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TURKEY'S LAST ARMENIAN VILLAGE
Southeast European Times
May 12 2011
By Alexander Christie-Miller for Southeast European Times in Vakifli
-- 12/05/11
On the surface, it's hard to see why anyone would leave Vakifli.
Perched on a hill overlooking the sea, the village is a peaceful,
idyllic spot, its clean Mediterranean air infused with the scent of
orange blossom.
But its 135 inhabitants have a special reason to keep their tiny
community alive: theirs is the last Armenian village in Turkey to
survive the devastating massacres during World War One in which as
many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
As with many other villages across Turkey, the decline of income from
agriculture coupled with the temptations of urban life mean Vakifli
is inexorably shrinking.
"We are very few, and we are getting old," said Berc Kartun, the
village's mayor. "All the young people leave. Young people finish
university and now they're looking for something else to do."
Vakifli owes its unique survival to a mixture of bravery and luck. In
1915, the Ottoman Empire's 'Young Turks' government ordered that all
Armenians in Turkey be deported to the Syrian desert.
For most, this was a death sentence, and the inhabitants of Vakifli
and five other villages in Hatay province that now lie by the Syrian
border armed themselves and took to the mountains.
Around 5,000 people held out for 53 days on the summit of Musa Dagh,
which overlooks Vakifli, resisting Ottoman forces' attempts to
dislodge them.
Running low on food, they caught the attention of a passing French
warship by hoisting a banner, and were rescued and taken to Allied
refugee camps before returning at the end of the war when Hatay was
under French mandate.
When the province returned to Turkish rule in 1939, five of the
villages opted to migrate to Lebanon, with only Vakifli remaining.
"We're proud of this history," said Panos Capar, a 79-year-old orange
farmer. "We fought in the past, and now everybody has to accept us."
Now they are fighting again. Over the past 15 years the population
declined from around 180 people to its present number, with many
moving to Istanbul.
It is a picture reflected across Turkey. In 1990, about half the
country's population was classified as rural, but this figure had
dropped to just below 32% by 2008.
Oranges are Vakifli's main crop, and in 2004 a co-operative was
established. All producers in the village agreed to start growing
organically to try to boost profits. A small village stall sells
locally produced wine, liquors, preserves and soap to a steady trickle
of tourists.
"I think we will survive," said Capar. "Young people are planning to
make investments here to attract tourists -- a restaurant and other
things -- but it's step by step and it won't happen at once."
Vakifli's residents bear the added burden of living in a country
deeply uneasy with its religious and ethnic heritage. Starting in
1915, the large Armenian minority in Anatolia was massacred and almost
entirely driven out.
More than 20 countries recognise the killings as genocide, but Turkey
fiercely disputes the label, saying many Turks were also killed and
there was no intention to exterminate the Armenians.
Related ArticlesLoading"The culture of the new Turkish state was
based on the denial of diversity," said Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a lawyer
and prominent human rights activist.
"They were trying to create a homogenous society, which didn't reflect
the reality of Anatolia... Because Turkey has never confronted its
past we haven't been able to get rid of racist tendencies."
But in Hatay, which has a rich ethnic mix of Arabs, Turks, Alawi
Muslims, and different Christian denominations, Vakifli's residents
say they feel at home.
"In Hatay there are many ethnicities and we have been living here a
long time," said Cem Capar, a 33-year-old veterinarian who was born
in Vakifli but now lives in the nearby town of Samandag.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/12/feature-02
Southeast European Times
May 12 2011
By Alexander Christie-Miller for Southeast European Times in Vakifli
-- 12/05/11
On the surface, it's hard to see why anyone would leave Vakifli.
Perched on a hill overlooking the sea, the village is a peaceful,
idyllic spot, its clean Mediterranean air infused with the scent of
orange blossom.
But its 135 inhabitants have a special reason to keep their tiny
community alive: theirs is the last Armenian village in Turkey to
survive the devastating massacres during World War One in which as
many as 1.5 million Armenians were killed.
As with many other villages across Turkey, the decline of income from
agriculture coupled with the temptations of urban life mean Vakifli
is inexorably shrinking.
"We are very few, and we are getting old," said Berc Kartun, the
village's mayor. "All the young people leave. Young people finish
university and now they're looking for something else to do."
Vakifli owes its unique survival to a mixture of bravery and luck. In
1915, the Ottoman Empire's 'Young Turks' government ordered that all
Armenians in Turkey be deported to the Syrian desert.
For most, this was a death sentence, and the inhabitants of Vakifli
and five other villages in Hatay province that now lie by the Syrian
border armed themselves and took to the mountains.
Around 5,000 people held out for 53 days on the summit of Musa Dagh,
which overlooks Vakifli, resisting Ottoman forces' attempts to
dislodge them.
Running low on food, they caught the attention of a passing French
warship by hoisting a banner, and were rescued and taken to Allied
refugee camps before returning at the end of the war when Hatay was
under French mandate.
When the province returned to Turkish rule in 1939, five of the
villages opted to migrate to Lebanon, with only Vakifli remaining.
"We're proud of this history," said Panos Capar, a 79-year-old orange
farmer. "We fought in the past, and now everybody has to accept us."
Now they are fighting again. Over the past 15 years the population
declined from around 180 people to its present number, with many
moving to Istanbul.
It is a picture reflected across Turkey. In 1990, about half the
country's population was classified as rural, but this figure had
dropped to just below 32% by 2008.
Oranges are Vakifli's main crop, and in 2004 a co-operative was
established. All producers in the village agreed to start growing
organically to try to boost profits. A small village stall sells
locally produced wine, liquors, preserves and soap to a steady trickle
of tourists.
"I think we will survive," said Capar. "Young people are planning to
make investments here to attract tourists -- a restaurant and other
things -- but it's step by step and it won't happen at once."
Vakifli's residents bear the added burden of living in a country
deeply uneasy with its religious and ethnic heritage. Starting in
1915, the large Armenian minority in Anatolia was massacred and almost
entirely driven out.
More than 20 countries recognise the killings as genocide, but Turkey
fiercely disputes the label, saying many Turks were also killed and
there was no intention to exterminate the Armenians.
Related ArticlesLoading"The culture of the new Turkish state was
based on the denial of diversity," said Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a lawyer
and prominent human rights activist.
"They were trying to create a homogenous society, which didn't reflect
the reality of Anatolia... Because Turkey has never confronted its
past we haven't been able to get rid of racist tendencies."
But in Hatay, which has a rich ethnic mix of Arabs, Turks, Alawi
Muslims, and different Christian denominations, Vakifli's residents
say they feel at home.
"In Hatay there are many ethnicities and we have been living here a
long time," said Cem Capar, a 33-year-old veterinarian who was born
in Vakifli but now lives in the nearby town of Samandag.
This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/12/feature-02