YOUNG ARMENIAN NEEDS TREATMENT IN TURKEY TO SURVIVE

Hurriyet
April 4 2010
Turkey

Arthur Manukyan and his mother Hasmig at the Yedikule Surp Pırgic
Hospital Foundation. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GUREL

Under treatment in Istanbul for the deadly Moyamoya syndrome,
21-year-old Arthur Manukyan’s life hangs in the balance. He is an
undocumented Armenian, among those Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
threatened to expel last month, and if Turkey does not grant Manuykan
permission to stay and his treatment is cut in half, he could die.

Speaking to the Hurriyet Daily News & Economic Review at the Yedikule
Surp Pırgic Hospital Foundation, Manukyan said he was only 14 when
he learned he had the disease. Moyamoya, "puff of cigar smoke" in
Japanese, is a hereditary illness in which arteries in the brain
are constricted.

"At first, I wanted to kill myself, but then what the Bible says
came to my mind," he said. "My eyes cannot see anymore. I am losing
my sight. But I want to live."

Addressing the prime minister, the young Armenian requested permission
to stay. "It is forbidden for me to travel. If I have to go, I will
die. I know this," Manukyan said.

The hospital’s neurology specialist, Armenag Mezaduryan, continues
to administer Manukyan’s treatment with the help of Istanbul’s
CerrahpaÅ~_a Medical Faculty. "This is a rare syndrome, and I am
treating it for the first time," Mezaduryan said. "We are striving
to keep the flow of blood in the brain going. The veins in the brain
need bypass treatment on a regular basis. If the treatment is cut in
half it would be fatal.

We cannot take that risk. We are doing our best with the help of
fellow Turkish experts. If [Manukyan] travels, that would mean be
end for him."

"If we were in Armenia, my son would have already died," said Hasmig
Manukyan, Arthur Manukyan’s 45-year-old mother. "Fortunately, we came
to Turkey, by illegal means or not."

Reflecting on Erdogan’s statement to the BBC on expelling undocumented
Armenians, Hasmig Manukya said: "My world went dark when I heard
what he said. I was so afraid for my son." Hasmig Manukya used to
work as a house cleaner to make ends meet, but these days she cannot
work due to her son’s situation.

Archbishop Aram AteÅ~_yan, the spiritual leader of the Armenian
Patriarchate of Turkey, also conveyed Arthur Manukyan’s illness to
Erdogan in a letter in November.

"I requested that Manukyan be granted permission to stay," AteÅ~_yan
told the Daily News. "We have also talked about the issue with the
prime minister." Erdogan is yet to respond, AteÅ~_yan said.