Tweet
ARMENIAN POP ARTIST CALLS FOR PEACE BEFORE CONCERT
Hurriyet Daily News
May 11 2012
Turkey
Armenian pop singer Nune Yesayan is in Turkey for a concert tonight
in Istanbul. Yesayan says this concert was one of the greatest dreams
of slain journalist Hrant Dink
Armenian pop singer Nune Yesayan will appear on stage tonight at 8:00
p.m. at Istanbul's Lutfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Center,
despite lingering political strains between Turkey and Armenia,
and is issuing a message of friendship.
"Yes, the borders are politically closed, but our hearts are open. I do
not believe there are any boundaries in music," Yesayan, who has given
many international concerts in the past, told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Yesayan said she does not know either Turkey, Turks, or the Armenians
of Istanbul, and she was nervous about the reception the concert
would receive.
"I will remain in Istanbul for four more days. There is a picture
of Istanbul I have created in my mind. Whether I will find that or
encounter completely different surprises, I do not know. Like all
tourists, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapı Palace are the first places
I would like to see," she said, adding that her first concert in
Istanbul has great significance for her.
Yesayan has frequently been asked in the Armenian press whether she
harbored any fears about going to Turkey, and she said it was one of
the greatest dreams of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who
was assassinated in front of his Istanbul office on Jan. 19, 2007,
that she should give a concert in Turkey. "I am in Istanbul to realize
that dream."
"There is no point in [harboring] enmity; new generations do not
think like the old anymore. Yes, there are great scars among the
Armenians in relation to the genocide, but this does not prevent us
from looking toward the future," Yesayan said.
Yesayan is also interested in participating in a joint concert with
Turkish artists to be staged in both Turkey and Armenia, and said that
she would like to see such a concert dedicated to a peaceful future,
which she referred to as the "true victory."
Proposal for joint concert with Hulya AvÅ~_ar
She received a proposal to appear in a joint concert with popular
Turkish artist Hulya AvÅ~_ar several years ago, through the Jewish
community, but turned the offer down, Yesayan explained. "Of course,
I would have liked [to have appeared in such a concert], but why
should the Jewish community act as a mediator between two neighboring
countries like Turkey and Armenia? That was what I could not get
myself to accept. I do not think we should need mediators," she said.
Yesayan also denounced the rows that have occasionally erupted between
Turkey and Armenia over the identity and origins of common songs in
recent years, saying that songs have no ownership.
Despite the fact that her roots bear no connection to Anatolia,
Yesayan said she still harbors great sympathy for the region. "[My]
time is very limited now. I would like to journey eastwards and see
those places the next time I come around," she said.
"What hurts me most deeply are the obnoxious statements [made]
against us [the Armenians]. Neither the Turks nor any other nation
in the world, not only ours, could accept the use of such obnoxious
language," Yesayan said.
From: Baghdasarian
Hurriyet Daily News
May 11 2012
Turkey
Armenian pop singer Nune Yesayan is in Turkey for a concert tonight
in Istanbul. Yesayan says this concert was one of the greatest dreams
of slain journalist Hrant Dink
Armenian pop singer Nune Yesayan will appear on stage tonight at 8:00
p.m. at Istanbul's Lutfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Center,
despite lingering political strains between Turkey and Armenia,
and is issuing a message of friendship.
"Yes, the borders are politically closed, but our hearts are open. I do
not believe there are any boundaries in music," Yesayan, who has given
many international concerts in the past, told the Hurriyet Daily News.
Yesayan said she does not know either Turkey, Turks, or the Armenians
of Istanbul, and she was nervous about the reception the concert
would receive.
"I will remain in Istanbul for four more days. There is a picture
of Istanbul I have created in my mind. Whether I will find that or
encounter completely different surprises, I do not know. Like all
tourists, Hagia Sophia and the Topkapı Palace are the first places
I would like to see," she said, adding that her first concert in
Istanbul has great significance for her.
Yesayan has frequently been asked in the Armenian press whether she
harbored any fears about going to Turkey, and she said it was one of
the greatest dreams of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist who
was assassinated in front of his Istanbul office on Jan. 19, 2007,
that she should give a concert in Turkey. "I am in Istanbul to realize
that dream."
"There is no point in [harboring] enmity; new generations do not
think like the old anymore. Yes, there are great scars among the
Armenians in relation to the genocide, but this does not prevent us
from looking toward the future," Yesayan said.
Yesayan is also interested in participating in a joint concert with
Turkish artists to be staged in both Turkey and Armenia, and said that
she would like to see such a concert dedicated to a peaceful future,
which she referred to as the "true victory."
Proposal for joint concert with Hulya AvÅ~_ar
She received a proposal to appear in a joint concert with popular
Turkish artist Hulya AvÅ~_ar several years ago, through the Jewish
community, but turned the offer down, Yesayan explained. "Of course,
I would have liked [to have appeared in such a concert], but why
should the Jewish community act as a mediator between two neighboring
countries like Turkey and Armenia? That was what I could not get
myself to accept. I do not think we should need mediators," she said.
Yesayan also denounced the rows that have occasionally erupted between
Turkey and Armenia over the identity and origins of common songs in
recent years, saying that songs have no ownership.
Despite the fact that her roots bear no connection to Anatolia,
Yesayan said she still harbors great sympathy for the region. "[My]
time is very limited now. I would like to journey eastwards and see
those places the next time I come around," she said.
"What hurts me most deeply are the obnoxious statements [made]
against us [the Armenians]. Neither the Turks nor any other nation
in the world, not only ours, could accept the use of such obnoxious
language," Yesayan said.
From: Baghdasarian