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NEW FACTS ABOUT ARMENIAN MONUMENTS IN TURKEY
AZG Daily, #202
November 6, 2001
As our readers remember at the Yerevan session of PACE culture, education and science committee that took place recently it was once again stressed then the Council of Europe condemns any encroachment on cultural-historical values of any nation. At the session Turkish and Azeri representatives tried to prove that such facts are not registered in their countries. Turkish envoy Karkam Husein announced that Turkey does not destroy any Armenian cultural value deliberately, as far as the country's law condemns such acts. Is it really so? Let's put aside emotional approaches and present the mere facts.
According to UNESCO 1974 data out of 913 Armenian historical buildings that survived 1915 genocide 464 were fully destroyed, 252 were ruined and 197 needed quick repair works. In recent years statistical data about the situation of Armenian religious monuments and churches in the territory of Turkey are received not as detailed. Many scientists, architects, historians, reporters, photographers and simply tourists who visited Turkey in recent years made many publications, issued books and made researches on this theme, based on which we gather the clear image of the situation.
The data given by the above-mentioned people show that most part of 3200 monuments are destroyed. During decades only 100 churches and chapels were researched well. The research of the rest of cultural-historical values is difficult in the eastern provinces of Turkey because of special military regime in the provinces introduced since 1987. The regime forbids visits to Armenian historical-cultural monuments.
William Tarlimple, reporter of the Independent, made such an announcement recently: óTurkish or any foreign scientist is not encouraged to make researches in Armenian settlements or write about the history of Armenia. A British archeologist (who, like all the others whom I talked to, asked me not to publicize his name) told me the following: óIt is impossible to investigate any place where Armenians lived in past. I tried to get a permit to make excavations in an ex-Armenian settlement, but it was useless. And if you try to make research without a permit you will be persecuted'. There are many facts to prove that such things really happen. For example a French historian Tiery was detained in 1975 for trying to draw the blue print of an Armenian church near Van. He was cruelly óquestioned' at the jail for three days, and only after that was let free and had to escape from Turkey' (William Talrimple, óFrom the holy mountain', HarperCollins Publishing House, London, 1997, page 85'.
A French Armenologist (expert in Armenian Studies) who researched óTurkish' churches, said the following to Doctor Steven Kamachian: óTurks took care of my living expanses, paid for my excavation works- but as long as I was finding things that they wanted, and with a term that I should announce that this or that is a Turkish church, not Armenian. Se la viå (Tokt, Steven Kamachian, óAni's Turkish churches, Azdak Armenian weekly online, 28 February, 2001).
Lebanon-Armenian Levon Tashchian gives the following evidence: óIn September 1998 I visited Western Armenia, and was touring in Mush, when in front of a villager's house I saw an Armenian holy sculpture which has a shape of plate, and where Armenian children were being baptized. It served as a place where the cattle was drinking water from. I hardly noticed it when villagers and policeman surrounded me, took my photo- camera, smashed it into pieces and made me leave the village'.
Turkish mass media itself writes about the destruction of Armenian monuments. Cumhuriyet writes that St. Virgin church of Kesaria is turned into a disco bar, Radical is worried about Diarbekir's Armenian church, which is fully ruined, óTowards year 2000' weekly informed that holy sculptures and paintings are destroyed in St. Cross church of Aghtamar and Yeni Yuzyil alarmed about privatization of St. Mary church, and the plans of its destruction and turning its place into a market.
Of course it is very difficult to present the full situation of Armenian monuments on Turkish territory. Now many of them are located in such places where people are not allowed to go. Under such conditions to get facts about Armenian historical-cultural monuments that are on
Turkish territory is very difficult. Nevertheless Azdak tried to give as precise information about the situation as possible- issuing a special appendix about the issue.
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