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Syrian Conflict Taking Toll On Turkey's Last Armenian Village

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  • Syrian Conflict Taking Toll On Turkey's Last Armenian Village

    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

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