CATALAN NEWSPAPER EL PERIODICO: THERE IS NO ARMENIAN FAMILY THAT HAS NOT FACED GENOCIDE
[ Part 2.2: "Attached Text" ]
19:27 21/04/2015 >> SOCIETY
Several articles covering the Armenian Genocide have been published
on the website of the Catalan newspaper El Periodico. Ernest Alos,
the author of one of the articles writes about the book of a Catalan
journalist and writer Xavier Moret - “The Memory of Ararat. A
Trip to Find the Roots of Armenia.” In his book, Moret writes
that it is impossible to travel to Armenia without facing the memory
of 1.5 million Armenians who died of hunger, thirst, were killed on
the gallows and of shootings in 1915-1923, or the million Armenians
who made up the Diaspora.
“I am sure that there is no other nation in the world that has
got such a strong sense of affection toward its land. The Armenians
of the Diaspora, too, despite living far from their homeland, in
their way remain faithful to the idealized Armenia with the memory
about Ararat as a supreme symbol. As William Saroyan, one of the
great Armenian writers, has it, ‘…when two of them
[Armenians] meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create
a New Armenia,’” Moret writes in his book.
According to the article, Moret first got to know Armenia through
William Saroyan’ books, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon,
Charles Aznavour’s songs, Atom Egoyan’s films, as well
as the Armenians he met in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Bolivia and Europe.
Moret flew to Armenia in a plane where tears ran from the eyes of
many passengers as soon as Ararat showed being now on the territory of
Turkey. This is the mountain where Noah’s Ark landed, Noah being
the ancestor of Hayk, the mythic forefather of “Hayastan”
(Armenia), as the Armenian legends have it.
According to the article, presenting the Armenian history, Moret writes
about the persecutions of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1896
(200,000 deceased) and in 1915 by the order of the government of the
Young Turks. Moret also visited ancient churches, the depositiry of
historical manuscripts, Maternadaran, which maintains the memory of
the nation, as well as the monument to the Genocide victims on the
hill Tsitsernakaberd which carries the names of the 2,000 settlements
where massacres of the Armenians took place.
“Though the pain of the Genocide may seem to be alleviating
with time, it is still present for the Armenians. They reject to
forget it and get angry that the Turkish leadership goes on denying
the Genocide,” Moret writes.
In a separate article, Xavier Moret himself writes about the operation
Nemesis (1919) - the Armenians’ revenge of those responsible
for the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Another article in El Periodico
presents the book by Franz Werfel - “The Forty Days of Musa
Dagh,” which was translated into Catalan by Ramon Monton and
published in 1984. According to the article, Werfel saw many Armenian
refugees, including many children and mutilated people, during his
trip to the Middle East in 1929. He learnt about the horrors of
the deportation of thousands of people. Coming back, he thoroughly
documented materials about the Genocide and decided to write a novel
about the confrontation of the inhabitants of 6 Armenian villages on
the Mountain Musa Dagh (Moses Mountain) by the Mediterranean in 1915
against the Turkish troops.
Moret writes that “Werfel’s novel is the fruit of another
epoch, still it was able to pass the ultimate test: it retains
its interest after 80 years since it appeared.” Really, the
confrontation on the mountain Musa Dagh went on for 53 days until a
French ship saved the Armenian refugees and took them to Egypt.
However, the author decided to reduce the days to a “more
biblical number” - 40.
“Books like that of Werfel’s serve for the persistence of
the memory of a forgotten Genocide, of a Genocide that after 100 years,
incredible as it may seem, has been recognized only by 22 states of
the world,” Xavier Moret writes.
Another author, Xavier Triana, in his article touched upon the topic
of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Pope Francis and the
reaction of the descendant of the Ottoman Empire - Turkey. Citing
the book of the Professor of the Autonomous University of Barcelona,
Francisco Veiga, Triana writes that the Chief of Staff of Ottoman
empire, Enver Pasha, issued a directive on April 24, 1915 about the
deportation of the Armenian civilians from six vilayets. The aim
of the deportation was that the Armenians should not surpass the 10
per cent of the Turkish, Kurdish and Circassian population in those
six provinces.
“There is no Armenian family that has not lost members during
the massacres,” Narine Nikoghosyan, a young Armenian from
Italy, said.
Though Erdogan expressed his condolences in 2014 to the families of
those affected, he never apologized. “And the wound between
those two neighbors remains open,” the author writes.
Related:
Chilean parliament once again condemns Armenian Genocide and expresses
solidarity with Armenian people
Armenian Genocide: Turkey to convert Hagia Sofia Basilica into mosque
to spite Pope Francis
Armenian family in Turkey deprived of income after Pope’s
Armenian Genocide remarks
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/pais-que-recuerda-4100
798#
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/internacional/operacion-nemesis-ojo-p
or-ojo-4113263
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/gran-novela-del-genoci
dio-armenio-4099879
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/internacional/entre-recuerdo-negacion
-4113266
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2015/04/21/ernest-alos/
From: A. Papazian
[ Part 2.2: "Attached Text" ]
19:27 21/04/2015 >> SOCIETY
Several articles covering the Armenian Genocide have been published
on the website of the Catalan newspaper El Periodico. Ernest Alos,
the author of one of the articles writes about the book of a Catalan
journalist and writer Xavier Moret - “The Memory of Ararat. A
Trip to Find the Roots of Armenia.” In his book, Moret writes
that it is impossible to travel to Armenia without facing the memory
of 1.5 million Armenians who died of hunger, thirst, were killed on
the gallows and of shootings in 1915-1923, or the million Armenians
who made up the Diaspora.
“I am sure that there is no other nation in the world that has
got such a strong sense of affection toward its land. The Armenians
of the Diaspora, too, despite living far from their homeland, in
their way remain faithful to the idealized Armenia with the memory
about Ararat as a supreme symbol. As William Saroyan, one of the
great Armenian writers, has it, ‘…when two of them
[Armenians] meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create
a New Armenia,’” Moret writes in his book.
According to the article, Moret first got to know Armenia through
William Saroyan’ books, Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon,
Charles Aznavour’s songs, Atom Egoyan’s films, as well
as the Armenians he met in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Bolivia and Europe.
Moret flew to Armenia in a plane where tears ran from the eyes of
many passengers as soon as Ararat showed being now on the territory of
Turkey. This is the mountain where Noah’s Ark landed, Noah being
the ancestor of Hayk, the mythic forefather of “Hayastan”
(Armenia), as the Armenian legends have it.
According to the article, presenting the Armenian history, Moret writes
about the persecutions of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1896
(200,000 deceased) and in 1915 by the order of the government of the
Young Turks. Moret also visited ancient churches, the depositiry of
historical manuscripts, Maternadaran, which maintains the memory of
the nation, as well as the monument to the Genocide victims on the
hill Tsitsernakaberd which carries the names of the 2,000 settlements
where massacres of the Armenians took place.
“Though the pain of the Genocide may seem to be alleviating
with time, it is still present for the Armenians. They reject to
forget it and get angry that the Turkish leadership goes on denying
the Genocide,” Moret writes.
In a separate article, Xavier Moret himself writes about the operation
Nemesis (1919) - the Armenians’ revenge of those responsible
for the Armenian Genocide in 1915. Another article in El Periodico
presents the book by Franz Werfel - “The Forty Days of Musa
Dagh,” which was translated into Catalan by Ramon Monton and
published in 1984. According to the article, Werfel saw many Armenian
refugees, including many children and mutilated people, during his
trip to the Middle East in 1929. He learnt about the horrors of
the deportation of thousands of people. Coming back, he thoroughly
documented materials about the Genocide and decided to write a novel
about the confrontation of the inhabitants of 6 Armenian villages on
the Mountain Musa Dagh (Moses Mountain) by the Mediterranean in 1915
against the Turkish troops.
Moret writes that “Werfel’s novel is the fruit of another
epoch, still it was able to pass the ultimate test: it retains
its interest after 80 years since it appeared.” Really, the
confrontation on the mountain Musa Dagh went on for 53 days until a
French ship saved the Armenian refugees and took them to Egypt.
However, the author decided to reduce the days to a “more
biblical number” - 40.
“Books like that of Werfel’s serve for the persistence of
the memory of a forgotten Genocide, of a Genocide that after 100 years,
incredible as it may seem, has been recognized only by 22 states of
the world,” Xavier Moret writes.
Another author, Xavier Triana, in his article touched upon the topic
of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Pope Francis and the
reaction of the descendant of the Ottoman Empire - Turkey. Citing
the book of the Professor of the Autonomous University of Barcelona,
Francisco Veiga, Triana writes that the Chief of Staff of Ottoman
empire, Enver Pasha, issued a directive on April 24, 1915 about the
deportation of the Armenian civilians from six vilayets. The aim
of the deportation was that the Armenians should not surpass the 10
per cent of the Turkish, Kurdish and Circassian population in those
six provinces.
“There is no Armenian family that has not lost members during
the massacres,” Narine Nikoghosyan, a young Armenian from
Italy, said.
Though Erdogan expressed his condolences in 2014 to the families of
those affected, he never apologized. “And the wound between
those two neighbors remains open,” the author writes.
Related:
Chilean parliament once again condemns Armenian Genocide and expresses
solidarity with Armenian people
Armenian Genocide: Turkey to convert Hagia Sofia Basilica into mosque
to spite Pope Francis
Armenian family in Turkey deprived of income after Pope’s
Armenian Genocide remarks
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/pais-que-recuerda-4100
798#
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/internacional/operacion-nemesis-ojo-p
or-ojo-4113263
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/ocio-y-cultura/gran-novela-del-genoci
dio-armenio-4099879
http://www.elperiodico.com/es/noticias/internacional/entre-recuerdo-negacion
-4113266
http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2015/04/21/ernest-alos/
From: A. Papazian