DIYARBAKIR TO RENAME STREETS IN HONOR OF LOCAL CHRISTIAN AUTHORS
Hurriyet
Dec 28 2009
Turkey
The municipal assembly of Diyarbakir’s Sur district has decided to
change the names of three streets to honor Armenian and Syriac authors
who used to live on those routes.
In a Dec. 9 session, the council decided to rename Direkci Street in
the Hasırlı neighborhood and give it the name of Armenian author
Mıgırdıc Margosyan. They also decided to name PaÅ~_ucu 1st Street
in the Ziya Gökalp neighborhood after Syriac author Naum Faik Palak
and Yagcı Street in Fatih neighborhood after Ahmet Arif.
Sur Mayor Abdullah DemirbaÅ~_ said the most fundamental reason for
changing the streets’ names was to recognize the importance of artistic
people from Diyarbakır.
The mayor said Arif was a well-known poet and that the council would
pay homage to his memory by renaming the street on which he was born.
DemirbaÅ~_ said the renaming project promoted the city’s values.
"Margosyan contributed a lot to the promotion of Diyarbakır with his
books. He was also a member of the Armenian community in Diyarbakır
and represented a different cultural heritage."
He said giving the name to such a world-renowned author would be a
fitting tribute to the writer. "In a similar fashion, Palak is one
of the important names in our literature. He was a Syriac who died
in America. We again gave his name to the street where he was born."
DemirbaÅ~_ said: "Promoting the values of Diyarbakır as such
demonstrates the peaceful harmony of the different cultures, identities
and religions existing here. Peace, democracy and fraternity are what
we have needed most in recently. In a sense, we want to announce this
to all of Turkey once again through the streets of Diyarbakır."
DemirbaÅ~_ said they informed the local district governorate about
the council’s decision. "The Sur District Governorate [only] accepted
two of the names we offered. They said they relayed Palak’s name to
the Foreign Affairs Ministry to determine whether he was a Turkish
citizen or not," DemirbaÅ~_ said.
"We do not approve of this because there are many streets, avenues
and buildings in Turkey that are named after non-Turkish citizens,"
the mayor said.