AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. ERTUGRUL GUNAY, MINISTER OF TOURISM AND CULTURE
By Ara Sarafian
Today’s Zaman
Nov 20 2008
Turkey
Dear Mr. Minister,
I wish to congratulate the Turkish Ministry of Tourism and Culture
for its planned initiative to honor the American-Armenian writer,
William Saroyan, with a museum dedicated to him in his ancestral town
of Bitlis.
Saroyan was born in Fresno, California, but his forefathers came
from Bitlis. The proposed museum will be the first time a diaspora
Armenian — a much-maligned category in some quarters in Turkey —
will be recognized as a fellow "Anatolian" of Turkish citizens today. I
hope your initiative will contribute to a more sympathetic discussion
of the Armenian cultural heritage of Anatolia (and there are many
beautiful examples of this) and the Anatolian roots of Armenians.
You must be aware that your announcement of establishing a Saroyan
museum in Bitlis will lead to some obvious questions: If there were
Armenians in Bitlis, what were they like and what happened to them? If
there are no Armenians left there, why are they not there today?
Allow me to state that on the eve of World War I, the town of Bitlis
had an Armenian population consisting of around 1,140 households,
and there were over 70 Armenian inhabited villages around the
city. Armenians made up over one-third of the population in this
province and lived alongside Kurds and Turks. There were four
monasteries in or immediately around Bitlis, plus four churches in
the city itself. There was also an Armenian Protestant and an Assyrian
church. These churches attested to the typical good relations between
Muslims and Christians in the city.
Unfortunately most of the Armenians churches that were left behind
in 1915, and practically all cemeteries where Christians were buried
(such as Saroyan’s ancestors), have been desecrated or plowed under
the soil. This is also the case outside of the city where grave robbers
still dig around to search for "Armenian gold." While it is true that
many Turks and Kurds have defended the dignity of such locations,
they have not always been successful. I remember reading on a Turkish
Internet site how peasants in the village of Duz, near Bitlis, were
trying to save an Armenian church. Their muhtar’s sentiment was simple
and very moving: "In those days we lived like brothers and sisters with
Armenians. We went to our mosques and they went to their church. We
now do whatever we can to keep the church standing." ("O dönemlerde
Ermeniler’le kardeÅ~_ gibi yaÅ~_ardık. Bizler camilerimize, onlar
da kiliseye giderlerdi. Å~^u anda kilisenin ayakta durması icin ne
gerekiyorsa yapıyoruz.") I have personally heard such remarks from
many ordinary people in Turkey.
I think it is important for Armenians to come and see for themselves
that, whatever the problems Armenians faced in 1915 (it makes no
difference whether one calls it genocide, massacre or deportation),
there is still a lot of good will among ordinary people in Turkey
today.
I am not sure if you will be able to find the Saroyan house in Bitlis
today, but as far as I know, there is at least one Armenian church
remaining in the city. It is abandoned and used to be used for storage
purposes. It is now owned by the British-American Tobacco Company,
hardly befitting a cultural treasure in Turkey. Perhaps as minister
of culture you will be able to come to an agreement with the tobacco
company and save this building from further deterioration and restore
it as a cultural treasure in the name of William Saroyan. The projected
Saroyan museum could thus become an offering for a happy future, when
people love and respect each other and celebrate their differences
as fellow human beings and Anatolians. Such a vision would be fitting
to Saroyan’s memory.
Sincerely,
Ara Sarafian
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