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APRICOTS, ARMENIANS, CINEMA AND OUR REAL NAMES
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 5 2013
by Alin Ozinian*
The apricot is an important fruit for Armenians. It is almost sacred;
it is even revered.
Anyone in Armenia who buys or moves into a house with a garden plants
at least one apricot tree if there isn't one already. Souvenirs
like rings and ashtrays made from apricot kernels, and apricot rak覺
produced from the first harvest aside, the oft-repeated assertion,
"If you eat one apricot, you will get rid of nine diseases," or the
phrase "keyfin kay覺s覺" -- which literally translates as "you're as
well off as an apricot" but means "you're looking happy" -- are the
romantic aspects of this story.
Historically, in the third century BC, Akkadians called the apricot
"armanu" (meaning Armenian), and Armenia "Armani" (the land of
apricots). One of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Arameans, called
the apricot tree "Khazura Armenia" (the tree of the Armenian apple).
After fighting Armenian King Tigranes the Great in the first century
BC, Roman general Lucullus took several apricot saplings from Armenia
to Rome. The Romans planted those saplings in their city and called
the fruit the "Armenian plum" (Prunus armeniaca). The plant spread all
over Europe from Rome. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a leading botanist in
the 18th century, finally decided that this fruit was not a type of
plum, but a new species, and called it "Armeniaca vulgaris." In the
12th century, thanks to Ibn al-Awwam, apricot took an Arabic name:
"tufah al Armani" (Armenian apple). Today, in scientific literature,
apricot's Latin name remains "Prunus armeniaca."
In the Armenian language, the fruit has its own color, "apricot." This
color is one of the three colors used in the flag of the Republic of
Armenia, and at the same time the color is a sign of nobility. Thus,
in old Armenian kingdoms, apricot-colored clothes could only be worn
by nobles and in some periods only by kings.
Apricot is a fruit that has managed to remain relevant. The Raffi
Hovannisian protests, which led many to ask if the Arab Spring was
coming to Armenia, were later referred to as the "Apricot Revolution."
Almost every year, farmers launch "apricot protests" to complain
about the low price of the fruit. The last time apricots made it onto
Armenia's agenda was just a few days ago, when Agriculture Minister
Sergo Karapetyan proposed establishing an "apricot museum." It should
be noted that Armenia is not on the list of top apricot producing
countries -- of which Turkey is the leader.
The instrument Turks make from walnut branches and call "mey" is
made from mulberry trees and called "balaban" by Azerbaijanis. In
Dagestan, people make their famous instrument "yast覺 balaban" from
cranberry trees. But this primitive instrument, called "duduk" in
Armenia and played so magically by Armenian master Civan Gasparyan,
is made from apricot branches in Armenia. In short, the love of
apricots is entrenched in the souls of Armenians.
The 'Golden Apricot' Festival
The "Golden Apricot" Yerevan International Film Festival, which will
be held for the tenth time this year, takes its name from this love.
After the famed director Sergei Parajanov's popular film "The Color
of Pomegranates," the pomegranate had almost become the symbol of
Armenian identity and Armenian cinema. This fruit was even used often
in writing about the Armenian genocide, for example in Elif 癬^afak's
"Baba ve Pic." Yet the founders of the festival didn't want it to be
associated mainly with Parajanov, so they chose a more traditional
and comprehensive fruit, the apricot, as the festival's symbol.
The "Golden Apricot" Yerevan International Film Festival, called
"Voske Dziran" in Armenian, made its debut in Yerevan in June 2004.
Atom Egoyan, who lives in Canada, has been acting as the chairman of
the festival since 2005. He is the director of many films, including
"Ararat," which is banned in Turkey. The festival was opened in the
traditional way, with apricots sanctified by the Armenian Apostolic
Church being distributed by a priest to the audience in front of the
"Moscow" movie-theater in the city center of Yerevan. Since 2004,
Turkish directors have been attending the festival, and they take at
least one award each year. Ozcan Alper's "Sonbahar" (Fall) in in 2009,
Huseyin Karabey's "Benim Marlon ve Brandom" (My Marlon and Brando)
in 2010, Serhat Karaaslan's "Bisiklet" (Bicycle), and Ozcan Alper's
"Gelecek Uzun Surer" (Future Lasts Longer) in 2012, received various
awards while Reha Erdem's "Kosmos" (Cosmos) was given the festival's
top prize, the "Golden Apricot" in 2010.
This year's festival also brought two awards for Turkish directors:
the Jury Special Prize for Ye癬_im Ustaoglu's "Araf" and the "Silver
Apricot" prize for Lusin Dink's "Saroyan Ulkesi" (Saroyan Land),
a Turkish-Armenian joint production. And Azerbaijani director Elmar
Imanov's "Kahvecinin Sal覺ncag覺" (The Swing of the Coffin Maker)
also won the Jury Special Prize.
It is heartening to see posters of Turkish films in the streets
of Yerevan as Armenians also have prejudices. The Turks' image for
ordinary Armenians can hardly be associated with art-loving types. The
Turks are seen largely as ferocious soldiers or foxy politicians,
and more recently as shepherds. This mutual tendency not to know
anything about the other side is a major psychological disorder in
both societies. Possibly, few people know there is a festival called
"Golden Apricot", or that Turkish directors win prizes from this
festival every year. As a matter of fact, few people know what is
happening inside as well.
This also applies to the other side. How many people know the fact
that Turkish cinema, which we fail to call "Turkey's cinema", was
dominated by minorities before 1923, and virtually all actors in
the first Turkish films were non-Muslims? Take a note of the names
of the technical crew involved in the production of old Turkish
films. You will realize that there were many "foreign" people. As for
the players, few people know that the real name of Sami Hazinses,
a popular children's actor, was Samuel Uluc, and the first name of
our sweet butterball Adile Na癬_it was Adela. No one would remember
Kirkor Cezveciyan. Yet, he is our Kenan Pars. How many people know
that our Horoz Nuri, who would shout "Bedia," is Vahi Oz, but that
his real name is Vahe Ozinyan. Turgut Ozatay, Danyal Topatan, Nubar
Terziyan, Anta Toros, Ani 襤pekkaya...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Alin Ozinian is an investigative journalist living in Armenia.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-322817-apricots-armenians-cinema-and-our-real-names-by-alin-ozinian-.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Today's Zaman, Turkey
Aug 5 2013
by Alin Ozinian*
The apricot is an important fruit for Armenians. It is almost sacred;
it is even revered.
Anyone in Armenia who buys or moves into a house with a garden plants
at least one apricot tree if there isn't one already. Souvenirs
like rings and ashtrays made from apricot kernels, and apricot rak覺
produced from the first harvest aside, the oft-repeated assertion,
"If you eat one apricot, you will get rid of nine diseases," or the
phrase "keyfin kay覺s覺" -- which literally translates as "you're as
well off as an apricot" but means "you're looking happy" -- are the
romantic aspects of this story.
Historically, in the third century BC, Akkadians called the apricot
"armanu" (meaning Armenian), and Armenia "Armani" (the land of
apricots). One of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, Arameans, called
the apricot tree "Khazura Armenia" (the tree of the Armenian apple).
After fighting Armenian King Tigranes the Great in the first century
BC, Roman general Lucullus took several apricot saplings from Armenia
to Rome. The Romans planted those saplings in their city and called
the fruit the "Armenian plum" (Prunus armeniaca). The plant spread all
over Europe from Rome. Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a leading botanist in
the 18th century, finally decided that this fruit was not a type of
plum, but a new species, and called it "Armeniaca vulgaris." In the
12th century, thanks to Ibn al-Awwam, apricot took an Arabic name:
"tufah al Armani" (Armenian apple). Today, in scientific literature,
apricot's Latin name remains "Prunus armeniaca."
In the Armenian language, the fruit has its own color, "apricot." This
color is one of the three colors used in the flag of the Republic of
Armenia, and at the same time the color is a sign of nobility. Thus,
in old Armenian kingdoms, apricot-colored clothes could only be worn
by nobles and in some periods only by kings.
Apricot is a fruit that has managed to remain relevant. The Raffi
Hovannisian protests, which led many to ask if the Arab Spring was
coming to Armenia, were later referred to as the "Apricot Revolution."
Almost every year, farmers launch "apricot protests" to complain
about the low price of the fruit. The last time apricots made it onto
Armenia's agenda was just a few days ago, when Agriculture Minister
Sergo Karapetyan proposed establishing an "apricot museum." It should
be noted that Armenia is not on the list of top apricot producing
countries -- of which Turkey is the leader.
The instrument Turks make from walnut branches and call "mey" is
made from mulberry trees and called "balaban" by Azerbaijanis. In
Dagestan, people make their famous instrument "yast覺 balaban" from
cranberry trees. But this primitive instrument, called "duduk" in
Armenia and played so magically by Armenian master Civan Gasparyan,
is made from apricot branches in Armenia. In short, the love of
apricots is entrenched in the souls of Armenians.
The 'Golden Apricot' Festival
The "Golden Apricot" Yerevan International Film Festival, which will
be held for the tenth time this year, takes its name from this love.
After the famed director Sergei Parajanov's popular film "The Color
of Pomegranates," the pomegranate had almost become the symbol of
Armenian identity and Armenian cinema. This fruit was even used often
in writing about the Armenian genocide, for example in Elif 癬^afak's
"Baba ve Pic." Yet the founders of the festival didn't want it to be
associated mainly with Parajanov, so they chose a more traditional
and comprehensive fruit, the apricot, as the festival's symbol.
The "Golden Apricot" Yerevan International Film Festival, called
"Voske Dziran" in Armenian, made its debut in Yerevan in June 2004.
Atom Egoyan, who lives in Canada, has been acting as the chairman of
the festival since 2005. He is the director of many films, including
"Ararat," which is banned in Turkey. The festival was opened in the
traditional way, with apricots sanctified by the Armenian Apostolic
Church being distributed by a priest to the audience in front of the
"Moscow" movie-theater in the city center of Yerevan. Since 2004,
Turkish directors have been attending the festival, and they take at
least one award each year. Ozcan Alper's "Sonbahar" (Fall) in in 2009,
Huseyin Karabey's "Benim Marlon ve Brandom" (My Marlon and Brando)
in 2010, Serhat Karaaslan's "Bisiklet" (Bicycle), and Ozcan Alper's
"Gelecek Uzun Surer" (Future Lasts Longer) in 2012, received various
awards while Reha Erdem's "Kosmos" (Cosmos) was given the festival's
top prize, the "Golden Apricot" in 2010.
This year's festival also brought two awards for Turkish directors:
the Jury Special Prize for Ye癬_im Ustaoglu's "Araf" and the "Silver
Apricot" prize for Lusin Dink's "Saroyan Ulkesi" (Saroyan Land),
a Turkish-Armenian joint production. And Azerbaijani director Elmar
Imanov's "Kahvecinin Sal覺ncag覺" (The Swing of the Coffin Maker)
also won the Jury Special Prize.
It is heartening to see posters of Turkish films in the streets
of Yerevan as Armenians also have prejudices. The Turks' image for
ordinary Armenians can hardly be associated with art-loving types. The
Turks are seen largely as ferocious soldiers or foxy politicians,
and more recently as shepherds. This mutual tendency not to know
anything about the other side is a major psychological disorder in
both societies. Possibly, few people know there is a festival called
"Golden Apricot", or that Turkish directors win prizes from this
festival every year. As a matter of fact, few people know what is
happening inside as well.
This also applies to the other side. How many people know the fact
that Turkish cinema, which we fail to call "Turkey's cinema", was
dominated by minorities before 1923, and virtually all actors in
the first Turkish films were non-Muslims? Take a note of the names
of the technical crew involved in the production of old Turkish
films. You will realize that there were many "foreign" people. As for
the players, few people know that the real name of Sami Hazinses,
a popular children's actor, was Samuel Uluc, and the first name of
our sweet butterball Adile Na癬_it was Adela. No one would remember
Kirkor Cezveciyan. Yet, he is our Kenan Pars. How many people know
that our Horoz Nuri, who would shout "Bedia," is Vahi Oz, but that
his real name is Vahe Ozinyan. Turgut Ozatay, Danyal Topatan, Nubar
Terziyan, Anta Toros, Ani 襤pekkaya...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Alin Ozinian is an investigative journalist living in Armenia.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-322817-apricots-armenians-cinema-and-our-real-names-by-alin-ozinian-.html
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress