ANKARA BACKS ARMENIAN TRANSLATIONS OF 20TH CENTURY TURKISH POETS
2009/08/27 | 10:15
Today’s Hurriyet Daily reports that Ankara is pushing through a
project that will see the translation into Armenian of some twenty
contemporary Turkish poets. Excerpts of the article, entitled "Poetic
Words Become Peace Doves", follow.
Turkish Culture Minister Ertuðrul Gunay pushes the button for Armenian
expert Arthur Antranikyan’s translation project. Contemporary 20th
century Turkish poetry will be published in Armenian for the first
time thanks to Gunay’s support. Efforts to translate more than 20
Turkish poets, including pieces by the world-renowned Nazým Hikmet,
into Armenian for the first time in history have received a pledge
of support from the Turkish Minstry of Culture.
Culture Minister Ertuðrul Gunay confirmed his support shortly after the
Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review first reported on the project
a few weeks ago. "It is very important to realize such a project,"
Gunay said. "It is a great pleasure to see famous authors of Turkish
literature translated into the various languages of the world. The
ministry is ready to assist all kinds of projects relating to this
issue."
Dr. Arthur Antranikyan, who is a member of the Yerevan State University
and the Armenian Writers’ Union Works, has initiated the project. A
commission of specialists from the Turkology department at the Yerevan
State University will work on the project, which will also include
translations of Armenian literature into Turkish.
Antranikyan, a poet and a fan of world literature, experienced Turkish
writers for the first time during the Soviet Union. He has examined
the interaction of contemporary Turkish and Armenian literature from
Istanbul throughout the years and has carried out translations from
Russian into Armenian through his own efforts.
"My prior goal was to present Turkish literature to Armenian readers by
translating them from their original language," Antranikyan said. "I
was not pleased with a lot of translations because works were losing
their originality. Turkish used to be translated into Russian and
then from Russian into Armenian. I have shaped this project over the
years and think now is the right time to get started."
He said both peoples needed to get to know each other in order
to eradicate their prejudices and rid themselves of historical
traumas. Antranikyan said he is very happy with Gunay’s interest in
the project. "I want to thank him for replying to my call. It is
a great pleasure for me to introduce the leading names of Turkish
literature to Armenian readers."
Due to increasing interest in Turkish literature among Armenians in
recent years many books are being translated. Nobel laureate Orhan
Pamuk’s novel "Kar" (Snow) counts among the most recent ones. The
effort to translate it was initiated by the Hamazgayin Education and
Culture Institute in Yerevan.