Medz Yeghern
While a detailed historical reconstruction of this period has proved to be extremely controversial, it is fair to say that several hundred thousands of ethnic Armenians were forcefully evicted from their original areas of settlement and that a large share of them perished during the "evacuation" marches towards the Syrian desertic area near the town of Deir ez-Zor, on the banks of the Euphrates river. Many of the survivors found a shelter in Aleppo, Damascus and the eastern outksirts of Beirut, where Armenian communities have been thriving until our days.
On February 22, 1922, His Holiness Sahak II, the Catholicos of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church, send a letter to the scattered Armenians of Syria and Lebanon. This is the French translation of its opening:
Mes salutations aux Arméniens de Cilicie que la déportation a dispersés de par le monde. Mes salutations à tous ceux qui souffrent de la part de leur Patriarche Sahak affligé de douleurs, Catholicos de la Maison de Cilicie, autrefois Grande, mais aujourd’hui détruite.
Selon l’usage cette lettre aurait dû revêtir la forme d’une encyclique, avec une entête pourpre et ornée. Mais je ne vous écris ni de Hromkla ni de Sis, mais de Damas, ville où furent exilés nos princes honorables et leurs fils et surtout Saint Vahan de Goghten auquel des chants furent dédiés ; de Damas où il n’y a ni Siège pontifical ni sceptre, ni chancellerie pontificale ni chancelier, ni sceau, ni encre pourpre, [de Damas] où tout est noir.
Donc sans chercher la forme et le cachet répondez-moi, mes chers enfants, dites-moi où vous êtes afin que je puisse suivre les traces de votre chemin de croix, sinon pour vous consoler matériellement, du moins pour alléger votre joug et le poids que vous écrase, en partageant vos douleurs…
6 Comments:
The controversy comes from the active denial by the Turkish Republic that it was genocide.
Have you seen the new film “Masseria delle Allodole” (The Lark Farm) by the Taviani brothers?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,466427,00.html
If I write about the [Armenian] genocide it angers the Turkish generals. I want to write and ask how we can change this historical conflict into peace. They don’t know how to solve the Armenian problem."
"I challenge the accepted version of history because I do not write about things in black and white. People here are used to black and white; that’s why they are astonished that there are other shades, too."
"There are Turks who don't admit that their ancestors committed genocide. If you look at it though, they seem to be nice people… So why don't they admit it? Because they think that genocide is a bad thing which they would never want to commit, and because they can't believe their ancestors would do such a thing either."
"Turkish-Armenian relations should be taken out of a 1915 meters-deep well."
Hrant Dink (1954-2007)
La masseria delle allodole will be released in Italy on March 23.
I'll post a comment as soon as I have a chance to watch the movie.
Skylark, these words of Hrant Dink's are seen in 'Screamers' the new documentary from Carla Garapedian, at 1:35 on this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=towG9RF9R7o&eurl
Also here is Hrant Dink in France meeting with French-Armenians:
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=19944
Thank you for the information and the links.
Post a Comment
<< Home