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LOST-AND-FOUND ARMENIANS NEED OUR HELP
Keghart.com team editorial
http://www.keghart.com/Editorial_Crypto_Armenians
7 June 2010
In the early to late '70s some Diaspora Armenian students studying
in Yerevan, having established a patriotic and private group called
Khempag, engaged in the study of various aspects of life in Armenia
and Armenians in Diaspora. They were particularly dissatisfied with
the accepted interpretations of historical events and policies that
had contributed to shaping Soviet and Diaspora Armenian societies.
Their efforts culminated in the establishment, for Diaspora students,
of a historical society named after Movses Khorenatsi. Members
of the group included Marxists, Ramgavars, Hunchaks, ARF and ASALA
sympathizers, and Chezoks. At its peak the group boasted a membership
representing close to 10% of the Diasporan student body.
The task of the group was not limited to research but included an
action plan that primarily was gauged to disseminate the notion of
demands versus recognition with respect to the Genocide of Armenians.
Furthermore, through a variety of student activities it strived
to cultivate an atmosphere of political and intellectual tolerance
and provide a contextual experience of co-operation that could be
transported to Spyurk.
There were anecdotal reports at the time that many orphans of the
Genocide and their descendants had converted to Islam to avoid Turkish
or Kurdish persecution. These forced converts would occasionally
confide their roots to strangers, it was rumoured. A sizeable portion
of these individuals apparently lived in Kurdish areas and some had
joined the recently formed militant Kurdistan Workers' Party. Others
had left Turkey for Europe, taking advantage of the demand for cheap
labour in Germany and in other European countries.
The members of Khempag were interested to know more about these
crypto-Armenians, and possibly establish some contacts. One of the
members was entrusted to travel to Turkey, particularly to the Kurdish
areas and file a report. Listening to detailed descriptions that were
brought back it became evident that earlier reports were not fiction.
In village after village many old and young people had come forward
to tell their stories, that they or their parents were of Armenian
origin, that they had "adopted" Islam, had changed their way of life,
their language, and married Turks or Kurds to survive.
Over the past forty years some Hamshen Armenians and crypto-Armenians
from Kurdish areas and elsewhere in Turkey have migrated to Europe,
establishing communities, particularly in Germany. For a variety of
complex reasons, which are beyond the scope of this editorial, they,
by and large, have remained isolated from mainstream Armenian life.
One wonders whether an important contributory element to this
isolation has been the unwelcoming attitude of mainstream Armenians
themselves. Is it without cause that Alice Aliye Alt, a resident of
Germany, who has converted to Christianity and has tried to raise
her children as Armenians, and whose artist son has presented an art
exposition about the Genocide, recently made unflattering remarks
about the absence of a welcoming embrace by Armenian communities?
She stated, "Many of my dearest friends, members of the enlightened
Turkish intelligentsia, helped in our struggle to discover and
establish our identity, and in the recognition of the known and
unknown chapters of the Genocide of Armenians. Also our German and
Greek humanist friends in Germany and elsewhere were always at our
side. I cannot tell the same about most of the huge Armenian community
here, who until recently were suspicious of us."
Having witnessed the uncaring attitude of native Armenians of
Armenia towards their compatriots after the repatriation in the '40s,
the disrespect of Indian-Armenians towards their own relatives who
had migrated from Persia to India later in history, the critical
approach of established Armenian communities towards newcomers in
a variety of countries, it is not unreasonable to think that what
Mrs. Alt says corresponds to reality. Armenians like to speak of
unity; they write articles; compose songs, and shout at the top of
their lungs about unity. Yet, when the opportunity is presented to
help re-integrate lost Armenians who yearn to rejoin the Armenian
'family', we fail miserably. That's what the past forty years tell
us about the odyssey of the Hamshenites and other crypto-Armenians
who have settled in Europe.
Will Armenian organizations, cultural and otherwise, come to their
senses and help our brethren who are caught in the vise of an identity
crisis? Armenians look at secret Armenians as Turks while Turks treat
them as gavoor Armenians. Their dignity should be respected with
utmost care. Their desire to become Armenian again should be welcomed.
They are in need of a variety of services, foremost all specialties
that deal with rehabilitation. They should not be looked at as
"potentials" who can "populate" and inflate the number of membership
of this or that organization. The approach should not be utilitarian
but humanitarian.
As observed by a Keghart.com reader, "Armenians, particularly in
Europe, should provide all kinds of assistance to encourage these
"lost" Armenians regain their identity. Armenians in Europe should
hold informational meetings for these Islamized Armenians, provide
them with books, brochures, speakers. If these Armenians are left to
their own devices, their children will become Europeanized and we would
lose them forever. They are specially precious to the Armenian nation
because of the lost-and-found aspect and because of their command of
European languages, skills and citizenship they can be of great help
to the Armenian nation."
From: A. Papazian
Keghart.com team editorial
http://www.keghart.com/Editorial_Crypto_Armenians
7 June 2010
In the early to late '70s some Diaspora Armenian students studying
in Yerevan, having established a patriotic and private group called
Khempag, engaged in the study of various aspects of life in Armenia
and Armenians in Diaspora. They were particularly dissatisfied with
the accepted interpretations of historical events and policies that
had contributed to shaping Soviet and Diaspora Armenian societies.
Their efforts culminated in the establishment, for Diaspora students,
of a historical society named after Movses Khorenatsi. Members
of the group included Marxists, Ramgavars, Hunchaks, ARF and ASALA
sympathizers, and Chezoks. At its peak the group boasted a membership
representing close to 10% of the Diasporan student body.
The task of the group was not limited to research but included an
action plan that primarily was gauged to disseminate the notion of
demands versus recognition with respect to the Genocide of Armenians.
Furthermore, through a variety of student activities it strived
to cultivate an atmosphere of political and intellectual tolerance
and provide a contextual experience of co-operation that could be
transported to Spyurk.
There were anecdotal reports at the time that many orphans of the
Genocide and their descendants had converted to Islam to avoid Turkish
or Kurdish persecution. These forced converts would occasionally
confide their roots to strangers, it was rumoured. A sizeable portion
of these individuals apparently lived in Kurdish areas and some had
joined the recently formed militant Kurdistan Workers' Party. Others
had left Turkey for Europe, taking advantage of the demand for cheap
labour in Germany and in other European countries.
The members of Khempag were interested to know more about these
crypto-Armenians, and possibly establish some contacts. One of the
members was entrusted to travel to Turkey, particularly to the Kurdish
areas and file a report. Listening to detailed descriptions that were
brought back it became evident that earlier reports were not fiction.
In village after village many old and young people had come forward
to tell their stories, that they or their parents were of Armenian
origin, that they had "adopted" Islam, had changed their way of life,
their language, and married Turks or Kurds to survive.
Over the past forty years some Hamshen Armenians and crypto-Armenians
from Kurdish areas and elsewhere in Turkey have migrated to Europe,
establishing communities, particularly in Germany. For a variety of
complex reasons, which are beyond the scope of this editorial, they,
by and large, have remained isolated from mainstream Armenian life.
One wonders whether an important contributory element to this
isolation has been the unwelcoming attitude of mainstream Armenians
themselves. Is it without cause that Alice Aliye Alt, a resident of
Germany, who has converted to Christianity and has tried to raise
her children as Armenians, and whose artist son has presented an art
exposition about the Genocide, recently made unflattering remarks
about the absence of a welcoming embrace by Armenian communities?
She stated, "Many of my dearest friends, members of the enlightened
Turkish intelligentsia, helped in our struggle to discover and
establish our identity, and in the recognition of the known and
unknown chapters of the Genocide of Armenians. Also our German and
Greek humanist friends in Germany and elsewhere were always at our
side. I cannot tell the same about most of the huge Armenian community
here, who until recently were suspicious of us."
Having witnessed the uncaring attitude of native Armenians of
Armenia towards their compatriots after the repatriation in the '40s,
the disrespect of Indian-Armenians towards their own relatives who
had migrated from Persia to India later in history, the critical
approach of established Armenian communities towards newcomers in
a variety of countries, it is not unreasonable to think that what
Mrs. Alt says corresponds to reality. Armenians like to speak of
unity; they write articles; compose songs, and shout at the top of
their lungs about unity. Yet, when the opportunity is presented to
help re-integrate lost Armenians who yearn to rejoin the Armenian
'family', we fail miserably. That's what the past forty years tell
us about the odyssey of the Hamshenites and other crypto-Armenians
who have settled in Europe.
Will Armenian organizations, cultural and otherwise, come to their
senses and help our brethren who are caught in the vise of an identity
crisis? Armenians look at secret Armenians as Turks while Turks treat
them as gavoor Armenians. Their dignity should be respected with
utmost care. Their desire to become Armenian again should be welcomed.
They are in need of a variety of services, foremost all specialties
that deal with rehabilitation. They should not be looked at as
"potentials" who can "populate" and inflate the number of membership
of this or that organization. The approach should not be utilitarian
but humanitarian.
As observed by a Keghart.com reader, "Armenians, particularly in
Europe, should provide all kinds of assistance to encourage these
"lost" Armenians regain their identity. Armenians in Europe should
hold informational meetings for these Islamized Armenians, provide
them with books, brochures, speakers. If these Armenians are left to
their own devices, their children will become Europeanized and we would
lose them forever. They are specially precious to the Armenian nation
because of the lost-and-found aspect and because of their command of
European languages, skills and citizenship they can be of great help
to the Armenian nation."
From: A. Papazian