TURKISH WRITER CALLS TO COLLECT COMMEMORATIONS OF ARMENIANS WHO SURVIVED GENOCIDE WITH HELP OF TURKS
PanARMENIAN.Net
15.09.2008 18:44 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Ziya Meral, a London based researcher on Middle
East minorities and a writer calls to collect the commemorations
of Armenians who survived the Genocide with the help of Turks, the
Turkish Daily News reports.
"I similarly don’t remember when I first came to hear about massacres
of Armenians, but I remember how I cried in the memorial in Yerevan
for hours for all that has happened. I still shiver with pain each
time I see pictures and hear stories of families scattered around
the world. However, as I continued to read and reflect on memorial
practices and sites, I have come to be increasingly worried that there
were hardly any mention of ‘righteous Turks’- Turks who risked their
lives to save their Armenian friends or even complete strangers in
the literature and commemorations," he said.
"For this reason, I have personally begun a web-based initiative,
named Project Common Humanity, or PCH, to gather the untold stories
of courage, virtue and sacrifice. My humble and limited attempt is in
no way meant to undermine the suffering of the victims or even getting
involved in debates on whether or not what happened was genocide."
"So if you know any such story, published or not, please consider
sharing it with all of us. Visit PCH’s amateurish blog and send your
stories in Turkish or English. And join me to celebrate what unites us
in an age that is obsessed with fixing what separates us," Meral said.