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CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN OF TRUTH AND JUSTICE
BIAnet.org
Sept 10 2012
Turkey
Actress Arsinée Khanjian and lawyer Fethiye Cetin spoke about what
it means to be an Armenian in Turkey and in the Diaspora in a series
of programs called "Climbing the Mountain" launched by the Civilitas
Foundation and Anatolian Culture.
Writer, human rights activist and lawyer Fethiye Cetin and Armenian
actress Arsinée Khanjian spoke about what it means to be an Armenian
both in Turkey and in the Diaspora in a series of travelling programs
called "Climbing the Mountain" launched by the Civilitas Foundation
and Anatolian Culture (Anadolu Kultur.)
The first series of programs took place in Berlin on Sept. 4, while
the second one hit the screen in Istanbul on Sept. 6. The third run
will take place in Yerevan on Sept. 13 and will be livestreamed,
videotaped and shared on a trilingual website.
The programs aim to shed light on the personal aspect of
Armenian-Turkish relations and relate the mutual prejudices between
Armenians and Turks, and people whose families were forced to leave
Anatolia and those who remained behind.
Sweeping off the truth
"My grandparents were citizens of the Ottoman state. I was born
in Beirut. I climbed the mountain; I climbed Ararat. This is very
important for people born in places outside of [their native lands]
against their own will and [to help them] construe an identity. As I
climbed Mt. Ararat, there I found truth and justice. I buried on that
mountain the pictures of my grandparents who were born in Erzurum
and the gloves of my mother who died at an early age," said actress
Arsinée Khanjian, a Canadian citizen of Armenian descent who was
born in Lebanon.
Khanjian had played the role of "Ani" in director Atom Egoyan's movie
"Ararat."
Lawyer and human rights activist Fethiye Cetin, the author of the book
"My Grandmother," ("Ananem") then took the floor:
"I was born [in the northeastern province of Elazıg.] I began living
with my muslim grandparents at a young age. Then I became a socialist.
One day, my grandmother took me on her lap and told me of a story I
had never heard before with gestures that looked as if she were trying
to swab down the dirt over her skirt. It was as if she was sweeping
with her hands all that she had gone through at the age of nine. I
believed my grandmother. She was telling the truth," said Cetin.
Fethiye Cetin is also known for having acted as a lawyer for the
family of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in broad
daylight in Jan. 19, 2007 before his office in Istanbul. Only two
suspects received sentences in connection with his assassination,
while other suspects and a number of officials who were implicated
in the case received no penalties at all.
Armenian women forced into marriages
"Many local Kurdish guides I met near Mt. Ararat approached me
and said their grandmothers were Armenians, expecting me to take
some delight in this. Out of astonishment, I did not know what to
say, however. What they were saying proved an entire reality; those
grandmothers had been forcibly married off, and there was not a single
Armenian grandfather to be found," Khanjian said.
"Now that I have a double identity, I can speak with ease," lawyer
Cetin said, adding that it was difficult for her to share her story
even with her socialist friends in the beginning.
"It was not out of fear, but we could not tear down the taboos we
ourselves had created. We bore the policy of denial as part of that
muted silence. For that reason, I now bear a responsibility. My
grandmother had loaded the dirt she had swept off of her skirt onto
my shoulders, and I do not wish to transmit this burden to future
generations," she said.
Khanjian also added there were thousands of books about the Armenian
Genocide but that she preferred to express the issue through artistic
means:
"When we shot the movie 'Ararat,' this was perceived in Turkey as
propaganda material. By contrast, however, this movie was not about
the genocide. Its main theme was about Turkey's ongoing policy of
denial," she said. (NV)
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/140796-climbing-the-mountain-of-truth-and-justice
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
BIAnet.org
Sept 10 2012
Turkey
Actress Arsinée Khanjian and lawyer Fethiye Cetin spoke about what
it means to be an Armenian in Turkey and in the Diaspora in a series
of programs called "Climbing the Mountain" launched by the Civilitas
Foundation and Anatolian Culture.
Writer, human rights activist and lawyer Fethiye Cetin and Armenian
actress Arsinée Khanjian spoke about what it means to be an Armenian
both in Turkey and in the Diaspora in a series of travelling programs
called "Climbing the Mountain" launched by the Civilitas Foundation
and Anatolian Culture (Anadolu Kultur.)
The first series of programs took place in Berlin on Sept. 4, while
the second one hit the screen in Istanbul on Sept. 6. The third run
will take place in Yerevan on Sept. 13 and will be livestreamed,
videotaped and shared on a trilingual website.
The programs aim to shed light on the personal aspect of
Armenian-Turkish relations and relate the mutual prejudices between
Armenians and Turks, and people whose families were forced to leave
Anatolia and those who remained behind.
Sweeping off the truth
"My grandparents were citizens of the Ottoman state. I was born
in Beirut. I climbed the mountain; I climbed Ararat. This is very
important for people born in places outside of [their native lands]
against their own will and [to help them] construe an identity. As I
climbed Mt. Ararat, there I found truth and justice. I buried on that
mountain the pictures of my grandparents who were born in Erzurum
and the gloves of my mother who died at an early age," said actress
Arsinée Khanjian, a Canadian citizen of Armenian descent who was
born in Lebanon.
Khanjian had played the role of "Ani" in director Atom Egoyan's movie
"Ararat."
Lawyer and human rights activist Fethiye Cetin, the author of the book
"My Grandmother," ("Ananem") then took the floor:
"I was born [in the northeastern province of Elazıg.] I began living
with my muslim grandparents at a young age. Then I became a socialist.
One day, my grandmother took me on her lap and told me of a story I
had never heard before with gestures that looked as if she were trying
to swab down the dirt over her skirt. It was as if she was sweeping
with her hands all that she had gone through at the age of nine. I
believed my grandmother. She was telling the truth," said Cetin.
Fethiye Cetin is also known for having acted as a lawyer for the
family of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered in broad
daylight in Jan. 19, 2007 before his office in Istanbul. Only two
suspects received sentences in connection with his assassination,
while other suspects and a number of officials who were implicated
in the case received no penalties at all.
Armenian women forced into marriages
"Many local Kurdish guides I met near Mt. Ararat approached me
and said their grandmothers were Armenians, expecting me to take
some delight in this. Out of astonishment, I did not know what to
say, however. What they were saying proved an entire reality; those
grandmothers had been forcibly married off, and there was not a single
Armenian grandfather to be found," Khanjian said.
"Now that I have a double identity, I can speak with ease," lawyer
Cetin said, adding that it was difficult for her to share her story
even with her socialist friends in the beginning.
"It was not out of fear, but we could not tear down the taboos we
ourselves had created. We bore the policy of denial as part of that
muted silence. For that reason, I now bear a responsibility. My
grandmother had loaded the dirt she had swept off of her skirt onto
my shoulders, and I do not wish to transmit this burden to future
generations," she said.
Khanjian also added there were thousands of books about the Armenian
Genocide but that she preferred to express the issue through artistic
means:
"When we shot the movie 'Ararat,' this was perceived in Turkey as
propaganda material. By contrast, however, this movie was not about
the genocide. Its main theme was about Turkey's ongoing policy of
denial," she said. (NV)
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/140796-climbing-the-mountain-of-truth-and-justice
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress