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ARMENIAN GRANDMA BELIEVES IN CONTRITION OF TURKISH PEOPLE - VIDEO
http://news.am/eng/news/150443.html
April 24, 2013 | 21:19
Genocide is a word that has different content and different meanings
and associations. For some people, the word "genocide" is a purely
legal definition of crimes against humanity, for others, it represents
the inhuman suffering, misery, murder and deportation.
Arusyak Aghajanyan born in 1924 told Armenian News-NEWS.am about her
parents, who had escaped and were saved from the cruel death in the
Ottoman Empire.
"My grandfather was the head of Belo village community near Van, his
name was Harutiun Aghajanian. My father, Kazar Aghajanyan, born in
1896, joined the freedom fighters of General Andranik in 1916-1917,"
grandmother Arusyak starts her story.
According to her, after returning to the homeland, her father did
not find anything - neither home, nor family and friends.
"In 1917, the family escaped during the genocide and gathered in the
courtyard of the Etchmiadzin Church. People suffered and died from
starvation and different epidemics," grandmother Arusyak recalls the
story of her parents with tears in his eyes.
She noted that when they received news that the Turks are coming,
her family escaped in fear of Bayazet and during the escape some
family members - her aunts and uncles, Margaret, Sedrak, Misak,
Apetnak Vartan, Vahan, and Mamikon Aghajanyan - were lost.
"My grandma and grandpa were found murdered in the fields of
Hoktemberyan, while there is no information about anybody else,
athough we were looking for them with hope and waiting," Arusyak
Aghajanyan added.
With trembling voice she recalled the story told by her mother,
Araks Aghajanian, according to whom, while passing through the Talin
village, along the road they saw the blood, famine, epidemic, and
dying elderly and children. Arusyak's grandmother told that her father
cried and was no longer able to speak about these terrible murders,
which he eyewitnesses.
"He never talked about the brutal massacres and sufferings of people.
Most of the terrible events of this period were told by my mother. But
my father always waited with hope for any news from those, who have
returned to their homeland, hoping that suddenly among them can be
found any member of his family," grandmother Arusyak said.
According to her, when her parents got married in 1920, they were
forced to move to Georgia, because they feared for their lives.
"But they moved close to the border, so that at the first opportunity
they would return to their homeland. Later, in 1929, they returned
to Armenia," she said.
According to Arusyak Aghajanyan, her grandmother worked as a midwife.
She told Arusyak that one of her colleagues, Aghun Petrosyan, told
her that in 1915, many Armenians - men, women and children - throw
themselves into the Euphrates river in order not to be captured by
the Turks.
"At one point, there was so many people in the water that the flow
of the river stopped for a while," with horror in the eyes said
Arusyak Aghajanyan.
In response to the question about her attitude towards the people
of Turkey, after all the atrocities, Arusyak Aghajanyan said that
the Turks committed treason, but we, Armenians, need to make peace
with them.
"Hostility and hatred cannot be eternal. We must demand that Turkey
recognize that it committed a crime," she stressed.
89 years old grandma Arusyak has 4 children and 5 grandchildren.
Despite the terrible distress and loss of relatives, she believes and
hopes that one day the people of Turkey will be remorseful of their
guilt and ask Armenian people for forgiveness, provide compensation
for the lost property and return Armenian lands to their real owners.
Tatevik Kazaryan
News from Armenia - NEWS.am
From: Baghdasarian
http://news.am/eng/news/150443.html
April 24, 2013 | 21:19
Genocide is a word that has different content and different meanings
and associations. For some people, the word "genocide" is a purely
legal definition of crimes against humanity, for others, it represents
the inhuman suffering, misery, murder and deportation.
Arusyak Aghajanyan born in 1924 told Armenian News-NEWS.am about her
parents, who had escaped and were saved from the cruel death in the
Ottoman Empire.
"My grandfather was the head of Belo village community near Van, his
name was Harutiun Aghajanian. My father, Kazar Aghajanyan, born in
1896, joined the freedom fighters of General Andranik in 1916-1917,"
grandmother Arusyak starts her story.
According to her, after returning to the homeland, her father did
not find anything - neither home, nor family and friends.
"In 1917, the family escaped during the genocide and gathered in the
courtyard of the Etchmiadzin Church. People suffered and died from
starvation and different epidemics," grandmother Arusyak recalls the
story of her parents with tears in his eyes.
She noted that when they received news that the Turks are coming,
her family escaped in fear of Bayazet and during the escape some
family members - her aunts and uncles, Margaret, Sedrak, Misak,
Apetnak Vartan, Vahan, and Mamikon Aghajanyan - were lost.
"My grandma and grandpa were found murdered in the fields of
Hoktemberyan, while there is no information about anybody else,
athough we were looking for them with hope and waiting," Arusyak
Aghajanyan added.
With trembling voice she recalled the story told by her mother,
Araks Aghajanian, according to whom, while passing through the Talin
village, along the road they saw the blood, famine, epidemic, and
dying elderly and children. Arusyak's grandmother told that her father
cried and was no longer able to speak about these terrible murders,
which he eyewitnesses.
"He never talked about the brutal massacres and sufferings of people.
Most of the terrible events of this period were told by my mother. But
my father always waited with hope for any news from those, who have
returned to their homeland, hoping that suddenly among them can be
found any member of his family," grandmother Arusyak said.
According to her, when her parents got married in 1920, they were
forced to move to Georgia, because they feared for their lives.
"But they moved close to the border, so that at the first opportunity
they would return to their homeland. Later, in 1929, they returned
to Armenia," she said.
According to Arusyak Aghajanyan, her grandmother worked as a midwife.
She told Arusyak that one of her colleagues, Aghun Petrosyan, told
her that in 1915, many Armenians - men, women and children - throw
themselves into the Euphrates river in order not to be captured by
the Turks.
"At one point, there was so many people in the water that the flow
of the river stopped for a while," with horror in the eyes said
Arusyak Aghajanyan.
In response to the question about her attitude towards the people
of Turkey, after all the atrocities, Arusyak Aghajanyan said that
the Turks committed treason, but we, Armenians, need to make peace
with them.
"Hostility and hatred cannot be eternal. We must demand that Turkey
recognize that it committed a crime," she stressed.
89 years old grandma Arusyak has 4 children and 5 grandchildren.
Despite the terrible distress and loss of relatives, she believes and
hopes that one day the people of Turkey will be remorseful of their
guilt and ask Armenian people for forgiveness, provide compensation
for the lost property and return Armenian lands to their real owners.
Tatevik Kazaryan
News from Armenia - NEWS.am
From: Baghdasarian