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SONS OF THE ARMENIAN NATION WHO "TURNED INTO" KURDS AND TURKS

       It was a taboo till recently to write of the Armenians who were forcibly turned into Turks and Kurds during the Ottoman reign. Most of them, living today in Western Europe, Western Armenia and Cilicia (modern-day Turkey), are going through a revival of national identification. After the Armenians of Hamshen, those from Sassoon, Mush and Taron, who were forcibly converted into Islam, are especially easy to talk with about their past and present. They try to return to the bosom of their nation by overcoming their "guise", the names and surnames, and to fight for their rights and to recover the historic legacy of their forefathers massacred by the Turks.

        One can meet those Armenians returning to their roots in Germany as well as in Armenia especially after the war in Iraq and the vents at the Turkish border. Some "Kurdish" Armenians fought in the ranks of the PKK (Kurdish Workers’ Party) and got disappointed after Ojalan’s capture and left for Germany where they could find a wide field for political and national activity. They settled in Frankfurt, Wiesbaden, Stuttgart, Mainz and elsewhere.

     "I was born in Karmir Khach (Kzl Akhach) village of Taron. We shunned the Armenian Genocide as we accepted Islam feigningly and were Kurdish-speaking. My father and brother enrolled in the PKK to fight against Turkish fascism, they were imprisoned and tortured numerous times. I’ve been studying and working here in Germany for a long time and am in touch with the Armenian community and the progressive forces. But in Western Armenia, especially in originally Armenian Vardo town, which was stricken by an earthquake in 60s and where my relatives live, human rights violations are rampant", Simon Kostanian (Sardet Kosdun), who regained his Armenian identity today, tells.

     Razmik Hakobian (Nureddin Yagub) from one of Cilicia villages was a PKK warrior but was arrested and jailed in one of Ankara’s horrific prisons. He is a writer and a film director who is planning to shoot a film about the life of Diaspora Armenians.

     "My parents concealed our identity particularly because being an Armenian was an unforgettable affront in Adiamani where I am coming from. Despite this, many "Kurdish" and "Turkish" Armenians were called "gyavur". The film I am trying to shoot is about an Armenian outcast and also is an odyssey of a Western Armenians who survived the Genocide. I shall realize my plans if I find necessary support in Armenia and by the help of our confederates in Western Europe", Razmik tells.

     The number of Armenians, who only now discover their identity, above all in Sassoon and Mush, amounts to thousands.

      "There are around 1000 Armenians in Mush. The Turkish government has forgotten us for a while, as there are the Kurds to deal with. The sons of the Kurdish people say sorry for their fathers’ deeds who were killing Armenians together with the Turks", Armen from Mush says.

By Hamo Moskofian in Wiesbaden-Marseilles