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Web-exhibition : Turkey, identities in pictures
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- Created on Thursday, 29 December 2016 00:55
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Standpoint of Diaspora
MJM |
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MJM |
During my five years of collaboration with French-Armenian NGO Yerkir Europe - initiated by the Armeno-Turkish platform REPAIR - I was offered the opportunity to make several trips to Turkey: to Istanbul, to attend the 24th April commemorations or cover the Gezi Park events; among the Hamsheni, in search of those sometimes called “Islamized Armenians”; in Dersim, to meet Alevi Zazas; and in Western Armenia, which some now call Turkish Kurdistan, traveling along with the Armenian music ensemble, the “Van Project”, to attend Easter services at Surp Giragos Church or discover the Armenian and Kurdish communities in Diyarbakir. From there, I brought back many memories and some photos which, hopefully, will show Turkey in a different light than in the - too frequently - saddening news reports currently coming from the country of my maternal ancestors.
ON THE ROAD WITH THE VAN PROJECT, JULY AND SEPTEMBER 2011
Three men in traditional Zaza dress from Dersim, Hozat, July 2011.
Clarinetist met in Malatya, whose teacher who taught him everything was Armenian.
A very moving encounter with Papken Yeterian, one of the only officially “declared” Armenians of the Malatya area, Yeterian, 81, who still speaks Armenian. July 2011
A Hamsheni woman in conversation with other villagers. Hopa, July 2011.
Hamsheni women, July 2011.
Young men at a barbershop in Ovacik (Dersim), July 2011.
A young girl at a music festival in Ovacik (Dersim), July 2011.
Villagers and their dede (Alevi priest) pray before sacrificing a goat for lunch. Dersim, July 2011.
An Alevi Zaza woman in front of her house. Dersim, July 2011.
The hands of an Alevi woman. On the left ring, the Zulfikar, or sword of Ali, July 2011.
An Alevi ceremony that Van Project and Yerkir Europe members were invited to. Dersim, July 2011.
A Kurdish spectator on the stage of the Social Forum, Diyarbakir, September 2011.
The public at the Social Forum, Diyarbakir, September 2011.
DIYARBAKIR, MAY 2013
A Kurdish child in the Diyarbakir Armenian cemetery. Diyarbakir, May 2013.
Baydzar and Sarkis Eken, the oldest couple of “official” Armenians in Diyarbakir. On their ground in the Meryem Ana Assyrian Church. Before their deaths in 2014 and 2016. Diyarbakir, May 2013.
Young women rock a baby in a blanket. Diyarbakir, May 2013.
Two generations in the same home. Diyarbakir, May 2013.
A woman prays in the middle of the Surp Giragos Church. Diyarbakir, May 2013.
GEZI PARK, MAY 2013
Some çapulcu on a barricade. Istanbul, May 2013.
Members of the LGBTI community parade in Gezi Park cheered by the crowd. Istanbul, May 2013.
Demonstrators on Taksim Square. Istanbul, May 2013.
DIYARBAKIR, APRIL 2014
During an Easter religious service at Surp Giragos. Diyarbakir, April 2014.
During an Easter religious service at Surp Giragos. Diyarbakir, April 2014.
During an Easter religious service at Surp Giragos. Diyarbakir, April 2014. Some Armenian women who have come specially from Istanbul pray in front of the kneading machine which will be used to make the Easter choreks. Diyarbakir, April 2014.
ISTANBUL, 24th APRIL 2015
Demonstrators in the streets of the Istiklal District, holding up portraits of Sevag and Hrant Dink during commemorations of 24th April. Istanbul, April 2015.
The crowd of demonstrators in front of the Haydarpaşa Station, starting point for the deportation of Armenian intellectuals and dignitaries in April 2015. Istanbul, April 2015.
A young woman reads the Özgür Gundem newspaper on which is printed, in Armenian: “Look, know it, face it”. Istanbul, April 2015.
