Category: Armenian Question

`I Want for Armenians what I want for Kurds’: An interview with Mayor
Abdullah Demirbas

‘I want for Armenians what I want for Kurds’: An interview with Mayor Abdullah Demirbas

Sat, Oct 29 2011

By: Khatchig Mouradian

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.) – Abdullah Demirbas is a man on a mission. The
mayor of Diyarbakir’s central district strives to restore some of the
city’s multicultural, multiethnic character through a series of
initiatives to renovate places on worship, adopt multilingualism, and
encourage those with roots in the city to return.

Baris Alen from the Diyarbakir metropolitan municipality, Weekly
editor Khatchig Mouradian, mayor Abdullah Demirbas, mayor of Warwick,
R.I. Scott Avedisian, and Weekly contributor George Aghjayan.
I sat down with the mayor in his office in Diyarbakir on Oct. 23.

`For decades, we were told, `people [of different cultures] can’t live
together, so we won’t tolerate difference, we will make them all the
same,” Demirbas laments. `Ours is an effort to restore what was lost
during the state’s campaign to erase different identities, faiths, and
cultures in the city.’

>From the moment a visitor enters the city, signs of this multicultural
approach manifest themselves, literally. Diyarbakir is the first city
in Turkey to welcome its visitors with signs in Armenian.

`We could have done it in Turkish and Kurdish only. But these lands do
not belong to the Turks and Kurds alone. They are also the lands of
Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans,’ the Kurdish mayor explains.

These signs are not just for visitors, but constitute an effort to
change mindsets. `We want the people living in the city to realize
that historically, Diyarbakir has always been a multicultural city,’
he noted.

More than 100,000 Armenians lived in the Diyarbakir province in 1914.
Although mostly peasants living in villages like Palu and Lice, the
majority of the tradesmen in the province were also Armenian. In turn,
Armenian craftsmen and artisans, constituted a significant presence in
the province.

The Armenian genocide shattered this vibrant community. Diyarbakir
witnessed one of the most violent and comprehensive campaigns of
massacre in the Ottoman Empire, with most Armenians being killed
outside the city walls. The Armenian wealth was confiscated by the
authorities and local elites. Within a few years, the centuries-old
Armenian presence in the province was erased.

Demirbas does not mince his words when talking about the Armenian
genocide. `Our grandparents, incited by others, committed wrongs. But
we, their grandchildren, will not repeat them. Not only that, but we
will also not allow others to repeat them,’ he said. `We learned from
the past. Those lessons inform our actions in the present, and will
continue informing them in the future.’

The mayor insists that he does not believe in `dry apologies’ but
actions that demonstrate genuineness and sincerity. He sees the
renovation of Sourp Giragos as one manifestation of this approach.
`Today, we are not simple asking for forgiveness in a dry fashion,’ he
notes. `I am a Kurd. And I want for Armenians what I want for the
Kurds.’

`What is your message to the Armenians who were uprooted from their
ancestral lands?’ I ask him. He changes his posture, looks at me
straight in the eye, and says, `Return! At least come and find your
homes and your lands. If you can find your old houses, renovate them!
Have a home here too. This is your motherland. Other lands cannot and
will not be your motherland. Come to your lands, we want to correct
the past wrong. This is our message!’

Demirbas has suffered dearly for his multicultural initiatives and for
being an outspoken critic of the Turkish state. Twenty-three lawsuits
have been filed against him, he says, asking for 232 years of
imprisonment. `I am the only mayor in Turkey who was forced out of his
position. I was imprisoned for two years for my opinions and policies,
but when I returned, I was reelected with an even bigger margin,’ he
says.

Diyarbakir, a predominantly Kurdish region, promises to become an
oasis of multiculturalism in a desert of denial and oppressive
policies. The strategy of embracing all cultures – as opposed to
struggling solely for Kurdish autonomy and rights – could serve as an
example for other Kurdish dominated municipalities in the Southeast.

Demirbas’s efforts are not lost on the international community. The
European Union and the U.S. encourage Diyarbakir’s multicultural
initiatives and restoration efforts. The EU has provided a grant to
highlight the city’s historic and cultural heritage. The U.S.
Ambassador to Turkey, U.S. consuls in Istanbul and Adana, and embassy
staff attended the mass in Sourp Giragos. The consuls also attended
the consecration of the church the day before. `Our multicultural
approach is in line with theirs,’ the mayor notes.

The Turkish state, on the other hand, is far behind, argues Demirbas.
`There was no representative from the state today [in Sourp Giragos].
But they will come. They will have to. And it all depends on our
struggle,’ he says. `I was thrown in prison, my 16-year-old son has
joined the PKK and is on the mountains, and [the state] will harass me
again, they will imprison me again, even something worse might happen
to me, but I act based on my convictions. And one day they, too, will
come.’
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1-     Tam Uyeligi Secen ve 8 Ekim/2011 – 15 Kasim/2011 arasinda 2012 uye aidatlarini gonderen uyelerimize Sayin Buyukelci Kamuran Gurun’un yazmis oldugu , zamanin boyutlarini asan meshur “ERMENIAN FILE” kitabini (Amazon Degeri $40.00 + Posta) Hic bir ilave ucret talep etmeden ve Dunyanin hangi kosesinde olursa olsun gonderecegiz.  Elimizde kafi miktarda stok var.

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LUTFEN BU GECIS DONEMINE KATKILARINIZI ESIRGEMEYINIZ

Mutlu bir gelecegin bizlerle ve gelecek nesillerimizle olmasi dileklerimle

Dr. Kayaalp Buyukataman, Genel Baskan

Turkish Forum – Dunya Turkleri Birligi

Genocide focus of conference: Turkey making some restitution
By Bronislaus B. Kush TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
[email protected]

WORCESTER – Turkey – defying the sentiment of many nations – still
refuses to recognize the slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians at the
hands of Ottoman Turks as a `genocide.’

But, in a gesture that some scholars believe may ease longstanding
tensions over the issue between Turks and Armenians, the Turkish
government has begun returning churches confiscated long ago from
Armenian Christians residing in and around Istanbul.

The return of the houses of worship was a key element discussed at a
two day conference at Clark University that examined the issues of
restitution and reparation to individuals and groups affected by the
decimation of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire around the
time of World War I.

The conference was sponsored by Clark’s Strassler Center for Holocaust
and Genocide Studies, the National Association for Armenian Studies
and Research and Eric Weitz, the Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian
Professor at the University of Minnesota.

The opening address Thursday night by John Torpey, a professor of
sociology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, drew a
number of Central Massachusetts residents of Armenian descent.

The Worcester area is home to one of the largest Armenian communities
in the nation.

Mr. Torpey, the author of `Making Whole What Has Been Smashed: On
Reparations Politics,’ compared past reparation and restitution
efforts, including Germany’s efforts to salve the wounds created by
the Holocaust and the American government’s attempts to right wrongs
committed against American Indians and African-American slaves.

Mr. Torpey said recognition of the genocide has been a long-time goal
of Armenian communities around the world.

While genocide recognition does not appear to be in the offing, he
said, initiatives `to pursue justice’ through financial and other
compensation are making strides. For example, lawsuits addressing the
theft of artifacts, properties and bank accounts have been filed
against the Turkish government and Turkish companies in a number of
countries, including the United States.

The attempt to obliterate the Armenian population in the Ottoman
Empire began April 24, 1915, when Armenian leaders, intellectuals,
writers and professionals were rounded up. Thousands were subsequently
abducted, tortured, deported or executed.

For decades, Armenians around the world have demanded that Turkey, one
of the empire’s successor states, step up and take responsibility for
the massacre.

In addition to economic compensation, Mr. Torpey said reparations and
restitution range from simple apologies to the construction of
memorials and museums. They also include the return of seized property
and goods, guarantees of no further reprisals, formal recognition of
certain groups and allowing victims to return home.

In addition to churches, the Turkish government has also begun
returning schools, cemeteries and orphanages.

Though returned to Armenians, these properties are formally being
given back on the basis of religious, rather than ethnic or
nationalistic, concerns.

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