VERCIHAN ZIFLIOGLU- "I AM NEITHER ACCEPTED BY TURKS NOR ARMENIANS"
Arman Gharibyan

glu/
2010/05/10 | 15:10

Feature Stories media

Vercihan Ziflioglu, a 35 year-old reporter, has been working at
"Hurriyet Daily News" for the past twelve years. Her Armenian family
name is Zilfian. She was recently in Armenia to cover the events
surrounding the 95th Anniversary of the 1915 Genocide. While here,
she was kind enough to grant an interview with Hetq.

My mother didn’t know Armenian well, just the level that was spoken in
Anatolia. My father was a fluent speaker, but we didn’t live at home
with him for too long. I went to school, but conditions for learning
Armenian weren’t the best. We had nothing, but I had the awareness at
an early age to learn. By fifteen, I was reading the Armenian papers
"Marmara", "Jamanak" and "Bagin".

I and some friends put out a serious Armenian periodical on Istanbul
Armenian writers. It was called "Nor San" and lasted some ten years.

Then it closed down; everyone moved to different countries.

We were in the first group at "Agos". I wrote a column there and then
moved to the Turkish press. Conditions are better for reporters in
the Turkish press. If I stayed with the Armenian papers I wouldn’t
have reached anywhere. I had goals and was able to find my spot in
the larger press field.

You have to think more and do more. If I had stayed in that little
group of ours, I would have had the same thoughts for years. I was
really interested to know what the Turkish press was thinking.

There is no such thing as the Armenian press in Istanbul anymore.

"Agos" doesn’t only cover news about Armenians. What it does isn’t
reportage. As a reporter you must be impartial.

"Hurriyet" was important for me because it was the leader when it
came to covering issues of the national minorities. I faced many
difficulties over the years, but gradually, I get my point across
even to the most nationalist of individuals because I disseminate news.

For example, 3-4 years ago I started a series regarding the road
travelled by Armenians in the Ottoman era. They found it strange
that I should write such a thing. They had no idea what Armenians
had accomplished during that period.

Then, one day, a fervent nationalist began writing about me, saying
how lucky they were to have Verjihan, so that now we can understand
what happened during the Ottoman era.

Sometimes, the Turks alter the news. Here, in Armenia, they think
that it’s done on purpose with enmity. Yes, sometimes they have
nefarious aims but other times they just don’t understand. But I can
use both sides in my news items. I see it all and can comment in an
appropriated manner. There’s an advantage to being in the middle of
both sides. But it’s also problematic. Neither the Turks nor Armenian
accept me. I have no identity, no religion, as a reporter. The news is
what’s important to me because that’s how I’ll get by. The Turk wants
a Turkish reporter to write and the Armenian wants me to be silent
and not to write. You will see the mistakes of the Istanbul Armenian
community over time, but the community doesn’t accept its mistakes.

They see you as a lamb that has gone astray and they start to label
you; a "spy" and who knows what. And the Turkish side gradually starts
to open up and thinks more deeply.

Do you feel that you are being used by the Turkish press?

Some Dashnak guys ask me the same question. If you have this mentality,
as an Armenian why can’t you comprehend the fact that your forbearers
founded papers in Anatolia and helped develop the Turkish press? Why
is it that we always see ourselves as being used? Isn’t it better
to swim in a big sea and tell others who you are and what you have
done? I voluntarily switched over to the Turkish press. If you have
a brain and use it, then no one can use you.

In your opinion, are the Armenian and Turkish societies ready to
freely relate?

Armenians and Turks will intermingle. There will be literary and
artistic events, concerts. There is an Armenian community in Istanbul
of 50,000. Armenia now says there are 15,000 of its own citizens in
Turkey, but I believe the figure is more. Turks are more intimate
with Armenians from the RA and not just due to "football diplomacy"
but much earlier. Serzh Sargsyan came after Levon Ter-Petrosyan and
Kocharyan. We only see what is presented to us but there is much more.

The Armenian and Turkish communities will be able to unite in the
near future but what is more important is a final verdict on the
events of 1915.

We must start talking, sharing our pain, as to what happened. The
issue must be given closure in order to create friendship. It will
be very difficult. Armenia must craft a culture and the youth must
change many things. They must look to the future more boldly and not
be used by others, but rather use others themselves.

Both in Armenia and in the Istanbul Armenian community, we live with
pain. My forbears lived such pain. I wasn’t dropped from the heavens.

It’s sad but how many days can I relive the Genocide. They have turned
me into a lamb. One mustn’t constantly grieve. They have turned it
into something psychological. We must be saved from that. For example,
I was visiting the Genocide Museum here. A family had brought along
a five or six year-old boy and telling him – See…a genocide happened.

Fine, tell about it, but it’s not asthma. You will be creating a sick
new generation that won’t be able to look to the future. They will
always be in the midst of grief. The West has come a long way and
is no longer operates on emotions. Things have changed in the 21st
century. We must change much in our lives.

Perhaps the pain will soften when Turkey recognizes the Genocide
and apologizes.

Why is everything we do linked to Turkey? For example, if Turkey were
to one day recognize the Genocide, what will we do? We will create
something new. Now, we are all focused on the Genocide.

Armenians and Turks are quite similar; the same glances, the same
craziness. Even the mentalities are the same. Only in the political
and "elite" strata are there differences. The two sides will enter a
stage of even greater nationalism. I came to Armenia in 2008; during
an interview with the Dashnaks I asked one how he perceived me. He
simply laughed and replied that in his eyes, I was a Turk.

Yes, I am a citizen of Turkey on paper, my official nationality is
Turkish. But I am Armenian. If I go to Turkey and ask "who am I",
they will answer, "you are a national minority". If I come to Armenia,
I also become a minority. Wherever you go, you will become a minority,

Do you ever harbor fears that Turkish nationalists might one day
cause you harm? Have there been such threats?

What can they do? Threats are made but it is normal. In the end,
every field of work has its consequences. Reporters must use their
pencils very adroitly. You can use a sharp word or a rather delicate
one in order to get a story told.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress