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.”
In Istanbul, meanwhile, a series of events kicked off April 21 to remember the Armenian genocide, backed by the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement and prominent figures such as French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy and Turkish academic Ahmet Insel.
The three simultaneous events above illustrate Turkey’s “Armenian syndrome,” which recurs on each anniversary of April 24, 1915. The Armenian couple in the first story represents the legacy of a historical tragedy and a numerical proof of what happened. The empathy accorded to the couple shows that facing up to history is possible in places of cohabitation. The second story reflects the popular sentiment that matches the state’s narrative of the “Armenian atrocities.” It's symbolic of the large social base in which the official policy of denial of the events of 1915 is readily embraced. The third story is quite new for Turkey. It represents the urge to face its own history, a trend that currently lacks popular support.
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