Killing Orders by Taner Akcam

Reviewed by: Vahe H. Apelian

I have been reading KILLING ORDERS by TANER AKCAM. It will be a slow reading partly because of the small font, crowded line spacing  on below quality sheets. Also, reading history is not like reading a novel. It requires concentration and hence time.

Taner Akcam’s book “Killing Orders” is about Talat Pasha’s telegrams. Many of us have seen these telegrams in Armenian books. They are in Ottoman Turkish.

How was it that the Armenians got hold of these telegrams? How can the Armenians claim that these telegrams are authentic? And, who was Naim Bey to have become privy of such important corded documents? Authenticating such questions constitute the crux of the reading of the book.

I had long been aware that Mazlumian brothers, the owners of the historic Baron Hotel in Aleppo played a key role in obtaining the telegrams. It turns out that an Armenian journalist by the name of Aram Andonian, who was arrested on April 24, 1915 but somehow escaped, was the person who purchased these telegrams from Naim Bey in Baron Hotel Mazlumiam brothers owned in Aleppo. There does not seem to a mention in the book if the Mazlumian brothers financially assisted in the purchase.  Naim Bey brought these documents in batches on the 6^th, 10^th, and 14^th November 1918. “On the basis of Naim’s recollection and the documents he sold, Andonian wrote a book in Armenian in 1919, which was published only after the English and French editions”, notes Taner. As to Naim Bey, money seems to have been his only motif to sell these historic documents.

Naim Bey was “the office secretary in the Department Office of the Aleppo Branch of the Interior Ministry’s Directorate for Tribal and Immigrant Settlement”. Furthermore, Taner Akcam notes that “the text that is referred to here as “memoirs” is not a book of collection in the classic sense; it is a collection of handwritten copies of some 52 Ottoman documents, along with supplementary notes explaining them, all written by Naim himself. Most of the documents within this collection are attributed to the Unionist Triumvir and Interior Minister Talat Pasha, and some contain his orders regarding the liquidation of the Armenian population”.

Obviously  Turkish historians have questioned the authenticity of these telegrams from Talat Pasha ordering the killing of the Armenians and have questioned if an Ottoman bureaucrat named Naim Bey in fact existed and have claimed that the telegrams and the person are figments of Armenian historians’ imagination.  Hence the Turkish denialists have long claimed that these documents and the memoirs themselves are forgeries produced by the Armenians. Akcam painstakingly disputes such allegations by the Turkish denialists with historical evidence backing their authenticity. His knowledge of Ottoman Turkish and the codes the Turkish officials used during the era help him greatly to make his case.

On an important side note, I would like to quote Taner Ackam’s claim that serendipitous turn of events lead him to lay his hands on a bunch of documents kept in the NAASR (National Association for Armenian Studies and Research) institute  that turned out to be Naim Bey’s memoirs and hence became the impetus for him to embark on his research authenticating that Naim Bey actually existed and these documents are real and not forgeries. Quoting from the book, Taner Akcam’s book “presents new evidence and arguments that prove the killing orders of the Armenian Genocide issued by Talat Pasha are authentic. For decades it has been claimed that these incriminating documents and the memoirs of the Ottoman bureaucrat Naim Effendi, in which they are preserved, were forgeries”.

I believe Tim Arango, a Los Angeles correspondent for NY Times,  best sums up both the author and the book in an article in NY Times on April 22, 2017,  claiming that Taner Ackam is the “Sherlock Holmes of Armenian Genocide” who uncovered lost evidence. 

Taner Akcam has deciduated the book to his “Dear friend Hrant Dink, who dreamt of bringing the Armenians  and people of Turkey together on the basis of ‘Truth and Justice’. His assassination in 2007 did not kill this dream, but instead inspired hundreds of thousands of individuals to follow in his footsteps. And to my daughter Helin, who gives me hope in the newer generation’s ability to carry on Hrant’s dream for a better future.”

Taner Akcam and Emanuel Macron

According to Wikipedia “Altuğ Taner Akcam is a Turkish-German historian and sociologist. He is one of the first Turkish academics to acknowledge and openly discuss the Armenian Genocide and is recognized as a ‘leading international authority’ on the subject.” He is the chairman of Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloustian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Armenian Genocide studies in the Department of History of the Clark University, in Worcester, MA.  Quoting from the back cover of the book, Taner Ackam’s  publications include “The Young Turks’ Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire (2012), which was co-winner of the Middle East Studies Association’s Albert Hourani Book Award  and of Foreign Affairs.com’s Best Books on the Middle East”.

Last year the ANCA-Western Region recognized his contributions to Armenian Genocide study and recently President Emmanuel Macron of France praised him during a dinner hosted by the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF) for standing up against denialists of the Armenian Genocide.

The book is 261 pages long with a rich bibliography and is indexed and contains pictures of the telegrams and other documents. The book retails on Amazon.com from where I purchased the copy I am reading.

Armenian Media's First Mention of the Word Genocide.

Shavarsh Missakian, "Haratch", 9 December 1945

Translation by Vahe Apelian

Levon Sharoyan posted a copy of the December 9, 1945 issue  of "Haratch” (Forward) Daily of Paris, where for the very first time its longtime editor Shavarsh Missakian first introduced the newly coined word "genocide" in his editorial and hence in the Armenian press.  Haratch ('Forward') (Armenian: Յառաջ) was an Armenian daily newspaper based in France. It was founded in 1925 by Schavarch Missakian.The newspaper was famous for attracting high profile names in Armenian literature and journalism. Schavarsh Missakian, died on Janauary 26, 1957.

 

The Editorial

“A new word that was used during the Nuremberg Trials, “Genocide”.

It means ցեղասպանութիւն (tseghasbanoutiun)

In fact, the four victorious governments declare in their historic accusation that “Germany is guilty of genocidal premeditated, planned crimes for eradicating national, religious or ethnic groups, especially the Poles, the Jews and others…..”

People knowledgeable in law note that it is the first time the word genocide (ցեղասպանութիւն - tseghasbanoutiun) appears in an accusation.

The author of the word is an American lawmaker by the name of Lemkin. He explained the origin and the meaning of the word in a recent book.

The word "genocide" is formed by adding to the Greek genos (race or tribe) cide (Latin) which means killing such as in homicide, infanticide. Thus "genocide" means to destroy according to a particular and premeditated plan the necessary foundations of a racial group to obliterate its political, social, cultural, linguistic, economic being. Genocide is directed against a racial group as a whole and its actions against individuals are not directed against them per se but as members of that racial group.

The act consists of two phases: first annihilate the leading cadre of the racial group and then replace it with a leading cadre from the perpetrator.

According to the American lawmaker, the law will not only punish the criminals during war but will assure the security of minorities in the future.

We read these words and follow the Nuremberg Trials. Our mind instinctively wonders away to a far distant world where thirty years ago war crimes were also committed according to a premeditated plan to annihilate, during a world war, a race left to its fate and on its own.

The same methods were used there also: decapitate the leadership;  dismantle, destroy and eradicate the political, social, cultural, economic foundations and uproot them. Massacre and obliterate them in groups on the spot, during their exodus or in the desert. Kill them with sword, dagger, gun, cannon, hatchet, stone, axe or hammer; by hanging or burning them; by starving or throwing them in the river or sea. Even inject them with deadly microbe, stuff their still-nursing babies in wooden boxes and nailing them shut.

In another word genocide (ցեղասպանութիւն - tseghasbanoutiun ). 

Where were the lawmakers and the judges of today? Had they not discovered the word? Or was it that the bloodthirsty monster was too strong to lay a hand on?

Our rage mounts tenfold particularly because the day’s victors were present then, where the crime was committed. They were there for full four years and ruled like landlords, much like they do nowadays in Germany. Then also hundreds were apprehended, and 70 hand-picked monsters were sent to Malta to be tried and punished commensurate to the crimes they perpetrated. Then?

Has the world changed for the better from Istanbul and Malta to Nuremberg and Auschwitz?

Let the hyenas of genocide be tried and punished mercilessly. But where did the first example of modern-day genocide take place?”

 

 

 

 

Our House in Canada

Translated and abridged by Vahe H. Apelian, February 2016

Rev. Hovhannes Sarmazian is the retired (2019) Pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Cambridge, Canada, where he pastored since 1990. Formerly he was a teacher and a pastor of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Anjar. He was also the principle of the Kessab Educational Association’s evening school in Lebanon during his study for ministry in the Near East School of Theology (NEST). The attached piece is from his book “Can The Land Be Sold?” (Հողը կը Ծախուի՞)  published in 2006). 

( http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/search?q=rev+sarmazian )

Our House in Canada

"After long family discussions and arguments, last October finally we also got a house in Canada. Our house now has its owner, its own address and its unique telephone number. Our children are very happy as if they achieved a victory. They also seem to be a bit proud of their new house. Enthused they call friends a little bit everywhere and herald to them the news of their new house and invite them to come and see their new residence.

Buying a house had become an issue of contention lately in our family and cause for frequent arguments. My elder son who has an aptitude for mathematics had always tried to convince me of the benefits of buying a house citing figures and letting me know how beneficial purchasing a house can be over renting one.

- “Instead of wasting your money paying rent, you can allocate the same amount towards a mortgage and years later the house will be yours.”  My son used to tell me confidently. His sister and brother would join to confirm his saying. I, on the other hand, with my Middle Eastern mentality, used to ask myself,

- “Am I going to go in hundreds of thousands debt? That is not possible. In a situation like that I would lose my sleep during the nights. No, that’s impossible. It is not possible to buy a house when there is no available money for it”, would be my conclusion.

After all this commotion, I would look forward sitting in front of our television during the weekends and enjoy the Armenian “New Horizon” program. During airing of the program, a spokesperson from an agency that deals with buying and selling properties would invariably appear announcing in support of my children.

- “Are you tired of paying rent? Do you know how easy it is to become the owner of your own house? To know how we can be of help to you, call us”.

And then their business address and their telephone number would appear on the screen.

- “Let us take Dad to the office of the real estate agency, and ask him to stay there until evening so that he will come to realize how beneficial is buying a house instead of renting one”, used to say my daughter to her two brothers.

It is fair that I confess that as a student I also have been pretty good in the subject of mathematics. However, I have not been “open-eyed” when it came to matters of buying and selling. That is why I have always felt that people can easily take advantage of me and thus be able to sell me something they have set at a higher price than it is actually worth.

Finally, being left on my own in my viewpoint, I accepted my defeat and gave in enabling us to get a house for our own. Admittedly our new house is a pretty house with an appealing front yard laden with flowers and a fenced backyard filled with newly planted fruit bearing trees. With its garage and neatly arranged rooms, it is a very livable house. Everything pertaining to the house has been thoughtfully planned.

The previous owner was a former villager from Portugal who is now engaged in construction. What struck me odd is the following: after living in the house for the previous five years and with his own efforts planting the flowers and fruit bearing trees, with total ease and a little bit happy and without showing the slightest sentiments, handed us the keys of the house and walked down the streets during the sunset hours. For a brief moment I wondered if I was deceived this time around too. Why would the man look so happy for having sold his house?

Why should I lie, lest I sin? For some time my old car remained idle on the street as it was not operational any more. Three months ago, abiding to the order of the municipality, I called a special agency to tow it away. When they came and tied our old car to their special truck and started hauling it away like the carcass of a dead domestic animal, for a brief moment I followed them and then suddenly an overwhelming sadness overtook me. That iron thing without a soul had been my companion for many years and had served me well. How was it that the Portuguese villager could let go of the house he had tended with his own hands and without slightest emotion hand us the keys and walk away without even taking one last glance?

*****

1. Sarmzian's house. 2. The village school

We are already in our new house. My children are happy and negotiate among themselves as who would occupy which room. Household utensils, furniture, personal items are being placed in their proper spots.

Everyone in the family appears to be happy and enthusiastic. I also am happy to a certain extent. But the source of my happiness is not the house but the result of my children’s happiness. I have to confess that our new house in Canada does not lift my spirits. I do not know why I do not feel at home in the beautiful and comfortable house. It is not because I have accumulated debt that will take years to pay. Some inexplicable, mysterious and mystifying feeling keeps me from embracing without reservation our new house. I liken myself to the young village migrant in the big city who after leaving his first love back in the village, marries maybe a more beautiful but nonetheless a strange city girl.

Why is it that everything appears to be artificial and illusory to me in this remote land? These thoughts take me to a distant place, at the northwestern corner of Syria, to Kessab where, at the foot of the Seldran mountain, there is a small Armenian village called Baghjaghaz and to a small house in that village. That small house is our ancestral house. It is modest but entirely and really ours. My grandfather had built it with his hands.

In 1909, during the Adana Massacres, marauding Turkish mobs sacked and torched also Kessab and its surrounding villages. My grandfather returned to his demolished ancestral home once more, and with a renewed faith and with an Armenian stubbornness, had cut the huge pine tree in its yard and from whose trunk and thick branches he had fashioned logs and wood panels to build our house anew.

My father tended the house every fall and did the repairs so that its earth-covered roof and its thick stone-walls would stand the fury of winter rain and snow. I remember the blue stone quarry not far from our village. We called the blue stones Kuyruk. Every autumn the able-bodied men of the village would go to the quarry and bring the blue stones and lay them over the roofs and then go over them with large stone-rollers to crush and pack them on the rooftop against the rain.

Our Bagjaghaz house had history as to who was the carpenter who made the wooden windows and its shutters and who was the master mason who had laid down its thick wall and layered it with kirej - a special cementing material the villagers prepared. My father would tell us such things about the house with supreme patience.

The wooden logs supporting the roof extended approximately a foot or so beyond the walls. Over the extension stones were placed to contain the blue crushed stones on the rooftops. At times the stones from the perimeter of our roof would fall casting the image of an old person some of whose front teeth are missing. Below these stones, along one of the walls, three chicken coops were placed for the hens to lay their eggs. It was so pleasant to hear the hens vocalizing after laying their eggs and expecting my mother to offer them extra feed.

It is not possible not to remember the mulberry tree in our courtyard. In the evenings Uncle Elesha would come and lean against the trunk of the tree while holding his pipe and waiting for my father to step out of the house to chat under the moonlight of bygone days.

Our house consisted of two rooms. One was at ground level and was used as the stable. The other room was over the stable. On a June day I was born in a corner of its wooden floor without the assistance of a nurse or a medical doctor. Our unschooled but expert midwife Hannoush Nanar (grandma) had helped my mother give birth.

My mother would tell of the episode as if it was a fairly tale. “It was in late June; the fruits of the apricot tree in our yard had barely started ripening. It was harvest time and all of us had gone to the fields. I started feeling not well. I came home early and had people summon Hannoush Nanar. That evening, before sunset, you were born.”

Our ancestral home in the village, where I have first opened my eyes and uttered my first cry has anchored an unbreakable bond in me. I maintain a spiritual connection with its stones, wooden logs, and its cozy hearth however inanimate objects they are. I realize that the residence that resonates the most sentiments in the person is one’s ancestral home where the person is born and raised.

I liken myself to the restless lad in the poem who ventured out of their modest home at the foot of the hill, next to a creek in search of better accommodation. He went onto the world and saw many large and beautiful houses but in each one of them he found something amiss and longingly returned to his modest home at the foot of the hill, next to the creek.

And now in our new and beautiful house in Canada, I do not know why, I feel a stranger. I wonder why my joy is not genuine and unbound? Why is that, things on these Western shores appear alien to me? When? Why? And how is that I lost my ability to acculturate anew?

I direct my thoughts to our ancestral home in the village and wonder; what is that it is so magnetic and so profound that continues to attract me to it even half a century later? Small memories from my ancestral home continue to stir emotions in me and I revert to that little child I was who recited the poem proclaiming the sweetness of his home.  " 

*****

Ամէնից Լաւ Տունը

Էնտեղ, ուր հովը խաղում է ազատ

Ու ջուրն աղմկում, անվերջ փըրփըրում,

Էնտեղ իր բարի, իր սիրող մոր հետ

Մի շատ անհանգիստ տղա էր ապրում,

Մի գորշ խրճիթում,

Մի հին խրճիթում,

Գետի եզերքին,

Ծառերի տակին։

 

Մի օր էլ եկավ անհանգիստ տղան,

Կանգնեց իր բարի, իր սիրող մոր դեմ.

«Մայրիկ, էստեղից պետք է հեռանամ.

Միակ ձանձրալի տեղը, որ գիտեմ,

Էս գորշ խրճիթն է,

Էս հին խրճիթն է,

Գետի եզերքին,

Ծառերի տակին։

 

Թո՛ղ գնամ շրջեմ աշխարհից աշխարհ,

Ճամփորդեմ լավ-լավ տներ տեսնելու,

Ամենից լավը ընտրեմ մեզ համար,

Գամ քեզ էլ առնեմ ու փախչենք հեռու

Էս գորշ խրճիթից,

Էս հին խրճիթից,

Գետի եզերքին,

Ծառերի տակին»։

 

Ու գնաց, երկար թափառեց տղան,

Մեծ ու հոյակապ շատ տներ տեսավ,

Բայց միշտ, ամեն տեղ պակաս Էր մի բան…

Ու հառաչելով ետ վերադարձավ

Էն գորշ խրճիթը,

Էն հին խրճիթը,

Գետի եզերքին,

Ծառերի տակին։

 

«Գտա՞ր, զավա՛կս», հարցրեց մայրը,

Ուրախ, նայելով իր տղի վըրա։

«Ման եկա, մայրի՛կ, աշխարհից աշխարհ,

Ամենից սիրուն, լավ տունը, որ կա,

Էս գորշ խրճիթն է,

Էս հին խրճիթն Է,

Գետի եզերքին,

Ծառերի տակին»։

 

Յովհաննէս Թումանեան

 

 

 

 

 

Words Get Easier The Moment You Stop Fearing Them

Vahe H. Apelian

We choose titles to attract readers and to do justice to the theme we will be expounding. I will be interested to learn if readers found the wording, I borrowed for a title appropriate for the text they will be reading below. 

What I will expound upon pertains to the banishment of the longstanding contributor to and editor of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation press Nazareth Berberian from the very press he served for over forty years and what that act signifies to me.

I would not have felt compelled to write about it had it not been Nazareth Berberian’s emotionally charged introduction, although unrelated to the text of his daily column on his Facebook page he maintains pertaining to events that happened on that day years ago and left an enduring mark in our history. He titled the posting “Pari Louys” (good morning).  Ignoring his introductory remark would have haunted me.  

His introductory comment read as follows:  “As long as my body is willing and my mind an alert guard of the TASHNAGSOUTIUN (Armenian Revolutionary Federation) LEGACY, I will attempt to share with my readers, friends, relatives, under the headline “PARI LOUYS” (Good Morning),  a meaningful reflection that has remained entrenched in our collective national memory and which brightens our path. I will not be  able henceforth to say “Good Morning” from the pages of the ARF press because a command bearing the signature of the ARF Bureau has gone to our press, which for half a century proudly presented to its readers subjects that bore my signature, commanding them not to publish henceforth articles that bear my signature. However, thanks to modern social media I have the means to communicate to the reader my “Pari Louys” without restraint. “

And true to his words no article bearing his signature has been appearing in the Armenian Revolutionary Federation press lately. The last article I read that bore his signature appeared in the ARF  “Aztag’ Daily on December 7, 2019, whose editor he was appointed at the age of 22. His article pertained to his critical review of the Armenian press concluding the year Catholicos Aram designated as the year of the Armenian press (2019).  He titled his article “The Armenian press is a school for public education; the ARF Press is more than a party medium”, where he noted: “…Tashnagtsoutiun is a national asset and belongs to the nation and not only to the Armenian Revolutionary Federation party members, but also to the sons and daughters of our nation who espouse its Ideology (Ծրագրին) and its mission ((Գործին). Consequently, the ARF press is accountable not only to this or that party body but above everything else to its readership and to the people who embrace it.”

I met Nazareth Berberian in the greater family of the ARF Zavarian Student Association in Beirut when I was elected to an administrative position and he was another junior member in his teens, being five to six years younger than I. Even then he appeared to be naturally endowed as a promising publicist / journalist and was already contributing articles to “Aztag” Daily. He remained true to his natural calling and continued serving the ARF press in highest capacity in Lebanon, Greece and in Armenia. In 2011, Catholicos Aram I bestowed upon him the ecclesiastical order of Saint Mesrob Mashdots recognizing his services to the Armenian press, (You may read my translation of the autobiography wrote on that occasion in my blog dated  December 27, 2019.)

Lately the Armenian social media has been inundated with the news of his expulsion from the ranks of the ARF although he noted that no one in official capacity informed him of his expulsion or sat with him before. His expulsion from the ranks of the ARF  is an internal matter but his banishment from the ARF press is altogether a different matter and pertains the public no less for the very reason “Aztag” Daily also espoused as quoted above that “the ARF press is accountable not only to this or that party body but above everything else to its readership and to the people who embrace it.”.

The banishment of Nazareth Berberian’s deprives the readers of an experienced, knowledgeable and a naturally gifted eloquent pen who served the ARF press for decades disseminating its ideology and contributing immensely to its enrichment. His banishment also insults the readers of the ARF press for they are apparently viewed incapable of separating the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Furthermore, it does contribute to the credibility of  the the present and past editors of the ARF press who completely neglected and ignored the banishment of one of them as if nothing out of the ordinary happened.  I wonder if Leeza Arakelian, the assistant editor of the Armenian Weekly will expound on this sad aspect of the ARF press as she will take part in the upcoming NAASR organized debate on “ Armenian American Press in Perspective”. 

This sad episode is a watershed moment in the history of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation press, the dominant press in the Armenian Diaspora and whose dominance is surely because of the trust the readership vested in it. Resorting to silencing, relying that time will remedy this sad episode by erasing it from memory is very much a worm that will continue to grind the ARF press.

If there is anything I conclude from this sad and saddening happening is the following: “what goes around, comes around”. An ARF member who is entrusted with disseminating the ideology of the ARF for years on end as the editor of the party organ as Nazareth Berberian was and served with distinction for decades, matters not. He or she is a fair game that can be cast off simply because his or her words do not suit what the party whirlwinds  have  carved for the day.

Yes, indeed, “Words Get Easier The Moment You Stop Fearing Them”.

 

Note: The actual quotes

“ ԲԱՐԻ ԼՈՅՍ

Այնքան ատեն, որ մարմինս յօժար է եւ միտքս արթուն պահակը ԴԱՇՆԱԿՑՈՒԹԵԱՆ ԱՒԱՆԴին՝ ես պիտի փորձեմ ամէն օր «ԲԱՐԻ ԼՈՅՍ» վերտառութեամբ ընթերցողներուս, ընկերներուս եւ հարազատներուս հետ մեր օրը իմաստաւորել՝ ազգային մեր յիշողութեան մէջ պահպանուած անմեռ, մեր ուղին լուսաւորող խորհուրդով մը։
Դաշնակցական մամուլի էջերէն պիտի չկարենամ այս «բարի լոյս»ը ըսել, որովհետեւ Հ․Յ․Դ․ ԲԻՒՐՕ ստորագրութեամբ հրահանգ գացած է շուրջ կէս դար իմ ստորագրութիւնս հպարտութեամբ հայ ընթերցողին ներկայացուցած մեր մամուլին՝ արգիլելով լոյս ընծայումը եւ տարածումը իմ ստորագութիւնս կրող նիւթերու։
Բայց համացանցի մեր դարուն ես արդէն ուղղակի կապի ու հաղորդակցութեան հնարաւորութիւն ունիմ ընթերցողին հետ՝ իմ «բարի լոյս»ը անկաշկանդ ըսելու բոլորին”։

***

“ Հայ Մամուլը Հանրային Դաստիարակութեան Դպրոց Է. Դաշնակցական Մամուլը Աւելին Է, Քան` Կուսակցական Մամուլը”

***

“Աւելի՛ն. ինչպէս որ Դաշնակցութիւնը արդէն ազգային արժէք է եւ կը պատկանի ոչ միայն իր կուսակցականներուն, այլեւ` իր Ծրագրին ու Գործին հաւատացող մեր ժողովուրդի բոլոր զաւակներուն, այնպէս ալ դաշնակցական թերթը համարատու է ոչ միայն կուսակցական այս կամ այն մարմինին, այլեւ ամէն բանէ վեր իր ընթերցող հասարակութեան` իրեն փարած մայր ժողովուրդին:”

Aleppo, We Are Not Well At All (Հալէպ․ Բնա՛ւ լաւ չենք)

Manuel Keshishian

Levon Sharoyan  wrote on his FB page “Mr. Manuel Keshishian poignantly tilted hsi preceding article “We Are Not Well” (Լաւ չենք»).  He has titled his most recent article “We Are Not Well At All” («ԲՆԱՒ ԼԱՒ ՉԵՆՔ»). Whatever he describes there is but a small portion of the daily harsh reality the unfortunate Aleppo Armenians are also experiencing. Yes indeed, do not be deceived by to the colorful official pictures that are posted from Aleppo nor pay attention to the exurban descriptions accompanying such pictures. Read the article, ponder about it, challenge and confront the misplaced “optimists”.” The attached is my abridged translation of Mr. Manuel Keshishian” most recent article that appeared in CivilNet.

The New Year and Christmas days are over.

Everyone spared no effort to at least make the children happy. All our institutions: churches, schools, associations resorted to every means to provide joyful days to the children and they succeeded. Our children thus attended many festivities.

Opportunities were made available for the grown-ups also in way dance, banquet but they were not affordable to all and consequently they were mostly empty or were held in half full halls.

If the expatriated Aleppo Armenians recall those festive holidays of the past, we in Aleppo, on the other hand, do not want to recall those days. Remembering them will make our present situation, bordering to tragic, even more acutely felt by us.

Our reality is grim, very grim.

The leaders of our three denominations.

However, we watched the receptions organized by the leaders of our denominations congratulating the festive occasion in bright halls and however, we tend to visualize the future of Aleppo as another Dubai, it does not matter. Our daily life is grim, very grim.

The  daily devaluation of the Syrian pound and the inability of the central bank to stop the precipitous fall, has brought the people to the brink of despair. Everything gets expensive by the day. Consuming beef and lamp are a dream to most. Poultry is on the same track. Vegetables, fruits are becoming way too expensive. The availability of bread at a government subsidized rate is not enough to meet the demand. Gas in Syria is sold in 24 Kg quantities in canisters that are sold from trucks. Every family is allowed to have one canister for every 23 days.  A canister gas can meet a household’s  demand with diligent use during the summer months. But it is not sufficient for winter months as people use it to warm water. The government allocates  only 100 liters of fuel per family for year-long heating.   The government cannot also provide canisters of gas in sufficient quantities. They are made available sporadically necessitating unending lines. Sometimes the wait on such a line lasts for hours. At times people reserve a place late at night and wait but it happens that at times they return home empty handed. People try to get it in different ways. The official rate is 2700 Liras (2 dollars and 70 cents), but the price doubles, quadruples and reaches 10 dollars when our salaries hovers less than 50 dollars per month. 

The daily conversation is the fall of the Syrian Lira and the escalation of the prices because of its devaluation.

Is the government aware of the situation? It is, but it appears that it cannot do anything. The ongoing civil war for the past 8 years seems to have emptied the coffers of the government. Thus what happens if you cannot procure nourishment for your children? Who cares? Apply to this or that civic or religious charity organization.  If your salary is exhausted by the end of the first week of the month, you may supplement your income by continuing selling some of the golden jewelry you might still have. If this continues this way, are we to die of hunger? Surely so, but who cares?

Our economic viability is really at risk. Not the government salary raises, nor the handouts of the  charitable organizations will be able to address it.

The young have no means of forming and sustaining a family. The ones who are engaged remain so and those who are single continue to remain single. Who can assist the young to form their own families?

The Patriarch of the Assyrian Orthodox Church issued a proclamation to marry the young without any change. They will also provide a hall for bridal festivity for free. A 1000 thousand dollars (one million Syrian pounds) will be given to each newly married couple, The Patriarchate will pay the newly married couple’s yearlong rent including a yearlong expenses of their newly born child, along with the child’s elementary education.

Is that not exemplary? Cannot our religious denominations do the same? Do they have the financial means to do so? 

We are not well, not well at all.

We are not well but our community leaders all too often conceal our reality from those in the higher up and present not our reality to them and to the government officials but what Aleppo is supposed to be one day, another Dubai.

Is that not what the proverbial ostriches do? Hide their heads in the sand a and thus shield themselves from the reality.

Last month, those who described the reality were accused by many for being pessimists. And now, it’s the same situation but worst.  Since then the prices escalated by leaps and bounds, and we remain chagrined that the 100 liter of petrol the government provided to us for the year might not be enough to continue on bathing our newly born child. 

  There is only one avenue left fort those of us who are still in Aleppo to cope with these daily realities and that is by coming to term that we are less of a human being.

Let me conclude.

We Armenians, if we want to have this community endure, our leaders are obliged to do all they can to enlighten our daily burden. Recently the heads of our three religious denominations met. I do not know what decisions they took.  But I know this, it’s high time decisions are taken and implemented to ameliorate our worsening situation with help from the Republic of Armenia.

Your thoughts?

The original

Հալէպ․ Բնա՛ւ լաւ չենք

Ամանորեան եւ Ս. Ծննդեայն օրերը անցան:

Բոլորը ճիգ ու ջանք չխնայեցին գոնէ փոքրիկները ուրախացնելու. Մեր բոլոր հաստատութիւնները՝ եկեղեցի, դպրոց, միութիւններ, ամէն կերպ փորձեցին տօնական օրեր պարգեւել փոքրիկներուն եւ յաջողեցան: Մեր մանուկները ներկայ եղան բազմաթիւ խրախճանքներու: Մեեծահասակներուն ալ ուրախանալու առիթներ ընծայուեցան՝ պարահանդէսներ եւ ճաշկերոյթներ, որոնք սակայն մատչելի չէին բոլորին, ուստի եւ անոնց բացարձակ մեծամասնութիւնը, չըսելու համար կիսադատարկ, ըսեմ, կիսալեցուն սրահներու մէջ տեղի ունեցան:

Եւ եթէ գաղթած հալէպցիները իրենց երկիրներուն մէջ յիշեցին Հալէպի ամանօրեան անխառն ուրախութիւնները, ապա հոս մնացողները չուզեցին միտքերնէն իսկ անցնել այդ երանելի ժամանակները. չէ՞ որ յիշողութեան այդ փորձն իսկ աւելի ցայտուն պիտի դարձնէր ներկայի ողբերգութեան հասնող կացութիւնը:

Իսկ ներկան գորշ է, շատ գորշ:

Մեր երեք համայնքապետերը

Որքա՜ն ալ հեռատեսիլով դիտենք մեր համայնքապետերուն փայլուն, լուսաւոր սրահներու մէջ տեղի ոնեցող շնորհաւորական ընդունելութիւնները, որքան ալ լաւատեսօրէն փորձենք նկարագրել Հալէպի՝ «ապագայի Տուպայ»ի, գալիքը, միեւնոյնն է, այսօր ամէն ինչ գորշ է, շատ գորշ:

Սուրիական լիրայի ամենօրեայ անկումն ու Կեդրոնական դրամատան անկարողութիւնը այս անկումին կասեցման դիմաց, յուսահատութեան կը մատնէ բնակչութիւնը: Մարդիկ կը վախնան գնում ընելէ. ամէն ինչ, ամէն օր կը սղի, ոչխարի եւ կովու միս ուտելը մեծամասնութեան համար երազանք սկսած է դառնալ, ցաւոք նոյն ճամբան սկսած է փնտռել նաեւ հաւու միսը: Պտուղ-բանջարեղէնի գիները ահռելիօրէն կը սուղնան, պետական աժան հացին արտադրութեան չափը շատ հեռու է բոլորին բաւելէ, փիւթակազը Սուրիոյ մէջ կը մատակարարուի 24 քիլօ կրամ պարունակութեամբ մետաղեայ շիշերով, որոնք կը ծախուին բեռնատար ինքնաշարժերու վրայ. իւրաքանչիւր ընտանիք իրաւունք ունի 23 օր անգամ մը շիշ մը գնել, որ ամրան ամիսներուն համար աւելի քան բաւարար է. ձմրան ամիսներուն համար շատ քիչ է այս քանակութիւնը, որովհետեւ մարդիկ փիւթակազը կը դարձնեն տաքնալու եւ ջուր տաքցնելու հիմնական միջոց, որովհետեւ պետութիւնը ամբողջ տարուան համար ամէն մէկ ընտանիքի միայն 100 լիթր վառելանիւթ կը վաճարէ,միւս կողմէ պետութիւնը այս մէկ շիշը նշեալ ժամանակամիջոցին չի կրնար ապահովել ամբողջ բնակչութեան համար եւ կը գոյանան հերթեր, որոնք երբեմն  վիթխարիօրէն կ'երկարին, մարդիկ ժամեր առաջ, երբեմն գիշերուընէ հերթի կը կանգնին եւ ցաւոք շատեր ձեռնունայն կը վերադառնան. մարդիկ կը ջանան այլեւայլ միջոցներով ձեռք ձգել ցանկալի հրաշք երկնագոյն վառելանիւթը. 2700 լիրա (երկու տոլար 70 սէնթ) արժող շիշին գինը կը կրկնապատկուի, կը քառապատկուի՝ հասնելով մինչեւ 10 տոլարի, երբ մեր միջին աշխատավարձը 50 տոլարէն ալ նուազ է:

Մարդոց խօսակցութեան գլխաւոր նիւթը լիրային անկումն է եւ ատոր հետեւանքով ամէն ինչի ամենօրեայ թանկացումը:

Պետութիւնը չի՞ տեսներ այս ամէնը. կը տեսնէ, բայց կարծես թէ չի կրնար բան մը ընել, որովհետեւ ութ տարուայ պատերազմը սնանկութեան աստիճանին հասցուցած է զինք: Պզտիկներուդ ուտելիք չե՞ս կրնար գնել. գնա՛ այս, այն բարեգործական կամ կրօնական հաստատութեան դիմէ: Ամսուն եօթէն գրպանդ պարա՞պ է. տունը մնացած քանի մը կրամ ոսկին ալ ծախէ... Եթէ ասանկ շարունակուի անօթի պիտի մեռնի՞ս. մեռի՛ր, որո՛ւն հոգը....

Մեր տնտեսական վիճակը իրա՛ւ ծանր է, շա՛տ ծանր: Ո՛չ պետութեան աւելցուցած աշխատավարձը կը լուծէ անելը, ո՛չ ալ բարեգործական կազմակերպութիւններուն կարկտանները:

Երիտասարդները ոչ մէկ կարելիութիւն ունին ամուսնանալու. նշանուածները տարիներով նշանուած կը մնան, ամուրիները յամառօրէն կը շարունակեն ամուրի մնալ եւ.

-Պէտք է նշանուիս այլեւս,- կ'ըսես:

- Նշանուածները չե՞ս տեսներ,- կ'ըլլայ պատասխանը:

Նշանուածները կը տեսնես. խեղճերը անելանելի վիճակի մը մէջ կը գտնուին. ապագայի բնակելիք տունէն առաջ պսակուելու ահռելի ծախսերն իսկ կը սարսափեցնեն զիրենք:

-Եղբայր, պայմա՞ն է քանի մը քահանայ-վարդապետ-եպիսկոպոսով պսակուիլ. Գացէք արձանագրեցէք ձեր ամուսնութիւնը, վերջացաւ, գնաց:

-Հապա՞ մեր ազգային սովորութիւնները, արեւելեան կենցաղը..

Կարծեմ այս պայմաններուն ասիկա սովորութենէ աւելէ սնապարծութիւն կարելի է որակել:

Ենթադրենք, թէ պսակադրման եւ հարսանեկան ծախսերուն հարցը մաս մը պարտքով, մաս մըն ալ նուէրներու ակնկալիքով լուծուած սեպուեցան եւ սակայն.

«Ե՞րբ պիտի ամուսնանանաք» հարցումին հաւանական պատասխանը կ'ըլլայ.

-Ինչպէ՞ս ամուսնանանք, Շուէտի ազգականիս տունը պիտի ապրէինք, ան ալ եկաւ տունը ծախեց, չենք գիտեր ի՞նչ ընենք:

Ամուսնանալիք-չամուսնացող այս երիտասարդներուն համար ո՞վ, ի՞նչ կրնայ ընել:

Ուղղափառ ասորի եկեղեցւոյ համայնքապետարանը յայտարարեց, որ համայնքի զաւակներուն պսակադրութեան արարողութիւնը ձրի պիտի կատարուի, հարսանեկան խրախճանքի սրահը անվճար պիտի տրամադրուի, նորապսակներուն մէկ միլիոն սուրիական լիրա (1000 տոլար) նուէր տալու կողքին համայնքապետարանը պիտի հոգայ անոնց տան մէկ տարուայ վարձքը, նորածինին մէկ տարուայ ծախսերն ու նախակրթարանի դպրոցական ծախսերը...

Օրինակելի քայլ մը չէ՞: Մեր համայնքապետերը կրնա՞ն այս օրինակին հետեւիլ, նիւթապէս կարելիութիւն ունի՞ն:

Մենք լաւ չենք, բնա՛ւ լաւ չենք:

Լաւ չենք, սակայն յաճախ կը կեղծենք, աւելի ճիշդ մեր պատասխանատուները յաճախ գորշութիւնը կը ծածկեն եւ մեր վիճակը իրենցմէ վերեւի  պատասխախնատուներուն կը ներկայացնեն առնուազն դրական նիշերով: Ինչո՞ւ: թերեւս պետական մարմիններու առջեւ լաւ երեւնալու համար: Ներկայէն աւելի կը խօսին ապագայի Հալէպի մասին, այն Հալէպի, որ պիտի դառնայ աշխարհի երկրորդ Տուպայը...

Ջայլամութենէն գէշ բան կա՞յ:

Անցեալ ամիս, լաւ չենք ըսողները ոմանց կողմէ մեղադրուեցան դիտաւորեալ հոռետեսութեան մէջ: Հիմա, երբ ամէն օր, աւելին, երբ նոյն օրուան ընթացքին ամէն ինչ քանի մը անգամ սղաճ կ'արձանագրէ, երբ չենք գիտեր տունը մնացած 30=40 լիթր վառելանիւթի սպառումէն ետք, ինչպէ՞ս պիտի տաքցնենք մեր նորածին մանուկը, կամ եթէ փիւթակազի շիշը պարպուի, ինչո՞վ պիտի փոխարինենք, հապա սիկարէթը՞, բոլոր ծխողները պարտադրաբար պէտք է վերջ տան այդ մոլի եւ վնասակար սովորութեան որովհետեւ եթէ ցարդ ի գին իրենց առողջութեան վնասելուն չկրցան հրաժարիլ, ապա հիմա, նիւթականի պատճառաւ ստիպուած են շատ քիչ ծխել, այնքան որ կը սղի այդ անիծեալ հաճոյքը:

Թաքսի՞, եթէ մէկ անգամ նստիս, ապա երկու անգամ ալ քալելով պէտք է տեղէ տեղ երթաս, չհաշուած վարորդներու, իրենց հարազատին բժշկական զանազան գործողութիւններու եւ նիւթական անյետաձգելի կարիքի կեղծ ու պատիր պատմութիւնները...

Հապա՞ ապահովական վիճակը: Պարսիկ սպային սպաննութիւնը սարսափ տարածեց Սուրիոյ պետութեան կողմնակիցներուն մէջ, ընդդիմադիրները ցնծացին, որովհետեւ Սուլէյմանին անմիջական գլխաւոր հրամանատարն էր Սուրիոյ մէջ պարսկական եւ հաւանաբար նաեւ լիբանանեան Հըզպ Ալլահ-ի զօրքերուն, որոնք ամենահաւատարիմներն են պետութեան եւ ամենախիզախները անոր մարտիկներուն:

Ռուսերն ու թուրքերը համաձայնած են Իտլիպի թնճուկին խաղաղ լուծման,, Սուրիոյ պետութիւնն ալ ընդունած է այդ համաձայնութիւնը, սակայն կ'ըսուի թէ տասնեակ հազարաւոր լաւ մարզուած զինեալներ ունեցող Ճապհաթ Նուսրայի ծայրայեղականները կը մերժեն ենթարկուիլ Թուրքիոյ այս որոշումին, բախումը անխուսափելի դարձնելով. Եթէ ասիկա իրականութիւն է ապա քանի մը շաբաթ, կամ քանի մը ամիս ապահովական վիճակը կրնայ շատ վտանգուիլ, եւ անցեալ կիրակի օրուայ հրթիռներու տեղատարափը կրնայ կրկնուիլ... եւ Հալէպը կրկին սուգի մատնել, ամբողջ Հալէպը, անկախ թէ որ թաղի վրայ կ'արձակուին աւերիչ պայթուցիկները, թէ՞ յայտարարուած պարզապէս թիւի վերածուած 380000 թէ՞ 550000, թէ՞ 850000 զոհերուն վրայ չորս երիտասարդներուն գումարուիլը բան պիտի չփոխէ...            

Այո՛, Սուրիոյ զոհերուն թիւը իւրաքանչիւր կողմ կը ներկայացնէ այնպէս, ինչպէս ինք կ'ուզէ, հապա՞ կրկնակի թիւով վիրաւորները, հապա 7-8 միլիոն գաղթականները, հապա մե՞նք՝ հոս մնացածներս... մենք մէկ միջոց ունինք դիմանալու եւ գոյատեւելու.

-Պիտի մոռնանք, որ մարդ ենք...

Եզրակացնենք. Մենք՝ հայերս, եթէ կ'ուզենք, որ այս գաղութը մնայ, մեր ղեկավարները ստիպուած են միջոց մը գտնել քիչ մը թեթեւցնելու մեր ամէն իմաստով ծանր կացութիւնը: Անցեալ շաբաթ օր, երեք համայնքապետերը հանդիպում մը ունեցան. վստահաբար անդրադարձան մեր վիճակին: Անոնք ի՞նչ քայլեր կրնան առնել, չեմ գիտեր, մէկ բան գիտեմ վճռական որոշումներ առնելու համար կարիքը ունինք Հայաստանի օգնութեան եւ հիմա ժամանակն է, որ Հայաստանէն բարձրաստիճան, շատ բարձրաստիճան պատասխանատու մը գայ Հալէպ, ո՛չ թէ ծանօթացման միտումով, այլ կարեւոր որոշումներ առնելու վճռակամութեամբ:

Ի՞նչ կ'ըսէք:

Մանուէլ Քէշիշեան

Հալէպ, 15 Յունուար 2020