Pizza wars: flatbread becomes latest battlefield in Turkey-Armenia dispute

 Sibel Hurtas

Translated by Sibel Utku Bila

Earlier this month, a Turkish newspaper reported that a new crisis was brewing between troubled neighbors Turkey and Armenia. The disputed issue this time is a popular foodstuff called “lahmacun” in Turkish and “lamadjo”(*) in Armenian. According to the report, the Armenians had launched an international drive to promote it as an Armenian dish, opening two restaurants in Russia.(**) The report sparked indignation among Turks, who also claim ownership of the dish, which is a thin piece of dough, topped with minced meat, vegetables and spices, ideally baked on a wood fire. Some television programs even took it upon themselves to explain why it was Turkish food.(***)

The Woman in the Wall: A Story of People, Places, and Things

Vahe Habeshian

 

In 2005, a Turkish workman named Murat finds a dusty postcard hidden behind the wooden panels of a wall in an old house in south-central Turkey, in the city of Antep (Gaziantep).

On the front of the postcard is the black-and-white image of a woman in a long black dress; she’s holding a handgun in her right hand and a rifle in her left. Bandoliers are wrapped across her chest and around her waist. Nearly lost among the bullets and leather is a round brooch or medallion above her left breast.
In English, at bottom-left, is an embossed signature, “M. H. Halladjian,” and at bottom-right is a place name, “Aintab Asia-Minor.” On the back of the postcard is handwriting in a language that’s alien to Murat; only a part of a date is comprehensible: 1910.

* * *