Reflections on Mexican drug-war massacre and Armenian Atrocities

Zeve, Van, Turkey

In September 2009,  during a tour in the environs of Van, at the end of a professional meeting, I noticed a tiny sign on a short signpost, which read "ZEVE". It was by the road on the edge of a barren vast piece of land.  When I queried what it was my colleagues from Van told me that in early 1900s there was a village called Zeve in that location. People from eight villages had come together to collectively defend themselves there, but unfortunately they could not escape their fate and were exterminated by rebellious Armenians. Since Turkey adopted the motto of "peace in the country, peace in the world" following the foundation of Turkish Republic, the tragic events lived through in 1800s and early 1900s are left behind. Although I am from Erzurum, Eastern Anatolia,  I had no idea about the dimension  of atrocities exerted on Turks by Armenians until two years ago when I started reading on this topic.  I regret I didn't take a photograph of this signpost to share with the readers of this blog so that you would grasp the feelings it created in me. That small sign, with the horrific story behind it, refreshed my memories about my grandmother who had to endure a frightening enforced emigration. This experience, added up to the awareness of the increasing number of countries recognizing the tragic events of 1915 as genocide,  prompted me to start investigating the topic. So I have been researching the Armenian Question and writing on this blog since March 2010.

May 15, 2012, Tuesday issue of Hürriyet Daily News reported the drug terror in Mexico. The news item read "drug-war massacre, in which 49 people were killed, decapitated, dismembered ....". I was startled when I read these lines because the description is almost identical to witnesses of massacres and atrocities exerted by Armenians to Turks at different times at different locations during a long period starting with Armenian rebellions in 1890s to the end of wars on the Eastern Anatolian Front in 1921.*  

Ayşe Sevimli, a Zeve witness

As I intend to cover  another time,  my mother-in-law who was an Alevi  used to talk about her Armenian neighbours very positively and praise them for their skillfulness pointing out that they were civilized people.  Since I started reading and seeing photos of elderlies, women and children killed through torture or through putting hundreds of people into a building and setting the building on fire,  I had difficulty in understanding how this people became that savage and ruthless and I was trying to work it out pondering over this issue. I think I got my answer in the news item on Mexican drug-war massacre which read "The mutilated corpses, whose hands had been cut off to prevent fingerprint identification..." . Hundreds of villages have been exterminated during this vicious era, and sometimes they are claimed to be all Armenian villages which doesn't seem to be the case. Researchers like Professor Cevat Başaran and Professor Enver Konukçu who worked at Atatürk University, Erzurum for long years conducted excavations in the region selecting sites based on witnesses reportings. Professor Başaran's excavation in Zeve in April 1990 started in presence of local and international press. Artefacts found in many excavations were indicating that Turks used to live in these villages. Excavations of the mass-grave in Igdir Oba Village in 1986 is an example of Konukçu's work. While Zeve massacre took place in 1915 during Van uprising, Igdir Oba Village massacre is dated 13 September 1919. It is ironical that Armenians, claiming to be genocided in 1915, have inflicted atrocities on Turks, mainly from 1917 to 1921, that is after Russians withdrew until peace was restored. Some  eye witness accounts can be read at Armenian Issue : Allegations and Facts web site. 

 On 11 May 2012 famous Armenian singer Nune Yesayan gave a benefit concert in Istanbul as Armenian community had invited her with the objective of helping out a local Armenian school. In an interview she said that Hrant Dink had wanted her to give a concert in Istanbul and that she was happy to be able to do that now. Her song titled Xndrum em asa imn es which I listened to on YouTube has reminded me of Celine Dion's songs which I enjoy very much. Closer links should bring better mutual understanding, eradicate hatred and develop friendship.

Today is 93rd anniversary of Mustafa Kemal's landing at Samsun on Blacksea coast of Anatolia with the intention of uniting local resistance movements against occupiers and their quislings to launch a war for national independence in 1919.   To pay tribute to his memory I wish a peaceful world where friendships are cherished. 

Commemorating Atatürk on 93rd Anniversary of his landing in Samsun

* Resources on these horrific events are mostly in Turkish but there are a few in English such as
    

Tverdohlebov. I Witnessed and Lived Through: Eyewitnessing of the Russian Lieutenant Colonel to the Actions of the Armenians in the Eastern Front , journal in manuscript. 1917-1918. Translations into Turkish pp.3-44, English pp.45-90, French pp.91-126 and in its original language, Russian PP.127-188.

Shameful Photographs Showing the Atrocities and Genocide Inflicted Upon Turks By the Armenians. [Photographs taken from the book titled Archive Documents About The Atrocities And Genocide Inflicted Upon Turks By Armenians by Ismet Binark. Board of Culture Arts and Publications Grand National Assembly of Turkey, 2002.

Sources of photos:
Atatürk landing Anatolia in Samsun : ImageSchak
Ayşe Sevimli, a Zeve witness : Ermeni Sorunu
Commemoration flower bouquet : cicek.com
Nune Yesayan : nune.org
Zeve (Zaviye), Van, Turkey : Panoramio (Owner mehmetcan92_92)


Armenian Holocaust:My Story blog by Selma Aslan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Gayriticari-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.