MELODIES FLOW WITH COOL WATER OF BOSPHORUS
Hurriyet
Saturday, July 04, 2009 01:11
ISTANBUL – World-renowned US-Armenian percussionist Arto Tuncboyacýyan,
Palestinian musician-activist Reem Kelani and the sound of Anatolia,
Kardeþ Turkuler, share the same stage Tuesday night. Peace and
friendship messages are conveyed through song and dance.
Peace and friendship messages were conveyed through songs in Istanbul,
the meeting point of Europe and Asia. The voice of the Anatolian
people, Kardeþ Turkuler, world-renowned Armenian percussionist Arto
Tuncboyacýyan, and Palestinian musician and activist Reem Kelani
shared the same stage Tuesday at Istanbul’s Turkcell Kuruceþme Arena.
The artists were accompanied on stage by more than 70
dancers. Tuncboyacýyan, Kelani and members of Kardeþ Turkuler spoke
to the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review.
‘Diaspora smells like mothballs’ "I am from Anatolia; I take my
heart everywhere I go. Leaving Anatolia means leaving myself," said
Tuncboyacýyan, a U.S. citizen, adding that he is an Armenian but that
humanity – not identity – was important to him.
Criticizing the current situation with the diaspora, Tuncboyacýyan
said, "The diaspora smells like mothballs; it doesn’t refresh
itself." He said that if he were given the mission, he would be able
to solve the current problem between Turks and Armenians in two weeks.
"I need two cameras, an objective observer and representatives of both
societies. The program would be broadcast live. It would continue
for two weeks, and discussions would be held for 24 hours before
the people of both countries, because we need to learn how to speak
first. As two publics, we play the game of word-of-mouth very well,"
said Tuncboyacýyan about his project.
Tuncboyacýyan, who formed an orchestra named the Armenian Navy Band in
1998 in Armenia, where there is no sea, is traveling between Turkey,
the United States and Armenia.
‘I stayed away from both Turkish, Armenian societies’ Tuncboyacýyan’s
brother, Onno Tunc, was one of the producers of legendary work in
Turkish pop music. He died in a plane accident in 1996 when the
private plane he was piloting crashed in bad weather on a mountain
near Selimiye village of Armutlu, Yalova, on his journey from Bursa
to Istanbul.
Tuncboyacýyan said that though his brother wanted to stay in Turkey,
he, not necessarily voluntarily, had left Turkey and moved to the
United States 29 years ago.
"I enlisted in the army in 1978. I served for two years, and it was a
very difficult process. My commander used to say to us that he doesn’t
want to hear Armenian and Greek names," he said. "This perception
really hurt me. Onno was more moderate, but I was not. I could not
accept it and left the country. I lived my life missing my hometown;
I was a foreigner everywhere I went."
He said that when he first moved to the United States, he stayed
away from the places of Turkish and Armenian societies. He explained
the reason, saying: "Both sides are living on an axis of race and
religion. My origin is Armenian, I am proud of it, but I am a human
and an individual first of all. My identity does not shape my life,
but my life shapes my identity."
‘I am here to express my existence’ Palestinian musician and activist
Kelani, who lives in Manchester, England, expressed her happiness with
being in Istanbul and sharing the same stage with Kardeþ Turkuler and
Tuncboyacýyan. Mentioning the conflict between Israel and Palestine,
Kelani said: "It is not possible to accept what has been done to
the people of Palestine. The rights of my people are violated. As
a Palestinian, I am here to prove my existence to the world, not to
behave like a victim."
Speaking on behalf of Kardeþ Turkuler, members Ulker Uncu and Vedat
Yýldýrým said: "This concert is one that is dedicated to peace and
brotherhood between publics. The world is a whole for us. We don’t
believe in borders."