Armenian Genocide

April 24th is Armenian Martyrs Day. How do I know this? Oh perhaps it's the 100 young blood Armenians in cars festooned with the Armenian flag cruising up and down Los Feliz Blvd all afternoon honking back and forth to each other while blaring Armenian music. So much for my Sunday nap. In 1915, the Turkish goverment with the help of Kurds committed genocide against the Armenians. They forced them out of their homes and their towns and killed them. Somewhere around one million died. The Armenian genocide was the first such event of the 20th Century. Hitler used it as a precedent for his own Holocaust against the Jews. He took note that the world didn't respond when the Turks started the bloodshed (probably because they were in the midst of the Great War) and determined he could get away with it as well. To this day, the government of Turkey refuses to acknowledge their atrocities against the Armenians. Turkey will not apologize and Turks will not admit any such event even happened. Armenians are justifiable angry at Turkey's denial of the genocide and have tried for years through protesting and petitioning the Turkish government to get official recognition for the event. Diplomatic relations between the two countries is strained to say the least and reconciliation can't happen until the truth is admitted. Sadly the Kurds became the next victimized people group during Ataturk's campaign of national and cultural unity.

Last summer a group of us toured South Eastern Turkey. Time after time we visited what once were Armenian churches or Armenian quarters but were now mosques or burned out buildings. Sanliurfa and Diyarbakir had vital church communities which were then decimated at the hands of the Turks. I'm not Armenian, but after touring these churches I understood their anger and frustration. In Sanliurfa an Armenian community sought refuge in their church trusting the local Turkish officials who said they'd be safe there during the riots. They were slaughtered. The church was left unoccupied for decades. Then, about a decade ago the local governor decided he wanted it turned into a Mosque. Hundreds of families within Urfa protested saying they didn't need or want another mosque. Such behavior from Muslims is odd. Of all the cities we visited, Urfa had the most conservative Islamic population. After the genocide many families who were once Christian converted to Islam to stay alive. However, most families had grandparents or friends with roots in Christianity and this Armenian church in particular. Thus, it appears that they wanted to honor that part of their heritage (although this isn't known for certain). Once the governor got wind of the resistence to his plan, he threatened the protestors that he would "out" them in the newspaper as Christians if they didn't play along. That ended the protesting. However, as work on the minaret began people protested again that they didn't want a minaret on the mosque (which is simply unheard of for a mosque, it's like saying a Christian church shouldn't have a cross). After several years, the minaret has remained incomplete. Instead of being a spear that pierces the sky it's a square stump level with the roof.

Turkey has an amazing history extending back centuries and centuries. Yet, the religious diversity that once marked Turkey has vanished. Hopefully as they prepare for EU membership they'll allow religious freedom.