Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
June 19 2011
A small church service in Diyarbakır signals bigger reconciliation
Sunday, June 19, 2011
VERCÄ°HAN ZÄ°FLÄ°OÄ?LU
DÄ°YARBAKIR – Hürriyet Daily News
Surp Giragos’ restoration was widely supported by Istanbul Armenians,
although the Turkish Culture Ministry, Diyarbakır’s Sur Municipality
and diaspora Armenians also contributed to refurbishing the church.
Hearkening back to Diyarbakır’s cosmopolitan past, diaspora Armenians
and clergy held a small service in a local church Saturday in what
many hope is a harbinger for a more multicultural future in the
southeastern city.
`The sounds of the call to prayer and church bells will mix here on
this land from now on,’ Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir said following
the service at the restored Surp Giragos Church. `There were major
sorrows experienced in the past. We [condemn] the heartlessness of
those days in our hearts and we want a new start.’
`Diyarbakır was a multicultural city in the past but we lost a lot
with the `monist’ policy with the [Turkish] Republic. To be able to
resurrect social peace, lessons should be learned from the past and
history needs to be encountered. Kurds want to live together with and
embrace those populations that [hegemonic actors] set at loggerheads
with each other,’ Diyarbakır Sur Mayor Abdullah DemirbaÅ? told the
Hürriyet Daily News, adding that he was very pleased to be able to
host the guests.
Surp Giragos’ restoration was widely supported by Istanbul Armenians,
although the Turkish Culture Ministry, Diyarbakır’s Sur Municipality
and diaspora Armenians also contributed to refurbishing the church.
Noting that Sur Municipality had recently printed Armenian poet
Hovhannes Tumanyan’s `Gatil mi Meghr’ [A drop of honey] in Armenian,
DemirbaÅ? said: `Tales for children, history for adults; we are giving
back to what belongs to this land by looking after languages.’
Baydemir greeted visitors with carnations in his office immediately
following the service and said he was conscious that they had been
rather late in doing something for Armenians.
Meanwhile, Archbishop and Deputy Patriarch Aram AteÅ?yan said, `It is a
start that Diyarbakır Armenians come and visit the land they have been
born. We hope it [this trend] continues.’
Defined as the largest church in the Middle East by some experts, the
historic Surp Giragos Church will host a more grandiose service in
October. Along with the representatives of Armenian Apostolic Churches
from all around the world, representatives of sister churches and
leading names from the diaspora are expected to form part of the large
congregation.
`Telling the world about Anatolia’
Among the diaspora Armenian group of about 20 professors, historians
and businesspeople that attended Saturday’s service was world-famous
lute maestro, Armenian-American Udi Yervant, who is also known as
Yervant Bostancı.
Born in Diyarbakır and visiting his hometown after a 19-year break,
Bostancı said: `I have yearned for the land I was born in for years. I
am not a diaspora Armenian: Not for one moment has my country left my
soul and my heart. I live in Los Angeles but my songs tell of Anatolia
to the world.
`I was never able to become a [true resident of] Istanbul, and I am
not able to become an American. I have always lived in Diyarbakır and
still live there. I wish people were able to live and die in the land
where they were born,’ he said.
In a special evening event organized by Baydemir for the diaspora
Armenians, Bostancı took the stage and performed several songs in
Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish.
Coming from Toronto, former Istanbul resident Raffi Bedrosyan said
some difficulties occurred while collecting donations from diaspora
Armenians for the church’s restoration.
`They did not want to donate money for the restoration of this church
because they thought it prioritized Turkish and Kurdish interests. The
diaspora is still living the trauma of 1915,’ he said.
Last Armenian in Diyarbakır
The last Armenian to have lived in Diyarbakır, 81-year old Sarkis
Bedrosyan, said it was a special feeling to see Surp Giragos with his
own eyes once more.
Expressing his happiness that the mayor was able to host them, he
said: `The mayor talked about a truth that was forgotten in this city.
The Armenian past was mentioned; that was extremely important.’
The Istanbul Armenian businessman who started the church’s restoration
process, Diyarbakır-born Ergün Ayık said he was happy but added that
he wished there had been more support for the church.
The total cost of the restoration is around $2.5 million; once the
church is open for services its annex buildings will host several
culture and arts projects.