Speaking to One Another - The International Raoul Wallenberg ...

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southeastern Turkey. These actions were explained with reference to state policy, the influence of religiousleaders, and hopes of material gain. Kurdish interviewees recounted anecdotes concerning violenceagainst Armenians, the seizure of Armenian property and the abduction of Armenian women andchildren. Interviews show how widespread the practice of incorporating Armenian children into Muslimfamilies was. Narratives demonstrate the exploitative nature of these relationships as women were takenby force to provide sexual services, labor and children.Today, Kurdish experience of suffering due to state violence and forced migration has led many Kurdsto identify with Armenian suffering in the past. A Kurdish term, şiv u poşiv, suggests that if Armenianscould be said to have been devoured as a “first meal,” the Kurds constituted the next one. As familiesand individuals of Armenian descent tend to be remembered in Anatolia, stories of Armenian brides canbe traced through the accounts of the next generations, including their descendants. In fact, one of themeans by which Armenian women were able to express their agency was through transmitting theirstories to their Muslim children. Similarly, as many homes, fields and even businesses belonging to Armeniansremain known, their stories can also be traced over generations. The stories of women andproperty show that 1915 can hardly be relegated to the past, and remains very much part and parcel ofeveryday life in contemporary Turkey.What is particularly intriguing about the narratives of Muslims is the tendency, particularly on theyounger generation’s part, to rediscover and identify with the Armenians in their own families. This desireto identify with the victim may be viewed as an outcome of contemporary identity politics and ameans of dealing with guilt in a society that refuses to publicly acknowledge responsibility. As a youngKurdish interviewee put it, representing oneself as a victim might be viewed as a source of power in thiscontext.Narratives of Turks tend to express the contradictions between national history and local memory mostclearly. Turkish interviewees also emphasized the close relations between Muslims and Armenians priorto 1915. They told anecdotes about Armenians they or their families knew as neighbors, friends or coworkers.Memories of these Armenians were commonly tinged with nostalgia and regret. Often, an idealizedimage of the Armenian would emerge from these accounts: intelligent, hard-working, disciplined,well-educated, generous. In reconstructing the past, Muslim interviewees tended to contrast the modernityof Armenians with the Muslims’ underdevelopment. Betraying an Occidentalist approach, Turksidentified with an idealized modernity associated with the purportedly universal values of European Enlightenment.In the past, the Muslim elite believed that Ottoman society could achieve modernity onlysubsequent to the elimination of local Christians who hindered the progress of Muslims. Our interviewees,in contrast, suggested nostalgically that if only the Armenians “had not left,” their village, town,city, and country might be better off today. This difference might be due to the cynicism concerning theachievements of the Republic. It might also be interpreted as an expression of guilt, given the success ofthe policy of elimination of Armenians.20
Yet to a large extent, Turkish interviewees remained hesitant and evasive when speaking of 1915. Theytended to avoid discussing agency and responsibility directly. In many cases, the expression of sadnessand regret in anecdotes of local individuals and events was contrasted with silences and defensivenesscharacterizing general discussions of 1915. Is it surprising that Armenian and Kurdish public discourseseems to have changed more than that of Turks? Nevertheless, the cost of living with internal contradictions,silences and evasions is high, and there are indications that even among Turkish intervieweesthere is growing awareness of the need to bridge the gap between local memories and public discourse.This is particularly so among the younger generation whose search for a personal history is confrontedwith the limits of national identity.Breaking the public silence and denial about the past and speaking to one another about the experiencesof individuals, families and communities constitutes an important step towards mutual understandingand peace both within Turkey and between Armenia and Turkey. Oral history research is an importanttool through which personal memories can be expressed and shared in the public sphere.Concerning reconciliation, our interviewees continually emphasized the shared culture of Armeniansand Muslims in this geography, despite the bad blood that came between these communities in the past.As one interviewee put it, “Even if you killed each other, even if you don’t look at one another’s face, thesame things make you happy.” He suggested that while confronting the past and accepting responsibilityis necessary, this must be accompanied by forgiveness and forgetting as the only way of moving intoa shared future: “How can the pain of a broken arm be forgotten? It is forgotten through forgiving. Discussingis something, questioning is another thing, but eventually you have to love. And they have tolove you in return.”21
Page 2 and 3: Published by:Institut für Internat
Page 5 and 6: ContentsForeword...................
Page 7 and 8: ForewordThe project “Adult Educat
Page 10 and 11: Aras, Yasin Aras, Welat Ay, Cenk Ce
Page 12 and 13: The main audience of this book is o
Page 15 and 16: “Wish they hadn’t left”:The B
Page 17 and 18: ed by 1915 and where memories of Ar
Page 19: 1915 tends to be represented by int
Page 23 and 24: this, we can’t. It’s impossible
Page 25 and 26: een very advanced in trade and craf
Page 27 and 28: How to Come to Terms with Phantom P
Page 29 and 30: It is always you who has to be nice
Page 32 and 33: to the way he was raised: “They f
Page 34 and 35: empathize with Armenians: “My aun
Page 36 and 37: Adil is not the only one marked by
Page 38 and 39: ness may be an attempt to overcome
Page 40 and 41: dernity and the oral transmission o
Page 42 and 43: A soup pot with spoons around itAt
Page 44 and 45: What if My Mother is Armenian?Ruhi
Page 46 and 47: If I were younger I’d get baptize
Page 48: with butter. We’ll serve the impo
Page 51 and 52: The time Salih and Gavrik are worki
Page 53 and 54: Turkey’s changing context is refr
Page 55 and 56: ‘It was to be expected.’ And my
Page 57 and 58: against one another. The feet of th
Page 59 and 60: Fear of Losing a CityZübeyde was b
Page 61 and 62: half for me.’ But what do our Mus
Page 63 and 64: e discussed when the kids were arou
Page 65 and 66: possible by the difference in relig
Page 67 and 68: The Charm of AraratMehmet is a 62-y
Page 69 and 70: dogs protected the sheep against wo
Page 71 and 72:
The Story of the “Night People”
Page 73 and 74:
“I don’t know why, but my grand
Page 75:
Research in Armenia:“Whom to Forg
Page 78 and 79:
and can generally be located in Tur
Page 80 and 81:
“Whom to Forgive? What to Forgive
Page 82 and 83:
“Private Stories”After the esta
Page 84 and 85:
Recalling MemoriesOral history diff
Page 86 and 87:
In the village of Ujan, where the v
Page 88 and 89:
The home-museum of Gevork Chaush in
Page 90 and 91:
Memorial in the Ashnak village dedi
Page 92 and 93:
other regions are entirely populate
Page 94 and 95:
sources and materials for their mem
Page 96 and 97:
Ergir’s Soil is Strong, Ergir’s
Page 98:
Tatevik, the granddaughterof Mihran
Page 101 and 102:
eral meanings in Armenian -”whole
Page 103 and 104:
The Gospel with Golden Binding of S
Page 105 and 106:
keeps a copper chalice that was bro
Page 107 and 108:
In some families the passports of t
Page 109 and 110:
at that time, Mustafa and Jamal, wh
Page 111 and 112:
People were so frightened to lose g
Page 113 and 114:
naked, they were decapitating every
Page 115 and 116:
Water, Fire, Desert“There was an
Page 117 and 118:
his mother dragged him behind her,
Page 119 and 120:
Many of our narrators mention the R
Page 121 and 122:
In the word-stock of the survivors
Page 123 and 124:
in Kurdish villages, and helping th
Page 125 and 126:
“Well, They Are Human Too”Even
Page 127 and 128:
member this well, they said, the el
Page 129 and 130:
speak to each other. Questioned by
Page 131 and 132:
Hamze Ptshuk, survived from Hosnut
Page 133 and 134:
“I don’t Know...”Why did this
Page 135 and 136:
“My Dear Almast, Write it Down, W
Page 137 and 138:
took his rifle and ran. The dog fel
Page 139 and 140:
she didn’t tell it to me. In the
Page 141 and 142:
elder guy in this house died and hi
Page 143 and 144:
AH - Turks always killed to get int
Page 145 and 146:
“My Father used to Tell us at Hom
Page 147 and 148:
person... I have never seen him, bu
Page 149 and 150:
gotten what you knew”. So, out of
Page 151 and 152:
a paid Adult Residential Facility,
Page 153 and 154:
It was probably after 60s... My fat
Page 155 and 156:
the Vardevar 1 day . Even if we mak
Page 157 and 158:
that this wasn’t a dream... and..
Page 159 and 160:
was our historical village. Nich, I
Page 161 and 162:
just filming around myself with no
Page 163 and 164:
that person whether I could take a
Page 165:
[Turk. wife]”. In the morning I t
Page 168 and 169:
4 Albert Mamikonyan,1953, in Kirova
Page 170 and 171:
11 Almast Harutyunyan,1920, Ujan vi
Page 172 and 173:
18 Eleonora Ghazaryan.1949, Ashnak
Page 174 and 175:
26 Nairi Tajiryan,1936, Egypt (Cair
Page 176:
33 Vazgen Ghukasyan,1933, Ashnak vi
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