Category: 2023

Ashot Papayan and Aram Papayan (bottom row from left to right) with friends.

“After hearing the news, he stood at the front of Sevak’s apartment door for several minutes and wept. Everyone could hear the sound of his anguish.” 

According to my mother, that was her grandfather’s reaction to Paruyr Sevak’s sudden death. She watched with somber eyes at the young age of ten, knowing in her heart that something terrible had happened. But how could that be? Only yesterday she was playing in the courtyard with Sevak’s youngest son Koryun. Only yesterday did she knock on Sevak’s door. Only yesterday did she see the merry face of his wife Nellie. 

The Writer’s Building on Kasyan Street, which housed different prominent writers, was in utter confusion and agony, tears and flowers raining down from every floor.

My mother’s grandfather, playwright Aramashot Papayan, loved Sevak deeply. Their friendship may have been unusual for some due to their age difference, but their shared worldview and artistic taste sealed the gap of years between them and fostered a wonderful relationship. But what made their relationship even more meaningful was their shared memory and love for Aram Papayan.  

Aram Papayan was Aramashot Papayan’s nephew, but everyone knew him as his brother because they were so close in age. Aram Papayan was a journalist, editor, writer and a deputy commissioner at the commissariat of Yerevan during WWII. He also co-wrote plays with Aramashot Papayan, who at the time was only called Ashot Papayan, his birth name. They met great success with the play The Great Wedding in 1944, and their artistic future seemed to be filled with promise, until the unthinkable happened. 

From the archive of Literature Newspaper, circa 1959. Students from Karabakh visit the Writer’s Union House in Yerevan, Armenia to meet prominent writers such as Aramashot Papayan (second from left in second row), Paruyr Sevak (second from left in fourth row), Silva Kaputikyan, Abig Avagyan, Sero Khanzadyan, Gurgen Mahari and more.

Four months after WWII ended, Aram Papayan went to greet the returning soldiers of the Armenian Tamanyan Division. On his way there, out of nowhere, a car crashed into the vehicle he was in. For three days, Aram Papayan lay in a coma at a hospital, succumbing to his injuries on August 28, 1945. Armenia lost a promising playwright and a leading editor. 

Ashot Papayan’s life changed forever, and in memory of his nephew, he changed his name to Aramashot Papayan. This way, their names would forever be intertwined, and Aram Papayan would always have writing credits on every play Ashot Papayan would write in the future.

Sevak met Aram Papayan in 1941, a few years before his death. It was purely a meeting of fate. The following story was first recounted to me by my great-aunt and was told with immense love and heartfelt warmth. But this story is one of great accuracy and has first-hand documentation to confirm its validity. I have pulled directly from the words and documents of Hovhannes Ghazaryan, a literary scholar, critic, Writers Union member and candidate of philological sciences. He is responsible for preserving many of Sevak’s works and documents and has even provided his collected sources to Albert Aristakesyan, also a literary critic, doctor of philological science and Writers Union member, who has written extensively on the life of Paruyr Sevak, including a published biography.

According to Ghazaryan’s written records, in 1941 he was approached by Susan Barayan, the fiancée of one of his friends who was serving in the war and a student at Yerevan State University. At the time he was teaching at a literature institute. She handed him two large, black notebooks, which held the poetry of a fellow student. His name was Paruyr Sevak, and he was a graduate student of philological sciences at Yerevan State University. Barayan asked Ghazaryan to read over Sevak’s work and to give his opinion on them. 

Ghazaryan was very moved by Sevak’s poetry and was struck by a controversial thought, something he described as “criminal,” “absurd” and “hideous.” The thought in question was “how to free Paruyr Sevak from military duty, from an all-consuming war.” 

During WWII, men were being drafted to fight on behalf of the USSR, with Joseph Stalin at the reins. Being drafted meant inevitable death, not only because of the war itself, but because of Stalin’s grotesque human rights violations against his own people, where his soldiers and military officers were often executed or sent to the Gulags. 

Ghazaryan was desperate to save Sevak, to preserve this exceptional talent for the sake of Armenian culture. “Paruyr was going to be the poetry of tomorrow and the epic dawn of Armenian literature,” he recalled thinking. But doubts swirled in him. “Maybe I am deceived. Maybe the magic of Paruyr, a poetic miracle, was just a mirage.”

During an accidental run-in with a friend in Lenin Square, a Khachatur Abovian Pedagogical Institute economist lecturer, Ghazaryan shared with him his discovery of Sevak’s works and the possibility of saving him from the draft. The lecturer promised to think it over, eventually deciding against it as it would cause controversy and danger for any government official involved in this act, especially with Stalin in power.  

Plenum of the newly-elected board of the Writers Union on June 4, 1971, just a few days before Sevak’s accident. From left: Aramashot Papayan, Sergo Payazat, Abig Avagyan, Paruyr Sevak, Sero Khanzadyan, Hamo Sahyan and Hrachya Hovhannisyan. (Photo: Sergey Arakelyan)

When Ghazaryan met Sevak in person, he unequivocally decided that action must be taken to protect him. He prepared to seek the advice of a dear friend, Aram Papayan. Ghazaryan described him as “knowledgeable,” “tactful” and someone he “trusted unconditionally.” 

“Paruyr, my beloved,” he said to Sevak. “Take hold of your poetic weapons. Tomorrow we will go somewhere.” Sevak agreed to go and said, “My poetic weapons are always ready, if they are necessary.” 

Sevak’s military papers were being held in the commissariat of which Aram Papayan was the deputy. Ghazaryan felt sure that Papayan would understand Sevak’s poetry, as he loved poetry himself and had a “poetic spirit.” Ghazaryan stood steadfast in the hope that Papayan would help free Sevak from the draft fearlessly and with the “heart of a mother.”

The car ride the next day was silent on the way to Papayan. When they arrived, they entered his office. “Aram, my beloved,” Ghazaryan said. “Please, I ask you to carefully listen to this young man, Paruyr.”

Papayan closed the door and asked Sevak to please share his work with him. In the silence of the office, Sevak firmly and slowly read his poetry. Ghazaryan asked Papayan his thoughts when Sevak finished. “Excellent,” said Papayan. 

Sevak was deeply moved by Papayan’s reaction and excused himself to go smoke, expressing his deep gratitude to Papayan before exiting the office. 

“Aram, is it possible to save this man from going to the army?” asked Ghazaryan when Sevak had left. 

Papayan huddled in his armchair and thought deeply for a while. Then, without saying a word, he jumped out of his seat and opened the door of his office and rushed out. He returned with Sevak’s military card and opened his fireproof closet, placing the card inside. 

“This card will remain here, as an untouchable relic, for as long as I live,” whispered Papayan. “The key of this closet is with me only.”

“Sevak, the creator, was saved from destruction,” recalled Ghazaryan.

A few years later Aram Papayan was killed in an automobile accident that many believed, similar to Sevak’s accident, was deliberately planned. It seemed to be a premonition of what was yet to come.

It wasn’t until 25 years after Aram Papayan’s death that Sevak could muster up the heart to publicly talk about him, whom Ghazaryan deemed his “savior.” In 1970, Sevak penned an open letter to Papayan on the anniversary of his death where he said that “brothers aren’t only by blood.” Sevak titled the open letter “The Dead Don’t Age,” in which he wrote that Papayan was a “victim of a blind car and incoherent accident.” The letter was originally published in Literature Newspaper. The full English translation of the letter can be found here: https://www.aramashotpapayan.com/aram-papayan

“Beautiful, tall, broad, with honest features. My generation first saw him in military uniform,” wrote Sevak about Aram Papayan. “It seemed to me that he was just born like that, in uniform. But those close to him knew he was more beautiful on the inside, and that he was infinitely far from wearing a uniform and doing military work. He was born an artist, and he himself was a beautiful work of art.”

Approximately a year after writing this open letter to Papayan, Sevak himself would fall victim to an “incoherent accident” on June 17, 1971 on the road from Yerevan to Tbilisi, Georgia. On his way to his mother-in-law’s funeral, Sevak lost control of his car due to a reckless truck driver and plunged into a valley. He lost his life instantly, while his wife died in the hospital an hour later and his two sons survived with minor scratches. 

Going back to Kasyan Street in the Writers Building, Aramashot Papayan, who had lost his nephew Aram Papayan to a tragic accident years ago, lost his dear friend Sevak to the same tragedy. His dear Sevak, who always greeted his daughter endearingly and sat with his son in deep poetic conversation, was gone forever. 

While writing about Aram Papayan, Sevak had encapsulated their fates with precision, “Beautiful victim, ugly victimhood.”

Aram Papayan (second from left) a couple hours before his fatal accident.

The author pictured near the flagpole at his home

It is 1917, and on the docks in many US east coast port cities the flags are flying and the bands are playing. The doughboys are going “over there” to end the war. Unnoticed, an illiterate 14-year-old peasant boy – he had never seen the inside of a schoolroom, not one day – stepped ashore from the ship on which he had stowed away. He had no family, no friends, no money.  His beginning here gave real meaning to the word “underprivileged.”

At the beginning, he slept in the backrooms of the places where he found work.  Later, in rooming houses, and then, when he had learned a trade and could afford it, in apartments.

The years passed into decades: the “Roaring Twenties,” the Crash of ‘29, the Great Depression and World War II.  It was not until I was eleven years old that he was able to buy his family our first house. It was an old frame building with a postage-stamp sized yard in front and back. The roof leaked, the electrical and plumbing needed to be replaced, and the furnace was an antique.  But it was home.

One day, two weeks after we moved in, I came walking down the street after school. As I neared, there were two men working in our front yard – they were digging a large hole in the ground.

Running into the house I called, “Mommy, what are those men doing?”

She turned from the stove with an odd smile on her face, “They are putting up your father’s flagpole.”

The leaky roof, faulty wiring and pipes, and the smelly furnace would have to wait.

Since my father always left for work well before sunrise and did not return until well after sunset, it became one of my household chores to raise the flag “respectfully” in the morning and lower it “slowly” at dusk. In later years, when his working hours became shorter, he happily assumed the duty. He didn’t actually salute the flag when it reached the top, he just grew a little.

That was many years ago. And he and my mother are long since gone. But at the cemetery, over his grave, our flag still flies.

To read more about the author’s father and mother, see “Odyssey to the Open Door,” and “Magnificent Vision.”

Second round ballot, May 28, 2023 Turkish presidential election (Kadı Kadı via Wikimedia Commons)

On May 28, 2023, Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the second presidential run-off against opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu. On his re-election day, President Erdogan congratulated not only the Turkish people but also Azerbaijan and Karabakh, hinting at the importance of Azerbaijan and the South Caucasus for Turkey’s foreign policy. To analyze the impact of the general and presidential elections in Turkey, first we will examine the political background of the new Turkish National Assembly, the impact of the elections on the Middle East and South Caucasus, and what the formation of the new Turkish cabinet may mean to the region.

Turkey’s New National Assembly

Nicholas Danforth, author of The Remaking of Republican Turkey: Memory and Modernity Since the Fall of the Ottoman Empire, in his recent article talks about the symbolism of Erdogan’s victory as it coincides with the 570th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. But this year is also the centennial of the establishment of the Turkish Republic. Erdogan understood the importance of these dates for the Turkish people and he grasped how effectively they could be welded together. The voting behavior of the majority of Turks shows how symbols and national narratives can transcend financial realities. Erdogan, knowing this fact, concluded his electoral campaign by praying in the Hagia Sophia, the Byzantine cathedral-turned-mosque, and celebrated his victory on May 29 during the 570th anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul. 

Moreover, despite the fact that Turkey’s National Assembly now looks more diverse featuring members from 18 political parties, nationalist and conservative forces both from the ruling and opposition alliances now dominate the Parliament. According to Turkish journalist Fehim Tastekin, the electoral results show an increased nationalist-Islamist orientation among the working class and low-income groups in both urban and rural areas. 

Tastekin closely analyzes the voting decline of the Kurdish-led People’s Democratic Party (HDP). He argues that the party lost organizational strength amid a crackdown that resulted in the detention of around 10,000 of its members including its leaders. Moreover, many liberals and leftists in Istanbul and other western areas of Turkey who used to vote for HDP now voted for CHP and Kemalists. Another surprise was in Diyarbekir (Tigranagert), HDP’s stronghold, where a Kemalist CHP member was elected as an MP from the district. Meanwhile, Erdogan’s ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) gained 10-percent of the total vote. The main kingmaker was Sinan Ogan, another nationalist leader, from the Victory Party, whose main pledge was to send the Syrian refugees back to Syria. Ogan secured five-percent during the first round of the Presidential elections, and later endorsed Erdogan. 

The Cabinet of the “Kings”

On June 3, President Erdogan announced his new cabinet. Hakan Fidan’s and Yasar Guler’s appointments as foreign and defense ministers, respectively, illustrated the importance of Syria for Turkey. 

Fidan is one of Erdogan’s closest aides. He headed the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) since 2010, and before that he was an advisor of Erdogan when the latter was a Prime Minister. From 2003-2007 he headed Turkey’s Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), an international aid agency aiming to spread Turkish soft power around the globe. Fidan, who is of Kurdish background, took part in the secret negotiations with the PKK between 2009-2015. In 2016, in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt, he took the lead in purging Gulenists from the state bureaucracy. Later he cooperated with Israeli, Russian and Iranian spy networks to target Kurdish guerillas. Starting in 2019, he handled the Syrian file and engaged in dialogue with his Syrian and Russian counterparts to resolve the Syrian conflict. For Erdogan, Fidan is the key to normalization with Syria. According to Turkish journalist Ezgi Akin: “As a spymaster, he has engaged in back-channel diplomacy with the nation’s allies and foes across the globe.”  It is worth mentioning that upon his appointment as the chief of the MIT, many western and Israeli officials questioned his loyalty towards Turkey’s allies, claiming that he has close relations with Iran and citing the secret Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force file where Fidan has said that “Israel and US must be wiped out.” 

The second important appointment is Guler, the chief of general staff of the Turkish army, as defense minister. Guler is replacing Hulusi Akar. The new minister was the military chief during Turkey’s military incursions into Syria in 2019 and 2020, and also conducted military operations against the PKK in Northern Iraq. Guler tried to convince his NATO allies many times to support Turkey’s efforts in establishing a “safe zone” in Northern Syria.

Finally, Erdogan appointed his former spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin as head of MIT. Kalin is seen as one of the closest people to Erdogan. He was one of the founders of the SETA, a government-affiliated think tank based in Ankara, and has led several diplomatic efforts shaping Turkey’s foreign policy, mainly towards the Middle East. 

Turkish journalist Levent Kemal, commenting on the announcement of the new cabinet, tweeted: “President Erdoğan’s new cabinet is generally a soft cabinet (in terms of domestic policy), but the appointment of Hakan Fidan as foreign minister and Yaşar Güler as defense minister shows that Turkey’s position on security and foreign policy will not change much. The appointment of Ibrahim Kalin as head of the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT), as reported in the Turkish media, will not change Turkey’s lines on sensitive security issues. Turkey will better balance diplomacy and the field and will be more competitive. Hakan Fidan’s ministry seems designed to make Turkey’s regional negotiations more effective and solution-oriented.  Less joint patrols, more results.”

What will be the implications of these appointments on Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy? Will the outcome of the elections give President Erdogan a “green light” for new military interventions against Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq, as well as a push to expand Turkish influence beyond the region?

Regional Implications

Ryan Bohl, a Middle East and North African analyst at the risk intelligence company RANE said to The New Arab that Turkey after the elections will continue to diversify its foreign policy and distance itself from its traditional western allies. According to the analyst, “Turkey is looking to take advantage of the slow drawdown of US forces and influence in the Middle East. As the world becomes more and more multipolar, Turkey under Erdogan has full intention of becoming a great power in this new geopolitical order.” Moreover, the rift between the West and Russia has provided Ankara with a unique opportunity to assert its diplomatic independence and gain political leverage aiming to balance the two conflicting poles. Hence, Turkey no longer sees itself as a regional bridge, but as a key rising power in a region where both the West and Russia strive to contain each other. 

As seen from the recent appointments, Syria is a priority for Turkey. Ankara will engage in rapprochement with Damascus to contain the Kurdish entity in the northeast of Syria. Many analysts argue that Turkey could carry out military operations against the YPG (Kurdish-led ‘People’s Defense Units’). This will be seen as a “win-win” solution for Ankara, Damascus, Tehran and Moscow, where Turkey will aim to destroy the Kurdish political entity on its border, preventing a “spill-over effect” into Turkey. Syria would be happy to see the weakening of the Kurds to force them to surrender to Damascus’ will and give up any autonomy aspirations, while Moscow and Tehran would reach their regional objectives by kicking the US forces from Syria, a key element in their regional geopolitical and geo-economic aims. 

The Gulf is the “golden treasure box” for Turkey. According to Sinem Cengiz, a Turkish researcher at the Gulf Studies Center of Qatar University, the Gulf states adopted a “wait-and-see” approach, and given the current atmosphere of regional reconciliation, Ankara will continue prioritizing its relations with the Gulf. The analyst argues that relations between Turkey and the Gulf have a personal background where Erdogan has used personal relations to engage in the power of personal diplomacy. Cengiz argues that it is expected that Erdogan will soon visit the Gulf and Egypt will sign new trade relations to boost Turkey’s domestic finance and economic position in the region. 

Finally, the South Caucasus is another priority for Turkey as it is the main arena to push its political and economic influence beyond its borders. Starting on May 14, the first round of presidential elections, the Azerbaijani President and officials congratulated Erdogan. President Ilham Aliyev called Erdogan and congratulated him “for winning the majority vote in presidential and parliament elections” (AKP and its allies won 322 of the 600 seats in the National Assembly). On June 4, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov had a telephone conversation with Fidan, and both ministers discussed regional issues. Azerbaijan’s FM also invited his Turkish counterpart to visit Baku. This clearly shows that both countries will continue exerting pressure on Armenia so that the latter makes additional concessions in Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) and allows for an extraterritorial route in Syunik connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan and Turkey.