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VARTU VILLAGER TELLS HIS STORY
16:35 18.07.13
Arsen Okmez, an Armenian man born in the Vartu village, 5km of Iraq,
near Van, lived there until 1978.
Arsen Okmez (Okmezyan, with the suffix 'yan' cut off during a census
conducted by the Turkish authorities in 1960) has for the last 20
years been living in Brussels with his wife Belinda and four children.
Three generations of this family had different surnames. The family
had had their grandfather's surname, Miroyan, before 1915. The surname
of Arsen's father Tigran was Okmezyan, and Arsen himself is Okmez.
Arsen told Tert.am that Vartu had been an Armenian village before
1915. Five Armenian Genocide survivors, including his grandfather,
repurchased it from the Turkish authorities after the Armenian
massacres.
"In summer we would shepherd sheep in the mountains and return home in
winter," says Arsen. Turkish and Kurdish were spoken in the village,
but Armenians spoke only Armenian at home.
"Before 1967 we had not known if other Armenians lived in Turkey. We
could not speak Armenian, they would have cut our tongues off. One
nice day a clergyman came from Istanbul with an instruction to find
out if there were other Christian people there. He came to our village
and began talking with young people in Armenian. But they did not
understand well. But older people knew the language and they began to
talk with him. I did not remember the clergyman's name, but he told us
that about 70,000 Armenians lived in Istanbul. We thought we were alone
in Turkey, but he said 'no, we are going to see people in Istanbul'."
Four or five young people went to Istanbul with the clergyman and
returned. Twenty-eight people went the following year, and Arsen's
elder brother was among them. In 1978, the Armenian village of Vartu
emptied.
While in Istanbul, Arsen's father suddenly decided to settle down
in Armenia.
"Daddy said we had to go to our homeland. We arrived in Hoktemberyan
and lived for two years there. We were a 10-member family. Daddy
worked for a collective farm to keep his family. He did not want to
leave, but two of my elder brothers did not want to stay in communist
Armenia," Arsen says.
The family returned to Turkey, but four years later, following the
father's advice, went to Marseilles and then to Belgium.
A couple of months ago Arsen's fellow villagers went to Vartu to
find out that they did not own the lands any longer. They retained
a lawyer and got their lands back.
During the Armenian Genocide, Arsen's grandfather and his 4-year-old
brother were the only survivors of the family. Their Turkish friends
called on them, treated them to lamb, but then "shot and the war
broke out."
Turks are well aware of the Armenian Genocide. "They know about it,
but do not admit it. They say both sides were involved in massacres.
Those living and studying in Europe admit the fact. One came here
and said 'It never happened'. I said to him 'Go to school and read a
little.' A month later he came and said it had actually happened. I
hear Talaat Pasha's grandchild went to Tsitsenakaberd [Memorial to
Armenian Genocide victims in Yerevan]."
Turkey must admit the Armenian Genocide before it joins the European
Union, Arsen says.
Armenian News - Tert.am
16:35 18.07.13
Arsen Okmez, an Armenian man born in the Vartu village, 5km of Iraq,
near Van, lived there until 1978.
Arsen Okmez (Okmezyan, with the suffix 'yan' cut off during a census
conducted by the Turkish authorities in 1960) has for the last 20
years been living in Brussels with his wife Belinda and four children.
Three generations of this family had different surnames. The family
had had their grandfather's surname, Miroyan, before 1915. The surname
of Arsen's father Tigran was Okmezyan, and Arsen himself is Okmez.
Arsen told Tert.am that Vartu had been an Armenian village before
1915. Five Armenian Genocide survivors, including his grandfather,
repurchased it from the Turkish authorities after the Armenian
massacres.
"In summer we would shepherd sheep in the mountains and return home in
winter," says Arsen. Turkish and Kurdish were spoken in the village,
but Armenians spoke only Armenian at home.
"Before 1967 we had not known if other Armenians lived in Turkey. We
could not speak Armenian, they would have cut our tongues off. One
nice day a clergyman came from Istanbul with an instruction to find
out if there were other Christian people there. He came to our village
and began talking with young people in Armenian. But they did not
understand well. But older people knew the language and they began to
talk with him. I did not remember the clergyman's name, but he told us
that about 70,000 Armenians lived in Istanbul. We thought we were alone
in Turkey, but he said 'no, we are going to see people in Istanbul'."
Four or five young people went to Istanbul with the clergyman and
returned. Twenty-eight people went the following year, and Arsen's
elder brother was among them. In 1978, the Armenian village of Vartu
emptied.
While in Istanbul, Arsen's father suddenly decided to settle down
in Armenia.
"Daddy said we had to go to our homeland. We arrived in Hoktemberyan
and lived for two years there. We were a 10-member family. Daddy
worked for a collective farm to keep his family. He did not want to
leave, but two of my elder brothers did not want to stay in communist
Armenia," Arsen says.
The family returned to Turkey, but four years later, following the
father's advice, went to Marseilles and then to Belgium.
A couple of months ago Arsen's fellow villagers went to Vartu to
find out that they did not own the lands any longer. They retained
a lawyer and got their lands back.
During the Armenian Genocide, Arsen's grandfather and his 4-year-old
brother were the only survivors of the family. Their Turkish friends
called on them, treated them to lamb, but then "shot and the war
broke out."
Turks are well aware of the Armenian Genocide. "They know about it,
but do not admit it. They say both sides were involved in massacres.
Those living and studying in Europe admit the fact. One came here
and said 'It never happened'. I said to him 'Go to school and read a
little.' A month later he came and said it had actually happened. I
hear Talaat Pasha's grandchild went to Tsitsenakaberd [Memorial to
Armenian Genocide victims in Yerevan]."
Turkey must admit the Armenian Genocide before it joins the European
Union, Arsen says.
Armenian News - Tert.am