5 Nerses (b. 1860)

5 Manoug (b. 1863)

5 Garabed (b. 1866)

5 Khachkatoun (b. 1875)

5 Khachig (b. 1878)

3 Hairabed (b. 1829)

4 Simon

5 Khachkatoun

4 Avedis

2 Simon (b.1771)

3 Antreas (b. 1802)

I do not have the complete tree for Hairabed’s branch of the family, but I am descended from his son Simon.

Khachig, in his book, related another interesting story. The family had been known as Nersesian, clearly just an indication that the patriarch had been Nerses. But sometime after Asadour had returned from Constantinople, the village had grown to 15 households and the government wanted to have a representative there. Asadour was chosen because of his ability to read and write. Yazuji is a scribe or clerk, and from then on the family was known as Yazujian.

As I indicated, the 1840 census shows 23 households. Oral history often contains facts masked by vague traditions confused over time. However, I cannot help but wonder if it was for the purpose of census taking that the government needed a scribe or representative in the village.

With equal parts luck and tenaciousness, I have been fortunate to be able to recreate so much of my family’s history. I consider the rupture with one’s past to be one of the least talked about components of the crime of genocide. I suppose that is why I have been so unwilling to relinquish mine.

A comprehensive global competitiveness study has been conducted by the World Economic Forum utilizing various indicators to rank 144 countries in different areas, including “Health and Primary Education,” “Technological Readiness,” and “Innovation.” This report is a short summary of the findings of that comprehensive study with an emphasis on Armenia and its neighboring countries. The study was done at a time when the global economy seems to have finally left behind the worst and longest-lasting financial and economic crisis of the past 80 years.

Much of the growth in recent years has occurred because of the extraordinary and bold monetary policies in such countries as the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Overall, growth prospects in advanced economies are better than they have been in recent years, albeit very unevenly distributed. The recovery in the United States seems to be well grounded with strong output and employment figures. In Europe the picture is more mixed, with many countries now recording stronger growth, although some continue to suffer from weak growth, high unemployment, and financial fragmentation.

Competitiveness has been defined as the set of institutions, policies, and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country. The level of productivity, in turn, sets the level of prosperity that can be reached by an economy. The productivity level also determines the rates of return obtained by investments in an economy, which in turn are the fundamental drivers of its growth rates. In other words, a more competitive economy is one that is likely to grow faster over time.

The components of determining competitiveness were grouped into the following 12 main areas by the World Economic Forum study.

Institutions: The institutional environment is determined by the legal and administrative frameworks within which individuals, firms, and governments interact to generate wealth. The importance of a sound and fair institutional environment has become all the more apparent during the recent economic and financial crisis, and is especially crucial for further solidifying the fragile recovery.

Infrastructure: Extensive and efficient infrastructure is important for ensuring the effective functioning of an economy. Well-developed infrastructure reduces the effect of distance between regions by integrating the national market and connecting it at low cost to markets in other countries and regions.

Macroeconomic Environment: The stability of economic conditions are important for business, and are therefore crucial for the overall competitiveness of a country. An economy cannot grow in a sustainable manner unless the macroeconomic environment is stable.

Health and Primary Education: A healthy workforce is vital to a country’s competitiveness and productivity. Basic education increases the efficiency of each individual worker.

Higher Education and Training: Quality higher education and training is crucial for economies that want to move up the value chain, beyond simple production processes and products.

Goods Market Efficiency: Countries with efficient goods markets are well positioned to produce the right mix of products and services given their particular supply and demand conditions, as well as to ensure that these goods can be most effectively traded in the economy.

Labor Market Efficiency: The efficiency and flexibility of the labor market are critical for ensuring that workers are allocated to their most effective use in the economy and provided with incentives to give their best effort in their jobs.

Financial Market Development: An efficient financial sector allocates the resources saved by a nation’s citizens, as well as those entering the economy from abroad, to their most productive uses.

Technological Readiness: In today’s globalized world, technology is increasingly essential for firms to compete and prosper.

Market Size: The size of the market affects productivity since large markets allow firms to exploit economies of scale.

Business Sophistication: There is no doubt that sophisticated business practices are conducive to higher efficiency in the production of goods and services.

Innovation: Innovation can emerge from new technological and non-technological knowledge. Although less-advanced countries can still improve their productivity by adopting existing technologies or making incremental improvements in other areas, for those that have reached the innovation stage of development this is no longer sufficient for increasing productivity. Firms in these countries must design and develop cutting-edge products and processes to maintain a competitive edge and move toward even higher value-added activities.

While all of the indicators described above are required for all economies, they will affect different economies in different ways. The best way for Armenia to improve its competitiveness is not the same as for France. This is because Armenia is considered a Stage 2 development country. In a Stage 2 economy, as a country becomes more competitive, productivity will increase and wages will rise with advancing development. Countries will then move into the efficiency-driven stage of development, when they must begin to develop more efficient production processes and increase product quality. At this point, competitiveness is increasingly driven by higher education and training, efficient goods markets, well-functioning labor markets, developed financial markets, the ability to harness the benefits of existing technologies, and a large domestic or foreign market.

 Table 1: 2015 Global Competitiveness Overall Rankings

The Global Competitiveness Index has been used as an important tool by policymakers in many countries over the years, and is widely recognized as one of the key assessments of global competitiveness. Table 1 provides the rankings of Armenia, the Russian Federation, and Armenia’s neighbors, along with names of the top six ranked countries.

Normally, the economic size of any country has a direct relationship with different social and justice issues. Therefore, one needs to compare the Armenian economy to other countries. The United States, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $16,800 billion (2013), is the largest economy in the world; it is followed by China with $9,181 billion, and Japan with $4,900 billion. Armenia’s GDP in 2013 was only $10.5 billion, which makes it 120^th country among 144 countries.

GDP per capita is also an important indicator. In 2013, the GDP of Luxembourg, Norway, and Qatar was $100,000. The U.S. was 9^th with $53,100. In comparison, Armenia’s GDP per capita was just $3,200, ranking 100^th among 144 countries. Table 2 shows the GDP of Armenia and its neighbors.

In today’s global market economy, different countries compete for providing services and goods to other countries and multinational corporations. The competitiveness of each country is measured by indicators in 12 different areas, as explained above. Institutions are the first indicator that needs to be considered. Table 3 shows where Armenia stands in comparison to its neighbors as well as with the U.S. and Russia for different institutional indicators.

Table 2: Gross Domestic Products

Table 3: Rankings of Institutional Indicators

List of Institutional Indicators

1. Property rights: How strong is the protection of property rights, including financial assets?
2. Intellectual property protection: How strong is the protection of intellectual property, including anti-counterfeiting measures?
3. Diversion of public funds: How common is diversion of public funds to companies, individuals, or groups due to corruption?
4. Public trust in politicians: How are the ethical standards of politicians?
5. Irregular payments and bribes: How common is it for firms to make undocumented additional payments or bribes?
6. Judicial independence: To what extent is the judiciary independent from influences of members of government, citizens, or firms?
7. Favoritism in decisions of government officials: To what extent do government officials show favoritism to well-connected firms and individuals?
8. Wastefulness of government spending: How efficiently does the government spend public revenue?
9. Burden of government regulation: How burdensome is it for businesses to comply with governmental administrative requirements?
10. Efficiency of legal framework in settling disputes: How efficient is the legal framework for private businesses in settling disputes?
11. Transparency of government policymaking: How easy is it for businesses to obtain information about changes in government policies and regulations affecting their activities?
12. Organized crime: To what extent does organized crime impose costs on businesses?
13. Reliability of police services: To what extent can police services be relied upon to enforce law and order?
14. Ethical behavior of firms: How is the corporate ethical behavior in interactions with public officials, politicians, and other firms?
15. Strength of investor protection

The results show that the Russian Federation is the worst ranking among the seven countries shown, with Iran being a close second. Between Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, it seems Georgia has the best rankings and Armenia the worst. Azerbaijan’s ranking of 46 for public trust in politicians is better than the U.S.’s ranking of 48. This may not be right based on the many published incidents of abuse of power in Azerbaijan. Armenia’s worst ranking is in relation to judiciary independence.

Numerous indicators are used to determine the overall rankings of each country. Table 4 provides Armenia’s ranking in selected areas. The results indicate that brain drain is a major issue; as Armenia’s economy is not capable of retaining and utilizing talents, the main effect is mass emigration.

Table 4: Armenia’s Rankings in Different Areas

The following chart shows the most problematic factors for doing business in Armenia. Clearly corruption, financing, and tax regulations are hindering business in Armenia.

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Special for the Armenian Weekly

Every Armenian family has the same story: persecution, fear, robbery, rape, murder … genocide … and the unknown. They say there can never be closure without the ability to mourn over the grave of a loved one. The denial of the Armenian Genocide by the Turkish government surely hinders closure, but for the survivors, never knowing what had happened to those left behind or lost during the death marches into the Syrian desert remained an equally harmful open wound.

My maternal grandmother had four sisters. One rescued my grandmother from the six years she had been living as a slave and the two of them ultimately found their way to the United States. Another sister starved to death in an orphanage. The two remaining sisters, one 17 and one an infant, were sent to the Syrian desert with their mother, and none were ever heard from again.

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Nayiri Arzoumanian, Sarah Aghjayan, and the author in Burunkishla, May 2013 (Photo: Khatchig Mouradian)

Each time I travel to Western Armenia, I meet hidden Armenians—“remnants of the sword”—and many are searching for relatives thought to have escaped to the United States or elsewhere. Unfortunately, most often all that is known is a name: Garabed, Mariam, etc. Much too vague to allow for any connection to be made, even in the rare case where a village of origin is known. Most don’t even know the village, as their mother or grandmother was plucked from the caravans and only knew they were from Kharpert or Palu or some other region.

A year and a half ago, I joined the Armenian DNA Project through Family Tree DNA. While I was interested in my ancient DNA and the migration of man out of Africa, what really motivated me was the hope of connecting with descendants thought murdered during the genocide. Possibly descendants of the sisters my grandmother never heard from after they were sent to the desert. I wanted to bring them back from the dead.

In DNA testing, relationships are measured in shared centiMorgans (cMs), a way to quantify the probabilities. Both the total shared cMs and the longest segment are considered when determining the most likely relationship between two people. Segments longer than 10 shared cMs are generally thought to be indicative of a common ancestor.

For example, through testing, it has been shown that grandchildren have shared cMs with their grandparent that range from 875-2,365, with an average of 1,760. At the same time, a person could have shared cMs of 236-1,301 with a great aunt or uncle. So, based solely on that, if you were to have shared cMs of 900 with someone, their relationship to you could be anywhere from a grandchild/grandparent to a first cousin, once removed.

When I first received my DNA results, there were a handful of people who were identified as distant relatives by Family Tree DNA—as 4^th or 5^th cousins. Our shared cM was generally in the range of 30-40, with the longest segment of between 10 and 15. I contacted a few of these people and our knowledge was too scant to determine with any certainty how we might be related. Regardless, the common ancestor was very distant.

Last summer, while traveling in Western Armenia with the Arzoumanian family who also happened to hail from my grandfather’s village of Burunkishla in the Boghazliyan district of Yozgat, we discussed our possible relationship. They decided to have their father, Hrair, tested. The results showed we were 2^nd or 3^rd cousins; our shared cM was 132 with numerous segments over 15 cM and the longest 30 cM. Clearly, we were very closely related, which was not a complete surprise, although it was exciting to finally confirm a previously unknown relationship.

Based on our combined knowledge of family history, we believe Hrair’s maternal grandmother was a sibling to one of my great-grandparents. Again, so much family history was lost during the genocide that it is impossible to determine exactly at this time.

Then, about a month ago, the moment I had been hoping for: I received a hit on my DNA that was either a 1^st or 2^nd cousin, and it was someone living in Turkey! For perspective, our total shared cMs were 400 with a longest common segment of 90. This was a much closer relative and someone I knew nothing about. Could it be a descendant of my grandmother’s sisters?

I sent an e-mail to the man and waited impatiently for four days. Then, the response: The mother of the man tested was known to be Armenian. I was conversing with his son and this is the story he told.

In 1915, two sisters from Maden begin the march to certain death. The older of the sisters is a beautiful and clever young girl. Along the way, a cavalry officer desires to marry her. She agrees to do this in order to save her little sister. In fact, she demands that the younger sister be protected and live with them. Thus begins their new lives in Chermoug as Muslims.

While living with her older sister, a Muslim man sees the younger sister and falls in love. They marry and live in Chungush. Soon, three children are born. However, the husband dies young. The dead man’s brother marries his Armenian widow sister-in-law to care for his orphaned niece and nephews, and they have three additional sons together. The man whose DNA was tested was a son from this second marriage.

The older sister would have a son who died young. She died soon thereafter, leaving no surviving offspring.

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Nevart (3rd from the left) with Angel (2nd from the right)

While the story would seem to match what might have become of my grandmother’s sisters, the places and names did not match that side of my family. Instead, the names of the parents of those two orphan Armenian girls matched the names of my father’s great-grandparents. In addition, my great-grandmother was born in Maden.

I wrote the story of my great-grandmother, Nevart Antreassian, in an article on the Georgetown Girls. Nevart’s sister, Angel, also survived and came to the United States. 25 years ago, when I first started researching my family history, I spoke to Angel’s husband, Khoren Krikorian, and an aunt about what was known of the family. I do not know how Angel survived 1915, but it was most likely through an orphanage in Kharpert, since in 1920 she graduated from Yeprad Varjaran. Around 1922, she left for Lebanon in the final wave of missionaries, orphans, and other desperate remnants.

As for my great-grandmother, Nevart, by the time of these events she was already married and living in Diyarbakir with children of her own. Her husband conscripted into the Ottoman army and presumed dead, Nevart endured the march to Aleppo with her two young children.

In looking through my folder from 25 years ago, I found a page of handwritten notes from a phone conversation with my aunt about Nevart’s family. It was sparse, fragments here and there: father was a horseshoer, etc.

Then, two words written at the bottom: “another sister.” In talking with my parents, they knew nothing of this, but of course so much time has gone by. But what is now known is that the woman in question was my great-grandmother’s sister.

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Lost sister of Nevart and Angel

So many questions remain and most likely will never be answered.

Why the mention of only one sister? Could the older sister really have been the mother trying to protect her daughter? How could Angel have been in Kharpert until 1922 and not known her sister was alive in Chungush? Was this a situation, like so many others, where after forced marriage, conversion to Islam, and children, these “remnants of the sword” considered themselves dead to their Armenian families and were treated as such by the Armenian community?

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Nevart and Khachig Garabedian

Not surprisingly, my newfound relatives in Turkey have another Armenian grandmother in the family. She was born in the village of Havav in Palu and as late as the 1930’s she was still in correspondence with her brother in New York. Based on a letter written in Ottoman Turkish in 1934, I have identified this family as well.

It is said that the two Armenian girls, now sisters-in-law, were very close and their families’ love for them is evident.

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Angel and Khoren Krikorian

Our mutual excitement at having found lost relatives after 100 years knows no bounds. Over the past month, we have been sharing pictures and stories and anxiously await the day when we can meet in person. Interestingly, based on where and when I have traveled through Western Armenia, it seems we know some of the same people and may have actually been together without ever knowing our family connection.

The people in this story remain victims of genocide, but they no longer are tallied in the dead. The 1.5 million has been reduced by 2.

For those wishing to learn more about the Armenian DNA Project, visit https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/armeniadnaproject/about/background.

Nineteen-Year-Old Arman Avetisyan: ‘The Most Valuable Loss I Experienced in April Was the Loss of My Friends’

Special for the Armenian Weekly

YEREVAN (A.W.)—Nineteen-year-old Arman Avetisyan was injured in the southeastern part of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh/NKR) during this past April’s Four-Day-War, which was triggered by Azerbaijani aggression.

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‘I am not less or more than the average man walking down the street’ (Photo: The Armenian Weekly)

Avetisyan was attempting to assist his fellow commander.

After losing his leg from this injury and remaining in the hospital for eight months, he was surprised to learn that he would be able to walk again.

“Dr. Mkrtich Kinosyan visited me. This man, with his positivity and optimism, completely changed everything,” Avetisyan says. “Following him, many men with prosthetics visited me and I began to get convinced that I will be able to walk again. I never imagined that I would be in this situation. At the time I was only thinking about being released from the hospital as soon as possible because I did not like the environment there,” he says.

After being discharged from the hospital, he was fitted with a prosthetic leg that allowed him to walk, run, bike, and even drive. He decided that he will not allow his weakness to bother his everyday life.

“I am not less or more than the average man walking down the street. I tried hard to adjust to the prosthetic leg however I could. To be honest, it’s not much different now,” Avetisyan says. “There are very few things that I am not able to do. The first couple of days were difficult and I would not even last an entire day with the prosthetic. Then I gradually began to adapt and get used to it.”

According to Avetisyan, the first temporary prosthetic leg proved to be less comfortable and more restricting. Currently, with the permanent prosthetic, the difference has been noticeable.

For Avetisyan, it was very important to visit the homes of his fellow soldiers who died in the April War—after being able to walk again, the homes were the first places he went.

“The most valuable loss I experienced in April was the loss of my friends… I only dream to see them for just one more second… I do not know,” he says. “I’m trying to combat my feelings of longing by visiting the families of my friends, but it seems to be making it worse. Zhora Yesayan’s mother began crying as soon as she saw me. She then called me over and kissed my eyes because my eyes had seen her son last,” Avetisyan adds.

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‘There are very few things that I am not able to do. The first couple of days were difficult and I would not even last an entire day with the prosthetic. Then I gradually began to adapt and get used to it.’ (Photo: The Armenian Weekly)

Avetisyan was even able to return to Artsakh to visit the military base where he was serving.

“I have many friends who are still serving and I wish to take their suffering. When I arrived at the military base, my friends were at the frontlines on duty. I then asked the commander if I could visit them at their post and he provided a car for me to do so. I stayed with my friends for about 14-15 hours and remembered my days of being in the same position, day and night. We spoke about how people’s attitude towards the serving soldiers changed following the April war and became more supporting. Very little of what is spoken about in Yerevan reaches the frontlines. A valued soldier makes a soldier even stronger and helps them thrive. I have been in that situation and I know this well,” he says.

Avetisyan says that since returning, everything at the frontlines has changed, including the positions, the structure, the ammunition, and the roads.

“It was as if the posts where I was serving were not even there. At first glance, I didn’t even recognize where we were going. If the Azeris attacked again—like how they did in April and caused the loss of many 18-19 year old servicemen—the result will be the opposite this time,” he says. “[The Azeris] will experience three times the loss.”

Avetisyan is currently studying mechanical engineering at the Agrarian University. He also recently received a job offer from one of the banks in Armenia and will begin there soon. When asked about a girlfriend, he said that he will not deny or confirm.

This report was filed by the Armenian Weekly’s contributor in Armenia/NKR Ani Avetyan.

Racist attacks against the bilingual Armenian weekly newspaper, Agos, as well as against Armenian schools, are increasingly widespread in Turkey.

On April 24 of last year—the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide—a black wreath was hung on the front door of the office of the newspaper Agos together with a sign stating that, “One night, we might come to visit you unexpectedly.” Agos filed a criminal complaint against this threat.

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On April 24 of last year a black wreath was hung on the front door of the office of the newspaper Agos together with a sign stating that, ‘One night, we might come to visit you unexpectedly.’

Those accused of having threatened were tried on Nov. 18.  The chairman of the Nationalist Turkish Party of Istanbul, Bilal Gokceyurt, and the chairman of the “Turan Organization,” Ercan Ucar, were acquitted on the grounds that there was no evidence of an actual crime.

Speaking during the hearing, the newspaper’s editor Yetvart Danzikyan said: “They had hung up a black wreath while the office was closed. We found it in the morning. Then, we saw that they released a video about their action called, ‘One night, we might come to visit you unexpectedly.’ We filed a criminal complaint. There had been similar actions when Hrant Dink was working in Agos. You know what happened to Hrant Dink. We therefore considered this action to be a threat.”

Hrant Dink, the then editor-in-chief of the Agos, was murdered in 2007 in front of the office of his newspaper in Istanbul. He had received numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists and was prosecuted three times for “denigrating Turkishness” in his writings and remarks about the Armenian Genocide.

The Turkey Branch of Reporters without Borders (RSF) made a statement via Twitter on the court ruling: “That the threat against the newspaper Agos goes unpunished is dire and encourages similar attacks.”

Some have recently written racist graffiti on the Armenian Bomonti Mihitaryan High School. “One night, we will be in Karabagh unexpectedly,” read the graffiti, referring to Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), a historically Armenian land.

Armenian schools are regularly targeted by Turkish nationalist groups. Racist remarks were also written on the Surp Hac Tibrevank High School and the Kalfayan Armenian School in Istanbul in the last four months. The perpetrators have not yet been found. In one incident, the graffiti read: “Torture Armenians.”

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‘One night, we suddenly will be in Karabagh,’ read the graffiti in Turkish. (Photo: Aykan Erdemir/Twitter)

“Threats against Armenians in Turkey are of many kinds,” Murad Mihci, an Istanbul-based activist with the Armenian Nor Zartonk Association, said.

“Racist graffiti on Armenian schools is only one aspect of aggression against Armenians. There is much more to it. For example, fewer people are getting married in churches in Turkey because they are scared that a terror attack could happen during the wedding ceremony. Many Armenians are planning to leave Turkey like they did in 1950’s and 1980’s in large numbers,” Mihci added.

In September, Sezgin Tanrikulu, a Member of Parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), submitted a motion about the racist graffiti on Armenian schools in Istanbul to the Turkish parliament, requesting Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim to answer it. The motion is stillunanswered.

Meanwhile, the editorial board of Agos has recently published an article about verbal attacks against Armenian schools:

“Such racist writings have been going on for the last year. Not only has there been no legal enforcement against the perpetrators who engage in hate-speech, but they cannot even be identified… It is not hard to guess what kind of impact such writings have on the children who go to these schools and their parents. But the perpetrators just get away with it.”

Hate-speech is a widespread phenomenon in Turkey that targets all religious and ethnic minorities. Armenians are one of the main victims but, they are not the only ones.

According to the latest report by “The Media Watch on Hate Speech Project,” which monitors Turkish local and national newspapers, the group most commonly exposed to hate speech in Turkey from January to April 2015 were the Armenians, with 103 news items.

Jews represented the second largest group targeted with 75 items, followed by Christians (in general) as the third with 73. They were followed by hate-speech against the British (21 items), Syrians (16 items), non-Muslims (14 items), Kurds (13 items), Anatolian Greeks (12 items), and atheists (11 items).

In another report, Media Watch concluded: “The fact that certain groups remain targeted for an extended period of time through great number of news items not only shows the vulnerability of these groups to hate speech, but also presents deep seated and persistent efforts to insult these groups. That these groups consist of people, beliefs, and ethnic groups living together in this part of the world enhances potential risks of hate speech and its particular role in preparing the ground for hate crimes.”

According to the Armenian National Institute, during the Armenian Genocide, “Up to a million and a half Armenians perished at the hands of Ottoman and Turkish military and paramilitary forces and through atrocities intentionally inflicted to eliminate the Armenian demographic presence in Turkey… In the process, the population of historic Armenia at the eastern extremity of Anatolia was wiped off the map. With their disappearance, an ancient people which had inhabited the Armenian highlands for three thousand years lost its historic homeland and was forced into exile and a new diaspora. The surviving refugees spread around the world and eventually settled in some two dozen countries on all continents of the globe.”

Despite much evidence to the contrary, Turkey still claims that the mass murders and forced deportations of Armenians in 1915 did not constitute genocide.

The current population of Armenians in Turkey is about 60,000. Even when there is today a tiny Armenian minority left in the country, Turkey continually threatens and insults its Armenian population, turning a blind eye to and even encouraging more attacks against Armenians.

A century after the genocide, the Armenians of Turkey are still under attack… and the attacks still go unpunished.

Jews in Istanbul Threatened, This Time by Public Advertisements

Special for the Armenian Weekly

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A twin suicide bombing claimed by Islamic Jihad kills 22 people at the Neve Shalom synagogue in Istanbul in 1986.

“One day you wake up and see that the neighborhoods of Kurtulus and Ferikoy have been surrounded by anti-Semitic advertisements.”

This is what Ishak Ibrahimzadeh, the leader of the Jewish community in Turkey, wrote on his Twitter account on Nov. 22. The advertisements he referred to read: “Do not be deceived by the missionary activities of the Jehovahists, who are the servants of the Jew. Wake up, hey my Muslim brother! Don’t be the captives of others’ opinions! These people are trying to destroy the religion of Islam.”

The advertisements also quoted the Koranic verse, which said: “Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.”

These words were what Jews were forced to see in these two Istanbul neighborhoods, which are in some of the most crowded parts of the city.

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‘Do not be deceived by the missionary activities of the Jehovahists, who are the servants of the Jew. Wake up, hey my Muslim brother! Don’t be the captives of others’ opinions! These people are trying to destroy the religion of Islam.’

A similar sign at a shop in the Eminonu neighborhood of Istanbul greeted Jews in Sept. 2014. The sign read: “No Admittance to Jewish Dogs.” Many Jewish citizens of Turkey have shops in the neighborhood, according to the newspaper Salom.

Verbal attacks and insults targeting Jews in Turkey under the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have been widely covered by Israeli media in recent years. But anti-Semitism is not peculiar to Turkish Islamists only. The independent scholar Rifat Bali wrote in an article published in 2009: “Anti-Semitism in Turkey is encountered not only among the Islamists and leftists but also among the nationalist and neo-nationalist streams, which in recent years have declared their hostility to the European Union, the United States, and Israel.”

Discrimination against and hate speech towards non-Muslims, including Jews, is a deeply rooted tradition in Turkey that goes back to the founding phase of the country.

Turkey has been secretly assigning codes its Armenian, Greek, Jewish, Syriac, and other non-Muslim minorities ever since the establishment of the Turkish republic in 1923. The Population Directorate of Turkey codes Greeks using the number 1, Armenians using the number 2 and Jews using the number 3.

When the Turkish republic was founded, non-Muslim bureaucrats and public employees—Turkish citizens of Jewish, Anatolian Greek, and Armenian origin—were quickly eliminated and banned from working for public institutions. Thousands of non-Muslims lost their jobs.

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The consequences of the attack on a Jewish cemetery in Hatay. (Photo: Birgun)

Like all non-Turkish languages, the public use of Ladino, or Judezmo, the language that Sephardic Jews brought to Ottoman Turkey from Spain, was also banned during the “Citizen Speak Turkish” Campaign of 1930’s. Ladino is now a severely endangered language in Turkey, according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.

In his 2005 article “The Jews in Modern Turkey,” scholar Franklin Hugh Adler describes the anti-Semitic tendencies of Turkey since the early years of the republic: “Already during the 1930s it had become clear that a distinctive form of anti-Semitism, not simply disdain of Turkey’s minorities, had taken root. Cevat Rifat Altilhan, who published the first Turkish editions of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Hitler’s Mein Kampf, traveled to Germany where he met with Nazi leaders who subsidized his dissemination of German anti-Semitic propaganda. Between 1940 and 1998, Mein Kampf was published in twenty-nine separate editions, while the Protocols was published ninety-three times between 1934 and 1991.”

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Members of Turkey’s Jewish community pray at Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul on Oct. 11, 2004 (Photo: AP/Murad Sezer)

Anti-Semitic attacks in Turkey`s history include but are not limited to the 1934 anti-Jewish pogrom in eastern Thrace, the 1941-1942 conscription of the “twenty classes” (an attempt to conscript all male non-Muslim populations, including the elderly and mentally ill during World War II), and the 1942-1944 Wealth Tax that ripped non-Muslims of their financial power, as well as the deadly terror attacks against synagogues in Istanbul in 1986 and 2003.

When Yasef Yahya, a 39-year-old Jewish dentist from Turkey, was brutally murdered on Aug. 21, 2003 in his office in the Sisli district of Istanbul, many Jewish lawyers and doctors in Istanbul removed the signs on their offices in order not to have the same fate as Yahya.

The current Jewish population in Turkey is around 15,000. Many Jews born in Turkey left for Israel when the Jewish state was reestablished in 1948. And life is still not easy for those who stayed.

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Yasef Yahya, 39, a Jewish dentist from Turkey was brutally murdered on Aug. 21, 2003, in the Sisli district of Istanbul.

“The Jewish community continues to live in a world of dhimmitude where subordinate status and second-class citizenship is uncontested,” wrote Professor Adler. “Turkish Jews, as many scholars have pointed out, prefer to remain ‘hidden’ and apolitical… Jewish children know they will never hold high public office, and are steered mostly toward commerce, engineering, or the physical sciences.”

The increasing pressures against the Jewish community in Turkey as well as the post-coup purges and the threats of the Islamic State (ISIS) seem to further escalate the Jewish emigration from the country.

For example, a 42-year-old Jewish businesswoman and mother from Istanbul named Betty recently told the Times of Israel: “Of course we’re thinking about emigrating. Everyone in the Jewish community is because it is hard to imagine a future for ourselves here. Many Muslims are, too.”

For in Turkey, not only Jewish citizens, but also their synagogues and cemeteries are targeted. The Jewish cemetery in the southern Turkish city of Hatay, for example, was attacked by “unknown assailants” in June. The wall of the cemetery was broken, the gate was torn down and the grave stones damaged. The cemetery includes the graves of Jews and Armenians, as well as of Muslims.

The archeologist Jozef Naseh, the former head of the Antioch Greek Orthodox Church Foundation, said in October that there are no Jews left in Hatay and that the remaining Christians in the city are threatened.

Apparently, anti-Semitism has dominated almost all aspects of life in Turkey, where Jews—like Armenians and Greeks—have lived since antiquity, long before the Turks themselves arrived from Central Asia. According to the 2015 Anti-Defamation League Global 100 Poll, 71 percent of the Turkish adult population harbors anti-Semitic attitudes.

But Turkey does not seem to care about whether Jews and other non-Muslim citizens will leave or stay.

Many Jews left earlier to go to Israel, not because they gave up on Turkey. And those who stayed in Turkey greatly contributed to the country’s economy and commerce.

But when even the last ones want to leave, it is a sure sign that they have no faith in the country’s future, its stability, equality under the law, or even their neighbors.

Special for the Armenian Weekly

VOSKEVAN, Armenia (A.W.)—As I write this, Armenian settlements in Armenia’s northeast region of Tavush—specifically those along the road leading to the village of Voskevan—are being monitored and targeted by Azerbaijani forces.

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Davit Grigoryan and his grandmother (Photo: The Armenian Weekly)

Davit Grigoryan—who has heard sounds of Azerbaijani gunfire since the say he was born—was there in April defending the front lines during the Four-Day War.

He lost both his legs in an injury.

During his time in the hospital, he kept on smiling and quickly became everyone’s favorite. He says that he was smiling because of the attention and care he was receiving in the hospital. In reality, he was living in complete fear during those days because he was beginning to understand that his life had changed forever.

He never thought or even considered the possibility of walking again, but now, seven months later, he is taking strides with his new prostheses.

“Initially, it was very difficult to walk, and I could not adjust to the crutches. I do not even need them anymore and I’m able to walk and even run alone,” Davit says.

Family members would jokingly complain that Davit would spend half the day driving. “I want to be in many places at once and I want to be able to move quickly. During my first days in the hospital, I thought that I would not be able to do any of this. But now I know that I can do anything,” Davit explains, always smiling like he did in the hospital.

Davit is currently looking for work. When asked what type of job he would be able to do in the village, he answers clearly and confidently: “There is a military unit nearby where I can become a contract soldier. I’ll be able to go serve the army and go to the trenches to do what all the men in my village are capable of doing. My father served the army for 27 years. The prostheses do not bother me at all.”

David’s grandparents were not surprised to hear his thoughts about serving. They explain how during his time of service, their grandson was encouraged to take a break four times, but refused.

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‘Initially, it was very difficult to walk, and I could not adjust to the crutches. I do not even need them anymore and I’m able to walk and even run alone,’ Davit says. (Photo: The Armenian Weekly)

There were troubling, dark days, but they have passed since.

“My grandson is already walking and will continue to live a normal and safe life,” Davit’s grandfather Levon says, reminiscing about how Davit was the fastest woodcutter in the home.

Though his life will never be the same, the important part is that he is now reunited with his family.

And the burning spirit in the Grigoryan home will not soon fade.

“We started working on needed repairs our home, but progress has been slow. Davit would do most of the work before, but now he can’t,” Davit’s grandfather says.

Davit’s mother Armenouhi says that she cannot remember her first steps but is sure that Davit will never forget his.

“On the day he took his first steps, Davit said, ‘Mom, promise me that you will not cry.’ But after seeing my son walk again, I could not hold back my tears,” she explains.

In the hospital, Davit met a girl named Meline who was visiting a wounded relative. They began dating after that and they will soon be married. Until then, Davit is expected to have another surgery.

There have been many complications along the way, but all will be normal again soon enough.

This report was filed by the Armenian Weekly’s contributor in Armenia/NKR Ani Avetyan.

Special for the Armenian Weekly

NERKIN KARMIRAGHBYUR, Armenia (A.W.)—The border village of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur in the province of Tavush is approximately 200 kilometers from Yerevan and about 500-600 meters away from Azerbaijani military posts. It shares a nine-kilometer border with Azerbaijan, which makes it a target for direct fire.

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‘The problem in the village is that all the harvesting areas are constantly under the threat of Azerbaijani attack. We have four hectares of land, but are only able to work on a small plot,’ says Zhora papik. (Photo: Ani Avetyan/The Armenian Weekly)

After April, attacks against the Armenian posts here have been rare. However, village Mayor Manvel Kamendatyan says that this winter and spring will be tough to pass.

“The main source of income here is agriculture. The harvest this time has not been what was expected. The village’s farmers have suffered greatly due to hail, heavy rain, and several other factors. When the agricultural conditions aren’t favorable, the barns remain empty. This makes it difficult to supply for a family,” Kamendatyan says.

The village of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur is home to about 316 families. The Vardanyan family home, which is situated in the center of the village, is in one of the most dangerous locations. If a shot is fired, chances are that it will be headed in the home’s direction.

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The village of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur is home to about 316 families. (Photo: Ani Avetyan/The Armenian Weekly)

The Vardanyans harvest grapes and own a small vineyard close to the border.

“Generally, all the fields of harvests including vineyards, wheat fields, and meadows are near the border. Shooting has taken place near all the gardens. But if we don’t cultivate the land, how will we live?” says Haikaz Vardanyan. “We hand the grapes to a factory so there is no issue here. We need to be able to cultivate and collect the crop.”

The Vardanyans have two children—Narek who is currently working in Moscow, and Narineh who is studying in Yerevan.

“My daughter visited home about a month ago. Everything changes when the children come home, because the house becomes filled with joy. Both Narek and Narineh usually come home for the holidays and even help with decorating the tree and hosting our guests,” Haikaz says. “But of course they also come to eat the delicious homemade food prepared for the New Year celebrations.”

***

On this particularly cloudy and calm winter day, only the sound of old Zhora papik (grandfather) chopping wood with his ax could be heard throughout the village. While chopping the wood, he explained that he has a big family and that his son and grandson both live next to him and work with him.

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In recent years, the number of students at the village’s school and kindergarten has increased, according to Mayor Kamendatyan . (Photo: Ani Avetyan/The Armenian Weekly)

“The problem in the village is that all the harvesting areas are constantly under the threat of Azerbaijani attack. We have four hectares of land, but are only able to work on a small plot,” says Zhora papik. “When you visited our village, you probably noticed that the road is not in the best condition. It would be ideal if the road from our village to Yerevan was safer, given how far it is from the capital.”

In recent years, the number of students at the village’s school and kindergarten has increased, according to Mayor Kamendatyan. According to him, the youth are not leaving the village. Even if they do leave to study or work, they always return to Nerkin Karmiraghbyur to live, get married, and to serve in the military.

Above anything else, the residents of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur want peace in the region. After years of sharing a border with Azerbaijan, they know well that a few months of peace could be interrupted in one night with an Azerbaijani attack.

And despite the eerie calmness, it is this fact that keeps the villagers alert.

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Above anything else, the residents of Nerkin Karmiraghbyur want peace in the region. (Photo: Ani Avetyan/The Armenian Weekly)

This report was filed by the Armenian Weekly’s contributor in Armenia/NKR Ani Avetyan.

Yet another example of intolerance has taken place in the southeastern Turkish city of Sanliurfa (Urfa)—the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in the city is now being used as a municipality-owned cultural center and the foundation of the Islamic school of Harran University.

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The interior of the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Photo: urfa63.net)

According to sources, the church was used actively until 1924, when Assyrians (Syriac Christians) left for Aleppo.

Locals call the church “the Regie Church”, because Tekel, the Turkish tobacco and alcoholic beverage company, had once used it as a tobacco factory.  This tobacco factory had been known as the Regie Tobacco Company in Ottoman times, and was nationalized in 1925.

It was also used as a grape storehouse for decades. After its restoration in 1998, it hosted a carpet-making class. In 2002, it became the “Kemalettin Gazezoglu Cultural Center,” named after the governor of the city. Today, a part of it has been given to a foundation that runs the Islamic school at the city’s university.

Turkey has used the historic church for many different purposes—except for its intended purpose: a church.

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The courtyard of the historic Assyrian Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (Photo: urfa63.net)

Called Edessa in ancient times, Urfa has been inhabited since prehistoric times.  The modern city was founded in 304 B.C by Seleucus I Nicator.

In the late 2nd century, as the Seleucid dynasty disintegrated, it successively became a Parthian, Armenian, and Roman state, and eventually an Eastern Roman (Byzantine) province. It was frequently conquered during periods when the Byzantine central government was weak, due to its location on the eastern frontier of the Empire. It fell to the Muslim conquest in 639 but was briefly retaken by Byzantium in 1031. It then fell to the Turkic Zengid dynasty in 1144, and was eventually absorbed by the Ottoman Empire in 1517.

Edessa was an important early center of Syriac Christianity. For Armenians, too, the city is significant since it is believed that the Armenian alphabet was invented there.

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The writing on the wall of the church reads “Provincial Special Administration -Governor Kemalettin Gazezoglu Culture and Art Center May 24, 2002 (Photo: urfa63.net)

But the traces of Assyrian, Armenian, and Greek Christians have been systematically erased from the city by Muslim governments and residents throughout centuries.

Scholar Ian Wilson describes the current absence of the Christian heritage in his proposal for an archaeological survey of the city as follows:

“For any Christian… Urfa appears to offer nothing of Christian interest even when you get there. To the best of my knowledge there is not a single Christian church, and certainly not an ancient one, the Moslem minaret being all-pervading…Yet if we could turn the clock back just over a thousand years, say to 943 AD, what a different picture of Edessa/Urfa we would find! Despite the city even then having fallen under Moslem control (though Arab rather than Turkish), we would find a full-blooded city, as distinct from a town, almost literally bristling with Christian churches and monasteries, numbering more than three hundred, according to one Arab geographer. At least three different rival denominations were represented, and the Christian pilgrim and tourist trade was then already at least six centuries old.”

All this is history now. Urfa today is an all-Muslim city. Christians were exposed to mass murders several times ever since Turks arrived from the Central Asia in Anatolia and Mesopotamia in the 11^th century.

Between 1894 and 1896, for example, a series of massacres spread through nearly every major Armenian-inhabited town of the Ottoman Empire.

The massacres culminated in the single worst atrocity “with the burning of the Armenian cathedral of Urfa within whose walls some 3,000 Armenians had taken refuge during the siege of their neighborhood,” according to the Armenian National Institute.

Assyrian Christians too were targeted in the massacres. “In October 1895 the Turkish army and Hamidian troops entered Urfa and killed 13 thousand Assyrians,” writes Dr. Anahit Khosroyeva in her article “A History of the Assyrian Genocide.”

But the gravest attack that exterminated the majority of Assyrian Christians in the region happened in the 1915.

Historian Paul R. Bartrop writes in his book Encountering Genocide: Personal Accounts from Victims, Perpetrators, and Witnesses:

“The Assyrian genocide… took place alongside those of the Armenians and the Pontic and Anatolian Greeks, during and after World War 1. At the start of the twentieth century, the Assyrian population in the Ottoman Empire numbered about one million, and was concentrated largely in what are now Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. As with the Armenian genocide, a large proportion of the Assyrian deaths occurred as a result of death marches into the Syrian Desert. Most of those who died were the victims of heat, starvation and thirst, exposure, and incessant brutality… The Assyrian population throughout the Empire was subjected to massacre, deportation, dismemberment, torture, and other atrocities. Whole cities were depopulated, and, when not killed outright, the inhabitants were sent on the aforementioned death marches.”

The Ottoman Turkish party the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was the planner and organizer of the genocide. According to many scholars, including Professor Bartrop, the major motivations of the perpetrators were the Turkification and Islamization of the region.

“One of the major factors contributing to the Turkish campaign against Christian minorities was the pre-war commitment to the Turkification of the empire. Accompanying this was an Islamic incentive, whereby the Turkish national dimension could be wedded to an Islamic revival for the caliphate… Accordingly, on Oct. 11, 1914, Sultan Mehmet V declared jihad (holy war) against all the Christians living in the Empire. The call to holy war was reaffirmed on Nov. 14, 1914, by the Sheikh al-Islam, the most senior Islamic cleric in the Ottoman Empire. It was directed toward all Christians, hitting particularly hard for those of Armenian, Assyrian and Greek descent,” Bartrop writes

What followed was the confiscation, plunder, and seizure of Christian properties.

“The state-orchestrated plunder of Armenian property immediately impoverished its victims,” according to scholar Umit Kurt, in his article “The Plunder of Wealth through Abandoned Properties Laws in the Armenian Genocide.”

“This was simultaneously a condition for and a consequence of the genocide. The seizure of the Armenian property was not just a byproduct of the CUP’s genocidal policies, but an integral part of the murder process, reinforcing and accelerating the intended destruction. The expropriation and plunder of deported Armenians’ movable and immovable properties was an essential component of the destruction process of Armenians… Genocide does not only mean physical annihilation,” according to Kurt. “What is important is the complete erasure of the traces of the Armenians from their ancient homeland.”

This attempt to erase the traces of the genocide victims has been applied to Anatolian Greeks and Assyrians, as well.

The homes, businesses, churches, monasteries, and other economic, religious and cultural sites of Assyrians were systematically seized by government officials or Muslim locals. Churches and monasteries were either destroyed or used for sacrilegious purposes, such as stables or storehouses.

Turkey today has a smaller Christian percentage of its population than all of its neighbors including Syria, Iraq and Iran. Only less than 0.2% of Turkey’s population is now Christian.

Though the constitution is officially secular, Christianity as well as other non-Muslim faiths are under the constant pressure and attacks at the hands of the Turkish government.  Persecution stemming from this destructive worldview has turned the indigenous and once flourishing Christian community into an almost-extinct, second class minority that are still not allowed to live as equal citizens who can freely practice their faith on their native lands.

YEREVAN (A.W.) – A total of 165 Armenian servicemen—147 full-time soldiers and 18 volunteers—were killed in 2016, according to a new report released by Armenia-based Razm.info.

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NKR Servicemen in Shushi (Photo: Araz Chiloyan)

April of 2016 marked the first time the Armenian Armed Forces and Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (Artsakh/NKR) Armed Forces suffered the loss of volunteers since the ceasefire was signed in 1994. The April Four Day War left 18 volunteers dead (17 combatant and 1 noncombatant). Eight of the volunteers were killed on the road to Martakert when a car transporting them from Sisian was hit by an Azerbaijani drone. Two others that initially survived this attack succumbed to their injuries some days later.

The total number of deaths that took place during combat in 2016 was 108 (91 servicemen, 17 volunteers) while the number of noncombatant deaths was 57.

Ninety-one of the casualties died during the Four-Day War in April 91 (74 servicemen, 17 volunteers).

Razm.info, which specializes on military news and analysis from Armenia, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh/NKR), Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and the Middle East, published the following table presenting the number of Armenian casualties month-by-month.

*This servicemen  was wounded by a landmine explosion in July.

A total of 76 Armenian servicemen were killed in 2015.

Murder, suicide, and casualties to due accidents are included in the noncombatant losses.

Razm.info compiled the numbers through a variety of public sources including the websites of Armenian Defense Ministry, the Armenian Armed Forces, the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia, and other Armenian media outlets.

According to the report, the statistics of the human losses of the Azerbaijani Defense and Security Forces will be published by Razm.info in the near future.

NEW YORK (A.W.)—Human Rights Watch (HRW) recently published its 2017 World Report—the organization’s annual review of human rights abuses around the globe—in which it highlighted several human rights abuses that took place in Armenia in 2016, including authorities’ use of excessive and disproportionate force against peaceful protesters, the assault of journalists, and the pressing of unjustified criminal charges against protest leaders and participants.

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HRW recently released its World Report (Photo: hrw.org)

Other issues, such as domestic violence; the discrimination, harassment, and violence towards LGBTI people; and unnecessary restrictions on access to pain medications for people with life-limiting illnesses were also highlighted in the Armenia report.

Within the 2017 World Report, Azerbaijan was greatly criticized for its continued “thorough crackdown” on dissenting voices in 2016. “Authorities released 17 human rights defenders, journalists, and political activists imprisoned on politically motivated charges. But at least 25 government critics remained wrongfully imprisoned, including political activists and bloggers arrested in 2016. Restrictive laws continue to prevent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from operating independently.” The report also highlighted that torture and other ill-treatment persisted in Azerbaijan throughout 2016.

The report also provided details about how independent media outlets faced harassment and closure in Azerbaijan, and how critical journalists faced continued threats and intimidation aimed at silencing them.

The HRW World Report also slammed Turkey’s human rights record, especially in terms of freedoms of expression, association, and assembly. According to the report, Turkish government-led efforts to silence media criticism and scrutiny of government policy in Turkey involved five main trends: the prosecution and jailing of journalists; the takeover of media companies; the removal of critical television stations from the main state-owned satellite distribution platform and their closure; physical attacks and threats against journalists; and government pressure on media to fire critical journalists and cancel their press accreditation. The report also said that the blocking of news websites critical to the Turkish government increased in 2016 and that Turkey made the highest number of requests to Twitter of any country to censor individual accounts.

Below is the HRW 2017 World Report section on Armenia.

***

HRW World Report 2017

Armenia: Events of 2016

Armenia’s human rights record remained uneven in 2016. Authorities used excessive and disproportionate force against peaceful protesters, assaulted journalists, and pressed unjustified criminal charges against protest leaders and participants. Ill-treatment in custody remained a persistent problem, and investigations have been ineffective.

Other concerns include domestic violence, often perpetrated with impunity, violence, and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and unnecessary restrictions on access to pain medications for people with life-limiting illnesses.

Excessive Use of Police Force

In July, Armenian authorities used excessive force against peaceful protesters demonstrating support for a radical group opposed to the government, and assaulted journalists reporting on the demonstrations. Authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of protest leaders and participants, pressing unjustified criminal charges against them and denying some of them basic rights of detainees.

Protests erupted after armed men from the radical opposition group, “Founding Parliament,” seized a police station in the capital Yerevan on July 17, killing one policeman and taking several hostages. Before the gunmen surrendered on July 31, public support for them and disaffection with the government grew into a protest movement. The protests were largely peaceful, with isolated incidents of violence from participants.

On July 29, police fired stun grenades into peaceful crowds in the neighborhood of the seized police station, causing demonstrators to sustain first and second degree burns and fragmentation wounds. Police did not attempt less violent crowd control means, and did not make any meaningful effort to warn crowds to disperse or about their plans to use force.

Police and unidentified people in civilian clothes acting with them, then charged towards the protesters, punching, kicking, and using wooden clubs and iron bars to beat some protesters, before detaining many of them.

Police warned several journalists to move away from the main crowd before using force. While most journalists complied, police fired several stun grenades in their direction, injuring at least eight. Police and unidentified men also beat some journalists and damaged and seized their equipment.

Authorities opened an investigation into police actions on July 29, sacked the Yerevan police chief, suspended four officers pending the investigation, and reprimanded 13. At time of writing, the investigation was ongoing.

Arbitrary Detentions and Ill-Treatment

In July and August, authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of people linked to the protests, beating many of them, and pressing unjustified criminal charges against some.

Police held some detainees for up to 12 hours without documenting the detention, and on at least two occasions arbitrarily held groups of people in a gymnasium on an interior troop base. Authorities primarily relied on police testimony to press criminal charges against at least 40 people for allegedly “organizing mass disorder,” which carries a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment. Courts relied on general and abstract reasons to send many of the detainees to pretrial detention. On appeal, courts released some protest leaders from detention on their own recognizance.

Authorities denied many detainees their basic rights, including prompt access to a lawyer of their choosing and the opportunity to inform a relative of their detention and whereabouts. Police also beat many detainees, in some cases severely, and did not allow some to get prompt medical care for their injuries. At time of writing, an investigation was pending into illegal detentions and beatings by police.

In a separate case, on January 1, police arrested opposition activist Gevorg Safaryan for allegedly assaulting a police officer, amid a scuffle during a public event organized by “Founding Parliament” members. Sarafyan denies he attacked the officer. A court approved Safaryan’s pretrial detention despite no evidence that he posed a flight risk or risk to the investigation. Local human rights groups consider his prosecution politically motivated. Safaryan’s trial was continuing at time of writing.

In June, authorities arrested “Founding Parliament” leader Jirair Sefilyan and six other members on charges of planning an armed coup. Sefilyan denied the accusations as politically motivated.

The gunmen involved in the July armed takeover of the Yerevan police compound demanded Sefilyan’s release and the president’s resignation, initially in exchange for release of hostages. After the men surrendered, authorities charged them with seizure of state buildings, hostage taking, and illegal arms possession. Authorities also arrested several other “Founding Parliament” members, including on suspicion of aiding and abetting the gunmen. Among them is a US citizen of Armenian descent, Garo Yegnukyan, who participated in peaceful protests following the seizure of the police station, and considers the charges politically motivated. Yegnukyan remained in pretrial detention at time of writing.

Women’s Rights

Despite evidence that violence against women remains common and sustained pressure from women’s rights groups and activists, Armenia has no law criminalizing domestic violence and has not ratified the Council of Europe’s Convention on Prevention and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women published a report documenting 30 cases of women killed by intimate partners and family members between 2010 and 2015. The report notes that domestic violence is grossly underreported and largely perpetrated with impunity. Coalition members receive more than 2,000 calls about domestic violence each year.

Palliative Care

Authorities continue to discuss reforming complicated and time-consuming prescription and procurement procedures that create unnecessary obstacles in accessing essential opioid medications. Current regulations obstruct delivery of adequate palliative care, condemning most patients with life-limiting illnesses to unnecessary suffering. Lack of oral opioids, tight police controls on injectable opioids, and restrictive policies on procurement, prescription, and disbursement are inconsistent with many World Health Organization palliative care recommendations.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Activists reported that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LBGTI) people face discrimination, harassment, and violence. The government has not addressed hate speech or discrimination against LGBTI people. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not included as protected grounds in anti-discrimination or hate speech laws, limiting legal recourse for many crimes against LGBTI people.

Following the October 2015 Rainbow forum, organized by Armenian LGBTI-friendly groups to discuss protection and promotion of minority rights, anonymous people targeted some participants with intimidation and threats, mostly on social media, including to burn and kill them. Authorities refused to launch a criminal investigation into the threats, citing lack of evidence.

In June, the LGBTI rights group, PINK Armenia, published a survey revealing that 90 percent of the population is hostile to LGBTI people and support limits on their rights. In July, PINK Armenia released a report documenting 46 cases of violence and discrimination against LGBTI people in 2015. The government has not taken meaningful steps to combat stereotypes and discrimination against LGBTI people.

Key International Actors

The observation mission of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) called the December 2015 referendum to transform the government from a presidential to a parliamentary system “driven by political interests instead of the needs of the Armenian public.” PACE criticized inaccurate voter lists, allegations of vote buying, abuse of administrative resources, an imbalanced media field, and the effective exclusion of people with disabilities in the absence of mobile voting.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatović, called for an investigation into verbal and physical attacks on journalists at referendum polling stations.

In response to the July demonstrations, the European Union delegation, together with heads of mission of EU Member States in Armenia, called on the authorities to avoid using unnecessary force and for effective investigations into police actions, and urged demonstrators to protest peacefully. The United Nations in Armenia called for swift investigations and respect for peaceful assembly and free expression rights and criticized the use of force against journalists.

In a September Human Rights Council speech, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein criticized the authorities’ denial of full access for his staff, preventing full engagement with the government and civil society.

In a report to the Human Rights Council in March, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, UN special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, acknowledged Armenia’s progress in combatting trafficking in persons, reducing placement of children in residential care, and limiting intercountry adoptions. However, she stated that the extent of child trafficking is unclear in the absence of relevant legislation and child-friendly complaint mechanisms, and insufficient awareness-raising among parents, professionals, and society. She urged authorities to pass domestic violence and other relevant legislation and ensure the child protection system consistently acts in the best interests of the child.

Special for the Armenian Weekly

Javakhk (called Samstekh-Javakheti by Georgians)—a historically Armenian region in the southern part of the Republic of Georgia—remains a forgotten fabric in our modern day pursuit to help our homeland develop and prosper.

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The Akhalkalak Fortress (Photo: Dickran Khodanian)

The earliest mention of Javakhk can be found in Urartu sources—in the notes of Armenian King Argishti I of Urartu in 785 BC—called by its former name Zabakha. [1]

In its ancient history, Javakhk remained under the control of the Artashes and Arshakuni Kingdoms as a part of the Gugark province of Greater Armenia until 428. Gugark was the 13^th of the 15 provinces of Greater Armenia. Following the collapse of the Arshakuni kingdom, the Georgian state annexed the territories of Gugark which included Javakhk. Regardless of foreign rule, the Armenian Church kept its influence in Georgia. [2]

Over the next couple of hundred years, Javakhk succumbed to Arab invasion but was eventually liberated by the Armenian Bagratids. In the Middle Ages, Javakhk faced invasion by the Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans, and Persians.

Between 1828 and 1829—during the war between the Ottoman and Russian Empires—the conquest of the districts Akhalkalak and Akhaltskha of Javakhk were significant to the military agenda of each side. As a result of the war, Russia ended up taking possession of the two districts. The Russian occupation proved to be beneficial to those who had fled from these districts, because they were able to return and reconstruct their villages.[3]

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Javakhk seen as a part of Gugark Provice of Greater Armenia
(Source: Armenia map of Strabo’s “Geography”, 180 A. D.. Reconstruction by R. Hewsen, Chicago University Press.)

Armenians took advantage of Russian occupation and, in 1829, 58,000 Armenians from the districts of Ardahan, Erzurum, and Basen left their homes under the leadership of Archbishop Karapet Bagratuni, and took up residents in the districts of Akhaltskha and Akhalkalak.[4] The arrival of the Western Armenians dramatically increased the number of Armenians in Javakhk.

Though historically, Armenians had always lived there, the Armenian population drastically increased in the 1830’s.[5] The Western Armenians imposed a dialect, culture, and traditions on the locals, which eventually contributed to a mixed culture. In addition to the Armenian villages that existed, the Armenians of Eruzrum founded over 50 new villages in Javakhk together with the locals. This influx of Armenians that were specifically concentrated in Akhalkalak and Akhaltskha marked a turning point in the Transcaucasian region.[6]

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Map of Javakhk (Photo: Javakhk Compatriotic Union)

By the 1880’s, Armenians constituted a great majority in Historical Javakhk, specifically in the districts of Akhalkalak, Akhaltskha, and Borchalu. Armenian churches in Javakhk also exceeded 100 during this period.[7] The Catholicos of All Armenians Mkhrtich Khrimian (Khrimian Hayrik) visited the different districts of Javakhk and discussed reforms with Russian officials. Schools and colleges began to open and a literary circle was beginning to form.

Following the Berlin Conference of 1884–85, the Armenian communities of Javakhk felt compassion towards their compatriots in Western Armenia and eventually initiated a movement to administer relief to villages in Western Armenia. In the 1890’s, various liberation groups were established and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) extended their activities to Javakhk. The ARF prioritized national issues and attracted many followers in Javakhk while the SDHP emphasized the issues of land of the peasantry. The relations between Western Armenia and Armenians of Javakhk become increasingly stronger and many young men began forming armed groups to participate in the liberation of Western Armenia.[8]

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St. Khach Armenian Church, Akhalkalak (Photo: Dickran Khodanian)

Following the Armenian Genocide, large groups of Western Armenians who fled their homes against settled in parts of Javakhk. By 1914, there were close to 83,000 Armenians in the area.[9]

Towards the end of WWI, Turkish forces—encouraged by the Russian withdrawal of Transcaucasia—saw it as an opportunity to launch an offensive against Akhalkalak and Akhaltskha.[10] At the same time, they instigated local Meskhetian Turks to attack the Armenians. The Armenian population stood their ground and organized a self-defense under the leadership of Akhaltskha mayor Zori Zorian between Dec. 1917 to Feb. 1918.

When WWI ended and the First Republic of Armenia was formed, a war was fought with Georgia in Dec. 1918, largely over the control of the territories of Lori and Javakhk. The war eventually resulted in Armenians taking control over Lori, while the Georgians took control over Javakhk.[11]

With the Sovietization of Armenia and Georgia in 1920, Javakhk remained part of Soviet Georgia. With the signing of the Treaty of Kars in 1921, Armenia lost Nakhichevan and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabagh) to Soviet Azerbaijan.[12]

Under the rule of the USSR, the region was completely ignored by Georgian authorities. Soviet leaders organized an ethnic cleansing of the Meskhetian Turks in the 1940’s and resettled all the land with Georgians. Armenians were being encouraged to emigrate and a large group from Javakhk were also exiled to Siberia in the late 1940’s. From 1950 to 1970, economic and political conditions for the Javakhk Armenians only grew more difficult and the population began to diminish.[13]

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Sign when entering city of Ninotsminda (Photo: Carnie Armenian)

When Georgia declared independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, national discrimination against the Armenians in Javakhk and the rest of the Republic of increased severely. In the 1990’s, under the presidency of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Armenians were encouraged to take Georgian surname and were promoted only when they did so. Densely populated Armenian localities in Akhalkalakh and other areas in Javakhk became considered the “21-kilometer zone,” which meant that privatization of lands and their purchase became banned. In order to break the homogeneity of Javakhk’s ethnic makeup, the heavily Armenian populated districts consisting of Akhalkalak, Ninotsminda, Aspindza, and Akhaltskha were united into a single administrative province with its center in Akhalkalak city. Ninotsminda and Akhalkalak ceased representing independent districts, while the electoral law—which provided for the proposal of the candidacy of Parliament deputies on the bases of party affiliation—placed the Armenians in an unfair position.

In 2000, the Russian military base in Akhalkalak was removed. This removal caused grave concern for the Armenians in Javakhk because they viewed the presence of the Russian military base on their district as a guarantee of their safety. The base also provided a great number of Armenians with employment opportunities.

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Near the Armenian village of Ablar (Photo: Dickran Khodanian)

Today, the Armenians of Javakhk live in harsh conditions. Unemployment is rampant, and national discrimination, mistrust towards Georgian authorities, and poor power supply are among some of the main concerns of the Armenian community. These factors have contributed to thousands of people abandoning their native villages for Russia and other countries for better opportunities.

Most Armenian schools in Javakhk have been partially destroyed. It has become a common occurrence for teachers not to receive their salaries for years and pensioners and veterans from the Artsakh War experience severe financial hardships.

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Statue of Mesrop Mashtots in the city center of Akhalkalak (Photo: Dickran Khodanian)

Currently, Javakhk has over 100 villages that are mainly inhabited by Armenians. Districts in Javakhk including Akhaltskha, Ninotsminda, Aspindza, and Tzalka are where a majority of the Armenians reside. Towns like Akhalkalak are about 90 percent Armenian, while places like Akhaltskha are closer to 50 percent.[14] In addition to emigration, these percentages have continued to decrease due to the increase of Meskhetian Turks that have begun to resettle in parts of Javakhk.

Akhaltskha used to be a town with a majority of Armenians, but due to unemployment, Armenians began selling their houses and moving at a time when the Meskhetian Turks began to arrive.[15]

Despite all these hardships, the Armenians of Javakhk continue to preserve the spirit of the Armenian people. At present, there are three Armenian Youth Centers in Javakhk—in Akhaltskha (founded in 2006), Akhalkalak (founded in 2007), and Ninotsminda, which was established in the last couple of years. These cultural youth centers provide spaces where young Armenians gather and learn about their history, culture, and language.[16]

Currently, what is referred to as Historical Javakhk, with its two districts, is the most homogeneous territory outside the borders of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabagh. Yet today, there are only few initiatives being implemented. One of these programs is the Javakhk Fund Program, which was founded by the Armenian Relief Society (ARS) in 2001. The Javakhk Fund Program was established as a response to the troubling living conditions in Javakhk. The Javakhk Fund helps establish programs focusing on youth, health care, education, and the Armenian culture. The Fund also helps maintain and repair the youth centers in Javakhk throughout the year.[17]

Another, which was also established by the ARS, is Camp Javakhk. Camp Javakhk is a summer day camp for the youth of the Armenian villages in Javakhk organized by Armenian youth from the United States.[18] The program, founded in 2012, is free of charge to the children of Javakhk and takes place in Akhalkalak, Ninotsminda, Akhaltskha, and Dzalka.

The Armenians of Javakhk have experienced a similar history to Artsakh and the modern day Republic of Armenia. Figures like the great minstrel Jivani, writer Derenik Demirchian, poet Vahan Terian, and Defense Minister of the First Republic Ruben Ter-Minassian are all prominent individuals who originated from Javakhk. These individuals overcame many and succeeded in establishing a legacy for generations to come.

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(L-R) Jivani, Derenik Demirchian, Vahan Terian, and Ruben Ter-Minassian

Unfortunately, the challenges of the past have guided the narrative of the present day conditions of Javakhk. Discrimination continues to exist; Armenians continue to lack proper representation within government; the Armenian community is slowly decreasing and people are leaving every day. Though these challenges are not new, they must be properly understood and evaluated.

Although Artsakh, Armenia, and the Diaspora all remain important aspects of our history and present day, Javakhk has, unfortunately been overlooked and rarely spoken about. The history and the conditions of Javakhk must be incorporated into our modern day dialogue concerning the issues of the global Armenian nation.

Javakhk, too, is part of our homeland and must be dealt with in that manner. Yes, there are many challenges there given the current circumstances, but proper education on Javakhk’s history and an understanding of its current issues can become the first steps in finding solutions to its many problems.

Notes

[1] Ashot Melkonyan, Javakhk in the 19^th Century and the 1^st Quarter of the 20^th Century, trans. Gayane Movsissian (Yerevan, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, 2007), p. 36.
[2] Melkonyan, p. 35.
[3] Ibid, p. 68.
[4] Ibid, pp. 68-69.
[5] Ibid, p. 68.
[6] Ibid, p. 69.
[7] Ibid, p. 109.
[8] Ibid, p. 113.
[9] Ibid, p. 105.
[10] Ibid, p. 150.
[11] Ibid, pp. 176-177.
[12] The Treaty of Kars. (Turkey, Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia, Azerbaijan Socialist Soviet Republic, Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia), Oct. 23, 1921. http://groong.usc.edu/treaties/kars.html
[13] Melkonyan, p. 233.
[14] Melkonyan, p. 235.
[15] Conversation with Akhaltskha resident, Aug. 5, 2017.
[16] “ARS Javakhk Fund”, Armenian Relief Society, http://www.arswestusa.org/index.php/programs/javakhk, (January 16, 2017)
[17] “ARS Javakhk Fund”, Armenian Relief Society, http://www.arswestusa.org/index.php/programs/javakhk, (January 16, 2017)
[18] “Camp Javakhk”, Armenian Youth Federation, http://ayf.org/programs/camp-javakhk/ (January 16, 2017)

Special for the Armenian Weekly

In a short TV report, the local “Samsun Haber TV” station (samsunhaber.tc) recently covered the Armenian past of the Selahiye neighborhood in the northern Turkish city of Samsun.

In the report, Emin Kirbiyik, the head of the Samsun Local History Community, said that the 30 August Islamic Imam-Hatip Middle School, which offers an Islamic curriculum to pupils, and the Selahiye mosque in the neighborhood, were built on the property that housed an Armenian church before 1915. The church Kirbiyik refers to is the Surp Nigogayos Armenian Apostolic Church.

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The Surp Nigogayos Armenian Apostolic Church

Also, the Gazi Pasa (Ghazi Pasha) Primary School near the 30 August Imam Hatip Middle School served as the home of the church’s Armenian priest and as an Armenian orphanage, said Kirbiyik. Some houses in the area still carry traces of Armenian architecture.

The church was destroyed in 1936 and replaced by the 30 August Primary School. The official website of the school also confirms the TV report:

“The construction of the 30 August Primary School was begun in 1936 and completed in 1938. The building was built on the foundation of the Armenian Church, which was destroyed.”

According to the website of Gazi Pasa Primary School:

“There used to be a church where the 30 August Primary School is today. And the Gazi Pasa Primary School was the guesthouse of the priest of the church. This school was once used as ‘Darul Eytam’ [orphanage] by Armenians back in those days. The decision to use this building as a school was made by Kazim Pasha, the governor of the city. In 1930, it was opened as an official primary school.”

Today, Samsun does not have an Armenian community, but the Selahiye neighborhood, as well as the rest of Samsun, was home to many Armenians before the Armenian Genocide.

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The Selahiye mosque (Photo: Haber)

According to the statistics of the Patriarchate and the Ottoman population census of 1914, there were 35,907 Armenians in Samsun (Canik). There were also 49 churches and 74 schools. The Armenian community also greatly contributed to the culture of the city. Tomas Fasulyeciyan, one of the founders of Ottoman theater, for example, established the first theater in Samsun in 1890’s.

Professor Raymond Kevorkian describes the extermination process of Armenian communities from Samsun in his book The Armenian Genocide: A Complete History.

Armenian, Greek, and Assyrian Roots of Samsun

Samsun is located in northeastern Anatolia, or the ancient Pontos region.

Samsun, like other ancient Pontian cities, was established by Greeks from Miletus in about the 7^th century B.C. Many famous churches, monasteries and schools are testaments to the resilience of Hellenism and Christianity in the region. Pontos gave the world many great thinkers, such as the philosopher Diogenes of Sinope (Sinop) and the geographer Strabo of Amasia (Amasya).

Assyrians too are deeply rooted in the region.  According to the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, edited by Geoffrey W. Bromiley, in Pontos, “There are traces of Assyrian culture from the third millennium B.C.”

The history of Samsun is also closely linked with Armenia and Armenian highlands. Under Byzantine rule, Samsun was a part of the administrative region of Armenia.

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Samsun, 1912. Female pupils and teachers of the Armenian school. The identity of only one is known; Youliane Sarkissian (seated on right) (Photo: Norayr Dadourian collection, Los Angeles/Houshamadyan)

According to “Armenian Pontus: The Trebizond-Black Sea Communities,” edited by Professor Richard G. Hovannisian, “There were Armenian communities in the Pontus-Black Sea region across the centuries until their violent elimination in the first decades of the twentieth century.”

The book is an invaluable source for those who want to discover the Armenian roots of northern Turkey.

Today, Samsun is an all-Muslim, Turkish city. The indigenous Greek, Armenian, and Assyrian communities have been exterminated. This change in demographics and culture was accomplished through mass murder, forced deportations, forced conversions to Islam, and forced seizures of the property by the perpetrators.

It has been 102 years since the Armenian Genocide, but the Turkish government is still in proud denial. How long will it take Turkey to finally stop denying the destruction and the infinite suffering brought to the victims of the Armenian Genocide as well as all other natives of Turkey?