TURKISH INTELECTUALS CALL ON TURKISH SOCEITY TO COMMEMEORATE VICTIMS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Tert.am
20.04.10
In an written address called "This is Our Pain. This is a Mourning
for All of Us" a group of Turkish intellectuals calls on Turkish
soceity to rally at 7pm on April 24 on the Taksim square in Istanbul
to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide in 1915.
It reads as follows:
"In 1915, when we had a population of only 13 million people, there
were 1,5 to 2 million Armenians living on this land. In Thrace,
in the Aegean, in Adana, in Malatya, in Van, in Kars…In Samatya,
in Å~^iÅ~_li, in the Islands, in Galata…
"They were the grocer in our neighbourhood, our tailor, our goldsmith,
our carpenter, our shoemaker, our farmhand, our millwright, our
classmate, our teacher, our officer, our private, our deputy, our
historian, our composer…Our friend. Our next-door neighbors and
our companion in bad times. In Thrace, in the Aegean, in Adana, in
Malatya, in Van, in Kars…In Samatya, in Å~^iÅ~_li, Ä°n the Islands,
in Galata…
"On April 24th, 1915 they were "rounded up". We lost them. They are
not here anymore. A great majority of them do not exist anymore. Nor
do their graveyards. There EXISTS the overwhelming "Great Pain" that
was laid upon the qualms of our conscience by the "Great Catastrophe."
It’s getting deeper and deeper for the last 95 years.
"We call upon all peoples of Turkey who share this heartfelt pain
to commemorate and pay tribute to the victims of 1915. In black,
in silence. With candles and flowers…
"For this is OUR pain. This is a mourning for ALL OF US."