Birgün, 15 October 2005

[...] There is an important definition in philosophy: The relationship between a living being and its sphere of existence is the very essence of life itself... That relationship is called life. This is true for all living beings—for plants, for animals, and also for humans. A living being exists along with its sphere of existence; outside of that, it ceases to exist. If you take it from there and transport it elsewhere, even if you carry it on a golden tray, you sever its relationship with its sphere of existence, you sever its roots. That is what this is called. Yes, that is the nature of forced deportation… That is the nature of the thing you are examining, the thing you are trying to explain… People who lived on these lands, created culture and civilization on these lands for four thousand years, were—for one reason or another—torn from the lands on which they lived, and scattered across the world. Those who died, those who survived, and those who were scattered…

Now, if this event, this idea of a severing of the roots, corresponds to the state of mind of the generations of this people that flow into the present day, and to the expression of 90 years of identity, then you cannot ignore it. You cannot say, “Let it be called this, not that.” It has already been felt and internalized, and it is now inscribed in the genetic code. What should it be called? To be frank, let the law concern itself with that. What it is called isn’t important to us, but this is what we experienced.

***

[...] This conference is very important to me. I live in Turkey; I am an Armenian from Turkey. So I view this conference in two ways. The first is this: I consider it part of Turkey’s democratization process in the true sense of the term. With this conference, Turkey has crossed an important threshold. As for the second, I am interested in the state of mind of the Armenian world. For me, their thoughts on this conference are also important. There is a diaspora that perceives Turks from the point at which they left them, from the perspective of 1915; their mindset is this: “Turkey won’t change, Turks won’t change, they won’t accept this, it’s impossible to get through to them, they have no conscience.” And so the very fact that this conference has been held will baffle them, in a positive way, as they wonder, “What is going on in Turkey?” It is these two aspects that are important to me. And I want to make gains in both.

Armenians will not heal as long as Turkey does not democratize. This is very clear. They are like twin spirits. As one undergoes surgery on the operating table, the other suffers for its twin. This is how they feel… This is why I always say, “In terms of their relationship with each other, Armenians and Turks are like two clinical cases.” One with its paranoia, the other with its trauma. This is an accurate analysis.

***

So then, what should be done, what holds the key to the solution? This is a difficult question… Yesterday, a lady opened her speech with a sentence I chose to protest
by applauding. She said, “You talk about people dying, but you don’t talk about the land lost by the Ottoman Empire.” She put forward a view that equated the loss of human life with the loss of land. Okay, there may be nothing we can do in that case, but there is one thing we need to fully understand. A moment ago I spoke of how we understand, how we perceive that genocide, or all right, let’s not use that word, I spoke of how we understand and perceive those events that took place: Being severed at the roots. Because those roots extend down to the most profound depths of the earth and reach up to the highest echelons of the sky. What we are talking about here is a view of Turkey held by people who were torn away from the lands on which they lived for four thousand years. Let me conclude with a story; in fact, it is not a story, but a real lived event, I lived it myself. And I tell it over and over again wherever I go…

***

An elderly gentleman called me from a district of Sivas. “Son,” he said, “we asked around, and we found you. There’s an elderly lady here; as far as we can tell she’s one of yours. She has been reunited with God. If you can find her relatives, have them come and take her, otherwise we’ll perform the namaz prayers and bury her here.”

“Very well, uncle, I’ll see what I can do,” I said. He gave me her full name; it was a lady called Beatris, she was 70 years old. She was there on holiday from France.

I asked around, and in ten minutes I had found her relatives… After all, we know each other because we are so few.

I visited their shop, and asked, “Do you know a lady by this name?” The middleaged lady in the shop turned around and said, “That’s my mother.” “Where is your mother?” I asked her. She told me that her mother lived in France, that she came to Turkey three or four times a year, but that she didn’t always stop in Istanbul, and instead went directly to the village she had been forced to abandon. I explained the situation to her daughter. She got up and left. The next day she called me. She had found her mother and identified her. Then she started to cry. I told her not to cry, and asked if she would bring her mother’s remains here. “Brother,” she said, “I want to bring her back, but there’s this elderly gentleman here who’s saying something else.” Still crying, she handed the phone to the gentleman. “Why are you making this girl cry?” I reproached. “Son,” he said, “I didn’t say anything… I just said, ‘My daughter! She’s your mother, she belongs to you, but if you ask me, let her stay here, let her be buried here… The water has found its crack.”

And it was at that moment that I broke down. I broke down because of this saying, this understanding produced by the people of Anatolia. It was true, the water had found its crack…

So yes, dear lady, it’s true that the Armenians have their eyes on this country and on these lands. Let me repeat to you what I wrote back then. Around that time President Demirel had said, “We won’t give even three pebbles to the Armenians.” So I wrote the story of this woman, and I said this:

“Yes, we Armenians have our eyes on these lands, because our roots are here; but don’t worry, our aim is not to take these lands away, but to come and one day be buried deep in them…”

[*] Abridged text of the non-academic paper presented by Hrant Dink on Sunday 25 September 2005, at the conference, “Ottoman Armenians During the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility and Democracy”, Bilgi University, 24-25 September 2005.