In Vanadzor, Armenia, there are exactly 10 foreigners. Pelin Özmen knows all of them, and without her, there would only be 9. She is probably the only Turkish resident of the city of approximately 100,000 people, located in the Lori Province of northern Armenia.
Özmen is quite experienced at adapting to new environments, and has always defied easy categorization. Born in Yeşilyurt, a small town in the Tokat province of Turkey in 1989, she moved at the age of three with her family to Voralberg, Austria. Members of the Alevi minority, the Özmen family is all too familiar with the dark side of Turkish nationalism and its intolerance of deviation from the state-approved cultural mold. Özmen’s recently published paper about the Alevi perspective on the Kurdish Question in Turkey appeared in the Vienna Kurdish Studies Yearbook.
Özmen had always been sympathetic to the Armenian position, and during an internship at the Austrian Embassy in Ankara, she heard about a volunteer opportunity with a human rights organization, the Helsinki Citizen’s Assembly (HCA), in Vanadzor, Armenia. Referred to the 9-month-long program by the Austrian Minister in Ankara, Özmen was accepted, and has been living in Vanadzor since April of this year. The program is funded as part of the European Commission’s European Voluntary Service (EVS). The EVS is a program for people between the ages of 18 and 30, who are encouraged to volunteer in other countries in capacities that further informal learning and cultural exchange.
The largest project undertaken this year at the HCA was a photo exhibition for World Refugee Day on June 25. After three months of preparation, the exhibition was successfully completed. The photos documented the lives of people living in refugee villages in Armenia, the majority of them refugees from Azerbaijan, but also some from Iraq and Syria.
For the International Day of the Disappeared, the HCA volunteers screened a film about missing Armenian soldiers from the Karabagh War, called “Hope Dies Last.” The film and subsequent discussion highlighted the lack of state support for the families of missing soldiers. The staff is currently looking for new projects, and is considering projects related to Armenia’s ascension to the Custom’s Union.
Özmen arrived at the program with an open mind regarding her new home. “I came here, and I was really surprised because in the beginning, everything was so different than anything I had ever seen before, like the city structure, the architecture, everything, the people, it looked really different. I was completely overwhelmed by this difference, because I always try to compare it with something which I know to categorize it… But then somehow I realized that it is very similar to Turkey, to east Anatolia, the landscape, the villages, and also the people—like sometimes I would see an elderly person on the street and I thought it’s my grandpa or something. “
This dawning familiarity, coupled with a warm reception from her organization, mentor, and fellow volunteers, helped allay lingering anxieties about possibly being the sole Turk in Vanadzor. “The thing is that I don’t tell anyone that I’m Turkish on the street. If I go to the market or something and people ask me where I’m from, I say that I’m from Austria and that I’m Austrian, so if they don’t ask me more questions, and if they’re satisfied with that answer, that’s it. I don’t tell everyone about my origins so I don’t have any problems with it. And even when I have told it to strangers, I didn’t have any bad or negative reactions… Most people who learn about my origins ask first of all about the genocide and if I recognize it, and if they see that I’m not a nationalistic person and that I don’t have any problems with Armenia or Armenians, they’re quite nice. They see that I don’t have any negative feelings against Armenian culture or Armenia, because I guess they realize that I came here to learn about their culture and live here, so why should I have any bad feelings about Armenia. “
Indeed, Özmen has found that many residents of Vanadzor are excited when they hear about her background and her work there with the HCA. “They’re really really happy [that I have this interest in Armenian culture] not only because I’m Turkish, but because I’m a foreigner, and I’m learning their language, and they’re so happy about every word which you know… They always think that we know Russian, and they try to talk Russian with us, and we say, ‘No, please, talk Armenian with us,’ and then they get so excited about it and they are so happy that we know Armenian. They’re really proud of these foreigners who know Armenian. So, in general, if they see that you respect their culture, and if they see that you are really interested in their culture, they’re very very nice, very friendly.”
Özmen’s observations of Armenian culture have often reminded her of her own. “For me, it’s very similar to my own culture. I can see a lot of similarities, like how people behave, how the gender roles are…the importance of family, traditions, somehow the conservative ideology, how important religion is. I can see that it’s a regional thing, it’s also very similar to Georgian culture, Turkish culture, Kurdish culture, so I think it’s just very close to the other cultures in the region. There’s huge hospitality, they’re very very friendly and nice to guests.”
She recalled an early encounter that embodied this spirit of hospitality. “One of our first experiences in Armenia, in our second week or something, we were hiking in the mountains and we passed a group of people who had khorovats, and they just invited us to have khorovats with them, and they didn’t know us and we didn’t know them but it was like, ‘Come come, you have to eat, please please, join us,’ so they brought us plates full of meat and then they gave us a lot of vodka. ‘Eat, eat, eat!’… They are so generous, I really love this generous culture.”
As someone who has completed more or less back-to-back assignments in two countries that are not on speaking terms, Özmen has a unique perspective on the current state of Armenian-Turkish relations. Her prognosis is not as bleak as I had expected, even compared to conversations we had had as recently as last year when she was working in Ankara. “I can see a lot of progress, from both sides, that they both want to have good relations. Of course, there will always be extremists, like nationalist people, and of course I guess there will always be people who will deny the genocide, but I can see that there is progress because in June when there were these protests in Istanbul and Ankara, there were people who were also fighting for the rights of Armenians, and also were there talking about the genocide, and said, ‘Oh, and this park will also be Hrant Dink Park, and this will also be commemorating the genocide.’ And you could not hear or see these kind of things several years ago. So you can see that there is progress—and these were not Armenians, these were Turkish people fighting for the rights of Armenians, so this is something good.”
She sees the progress coming from both sides. “In Armenia…they say that they don’t have problems with Turkish people, they always say they just have problems with the government. There is a will to improve the relations, and that’s why I think in several years the Turkish state will recognize the genocide. I don’t believe it will continue like this forever. And the borders will open, I’m sure about that… This government will not, maybe, but we are all hoping for change… I don’t think that the political situation will continue like this in Turkey, so I just hope that the people and the government will get more liberal. I don’t think that this government, with Erdogan, will do it, but I think in several years when there will be a change, there will be something with the border…”
The role of civil society is paramount, according to Özmen. The strengthening of civil society in Turkey, combined with the power of internet communication and social media, has shifted the power dynamic between the Turkish people and their government, enabling popular protests on an unprecedented level. The protests of the past summer were both catalysts for and symptoms of the increased robustness of civil society, Özmen believes, and she argues that this newfound “power of the people” does not stop at the Turkish borders. Indeed, the “Barevolution” movement surrounding Armenia’s last presidential election suggests that she has a point. “You can see that the civil society is doing something, and this has to influence the politics. It needs time, but it will influence [it], because I can see the will. I can see that Turkish people are more open now, that they talk about the genocide, and I can see improvement, but it will take a long time and it’s a long process.”
Katie Vanadzin
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Katie, thank you for writing about Pelin Ozmen. It is very interesting and i wish her and you more carriage and strength.
The number of Turks living in Armenia can be counted on one or both hands. There are over 170K Armenians living in the Istanbul and surrounding regions alone (70K of which are illegal)! Armenia boasts a 98% purity rate. There’s only one way to get a figure like that…Ethnic Cleansing!! Obviously, the Armenian plan of EC has worked well!!
As usual, denialist Turks lie and make things up when it comes to Armenians: comes with the delusional mindset of those suffering from Denialitis.
{“There are over 170K Armenians living in the Istanbul and surrounding regions alone”}
What is your source for that fake number ?
There are no more than 60K-70K (openly) Armenians left in Turkey.
(my source: Hür, Ayşe (2008-08-31). “Türk Ermenisiz, Ermeni Türksüz olmaz!”. Taraf)
(my source: TheEconomist Aug 24th 2013 )
{“(70K of which are illegal)!”}
Another Anti-Armenian myth (!).
There are no more than 15,000 illegal RoA citizens working in Turkey. (!)
My source ? TodaysZaman.
[Report: 12,000 Armenian citizens working illegally in Turkey] (TodaysZaman 5 December 2009 /SÜLEYMAN KURT)
{There are between 12,000 and 13,000 Armenian citizens working illegally in Turkey, the results of a study by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation have revealed.}
That was in 2009, when RoA’s economy had crashed.
The number is surely far less now.
Now we come to the rotten meat of your post:
{“ The number of Turks living in Armenia can be counted on one or both hands. “}
{“ Armenia boasts a 98% purity rate. There’s only one way to get a figure like that…Ethnic Cleansing!! Obviously, the Armenian plan of EC has worked well!!”}
Question for you Turk oglu George: why should there be _any_ Turks in Armenia ?
I do not expect any Armenians in Uyguristan: so why should there be any Turks in the native lands of Armenians ?
Did Armenians invade the homeland of your ancestors in Uyguristan and take their lands ?
Armenians have been indigenous to our lands for at least 5,000 years.
There were no Turks when Proto-Armenian tribes started settling in Armenian Highlands and coalesced over time into Armenians.
So where is the problem ?
And what happened to about 4 million Christians, 25% of the population, that used to live in Turkey circa 1915 ?
Today Turkey is 99.8% Muslim and 0.2% Christian, Jew , and other.
Again what happened to all those Christians ?
There were 0% Turks and 0% Muslims in Asia Minor before about 1000AD: it was almost 100% Christian.
Armenians, Pontic Greeks, Assyrians, other indigenous peoples.
And NO Turks.
Again what happened to all those indigenous Christians living in their own native lands ?
How did Turks from Uyguristan end up occupying 40% of Cyprus ?
Ethnic cleansing indeed works Turk oglu: invading, nomadic Turks are experts at it.
Oh yeah, almost forgot: invading, nomadic, savage Turkic tribes are experts at committing G E N O C I D E. (!!)
See you again soon @AW: you are always welcome.
170K? There should have been 20 million Armenians there today. 170K?
Why would Turks live in Armenia though?
George
not sure if you are a turk with a name like George, and if not what is the source of venom toward Armenians ????
Silly, reductive response but what else to be expected from an individual who uses terms like “98% purity rate”? There are still Molokans and Yazidis in Armenia (like the Armenians, the Yazidis were also oppressed and persecuted by Ottoman Muslim Turks and Kurds, the latter group to which they are actually related to linguistically). The amount of Molokans and Yazidis have decreased since independence but that’s true for the population in general.
170K Armenians in Istanbul? I wish. The Armenian population there probably hasn’t been that high since the Ottoman era. The community grew because Armenians across the empire migrated there for economic reasons (and it was preferable to living under constant Kurdish/Turkish persecution in the eastern provinces). Turks (really I should say Turkish citizens) have also moved there and to other countries for economic and political reasons (like the woman featured in this article) so I don’t really understand your outrage.
To George and RVDV
Turks in Ra can be counted on both hands…a wrong assumption.
When over 150,000 Azeri-turks(all Armenian speaking some even could write good poetry in armenian) left…they must have left ,1%,say 1,500 behind as their future FIFTH COLUMN…capiche?Even if half a percent then much more than onlhy hand count…
2.Above answers to RVDV why There should be Turks or turco-azeris in Armenia-…..
3.These Armenian speaking (with easily obtaiend armenian passports,since their names were changed also(some9 as Vartan hairabedian or similar are roaming within armenian Diaspora countries and reporting,giving ¨Daklad¨as a Russian Armenian wojuld say to heaquarters in Baki/Baku and through these to Ankara…
Armenians -especially in Diasporic countries should be very much meiculpous in accepting within their communities siuch Newcomers, peretending to be as Yerevanites….
George is wrong, and is drinking the Anti-Armenian kool aid in Ankara.
1) We have a mosque and Jewish temple in downtown Yerevan. Manly the mosque is to use for our Iranian brothers and the Iranians now living in Armenia taking advantage of many business opportunities which is hiring Armenians.
2) We have 60,000 Kurds living in Armenia, which have their own schools, and newspaper.
3) There are another 30,000 or so Assyrians (you know George the other people on the long list of Ethnic Cleansing your murderous ancestors perpatrated on anyone not “Turkified” or assimiliated into the Ottoman craziness.
4) 5,000 Ponic Greeks, which after their genocide by the murderous Ottomans was barely any left.
So before you start spouting how Armenia is full of prejudice people know that your precious Gulen even has a couple of scabs leaving and attending Yerevan, trying to bribe their way into our society.
We have a fair amount of Mormon Missionaries and an active Jehovah Witness as well as Penecoastal congregations in Armenia. Remember how the Christian missionaries were slaughtered in the book store in Ankara? or the Beheaded priest? Short memory eh George.
As far as Ozmen goes, there are many other Kurds in Armenia and she herself is probably one of the hundred thousand disguised Armenians that were forced to convert to Islam, Turkify their names or absorb into the Dershim Kurds. Look how many are coming forward now to talke about their Armenian roots/ethnicity?
Fethiye Cetin, famous Turkish Lawyer writes about the discovery of her grandmother being an Armenian orphan in her book “In my Grandmother’s name”
The very blood running through George (Kevork) is very likely Armenian, or Greek. The blood of the true indigenous people. But SHHHHhhhhh!! The Turks are forbidden to speak of such possibilities because of the strong penal codes like 301 as it might insult their fragile “Turkishness” Which amounts to nothing other then most Turks have very little mongolian Central Asian Turkic blood in them today.