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THE ARMENIAN-SPEAKING MUSLIMS OF HAMSHEN: WHO ARE THEY? (PART 5)
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/12374/the-armenian-speaking-muslims-of-hamshen-w ho-are-they?-part-5.html
March 26, 2012
(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
Weddings
The time had come to take the bride, Julya Karabajakov, from the
village of Camurlu, but her native home is in the Kyzyl-Kiya town
in Kyrgyzstan, To uphold the wedding tradition, the house of Hizir
Y覺lmaz, a relative of the Karabajakov's, was used instead. Hizir is
one of the last shepherds of Hamshen with a flock of 2,000.
Julya's father didn't come to the wedding. Her mother, Hediye and a
sister did.
64 year-old Hediye has eight children. One is a son. "We wanted a
bride, but they refused so my son stole her away. One month later
the wedding took place. We prepared a long table with drink and
all. One thousand loaves of bread were ordered," she notes, referring
to the Turkish wedding difference. In Kyrgyzstan, they only marry
Hamshentsis. There have been only two cases where a man took a Russian
bride. They separated soon afterwards. Here, she's noticed that the
Hamshen will also marry other nationalities.
Khachik and I were listening to the Hamshen songs sung by the women who
had painted the bride's hands with henna that morning and interviewing
Hediye. In the meantime, Anahit was video-recording the bride's visit
to the local beauty parlor.
[harsanik9-300x199.jpg] [harsanik2-300x200.jpg] Camurlu: Taking the
bride The bride's sisters demand "bakhshish" (gift payment) from
the groom
Chanchanatsin ard ounim / I have a field in Chanchanats
Chachen ourman ergena / A dried leaf is longer than it
Janchetsi nshanlouit / I met your betrothed
Kinte ourman ergen a / His nose is longer than him
"The person making the major decisions regarding the bride's make-up
is the elder sister-in-law (wife of husband's brother).
But there was an argument about her nails. The bride's sister
demanded that she get artificial nails but the sister-in-law was
opposed to it. When the bride was done, the groom came and paid the
entire bill. Julya was saying that the Hopa-Hamshens take the bride
straight from the beautician's shop, while according to their customs,
the bride is first taken home and now they are demanding that they
pick her up from the house," recounted Hediye
Young men ...Womenfolk are sitting and waiting
It was already dark when they brought the bride home and the
groom's family immediately showed up. Zurna and dhol music rang out
and everyone joined in a circle-dance. Ayd覺n Yenigul, the groom,
entered the house, but his path was blocked by the bride's sister and
another woman. They let his pass when he gave them some money. Ayd覺n
tied a red belt around the bride's waist and popped open a bottle of
champagne, the only alcoholic drink at the wedding.
Aydin and Zulya
The wedding took place in Kemalpa癬_a. Young folk were dancing in
the center of the hall. Sitting on chairs around them were the women
wearing headscarves. There was neither food nor drink.
"Why isn't there any drink? Does Islam prohibit it?" I ask Ayd覺n's
father 襤zzet Yenigul, who is watching the dancers.
"Yes, religion forbids alcoholic drink," he says.
Betrothals
In Hopa, engagements take place in a smaller hall. The women are seated
and the men standing, as they observe the ceremony taking place. Rings
tied to a red ribbon are placed on the fingers of Mukerem Aksu and
Sevim Vayic. Then, Sevim's brother cut the ribbon after the groom's
side paid him with paper money.
Then, the open engagement - Ac覺k neshan - took place; when the groom
is present. (The closed ceremony - kapal neshan - is when the groom
is absent.) The guests place paper money on the engagement table,
eat a piece of chocolate, and then get their picture taken with the
bride and groom.
The wedding will most likely take place in a year. In the past,
engaged couples would probably wait 3-4 years. The bride's father
told the groom - 'do not look at the girl's face till the wedding'.
The guests hand out little packets of juice and pastries. Everyone
gets into a circle dance to the accompaniment of bagpipe music. Given
that the hall was narrow, the dancers are forced to spill out onto
the hall's courtyard under a night sky.
[nshan4-300x200.jpg] [nshan1-300x200.jpg] Mukerem and Sevim Muslim
Aksu: "I had a duduk-like instrument but dreamed of a "tulum". I
worked harvesting tea one season and earned 400 lira. I used the
money to by this "tulum"
******
The tulum (bagpipe) is widely played by the Turkish-speaking Hamshen.
The kaval (flute) is the instrument favored by Hopa Hamshens, but
the tulum is gradually being played more and more in Hopa as well. In
the Hayteh Bar, you'll now hear both. Back in the day, you'd have to
travel to Caml覺hem癬_in to purchase a tulum. Shops in Hopa now sell
the instrument.
[nshan6-300x200.jpg] [nshan7-300x200.jpg] Engagement Party: Only
juice and pastry is served Engagement Party: The hall was too narrow
for the dancers
Muslim Aksu, the 22 year-old tulum player at the engagement party,
learnt to play from a Turkish-speaking Hamshen in the nearby town of
F覺nd覺kl覺. "I had an instrument similar to a duduk but I dreamt of
owning a tulum. One year I got a job picking tea and saved 400 lira
and bought this tulum you see me playing," Muslim says. The young
man plays in restaurants and at weddings. He can make 250 lira at a
wedding gig. Throw in the tips, and Muslim can pocket up to 500.
He's also started to play the kaval. Muslim plans to go to Istanbul
to master the tulum.
****
"I would like you to meet Turgay K繹se, a Turkish-speaking Hamshen,"
Cemil tells me at the engagement party.
"We are assimilated Hamshens. They are the real ones," Turgay says.
Ali Riza isn't assimilated. He speaks Armenian and was overjoyed to
learn that we were Armenian. Ali calls himself Armenian but said it
would be best to put the genocide issue behind us and become friends
with Turkey. An argument in Turkish breaks out - on the one side,
Turgay and a young Laz; on the other, Ali. I turn to Khachik to fill
me in. Turgay and the Laz are arguing that we should never forget the
genocide or stop working to get it recognized. They go even further,
saying that we must struggle to get Turkey to recognize it and pay
compensation.
Now, that's something unexpected. One the one hand you have an
assimilated Hamshentsi, who no longer speaks the native tongue,
and a Laz calling for the recognition of the genocide. Opposed,
is a Hamshentsi who identifies himself as Armenian and who speaks
Homshetsma.
"It's a political disagreement," Cemil explains, "Ali Riza is a
Kemalist who defends the official Turkish view. The others are
communists, left-wingers. The left in Turkey says that that the
government should recognize the genocide and pay compensation."
[laz-hamshen-300x200.jpg] Necla and Oghyuz
A Loving Family of Adversary Peoples
Every time Oguz talks about his feelings for Necla he gets
emotional. "I love Necla more now than the first time I confessed my
love to her."
The couple first met twenty years ago in the Nalya snack shop owned
by Oguz. The man was serving her a meal he had prepared and never
stopped confessing his love to Necla.
Necla laughs - "So many years have passed and we've gotten older,
but you still talk of love."
43 year-old Oguz Koyouncu is a Laz. Necla Vayic, his 37 year-old wife,
is a Hamshen.
The two were born in Hopa but for many years resided in Kemalpa癬_a,
the town where they met. It was their political principles that
brought them together - they're both communists and met at a 1992 May
Day demonstration. It was the first demonstration since the 1980 coup.
They have two children - 18 month-old Deniz (named after the famous
Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary Deniz Gezmi癬_ who was hung
in 1972), and Janan-Selen, a 15 year-old daughter.
Oguz can't remember a mixed marriage between a Laz and a Hamshen before
theirs. Oguz is proud that he and his wife have laid the groundwork
for the two peoples to meet in the middle.
"There hadn't been any instance when a Laz married a Hamshentsi. Our
marriage happened because we are socialists. I accept all ethnic
groups without discrimination. Then again, love reigns supreme."
Necla says that even though the Laz and Hamshen have lived side-by-side
for centuries, there is no love lost between them. Sure, they might
not kill one another, but the enmity and discrimination still exist.
There have only been one or two mixed marriages between the Laz and
Hamshen during the past ten years. Even these were fiercely resisted
by the Laz parents who didn't want a Hamshen bride.
Laz and Hamshen youth don't even mix. If they fall in love, they know
that marriage is out of the question.
A Hamshen family might give a daughter to a Laz as a bride, but never
the other way round. Necla only recollects one case of a Hamshen boy
marrying a Laz girl. Even then, the boy had to elope with the girl
since her parents disapproved.
Both peoples are Sunni Muslim, but the enmity between them is greater
than that shown to a non-believer.
Kemal Tatar: "They tell me I'm an Armenian put through the Muslim
grinder. I tell them, I'm not a Muslim but an atheist.
They reply that I am different."
"Religion was never a factor," says Hamshen communist Kemal Tatar, a
friend of Oguz. "You'll never hear anyone tell a Hamshen and a Laz who
are arguing to reconcile because they're co-religionists. A Laz would
gladly give a girl to a German as a bride than to a Hamshen. Sure,
you might note similarities in both peoples, both those similarities
and religion don't lead to a friendly coexistence."
Even Oguz's family didn't accept Necla with ease. His father is also
a socialist, his mother a Turk, and both had no objections to the
union. But the father's mother was dead-set against it. "So now you
want to stick an Armenian into this household?" The woman finally
came to terms with the match and a joyous wedding took place.
"So you regard the Hamshen as Armenians?" I ask, referring back to
what Oguz's grandma said. "But many Hamshens don't even consider
themselves Armenians."
"True, many Hamshens don't like it when others call them
Armenian. Around here, it's like cursing someone. It's taken as
an insult. Turkish nationalism has created such an atmosphere,"
Kemal answers. He continues in Hamshesnak, they call me a converted
Armenian. I respond that I'm not a Muslim but an atheist. Their retort
is that I'm something different."
Necla's father had already passed away prior to the wedding so it
was her brother who opposed it.
"His concern was that we'd divorce and that my husband would leave
me and I'd end up on the street. My brother said he'd kill him if he
did something similar," Necla tells me. "We Hamshens are more open
and would give a girl to a foreigner more easily. It's those Laz who
don't accept others."
"So Oguz, what are differences between the Laz and Hamshens?" I ask.
"I'd prefer not to say since my wife is Hamshen. The Hamshen are more
combative, but not in a negative sense. The longer someone stays up
in the mountains, the cruder and ruder one gets. Civility increases
the further one descends to the sea."
"And how do the children identify themselves?"
"Sometimes my girl says she's a mixture, melez," says Necla. "Then
again, my mother always speaks Hamshen in the house and my daughter
has learnt the language well. My husband's side of the family doesn't
speak Lazuri."
Oguz is one of the few Laz who actually knows the language. But he
rarely uses it.
"It was forbidden to speak Lazuri in the schools. Even though my
father was a socialist, he never let us speak it."
[laz-m-200x300.jpg]
Meryem Ozcep: "Twenty years from now, no one will regard themselves
as Laz. They'll say that their grandparents were Laz.
Once the language disappears, so does ones identity."
Meryem Ozcep, a former political prisoner and a Laz activist in Hopa,
says that she and a few others like her are the last of the Lazuri
speakers. The Laz language has been pushed aside in daily life. Today,
younger Laz people call themselves Turks. "If they don't know the
language then what makes them Laz?" she asks.
"In about twenty years from now no one will identify themselves as
Laz. They'll say my father was a Laz. If the language fades so does
ones identity." Meryem became fluent in Lazuri at a younger age and
it saddens her to realize that the language is disappearing.
Camurlu wedding
"Now, the Laz language is an object of ridicule. It's only spoken by
a few. It will be the first language to die out," laments Oguz and
mentions his brother, K璽z覺m Koyuncu, with great pride. K璽z覺m was
a folk-rock singer and song writer, as well as an environmental and
cultural activist. Before dying in 2005, he popularized a number of
Laz songs and his albums also contain several cuts in Hamshesnak.
Necla says that Hamshesnak is their native language and, unlike Lazuri,
it has never been an object of ridicule.
"If I am speaking to someone in Turkish and a Hamshen person shows up,
I'll immediately start talking Hamshesnak to him or her, regardless
if the other person understands," Necla says.
Oguz gets to hear Hamshesnak spoken more than Lazuri and he's starting
to understand it.
"Does it bother you when they speak Hamshesnak and you might not
understand?" I ask.
"On the contrary, I'm amazed that they can keep the language alive."
(to be continued)
Khachatur Terteryan assisted in the research work.
Photos by Anahit Hayrapetyan
Translated by Hrant Gadarigian
Home page
See also * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen: Who Are
They? (Part 4) * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen: Who
Are They? (Part 3) * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen:
Who Are They? (Part 2) * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen:
Who are they?
From: Baghdasarian
By Vahan Ishkhanyan
http://hetq.am/eng/articles/12374/the-armenian-speaking-muslims-of-hamshen-w ho-are-they?-part-5.html
March 26, 2012
(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)
Weddings
The time had come to take the bride, Julya Karabajakov, from the
village of Camurlu, but her native home is in the Kyzyl-Kiya town
in Kyrgyzstan, To uphold the wedding tradition, the house of Hizir
Y覺lmaz, a relative of the Karabajakov's, was used instead. Hizir is
one of the last shepherds of Hamshen with a flock of 2,000.
Julya's father didn't come to the wedding. Her mother, Hediye and a
sister did.
64 year-old Hediye has eight children. One is a son. "We wanted a
bride, but they refused so my son stole her away. One month later
the wedding took place. We prepared a long table with drink and
all. One thousand loaves of bread were ordered," she notes, referring
to the Turkish wedding difference. In Kyrgyzstan, they only marry
Hamshentsis. There have been only two cases where a man took a Russian
bride. They separated soon afterwards. Here, she's noticed that the
Hamshen will also marry other nationalities.
Khachik and I were listening to the Hamshen songs sung by the women who
had painted the bride's hands with henna that morning and interviewing
Hediye. In the meantime, Anahit was video-recording the bride's visit
to the local beauty parlor.
[harsanik9-300x199.jpg] [harsanik2-300x200.jpg] Camurlu: Taking the
bride The bride's sisters demand "bakhshish" (gift payment) from
the groom
Chanchanatsin ard ounim / I have a field in Chanchanats
Chachen ourman ergena / A dried leaf is longer than it
Janchetsi nshanlouit / I met your betrothed
Kinte ourman ergen a / His nose is longer than him
"The person making the major decisions regarding the bride's make-up
is the elder sister-in-law (wife of husband's brother).
But there was an argument about her nails. The bride's sister
demanded that she get artificial nails but the sister-in-law was
opposed to it. When the bride was done, the groom came and paid the
entire bill. Julya was saying that the Hopa-Hamshens take the bride
straight from the beautician's shop, while according to their customs,
the bride is first taken home and now they are demanding that they
pick her up from the house," recounted Hediye
Young men ...Womenfolk are sitting and waiting
It was already dark when they brought the bride home and the
groom's family immediately showed up. Zurna and dhol music rang out
and everyone joined in a circle-dance. Ayd覺n Yenigul, the groom,
entered the house, but his path was blocked by the bride's sister and
another woman. They let his pass when he gave them some money. Ayd覺n
tied a red belt around the bride's waist and popped open a bottle of
champagne, the only alcoholic drink at the wedding.
Aydin and Zulya
The wedding took place in Kemalpa癬_a. Young folk were dancing in
the center of the hall. Sitting on chairs around them were the women
wearing headscarves. There was neither food nor drink.
"Why isn't there any drink? Does Islam prohibit it?" I ask Ayd覺n's
father 襤zzet Yenigul, who is watching the dancers.
"Yes, religion forbids alcoholic drink," he says.
Betrothals
In Hopa, engagements take place in a smaller hall. The women are seated
and the men standing, as they observe the ceremony taking place. Rings
tied to a red ribbon are placed on the fingers of Mukerem Aksu and
Sevim Vayic. Then, Sevim's brother cut the ribbon after the groom's
side paid him with paper money.
Then, the open engagement - Ac覺k neshan - took place; when the groom
is present. (The closed ceremony - kapal neshan - is when the groom
is absent.) The guests place paper money on the engagement table,
eat a piece of chocolate, and then get their picture taken with the
bride and groom.
The wedding will most likely take place in a year. In the past,
engaged couples would probably wait 3-4 years. The bride's father
told the groom - 'do not look at the girl's face till the wedding'.
The guests hand out little packets of juice and pastries. Everyone
gets into a circle dance to the accompaniment of bagpipe music. Given
that the hall was narrow, the dancers are forced to spill out onto
the hall's courtyard under a night sky.
[nshan4-300x200.jpg] [nshan1-300x200.jpg] Mukerem and Sevim Muslim
Aksu: "I had a duduk-like instrument but dreamed of a "tulum". I
worked harvesting tea one season and earned 400 lira. I used the
money to by this "tulum"
******
The tulum (bagpipe) is widely played by the Turkish-speaking Hamshen.
The kaval (flute) is the instrument favored by Hopa Hamshens, but
the tulum is gradually being played more and more in Hopa as well. In
the Hayteh Bar, you'll now hear both. Back in the day, you'd have to
travel to Caml覺hem癬_in to purchase a tulum. Shops in Hopa now sell
the instrument.
[nshan6-300x200.jpg] [nshan7-300x200.jpg] Engagement Party: Only
juice and pastry is served Engagement Party: The hall was too narrow
for the dancers
Muslim Aksu, the 22 year-old tulum player at the engagement party,
learnt to play from a Turkish-speaking Hamshen in the nearby town of
F覺nd覺kl覺. "I had an instrument similar to a duduk but I dreamt of
owning a tulum. One year I got a job picking tea and saved 400 lira
and bought this tulum you see me playing," Muslim says. The young
man plays in restaurants and at weddings. He can make 250 lira at a
wedding gig. Throw in the tips, and Muslim can pocket up to 500.
He's also started to play the kaval. Muslim plans to go to Istanbul
to master the tulum.
****
"I would like you to meet Turgay K繹se, a Turkish-speaking Hamshen,"
Cemil tells me at the engagement party.
"We are assimilated Hamshens. They are the real ones," Turgay says.
Ali Riza isn't assimilated. He speaks Armenian and was overjoyed to
learn that we were Armenian. Ali calls himself Armenian but said it
would be best to put the genocide issue behind us and become friends
with Turkey. An argument in Turkish breaks out - on the one side,
Turgay and a young Laz; on the other, Ali. I turn to Khachik to fill
me in. Turgay and the Laz are arguing that we should never forget the
genocide or stop working to get it recognized. They go even further,
saying that we must struggle to get Turkey to recognize it and pay
compensation.
Now, that's something unexpected. One the one hand you have an
assimilated Hamshentsi, who no longer speaks the native tongue,
and a Laz calling for the recognition of the genocide. Opposed,
is a Hamshentsi who identifies himself as Armenian and who speaks
Homshetsma.
"It's a political disagreement," Cemil explains, "Ali Riza is a
Kemalist who defends the official Turkish view. The others are
communists, left-wingers. The left in Turkey says that that the
government should recognize the genocide and pay compensation."
[laz-hamshen-300x200.jpg] Necla and Oghyuz
A Loving Family of Adversary Peoples
Every time Oguz talks about his feelings for Necla he gets
emotional. "I love Necla more now than the first time I confessed my
love to her."
The couple first met twenty years ago in the Nalya snack shop owned
by Oguz. The man was serving her a meal he had prepared and never
stopped confessing his love to Necla.
Necla laughs - "So many years have passed and we've gotten older,
but you still talk of love."
43 year-old Oguz Koyouncu is a Laz. Necla Vayic, his 37 year-old wife,
is a Hamshen.
The two were born in Hopa but for many years resided in Kemalpa癬_a,
the town where they met. It was their political principles that
brought them together - they're both communists and met at a 1992 May
Day demonstration. It was the first demonstration since the 1980 coup.
They have two children - 18 month-old Deniz (named after the famous
Turkish Marxist-Leninist revolutionary Deniz Gezmi癬_ who was hung
in 1972), and Janan-Selen, a 15 year-old daughter.
Oguz can't remember a mixed marriage between a Laz and a Hamshen before
theirs. Oguz is proud that he and his wife have laid the groundwork
for the two peoples to meet in the middle.
"There hadn't been any instance when a Laz married a Hamshentsi. Our
marriage happened because we are socialists. I accept all ethnic
groups without discrimination. Then again, love reigns supreme."
Necla says that even though the Laz and Hamshen have lived side-by-side
for centuries, there is no love lost between them. Sure, they might
not kill one another, but the enmity and discrimination still exist.
There have only been one or two mixed marriages between the Laz and
Hamshen during the past ten years. Even these were fiercely resisted
by the Laz parents who didn't want a Hamshen bride.
Laz and Hamshen youth don't even mix. If they fall in love, they know
that marriage is out of the question.
A Hamshen family might give a daughter to a Laz as a bride, but never
the other way round. Necla only recollects one case of a Hamshen boy
marrying a Laz girl. Even then, the boy had to elope with the girl
since her parents disapproved.
Both peoples are Sunni Muslim, but the enmity between them is greater
than that shown to a non-believer.
Kemal Tatar: "They tell me I'm an Armenian put through the Muslim
grinder. I tell them, I'm not a Muslim but an atheist.
They reply that I am different."
"Religion was never a factor," says Hamshen communist Kemal Tatar, a
friend of Oguz. "You'll never hear anyone tell a Hamshen and a Laz who
are arguing to reconcile because they're co-religionists. A Laz would
gladly give a girl to a German as a bride than to a Hamshen. Sure,
you might note similarities in both peoples, both those similarities
and religion don't lead to a friendly coexistence."
Even Oguz's family didn't accept Necla with ease. His father is also
a socialist, his mother a Turk, and both had no objections to the
union. But the father's mother was dead-set against it. "So now you
want to stick an Armenian into this household?" The woman finally
came to terms with the match and a joyous wedding took place.
"So you regard the Hamshen as Armenians?" I ask, referring back to
what Oguz's grandma said. "But many Hamshens don't even consider
themselves Armenians."
"True, many Hamshens don't like it when others call them
Armenian. Around here, it's like cursing someone. It's taken as
an insult. Turkish nationalism has created such an atmosphere,"
Kemal answers. He continues in Hamshesnak, they call me a converted
Armenian. I respond that I'm not a Muslim but an atheist. Their retort
is that I'm something different."
Necla's father had already passed away prior to the wedding so it
was her brother who opposed it.
"His concern was that we'd divorce and that my husband would leave
me and I'd end up on the street. My brother said he'd kill him if he
did something similar," Necla tells me. "We Hamshens are more open
and would give a girl to a foreigner more easily. It's those Laz who
don't accept others."
"So Oguz, what are differences between the Laz and Hamshens?" I ask.
"I'd prefer not to say since my wife is Hamshen. The Hamshen are more
combative, but not in a negative sense. The longer someone stays up
in the mountains, the cruder and ruder one gets. Civility increases
the further one descends to the sea."
"And how do the children identify themselves?"
"Sometimes my girl says she's a mixture, melez," says Necla. "Then
again, my mother always speaks Hamshen in the house and my daughter
has learnt the language well. My husband's side of the family doesn't
speak Lazuri."
Oguz is one of the few Laz who actually knows the language. But he
rarely uses it.
"It was forbidden to speak Lazuri in the schools. Even though my
father was a socialist, he never let us speak it."
[laz-m-200x300.jpg]
Meryem Ozcep: "Twenty years from now, no one will regard themselves
as Laz. They'll say that their grandparents were Laz.
Once the language disappears, so does ones identity."
Meryem Ozcep, a former political prisoner and a Laz activist in Hopa,
says that she and a few others like her are the last of the Lazuri
speakers. The Laz language has been pushed aside in daily life. Today,
younger Laz people call themselves Turks. "If they don't know the
language then what makes them Laz?" she asks.
"In about twenty years from now no one will identify themselves as
Laz. They'll say my father was a Laz. If the language fades so does
ones identity." Meryem became fluent in Lazuri at a younger age and
it saddens her to realize that the language is disappearing.
Camurlu wedding
"Now, the Laz language is an object of ridicule. It's only spoken by
a few. It will be the first language to die out," laments Oguz and
mentions his brother, K璽z覺m Koyuncu, with great pride. K璽z覺m was
a folk-rock singer and song writer, as well as an environmental and
cultural activist. Before dying in 2005, he popularized a number of
Laz songs and his albums also contain several cuts in Hamshesnak.
Necla says that Hamshesnak is their native language and, unlike Lazuri,
it has never been an object of ridicule.
"If I am speaking to someone in Turkish and a Hamshen person shows up,
I'll immediately start talking Hamshesnak to him or her, regardless
if the other person understands," Necla says.
Oguz gets to hear Hamshesnak spoken more than Lazuri and he's starting
to understand it.
"Does it bother you when they speak Hamshesnak and you might not
understand?" I ask.
"On the contrary, I'm amazed that they can keep the language alive."
(to be continued)
Khachatur Terteryan assisted in the research work.
Photos by Anahit Hayrapetyan
Translated by Hrant Gadarigian
Home page
See also * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen: Who Are
They? (Part 4) * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen: Who
Are They? (Part 3) * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen:
Who Are They? (Part 2) * The Armenian-Speaking Muslims of Hamshen:
Who are they?
From: Baghdasarian