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HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT SEEKS TO END ETHNIC PREJUDICES
Today's Zaman
May 1 2012
Turkey
We are inside a 125-year-old school building in Karaköy. Walking
through narrow halls with high ceilings, one can hear a piano and
the voices of teachers in the classrooms. I peek through a small
glass window in a classroom door where students are looking at the
blackboard. We enter an empty classroom and sit. I turn on my voice
recorder to capture the thoughts of students from the Mumtaz Soysal
Social Science High School in Bahcelievler and students of the
Karaköy Private Getronagan High School concerning their project,
"AniÅ~_abur/aÅ~_ure," concerning people of different backgrounds
living together.
Rumeysa Å~^ahbaz, who came up with the idea for the project, says for
most people in society it is easy to empathize with others because
every single person in Turkey has a similar background, having had
to endure similar pains in the past.
She first thought of starting a project when it occurred to her that
most issues that intellectuals and activists frequently talk about
need to be translated into the language of ordinary people. She shared
this idea with a classmate, Hane Bolluk. Later, the two talked to
teachers and through research found the 127-year-old Armenian high
school Getronagan High in Karaköy.
Bolluk continues: "Our teachers were very supportive and promised to
find other students who might be interested. When we first started,
there were six of us, all of us wearing headscarves. When we first
went to Getronagan, people were surprised, asking us if we were
researching colleges. We tried to explain what we wanted to do but
were unable to. But when the teachers left the room, there was no
stopping us, and we talked for five hours straight. When we were done,
I asked if they would be willing to sign the brothers' law protocol
[a document to indicate the sides' appreciation for their desire to
work together]. Arden [Akbıyık] looked up and said, 'We don't need
to sign any protocol, we are already siblings'."
The Armenian students were curious, asking the reason for the project.
"We are doing this project to understand ourselves. I need to
understand the elements that make me the person I am to understand
myself, as a person with a Turkish identity. The Turkish identity
feeds on many other cultures in Anatolia: Circassians, Kurds, the
Laz, Greeks, Armenians and others. These are the cultures that live
together with me on this land."
Over the past year, as part of the project, the students of the two
high schools have been involved in many activities, visiting mosques,
churches and each other's homes and schools and walking around Beyoglu
together. Ertugrul CavuÅ~_oglu, a student in the project, says:
"I had never thought about this issue before. To me, an Armenian was
like someone living in the Philippines. I had no idea. It turns out
we were always walking the same streets. My awareness has increased."
On May 5, the students will give a presentation on their project.
Armenian and Turkish students will give speeches concerning the
practice of living together, and academics, such as Ferthat Kentel and
Atilla Yayla, will speak. Linda Serkizyan, who met Bolluk and Å~^ahbaz
at an exhibition, will deliver the opening remarks. Serkizyan says:
"I remember I was going to prep classes in fifth grade when a fellow
student found out that I am Armenian and asked me: 'You are supposed
to have a tail. Where is it?' I was shocked. He probably lived two
streets from me, but had no idea. I am very happy to be a part of
this project."
Ahsen Nur Balkan, another participant in the project, says she had
no idea that there were so many Armenians in Ä°stanbul. "We do live
together, and we know each other, but we act like we shouldn't know
each other," she noted.
From: A. Papazian
Today's Zaman
May 1 2012
Turkey
We are inside a 125-year-old school building in Karaköy. Walking
through narrow halls with high ceilings, one can hear a piano and
the voices of teachers in the classrooms. I peek through a small
glass window in a classroom door where students are looking at the
blackboard. We enter an empty classroom and sit. I turn on my voice
recorder to capture the thoughts of students from the Mumtaz Soysal
Social Science High School in Bahcelievler and students of the
Karaköy Private Getronagan High School concerning their project,
"AniÅ~_abur/aÅ~_ure," concerning people of different backgrounds
living together.
Rumeysa Å~^ahbaz, who came up with the idea for the project, says for
most people in society it is easy to empathize with others because
every single person in Turkey has a similar background, having had
to endure similar pains in the past.
She first thought of starting a project when it occurred to her that
most issues that intellectuals and activists frequently talk about
need to be translated into the language of ordinary people. She shared
this idea with a classmate, Hane Bolluk. Later, the two talked to
teachers and through research found the 127-year-old Armenian high
school Getronagan High in Karaköy.
Bolluk continues: "Our teachers were very supportive and promised to
find other students who might be interested. When we first started,
there were six of us, all of us wearing headscarves. When we first
went to Getronagan, people were surprised, asking us if we were
researching colleges. We tried to explain what we wanted to do but
were unable to. But when the teachers left the room, there was no
stopping us, and we talked for five hours straight. When we were done,
I asked if they would be willing to sign the brothers' law protocol
[a document to indicate the sides' appreciation for their desire to
work together]. Arden [Akbıyık] looked up and said, 'We don't need
to sign any protocol, we are already siblings'."
The Armenian students were curious, asking the reason for the project.
"We are doing this project to understand ourselves. I need to
understand the elements that make me the person I am to understand
myself, as a person with a Turkish identity. The Turkish identity
feeds on many other cultures in Anatolia: Circassians, Kurds, the
Laz, Greeks, Armenians and others. These are the cultures that live
together with me on this land."
Over the past year, as part of the project, the students of the two
high schools have been involved in many activities, visiting mosques,
churches and each other's homes and schools and walking around Beyoglu
together. Ertugrul CavuÅ~_oglu, a student in the project, says:
"I had never thought about this issue before. To me, an Armenian was
like someone living in the Philippines. I had no idea. It turns out
we were always walking the same streets. My awareness has increased."
On May 5, the students will give a presentation on their project.
Armenian and Turkish students will give speeches concerning the
practice of living together, and academics, such as Ferthat Kentel and
Atilla Yayla, will speak. Linda Serkizyan, who met Bolluk and Å~^ahbaz
at an exhibition, will deliver the opening remarks. Serkizyan says:
"I remember I was going to prep classes in fifth grade when a fellow
student found out that I am Armenian and asked me: 'You are supposed
to have a tail. Where is it?' I was shocked. He probably lived two
streets from me, but had no idea. I am very happy to be a part of
this project."
Ahsen Nur Balkan, another participant in the project, says she had
no idea that there were so many Armenians in Ä°stanbul. "We do live
together, and we know each other, but we act like we shouldn't know
each other," she noted.
From: A. Papazian