Armenieninfo.net

On Dec. 20, 2010, Turkish members of parliament, including the ultra-nationalist MHP, Islamist AKP, nationalist CHP, and others, were listening to the tall woman addressing the session during the budgetary discussions for the Ministry of Tourism and Culture. “Rafael Lemkin says genocide is not only about the extermination of the representatives of a nation but also annihilation of its cultural and national values,” she was saying. “Today, of the 913 Armenian monuments remaining after 1923, 464 have been totally destroyed, 252 left to a state of dilapidation, and 197 in urgent need of restoration. Many of the Armenian religious buildings are being used as stables or storehouses, and many of the Armenian churches have been turned into mosques. Armenians in 1915 were driven out of their own homeland. Suffering, exile, and destitution all combined into Armenian people’s painful outcry.” She went on to quote Armenian singer Aram Tigran’s words: “A storm blew away our nest, leaving us orphans, exiled, longing for our nest even if it is made of stone.” She concluded: “Turkish governments’ refusal of Aram Tigran’s last wish to be buried in Diyarbakir is proof that the punishment imposed on Armenians does not end even after their death.”

Images are engraved in my mind… Of the solemn and dignified faces of Armenians praying, some touching and caressing the age-old stones of the Sourp Khatch Church, some crying…The exquisite stonework responding to my touch like a living being at the nearby thousand-year-old cemetery, totally left to destruction by the forces of nature… A land that lost its children without a trace… The official sign informing visitors about the church without a single reference to “Armenians”… The ragged mountainous landscape, once the homeland of Armenians, now welcoming people with a gigantic crescent and star of the Turkish flag, accompanied by the words “Gendarmerie–Commando”… The Kurdish people of Van expressing an almost shy, warm hospitality and a visibly apologetic way of displaying a readiness to help… But also the treasure hunters, seeing this “historical” gathering as a good opportunity to find Armenians from abroad for help in uncovering the gold that their grandparents may have buried before being massacred or taken on their death march… And a gathering in a bookstore on one of the busiest streets of Van where Ara Sarafian, an Armenian historian and the director of the Gomidas Institute from London, and Osman Koker, the founder of Birzamanlar Yayincclik from Istanbul, are presenting the book Aghtamar: A Jewel of Medieval Armenian Architecture, which they jointly published for the Akhtamar church service on Sept. 19.

But this time the cafe is hosting a very different kind of event. Today, Osman Koker, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Birzamanlar Yayincilik (renowned for its book Armenians in Turkey 100 years ago, and exhibitions both in Turkey and abroad), and Ara Sarafian, the director of the Gomidas Institute based in London, are presenting their co-production—“Akhtamar: A Jewel of Medieval Armenian Architecture”—to an audience comprised of journalists from the U.S., Armenia, France, and other countries; representatives of the Turkish mainstream press, as well as the local press; groups of Armenians from Istanbul; and locals.

Der Staat, der seine eigenen Bürger in den Tod geschickt hatte, behauptete einerseits, sie seien nur „umgesiedelt” worden, andererseits wollte er mit der Begründung, „dass angenommen werden müsse, dass sie tot seien  und nicht einmal Erben existierten”, die finanziellen Ansprüche der Erben für sich beanspruchen.

Aus Zeitungen und dem Fernsehen erfuhren wir am 21. und 22. August, dass das Berufungsgericht  im US-Bundesstaat Kalifornien entschieden hatte, das Gesetz  aufzuheben, nach welchem  Erben von 1915-16 ums Leben gekommenen Armeniern, die eine Lebensversicherung besaßen, die Versicherungsgesellschaften auf Entschädigung verklagen konnten. Über die Hintergründe der Angelegenheit wurde, entgegen der üblichen Gewohnheit, nichts berichtet. Vielleicht habe ich es übersehen, aber von den bekannten Kolumnisten hat sich auch niemand damit befasst. Genauer betrachtet erscheint es für uns in der heutigen Türkei etwas realitätsfern, dass es in jenen Jahren in Anatolien Menschen  gab, die Lebensversicherungen abgeschlossen hatten.