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SYRIAN CONFLICT TAKING TOLL ON TURKEY'S LAST ARMENIAN VILLAGE
AL Monitor
Oct 2 2012
By: Hasan Kanbolat posted on Tuesday, Oct 2, 2012
I am in Vakifli village, the last Armenian village in Turkey's Hatay
province, Samandag township, near the Syrian border.
Vakifli is on the slopes of the Musa Mountain. Over time this village
became a neighborhood of Samandag. We climb up to reach Vakifli
village, which is a couple of kilometers away from [Samandag] town
center. We are surrounded by reed beds, olive, mulberry and pomegranate
trees, while walking up the Musa.
The Gabris coffeehouse, under the shadow of gigantic pines, serves
orange, lemon, mandarin and mulberry syrups. The cool breeze coming
from the Mediterranean adds pleasure to our chat.
Bogos Silahli, a retired philosophy teacher from Istanbul, is occupied
with his preparations for the Philosophy Days festival, which will
celebrate its fourth anniversary in 2013. He already decided the topic:
"The Ethics of Food and Human Rights."
I asked whether Silahli considers organizing Philosophy Days on the
Middle East or the Syrian issue. He calmly said he doesn't want to
get involved in politics.
Despite its decreasing population, Vakifli is becoming more and more
important since it is the only Armenian village in Turkey. It is
undergoing restoration, while preserving its old architecture. Its
population has dropped down to 135 Armenians.
There are 35 households in Vakifli. During the 1940s, it used to be
the biggest village in the area, yet its population decreased to 320
by 1964. Its youth immigrated to big cities or abroad to either work
or study. The average age in the village is now about 60-70. With the
decrease in the number of children, the village school was shut down.
You come across old people in the streets and gardens of Vakifli,
while the roads are filled with luxury cars with foreign plates owned
by youngsters. During the holidays, those who live abroad or in big
cities visit their native village; in summer the population of Vakifli
goes up to 2,000.
The family of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia,
is originally from Vakifli. The family first migrated to Syria from
Vakifli, and then to Armenia from Syria.
With the opening of the nearby Hatay airport, Antakya's increasing
prospects of becoming a touristic city, development of relations
between Turkey and the Middle East, and the lifting of visas between
Turkey and Syria, as well as Lebanon, Vakifli started to enjoy many
visitors. Accordingly, some small hotels and social facilities were
constructed in the village.
However, the civil war in Syria and the worsening relations between
Turkey and Syria had an adverse impact on the village. The tourist
flow from abroad and Turkey to the village has decreased.
Villagers are worried about the hardships faced by Armenians in Syria
and the beginning of their emigration to Armenia. They are hesitant to
talk about the Syrian issue. In general, they hold the opinion that it
is the imperialist powers that stirred up the crises in Syria. They
also think that the fall of [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad is
inevitable, yet that peace won't come to Syria after his fall.
The church in Vakifli serves as a unifying factor. The building was
constructed for silk farming in 1890. It was converted to a church
in 1924 and reconstructed in 1996. It is a beautiful architectural
monument with stone masonry.
The two bell towers of the church distinguish it from other examples.
Every year, Surp Asdvadzadzin (Annunciation Day) is celebrated on
the second Sunday of August, which is also the harvest time, in
this church.
Herise (a special food eaten during this occasion) is cooked in seven
boilers in the garden of the church. There is a symbolic meaning of
this number. Each boiler represents the seven other Armenian villages
that used to be located in the region (the contemporary names of these
villages can be listed as: (Yogunoluk, Bityas, Kebusiye, Hidirbey,
Hacihabipli, Azir and Vakifli).
Vakifli hosts its guests coming from other regions of Turkey, Armenia,
Syria, Lebanon, the United States and other countries during the
Christian festivals. Despite the clashes in Syria, this year this
festival was celebrated in peace in Vakifli.
Translated from Turkish. View original at
http://orsam.org.tr/tr/yazigoster.aspx?ID=3922
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2012/10/turkeys-last-armenian-village.html
AL Monitor
Oct 2 2012
By: Hasan Kanbolat posted on Tuesday, Oct 2, 2012
I am in Vakifli village, the last Armenian village in Turkey's Hatay
province, Samandag township, near the Syrian border.
Vakifli is on the slopes of the Musa Mountain. Over time this village
became a neighborhood of Samandag. We climb up to reach Vakifli
village, which is a couple of kilometers away from [Samandag] town
center. We are surrounded by reed beds, olive, mulberry and pomegranate
trees, while walking up the Musa.
The Gabris coffeehouse, under the shadow of gigantic pines, serves
orange, lemon, mandarin and mulberry syrups. The cool breeze coming
from the Mediterranean adds pleasure to our chat.
Bogos Silahli, a retired philosophy teacher from Istanbul, is occupied
with his preparations for the Philosophy Days festival, which will
celebrate its fourth anniversary in 2013. He already decided the topic:
"The Ethics of Food and Human Rights."
I asked whether Silahli considers organizing Philosophy Days on the
Middle East or the Syrian issue. He calmly said he doesn't want to
get involved in politics.
Despite its decreasing population, Vakifli is becoming more and more
important since it is the only Armenian village in Turkey. It is
undergoing restoration, while preserving its old architecture. Its
population has dropped down to 135 Armenians.
There are 35 households in Vakifli. During the 1940s, it used to be
the biggest village in the area, yet its population decreased to 320
by 1964. Its youth immigrated to big cities or abroad to either work
or study. The average age in the village is now about 60-70. With the
decrease in the number of children, the village school was shut down.
You come across old people in the streets and gardens of Vakifli,
while the roads are filled with luxury cars with foreign plates owned
by youngsters. During the holidays, those who live abroad or in big
cities visit their native village; in summer the population of Vakifli
goes up to 2,000.
The family of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first president of Armenia,
is originally from Vakifli. The family first migrated to Syria from
Vakifli, and then to Armenia from Syria.
With the opening of the nearby Hatay airport, Antakya's increasing
prospects of becoming a touristic city, development of relations
between Turkey and the Middle East, and the lifting of visas between
Turkey and Syria, as well as Lebanon, Vakifli started to enjoy many
visitors. Accordingly, some small hotels and social facilities were
constructed in the village.
However, the civil war in Syria and the worsening relations between
Turkey and Syria had an adverse impact on the village. The tourist
flow from abroad and Turkey to the village has decreased.
Villagers are worried about the hardships faced by Armenians in Syria
and the beginning of their emigration to Armenia. They are hesitant to
talk about the Syrian issue. In general, they hold the opinion that it
is the imperialist powers that stirred up the crises in Syria. They
also think that the fall of [Syrian President Bashar] al-Assad is
inevitable, yet that peace won't come to Syria after his fall.
The church in Vakifli serves as a unifying factor. The building was
constructed for silk farming in 1890. It was converted to a church
in 1924 and reconstructed in 1996. It is a beautiful architectural
monument with stone masonry.
The two bell towers of the church distinguish it from other examples.
Every year, Surp Asdvadzadzin (Annunciation Day) is celebrated on
the second Sunday of August, which is also the harvest time, in
this church.
Herise (a special food eaten during this occasion) is cooked in seven
boilers in the garden of the church. There is a symbolic meaning of
this number. Each boiler represents the seven other Armenian villages
that used to be located in the region (the contemporary names of these
villages can be listed as: (Yogunoluk, Bityas, Kebusiye, Hidirbey,
Hacihabipli, Azir and Vakifli).
Vakifli hosts its guests coming from other regions of Turkey, Armenia,
Syria, Lebanon, the United States and other countries during the
Christian festivals. Despite the clashes in Syria, this year this
festival was celebrated in peace in Vakifli.
Translated from Turkish. View original at
http://orsam.org.tr/tr/yazigoster.aspx?ID=3922
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2012/10/turkeys-last-armenian-village.html