Vicken Cheterian
The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in his defence of the
project of building a new shopping centre and luxury apartments at the
place of Gezi Park in Istanbul, said something symbolic: the
reconstruction plans, which supposedly would resurrect the architecture
of an old military barracks based on the architecture of a 19th century
Ottoman building, would amount to “respecting history (1).”
History is a sensitive question in Turkey, even controversial, and
has done much to forget its own history. So it’s surprising to see such a
fierce struggle now being waged in its name. Amid the host of media
reports, documentaries etc, only a very few recalled that the park had a
history. The Prime Minister could have remembered, for example, that
the architect of the original barracks built in 1806 was Krikor Balian,
an Armenian belonging to a famous family of architects who were in the
service of the Sultans (2).
To mention the architect of the old artillery barrack that Erdogan is
aiming to re-construct is not a secondary issue. It is the part of
Turkish and Ottoman history that modern Turkish politicians have
invested enormous efforts to erase and forget: the participation of
religious minorities, such as Greeks, Assyrians, Jews, but especially
Armenians, in the country’s cultural, economic and political life.
More important than the architect though is the memory of a former
Armenian cemetery left to oblivion. The place in which Gezi Park stands,
where the Turkish Prime Minister now wants to build a shopping mall and
a mosque, was once an Armenian cemetery. In 1551, following an
epidemic, the land was given to the Armenian Church by Sultan Suleyman.
It was later enlarged and walled. In 1837 Surp Hagop (Saint James)
Armenian Hospital was constructed next to it, and continues to function.
On the ground of the cemetery a church, Saint Gregory the Illuminator,
was also built. And between 1919 and 1922 a monument dedicated to the
Armenian victims of 1915 was erected. The cemetery was confiscated in
1930, on the pretext that the Armenian Church did not have a property
title for the cemetery. The Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul, Mesrob
Naroyan, attempted to reclaim the cemetery through the courts, arguing
that Turkish law permitted ownership after fifteen years of uncontested
occupation. But the court supported the government decision, and imposed
a heavy fine on the Church.
The government allowed only two weeks to remove the graves. Some were
taken to the Sisli Armenian cemetery, most were left behind. The
cemetery was then taken over by the authorities, which sold off the
tombstones. Some of the remaining marble stones were later used to build
the staircases and fountain of Gezi Park while the confiscated land was
sold to private businesses — the Turkish radio company TRT offices, and
luxury hotels such as the Divan Hotel, Hyatt, and Hilton (3).
No one expected the small, environmentalist protest that started to
protect the 600 trees of Gezi Park to become a nation-wide protest
against the policies of Erdogan. “The movement started as environmental
issue and for the protection of cultural heritage. The reason it grew
was because of police violence,” said Sevil Turan, the co-spokesperson
of the Turkish Greens. The way the movement started was unbelievable,
Turan said. “I did not imagine so many people would join the protest
movement. People came because they were so angry with the government,
but at the same time they were so calm, there was no violence.”
“You captured our graveyard, but you can’t capture our park! (4)” A youth movement called Nor Zartonk (Armenian for “new awakening” (5)) raised this slogan. Sayat Tekir, its spokesperson, said that “from the first day we were at Gezi Park.”
This movement resembles the mobilization that followed the
assassination of Hrant Dink, bringing together people from all horizons.
Dink was a Turkish-Armenian journalist and chief-editor of bilingual
weekly Agos, who was assassinated in Istanbul in 2007. Over a hundred
thousand people came out on the streets for his funeral.
The Gezi Park mobilization was equally diverse: various Turkish
political trends (a militant wrapped in the red Turkish flag walked
hand-in-hand with another dressed in a flag with the image of Abdullah
Ocalan). Leftists and nationalists, Turks and Kurds, environmentalists
and anti-capitalists, all came together to oppose what they saw as
increasing authoritarianism of the new Turkish strongman.
Nor Zartonk started as an email discussion forum back in 2004, made
up of Turkish Armenians. But people remained fearful of taking political
action, said Tekir, because of the traditional fear Turkish Armenians
have lived in since 1915. “The assassination of Hrant Dink was the motor
that pushed us to action. We organized conferences and discussions on
the Armenian question, minorities in Turkey, relations with the European
Union, etc., but also took part in demonstrations. They were part of
the mobilization against the closing down of the Emek movie theatre
where, like Gezi Park, municipal authorities wanted to build a shopping
centre. Like Gezi, Emek has a secret story: it was confiscated from its
Jewish owners during the second world war.
On the second week of the latest demonstrations, a group of
anti-racism activists wanted to erect a monument at Gezi Park referring
to the 1919 monument there dedicated to the memory of the victims of the
Armenian genocide. They also wanted to name one of the streets adjacent
to the park “Hrant Dink Caddesi”. They carried banners on which it was
written: “Burdayiz Ahparig!” — we are here, brother (6) !
Tekir said: “Until recently, the Armenian community in Turkey were
frightened and closed in upon themselves, the result of a series of
massacres and repression that started in the late Ottoman period and
continued under the Republic. We want to ask for our rights, to claim a
democratic society.”
Erdogan’s answer to the “Occupy Gezi” movement came in his usual
defiant manner, unmoved by the thousands of citizens demonstrating
against his projects in the face of police repression. “A mosque will be
built in Taksim,” he said, then added that “he did not have to receive
permission from the main opposition leader or a ‘few marauders’ for the
projects. (7)”
After returning from a tour in North Africa, the Prime Minister was
even harsher in his announcements: “These protests must end immediately.
No power but Allah can stop Turkey’s rise. The police are doing their
duty. These protests, which have turned into vandalism and utter
lawlessness must end immediately. (8)”
Sevil Turan said: The “AKP has become so strong, it sees there is no
political alternative. Erdogan wants to leave behind him a monument on
Takism Square, build a new, conservative culture. The Prime Minister
remained silent [over the fact] that this was an old Armenian cemetery.”
For Turan, Gezi Park has introduced a new political culture: “It was
an experience of direct democracy.” Tekir agrees: “Those who entered the
park, and those who went out of it weren’t the same people anymore.
Gezi became a laboratory for political formation.”
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(1) Constanze Letsche, “Turkey Protests spread after violence in Istanbul over park demolition”, The Guardian, June 1, 2013.
(2) Thomas de Monchaux, “The Mixed-Up Files of Taksim Square Architecture, The long, strange history of the building that sparked the Istanbul protests”, New Republic, June 10, 2013.
(3) Heghnar Watenpaugh, “Learning From Taksim Square: Architecture, State Power, and Public Space in Istanbul”, Huffington Post, June 14, 2013.
(4) Eric Nazarian, “Graves in the Park: Notes from the ‘Bolis’ Uprising”, The Armenian Weekly, June 9, 2013.
(5) Nor Zartonk website.
(6) Hurriyet Daily News, “Protesters dedicate a street to slain journalist Hrant Dink in Gezi Park”, June 6, 2013.
(7) Hürriyet Daily News, “Turkish PM Erdogan retires mall project, vows mosque in Taksim”, June 2, 2013.
(8) Hürriyet Daily News, “Turkish PM Erdogan calls for ‘immediate end’ to Gezi Park protests”, June 7, 2013.
"Le Monde Diplomatique," July 2, 2013 (mondediplo.com)
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