On April 20, a solemn couple lit candles and prayed in a church in Derik, a town near Turkey’s ancient city of Mardin, that has come to symbolize religious peace. They were there all alone, for the Surp Kevork Armenian Church has neither a bishop nor any parishioners but them. Muslim neighbors, however, visited the Demircis — Yursalin, 58, and Naif, 66 — to convey their good wishes for Easter, and were treated with sweets and candy by their hosts.
On the same day, in the village of Gedikli in Igdir province, the Igdir Azerbaijan House Association and the Igdir Cyprus Peace Operation Veterans Association commemorated villagers killed by Armenians in 1919 at the spot where the mass grave of 96 people was dug up in 2003. Speaking at the ceremony, Igdir Gov. Davut Haner said, “We struggled a lot to survive as a state in these lands. We sacrificed a lot. The Turkish people, however, have not nourished hatred.” The head of the veterans association, Ismet Tagal, said, “Armenian gangs brutally killed our grandfathers and grandmothers and buried them here. The Gedikli people will never forget the atrocities of the Armenians.”