Sibel Hurtas
Translated by Timur Göksel
Armenian youths in Turkey have launched a protest campaign against the demolition of Camp Armen, the Armenian orphanage that housed hundreds of Armenian children in summer sessions. The Armenian community
demands the orphanage be preserved and handed over to it. This does not
sound likely, but it is significant as being the first street
protest by Turkey's Armenians to express their demands in recent times.
Camp Armen symbolizes the long saga of the
deportation and massacres Armenians suffered on Anatolian soil. Its
history starts with the purchase of a plot of land by Gedikpasa Armenian
Protestant Church from a private party to house Armenian orphans who
lived in Anatolia and were labeled as "sword leftovers" by the
Armenians. The orphanage camp was built in 1962 by the orphans themselves under supervision of a master builder.
The owner couldn’t cope with the implications of owning an
orphanage camp and immediately resold it. The new owners, once they
found out the background of the orphanage camp, also sold the property
without touching it. The property remained abandoned, untouched for a
while. In 2008, the Aydinlar family, one of the richest families in
Turkey, bought the property and this year decided to build on the lot.
This is why on the morning of May 6, bulldozers approached
walls built with the hands of the camp's orphans. Armenians, when
informed of the demolition, rushed to the scene and stopped the
bulldozers from razing the structure. Armenian activist Garo Paylan
found the new owners and requested they postpone the demolition until
after the June 7 general elections. The new owners agreed.
At the moment, a part of Camp Armen is crumbling, but most
of it is still standing. It has become the symbol of a new Armenian
attitude. Since May 6, Armenians have been standing guard around the
clock in front of the building. This can well be interpreted as a first
such move in the recent history of Armenians in Turkey.
The protests and posting of Armenian guards led to some
colorful displays. A huge banner that says “Camp Armen should be
returned to the Armenian people” was hung on the building. Armenian
musicians showed up to play music.
Rakel Dink, the wife of Hrant Dink,
the slain editor-in-chief of the Armenian newspaper Agos that has an
important place for Turkey’s Armenians, is one of the ardent supporters
of the protest. Hrant and Rakel Dink attended the camp; during the
discussions that took place in front of the building, Rakel Dink told
the youths standing guard about their days in the orphanage camp.
The goal of the protest is to restore Camp Armen to its
original status. They have started an Armenian Workshop. Ani Balikci,
the mother of Armenian Sevag Balikci, who was killed by another soldier
on April 24, 2011, while he was doing his national service, is giving
Armenian lessons. They are planting trees and watching documentaries.
Political parties, civil society organizations, university students and
activists frequently visit the Armenian protesters to express solidarity.
Garo Paylan, an Armenian activist and a candidate for the
pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party in the June 7 elections, told
Al-Monitor, “This place was seized by an action of the state. We want it
returned but I don’t think the state can do it just like that. We had
thousands of properties confiscated like this. If the state returns Camp
Armen, then it will have to return the others.”
From what Paylan said, we understand that the return of the
orphanage camp to Armenians is not likely. But the fact that it
encouraged Armenians to take to the streets to demand their rights
vocally and visibly is important. The Armenian community, which until
now has refrained from taking a position against injustice and
unfairness, is perhaps showing that its traditional reticence is a thing
of the past and that the community is becoming politicized.
Paylan said that in recent history there has been no such
public protest apart from the funeral of Hrant Dink. He said, "The fact
is the Armenian community is becoming truly politicized after [the
killing of] Hrant Dink. There are now more Armenian actors who are more
sensitive. They have orators and spokesmen. But their pigeon jitters
still prevail. [Hrant Dink used to define Armenian fears as ‘pigeon
jitters.’] That fear is still there, but alongside politicized people.
We now have people and actors of divergent views who are active in
various political parties, indicating that our community is increasingly
politicized and ready to react to unfair practices.”
"Al-Monitor," May 17, 2015
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