WATERTOWN, Mass. (A.W.)—On Sept. 16, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Eastern U.S. Central Committee and the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Eastern District USA issued a joint statement calling the Sept. 19 “reopening” of the Holy Cross Church in Akhtamar “an occasion not for celebration, but for consternation” and welcoming the decisions of Armenian groups to boycott this “travesty.”
The statement also called on all Armenian-Americans to boycott the Oct. 7 concert in New York organized by the Turkish Consulate and featuring Turkish-Armenian pianist Sahan Arzruni, in celebration of the Akhtamar “reopening.” The two political parties consider this event “an extension of the same old denialism that would undermine our rights and our Cause.”
Below is the full text of the statement.
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Joint Announcement
In recent weeks, Armenians worldwide have turned their attention once more to our historic lands, as the Turkish government supervises the imminent “reopening” of Aghtamar’s historic Armenian cathedral, near Van.
Given the circumstances surrounding this event, we strongly believe this is an occasion not for celebration, but for consternation.
Fortunately, the organized Armenian community – from church leaders to government officials to major political parties – have expressed serious, appropriate reservations over the upcoming Mass. Most correctly call it a publicity stunt by Turkey, aimed at improving its image abroad. Indeed, as successive Turkish regimes systematically eliminate all visible traces of Armenian presence – including hundreds of churches now destroyed or converted to non-religious use – the Aghtamar event is revealed to be a façade overlaying Turkey’s true approach to such issues. We are therefore gratified to see Turkey’s game playing to deaf ears; Armenian groups, one by one, are pledging to stay away from this travesty.
Unfortunately, the story does not end here. Rather, it has been brought from Aghtamar to New York, as the Turkish Consulate of New York seeks to stage a concert on October 7, featuring Turkish-Armenian pianist Sahan Arzruni, ostensibly celebrating this occasion. This ill-advised undertaking is being promoted as an opportunity to foster peace and friendship among Armenians and Turks, under the innocent guise of musical artistry. However, we – and much of the organized community – view this much differently: It appears clearly as another attempt by Turkey to pick apart our community, locating ‘doves’ among us, who might soften and accept Turkey’s incentive-laden offers to become friends, thus undermining Armenian grievances over terrible injustices – past and present – that have yet to be repaired.
We urge all Armenian-Americans to show solidarity and refrain from participating in the October 7 event, which – in more subtle garb – represents an extension of the same old denialism that would undermine our rights and our Cause.
Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar Azatakan)
Eastern District USA
Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutiun)
Eastern US Central Committee
Sahan
Let your fingers play
The tunes of Khachaturian.
Sahan,
I don’t know you
They call you Turkish- Armenian
Why because you’re born in a land
There you were Turkified
But remained Armenian.
You will remain Sar and Han
I think in Arabic means Sar han—
Dreamy but still light
With endless gift in your heart.
Still called Armenian
In spite all difficulties you had!
Armenians should picket the concert venue.
Even more ought to be expected from the “Akhtamar” Show.Call it phase II if you like.
Their wily,cunning mind does not rest.So why be distressed,angered.Latter natural,but we must suppress our anger and re-act as I did, near two yrs ago when prof.Richrad G.Hovanissian -having toured Western armenia,with Turkish-lady prof.Colleague ,from U.s.,also his wife- was making presentations in a few U.S.cities to Armenian and non-Armenian audiences-including quite a few turks.There then, after he showed many a slide on large screen ,pointing out that this piece of slab-with Armenian inscriptions-is from Kharpert, the other , from Erzeroum etc., etc. A Question and answer session followed.Not before a scuffle though amongst Armenian and Turkish young kids,when one of latter had insulted a young Armenian girl..
Stands up a turk,professing to be ex-military etc., and says , you see, Armenians and turks have lived there(FOR THAT WAS THE CORE OF HIS SLIDE SHWOING,PROVING ARMENIANS HAD LIVED THERE..) LIKE BROTHER AND SISTER….going on,”we should again do so..”later, over refreshments , in small groups I happened to come face to face with thkis chap and told him”you are right,we should live again side by side,like brothers and sister(while his mouth was already watering..) BUT, LET US FIRST SETTLE THE ACCOUNTS ,I WENT ON..to which, he got so much annoyed that started leaving this small group muttering in low tone”settling accounts settleing accounts..
” The in open air area at another group gathering he had told the Armenians young there,tell that man(meaning me) “come and get it” (lands usurped)..I told kids to go back and tell hiom,”We shall, but in a different fashion”.These people are incorrigible, mhy friends,it is improper to expect that they at once bend over…why did not obey their most important ally, not too long ago…capiche?
We must play along.Go to the concert and if chance arises, tell the turks there,”you see we are all for it, we want to be friends with you good neighbours,but please,let us first resolve pending issues, like “BLOOD MONEY”…coming up soon at L.A. and then some…
Throughout history artists have had political convictions and were in the forefront of calls for justice. Even if Sahan Arzruni was a starving artist (which he is not) he should still have convictions. Is Turkish money so enticing that we sell ourselves, our cause, our historical memory and erase injustice?
Akhtamar has been renovated because it is a good tourist attraction for Turkish tourism. HAve we forgot about the many Armenian churches destroyed, dynamited to allow construction of highway (Khtskonk church in the 1950s) and many others that are left to neglect? Does Turkey think that renovation of one church can efface centuries and decades of injustice? And what does Sahan Arzruni think by playing to the tune of Turkish propaganda?
DEar friends, i am a Turkish person. Why don’t you encourage the people who are trying to do good things which may not be enought as of today, but give them a chance. Turkey is SETTLING in itself at the moment. Turkey is under turbulance and going on the right direction. please, dont forget, middle east is not the easiest spot of the world. you can not trust to any body because it is the location where emperialists like a lot to play. not only today, also in the past. of course old accounts should be settled, but dont forget accounting has two sides, debit and credit. So far you guys have counted only the credit site, when settling the account you shoud try to understand and resolve the debit site as well. This process should start at your site as well. Rahmetli, great person Hrant Dink was the perfect person he was not only questioning the credit site, he was also much involved with the debitting site as well. Thats why not only nationalist bad turkish guys hated him, also nationalist armenians did not like him…
I also tell you what… In 5 years Turkey and Armenia will not have any physical border, of course after settling the old accounts…
You are good guys. I and lot of people try to understand what you may think but give them a chance…
Your friend,
Hasan
Hasan “Yaveoum”,
Our debit side is so infinitissmall, as against yours,say one to a hundred thousand…but then this as rgds physical loss.How about the billions of usurped property and riches?
hasan yildiz,
There’s only one account that must be settled. Recognition of the historical fact that the Turks have mass exterminated in the most barbarous form 1.5 million of innocent people and forcibly deported from their ancestral lands a million of others, effectively emptying Armenian vilayets of Armenians who lived on their lands fro 4000 years. You also desecrated cultural monuments of my people or transformed them to mosques or sheepfolds. This is how “civilized” Turks behave. If you consider yourselves good people after what you’ve done to the Armenians, then have courage to admit the guilt and apologize, and not stage shows of how “loving” you’ve now become towards Armenians by “allowing” a Mass in our own Church for one day. How would you feel if in any Christian nation a mosques be allowed as mosques for just one day? Don’t’ give us this crap about “debit-credit” sh**. Armenians did not represent an Ottoman government that gave orders at exterminating millions of Turks. Turks were the official Ottoman government and the world increasingly admits you grandparents’ action as physical and cultural genocide. If you’re good at accounting, since you bring up this crap about debit and credit, then you should now that sooner or later, the murderer will have to pay the price.
Are we going to go through this nonsense every time the Turks allow a church “service” to be conducted somewhere in Western Armenia?
The Turks can score a propaganda coup by holding such an event at some ancient Armenian church every, say, month or two.
Then the stupid American press, along with naive Armenians, will hail this as some sort of breakthrough. The Turks don’t even have to renovate the churches. They can just invite Armenians to pray inside a church (or outside if the church is not in shape) and some Armenians will go – like a dog who fetches a tennis ball ball thrown by his master.
I am sure that the international press – essentially nothing but a bunch of dummies and lackeys – would go ga-ga over this.
I bet that a lot of the Armenians who went to Aghtamar don’t even attend church regularly back home. They went to Aghtamar just to suck up to the Turks.
And exactly why are we conducting a service at the Aghtamar church? Can someone actually explain this logically? So there’s a service there – so what?
If you wanted to go to Aghtamar, it was there and accessible for the last 50+ years and you could have gone as a tourist and rummaged around the place and probably even gotten some Der Hayr to go with you and prayed to your heart’s content. What is the significance of a service there with a picture of the butcher Ataturk staring you in the face?
Is this supposed to mean the rebirth of Armenians in Turkey? Is this some act of great beneficent act by Turkey?
The Turk throws you a tennis ball and you go bow-wow and chase the thing and bring it back to him in your mouth, and the Turk pats you on your naive head and says “That’s a good Armenian. Good boy.”
Dave: Agree with you 100%. Advanced the same view in another discussion at AW. If all Armenian churches and monasteries, as well as those ruined and transformed into mosques and sheepfolds, starting with the one on Akhtamar Island, were put under the Constantinople Patriarchate’s jurisdiction as churches not museums, then I’d consider it as a serious move forward towards rapprochement on the part of the Turkish government. But this September 19 one-day Mass in the church-turned-museum with no cross atop, was just a mockery, and I’m saddened that several hundreds of Armenians picked the Turkish crumb…
Speaking as a survivor of orphans from Van, as a Vanetsi this church holds special value to me and the other diaspora of Armenians with ties to Van.
It isn’t so much that Turkey wants to control all “religious services” it is the fact the church which was built in 600 AD is a living testimony of the true indigenous people of historical armenia. This church pre-dates the invasion of the ottoman/ mongolian central asians by 8 centuries (Ottomans arrived in the 1400s)
Turkey would sooner not deal with any history prior to the forming of the new Republic of Turkey in 1924. This is a dark stain on their history something that the younger educated Turks are questioning with they look at the ancient dwellings in Turkey that are obviously built by Greeks, Armenians, Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, Kurds. They are questioning “What happened to these people?” the old tag line of “they were traitors” or we had to “remove” them for their safety is not working. Young Turks want answers not lip service from Ankara propaganda. Christianity started in Turkey, St. Hagia Sophia Church was shameless converted to a mosque – today it is a museum.
When tourists ask about the Greek writings on the wall, the Turkish tour guides reply “I don’t know what it says it is ancient Turkish” The final insult was re naming Constaniople —>Istanbul. Why erase history? embrace it good and bad and share the truth with your people. Instead Erdogan is forced to put on a show for Europe and the West trying to demonstrate Turkey as humanitarians. The only problem is everytime they do this it back fires like with the Flotilla, or offering aid to Iraq and Pakistan.