istanbul armenians

Istanbul Armenians,

Continued from N1........

The biggest area of interest for me was the life of Armenians in

Istanbul. I remember an Armenian student from Istanbul -Sevan, who

studied at Yerevan State University and our surprise at him telling us

about strong and organised Armenian community in Istanbul. I hate to

say this, but many of us saw them as a kind of traitors who lived

within a nation that subjected us to a genocide not so long ago. Now I

see this tiny community as a bridge that is going to connect these two

nations and help to establish peace. For that they are going to need

support from the rest of the Diaspora, Armenian and, why not, the

Turkish government. In order for this to happen, though, perceptions

about this community need to change as well. We need to stop seeing

them as half-Turks, criticizing them for not joining the rest of

Armenians in open demand for Turkey to recognize the Genocide unless

we want them all to share the destiny of Hrant Dink. The hostility

towards these people is absolutely outrageous. During IInd

Pan-Armenian games I saw local people support everyone who played

against Polsahays and I probably never saw more vocal,loud support or

rather anti-support during the games. The wanna-be-patriots in

Armenian press keep accusing patriarch Mutafyan, for cooperation with

the Turkish government and not voicing the issue of the Genocide. Has

any of them ever been to Turkey and seen the conditions this community

is surviving in? The answer is -NO! The Armenian schools and churches

are all hidden behind protective walls, all the subjects apart from

the Armenian language are taught in Turkish by Turkish teachers sent

by the governement, who also make sure the school doesn't engage in

any 'dangerous' activities. Pictures of Ataturk and the Turkish flag

are all around the place, kids have to verse Ataturk's 'Proud Turk'

before the start of the classes. This people are hostage to

Armenian-Turkish complicated relationships and none of us is making it

any easier for them.