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ROBER KOPTAS: BEING AN ARMENIAN CAN SOMETIMES BE DANGEROUS IN TURKISH SOCIETY
PanARMENIAN.Net
December 8, 2010 - 20:24 AMT 16:24 GMT
Hrant Dink's latest successor as editor-in-chief of weekly newspaper,
Rober Koptas, who took over from Etyen Mahcupyen in June, spoke to
Southeast European Times about Agos, Dink's legacy, and the challenges
facing Turkey's Armenian community.
"Thanks to the efforts of Hrant Dink, Agos became more influential
paper than was expected when it was founded. In the beginning it
was only a community paper published in Turkish and Armenian and it
was regarded as a platform to express the problems of the Armenian
community of Turkey -- of Istanbul mostly.
But during time, Agos became a platform for not only Armenians, but
also some other ethnic or religious groups of Turkey, or some opposing
minority or political groups that suffered from discrimination
or nationalism. So now we have some Armenian columnists, some
non-Armenian writers. We have Armenian readers and non-Armenian
readers, their number is equal so we can say that Agos has crossed
the borders of the Armenian community and has become a paper of the
whole of Turkey. Agos is small in numbers but big in its effect."
"The main motives of Agos are not going to be changed: the
democratization of the country, human rights issues, the rights of
religious groups, mostly Armenian and some others. We're going to
try to be better journalists and work harder. Agos in its essence has
an amateur spirit, which is very important for us but we're going to
blend this amateurship with a professional working style.
Of course it becomes a more lively paper whose borders are not
so defined; every problem of the people can be our topic. In a
professional paper it's not easy to contribute as a reader but Agos
is more open to that.
The other thing is that our paper, like every person in Turkey,
has a problem with Turkish nationalism. We can express ourselves in
a more human way than some other professional papers because we're
suffering from that attitude that discriminates Armenians against
Turks or Kurds against Turks."
Speaking about the murder of Hrant Dink, Koptas stated, "Dink
was killed because he was very dangerous in the eyes of Turkish
ultranationalists. He was always crossing the border: he was Armenian
but not an "acceptable" Armenian as they defined, because the ordinary
Armenian doesn't have the right to speak, but he was speaking very
loudly. He was not an ordinary journalist: he was touching every
critical issue of Turkey.
He became a bridge between these ethnic groups -- Kurds, Turks,
Armenians -- and he was a kind of model of a future Turkish citizen,
I think, because he had strong ties with his culture and identity,
but he also tried to understand Turks and Islam. Because of that he
was a dangerous man and they knew that killing him could destroy a
lot of positive things."
"Dink's death created a huge impact on Turkish society. It became a
milestone. The killers did not expect that thousands of people would
march crying, 'We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian'. This was the
first time in Turkish history that people came together to cry for
an Armenian.
Up until now, the Turkish state regards Armenians as second-class
citizens. They have the right to take the property of our institutions,
our foundations, and our churches.
The emergence of these ideas created space for discussion about
history, about today, and about the future. Hrant Dink's assassination
helped Turkish society because it created a space for us to discuss
more freely Turkish identity, Armenians, the Kurdish issue."
Dwelling about the problems Armenians have with Turkish nationalism,
Agos editor-in-chief said, "Being an Armenian can sometimes be
dangerous in Turkish society, and my father had a fear that when I
went to military service, my Armenian name could be a problem for me.
Because of that fear he decided to record me as Murat, a Turkish name.
This fear still continues for most Armenians; they use some other
names when they're in markets, when they're making business. They're
hiding their own names and using Turkish names."
From: A. Papazian
PanARMENIAN.Net
December 8, 2010 - 20:24 AMT 16:24 GMT
Hrant Dink's latest successor as editor-in-chief of weekly newspaper,
Rober Koptas, who took over from Etyen Mahcupyen in June, spoke to
Southeast European Times about Agos, Dink's legacy, and the challenges
facing Turkey's Armenian community.
"Thanks to the efforts of Hrant Dink, Agos became more influential
paper than was expected when it was founded. In the beginning it
was only a community paper published in Turkish and Armenian and it
was regarded as a platform to express the problems of the Armenian
community of Turkey -- of Istanbul mostly.
But during time, Agos became a platform for not only Armenians, but
also some other ethnic or religious groups of Turkey, or some opposing
minority or political groups that suffered from discrimination
or nationalism. So now we have some Armenian columnists, some
non-Armenian writers. We have Armenian readers and non-Armenian
readers, their number is equal so we can say that Agos has crossed
the borders of the Armenian community and has become a paper of the
whole of Turkey. Agos is small in numbers but big in its effect."
"The main motives of Agos are not going to be changed: the
democratization of the country, human rights issues, the rights of
religious groups, mostly Armenian and some others. We're going to
try to be better journalists and work harder. Agos in its essence has
an amateur spirit, which is very important for us but we're going to
blend this amateurship with a professional working style.
Of course it becomes a more lively paper whose borders are not
so defined; every problem of the people can be our topic. In a
professional paper it's not easy to contribute as a reader but Agos
is more open to that.
The other thing is that our paper, like every person in Turkey,
has a problem with Turkish nationalism. We can express ourselves in
a more human way than some other professional papers because we're
suffering from that attitude that discriminates Armenians against
Turks or Kurds against Turks."
Speaking about the murder of Hrant Dink, Koptas stated, "Dink
was killed because he was very dangerous in the eyes of Turkish
ultranationalists. He was always crossing the border: he was Armenian
but not an "acceptable" Armenian as they defined, because the ordinary
Armenian doesn't have the right to speak, but he was speaking very
loudly. He was not an ordinary journalist: he was touching every
critical issue of Turkey.
He became a bridge between these ethnic groups -- Kurds, Turks,
Armenians -- and he was a kind of model of a future Turkish citizen,
I think, because he had strong ties with his culture and identity,
but he also tried to understand Turks and Islam. Because of that he
was a dangerous man and they knew that killing him could destroy a
lot of positive things."
"Dink's death created a huge impact on Turkish society. It became a
milestone. The killers did not expect that thousands of people would
march crying, 'We are all Hrant, we are all Armenian'. This was the
first time in Turkish history that people came together to cry for
an Armenian.
Up until now, the Turkish state regards Armenians as second-class
citizens. They have the right to take the property of our institutions,
our foundations, and our churches.
The emergence of these ideas created space for discussion about
history, about today, and about the future. Hrant Dink's assassination
helped Turkish society because it created a space for us to discuss
more freely Turkish identity, Armenians, the Kurdish issue."
Dwelling about the problems Armenians have with Turkish nationalism,
Agos editor-in-chief said, "Being an Armenian can sometimes be
dangerous in Turkish society, and my father had a fear that when I
went to military service, my Armenian name could be a problem for me.
Because of that fear he decided to record me as Murat, a Turkish name.
This fear still continues for most Armenians; they use some other
names when they're in markets, when they're making business. They're
hiding their own names and using Turkish names."
From: A. Papazian