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OBSERVATIONS ON SYRIA FROM HATAY'S VAKıFLı VILLAGE
Today's Zaman
Sept 10 2012
Turkey
HASAN KANBOLAT
I was in the village of Vakıflı in the Samandagı district of Hatay,
the only predominantly Armenian village in Turkey. It is situated
along the edges of Musa Mountain.
Over time, it has become part of Samandagı. We had to travel a few
kilometers along the road from the city center to Vakıflı village.
Traveling to Musa Mountain, we are amazed by the glorious trees around.
Orange, lemon and tangerine syrups and beverages are served in a
coffeehouse owned by Garbis in Vakıflı village. The summer breeze
coming from the Mediterranean Sea adds a different flavor to our chat.
Bogos Silahlı, who worked as a philosophy teacher in İstanbul,
is getting ready to organize the fourth of the philosophy days event
in May 2013. He has already identified the major theme: "Ethics and
human rights in food and nutrition." I asked him whether he considered
focusing on the Middle East or Syria in the philosophy days; he replied
calmly, saying that he did not want to get involved in politics.
Despite its declining population, Vakıflı is becoming extremely
important because it is the only predominantly Armenian village in
Turkey. The village is being restored according to its original look
and architecture. The population of the village is still declining.
The young people of the village are leaving to study or work
elsewhere. The average age of the people in the village is around
60-70. The school is shut down because there are no children of school
age. You see old people in the streets of the village. But you can
also see luxury cars with plates indicating that the drivers have come
from elsewhere. People who have settled in other countries and cities
spend their vacations in Vakıflı. The population of the village rises
from 135 to 2,000 in summertime. The parents of Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
the first president of Armenia, are from Vakıflı. They moved from
Vakıflı to Syria and then to Armenia.
The recently constructed airport in Hatay, the transformation of
Antioch into a tourist destination, the improvement in Turkey's
relations with Mideast countries and the lifting of visa requirements
between Turkey and Syria and Lebanon have attracted tourist attention
to Vakıflı. For this reason, a number of social facilities and
pensions have been built for accommodation purposes. However, the
village has been negatively affected by the deteriorating relations
with Syria and the domestic war in this country. The number of tourists
in Vakıflı has declined significantly. The villagers are worried
because of the situation in Syria and the recent Armenian migration
from Syria to Armenia. They do not want to talk about what is going
on in Syria. In general, they hold that the imperialist powers want
to make things worse in the country. They believe that there will be
no peace in Syria regardless of what Bashar al-Assad does.
The church plays a crucial role in Vakıflı. The building was
constructed in 1890. It was transformed into a church in 1924; in
1996, it was completely demolished and reconstructed based on its
original. The church is a good example of stone labor. The two parallel
towers make the church different from others. Surp Asdvadzadzin is
celebrated every second Sunday in August. Local food is cooked in
the yard of the church during the event. In particular, keshkek is
cooked in seven huge cauldrons. Seven has a symbolic meaning. Each
cauldron represents one of the seven Armenian villages: Yogunoluk,
Bityas, Kebusiye, Hıdırbey, Hacıhabipli, Azir and Vakıflı.
Vakıflı hosts a huge number of guests from Armenia, Syria, Lebanon,
the US and other countries during the event.
Despite the clashes in Syria, the event was held peacefully this year.
From: Baghdasarian
Today's Zaman
Sept 10 2012
Turkey
HASAN KANBOLAT
I was in the village of Vakıflı in the Samandagı district of Hatay,
the only predominantly Armenian village in Turkey. It is situated
along the edges of Musa Mountain.
Over time, it has become part of Samandagı. We had to travel a few
kilometers along the road from the city center to Vakıflı village.
Traveling to Musa Mountain, we are amazed by the glorious trees around.
Orange, lemon and tangerine syrups and beverages are served in a
coffeehouse owned by Garbis in Vakıflı village. The summer breeze
coming from the Mediterranean Sea adds a different flavor to our chat.
Bogos Silahlı, who worked as a philosophy teacher in İstanbul,
is getting ready to organize the fourth of the philosophy days event
in May 2013. He has already identified the major theme: "Ethics and
human rights in food and nutrition." I asked him whether he considered
focusing on the Middle East or Syria in the philosophy days; he replied
calmly, saying that he did not want to get involved in politics.
Despite its declining population, Vakıflı is becoming extremely
important because it is the only predominantly Armenian village in
Turkey. The village is being restored according to its original look
and architecture. The population of the village is still declining.
The young people of the village are leaving to study or work
elsewhere. The average age of the people in the village is around
60-70. The school is shut down because there are no children of school
age. You see old people in the streets of the village. But you can
also see luxury cars with plates indicating that the drivers have come
from elsewhere. People who have settled in other countries and cities
spend their vacations in Vakıflı. The population of the village rises
from 135 to 2,000 in summertime. The parents of Levon Ter-Petrosyan,
the first president of Armenia, are from Vakıflı. They moved from
Vakıflı to Syria and then to Armenia.
The recently constructed airport in Hatay, the transformation of
Antioch into a tourist destination, the improvement in Turkey's
relations with Mideast countries and the lifting of visa requirements
between Turkey and Syria and Lebanon have attracted tourist attention
to Vakıflı. For this reason, a number of social facilities and
pensions have been built for accommodation purposes. However, the
village has been negatively affected by the deteriorating relations
with Syria and the domestic war in this country. The number of tourists
in Vakıflı has declined significantly. The villagers are worried
because of the situation in Syria and the recent Armenian migration
from Syria to Armenia. They do not want to talk about what is going
on in Syria. In general, they hold that the imperialist powers want
to make things worse in the country. They believe that there will be
no peace in Syria regardless of what Bashar al-Assad does.
The church plays a crucial role in Vakıflı. The building was
constructed in 1890. It was transformed into a church in 1924; in
1996, it was completely demolished and reconstructed based on its
original. The church is a good example of stone labor. The two parallel
towers make the church different from others. Surp Asdvadzadzin is
celebrated every second Sunday in August. Local food is cooked in
the yard of the church during the event. In particular, keshkek is
cooked in seven huge cauldrons. Seven has a symbolic meaning. Each
cauldron represents one of the seven Armenian villages: Yogunoluk,
Bityas, Kebusiye, Hıdırbey, Hacıhabipli, Azir and Vakıflı.
Vakıflı hosts a huge number of guests from Armenia, Syria, Lebanon,
the US and other countries during the event.
Despite the clashes in Syria, the event was held peacefully this year.
From: Baghdasarian