Yervant1 Posted July 23, 2013 Report Share Posted July 23, 2013 JAMANAK: STANDING THE TEST OF TIMEby Alin Ozinian*Today's Zaman, TurkeyJuly 22 2013The Armenian community, which greeted the declaration of the SecondMeÅ~_rutiyet (constitutional) era on Oct. 28, 1908 with great joy andhope, also saw a new newspaper enter their lives three months later --the Jamanak newspaper.At the time of Jamanak's founding, there were a variety of newspaperspublished in different languages in Ä°stanbul, many of whose namesmeant "time." Inspired by this, the founders of Jamanak, Misak andSarkis Kocunyanlar, decided to give their new newspaper the same name;"Jamanak" is the Armenian word for "time."Misak Kocunyan had previously worked as a reporter for the firstArmenian language daily to be published in the Armenian alphabet,the "Manzume-i Efkâr," which was started during the era of SultanAbdul-Aziz and was published for 51 years. In fact, Kocunyan went onto manage and be the head columnist for this newspaper for many years.When Jamanak was founded, a new epoch was just about to begin in theOttoman Empire; this new newspaper was formed with the expectationsof the "freedom of press and thoughts" for which the Young Turks wereabout to lay down the foundation. Despite the fact that not onlywere these expectations not realized, but that the entire Armenianpopulation of Turkey experienced enormous losses and calamity duringthe republican years to come, none of this forced Jamanak to turnfrom its path.Since the day it was founded exactly 105 years ago, the Jamanaknewspaper has been in continuous publication and the Kocunyan familyhas overseen its publication without cessation since that first day.For all these years, the newspaper has operated less with the goalof coming from any particular political point of view and more withthe goal of achieving "true journalism and news reporting."Jamanak has always tried to report and interpret the situation inTurkey -- even when it concerns problems affecting Armenians -- from a"middle path" perspective and in a level-headed manner. Even duringthe most difficult periods, Jamanak embraced pragmatic stances withthe aim of not making already extraordinary times more ruinous andwith the hope of maintaining its position as the very best newspaperof the Armenian community.One of oldest Armenian publications in the worldOf course, Jamanak has never been the only newspaper published inTurkey. But what makes Jamanak so special is that not only is it oneof the oldest dailies published in Turkey, but one of the oldestArmenian language and minority publications, not just in Turkey,but in the world.Of all the Armenian language newspapers published until now, abouthalf of them have been published in Ä°stanbul. If one considers thata full 150,000 of Ä°stanbul's pre-1915 population of 700,000 peoplewere Armenians, one can more fully appreciate the true significanceof the role played by Jamanak for the Armenians of the city. Thisnewspaper has, after all, been around now for more than half of the200-year history of the Armenian press and has enjoyed a significantvoice throughout this time.One of Jamanak's founders, Misak Kocunyan -- writing under the name of"Kasim" -- brought readers the news of the Armenian massacres in 1896in both Ä°stanbul and Van. These stories were published under the titleof "From Inside the Fire" or "AteÅ~_in Ä°cinden." Not only did Jamanakcontinue to publish through the period of the 1909 Adana massacres,but in the period around 1915, when most of the newspaper's writerswere either exiled or simply went missing, Jamanak was still ableto bring its readers detailed and important news about the generaldirection in which things were going despite an atmosphere of extremecensorship. In fact, in his memoirs, the former Armenian Patriarchof the time, Zaven Der-Yegyayan, speaks of how during his own exile,he was only able to learn what was going on because of Jamanak.Since its founding, Jamanak has enjoyed contributions from not onlythe most important intellectuals of the Armenian community, but alsofrom famous names worldwide. Some of the most notable include lawyer,writer and member of Parliament Krikor Zohrap; author of the book"Unlu Pancuni," Yervand Odyan; feminist writer Zabel Esayan; famouswriters ArÅ~_ak Cobanyan, Hagop OÅ~_akan and Vazgen Å~^uÅ~_anyan;journalist and photographer Ara Guler; economics professor VartanOzinian and professor of history and linguistics Pars Tuglacı.The anti-minority policies which first began to appear during theearly years of the Republic picked up great speed during the 1940s. Animportant decision was made to use a lottery system for militaryconscription that would now include non-Muslim males between the agesof 25-45. They were inducted into the military, though they were notgranted weapons and were assigned less critical, much lower positions.The aim in including males of this age group into the armed forces wasto strike a blow at the economic strength held by these non-Muslimcommunities. Just three and a half months after this militaryconscription practice came to an end on July 27, 1942, the wealth taxwas implemented -- only for non-Muslims. These two back-to-back blowson the non-Muslim communities of military conscription and taxationachieved important steps in making the economy more Turkish. Throughthese dark times though, despite the fact that everyone was sufferingboth financial and spiritual difficulties, the Jamanak newspaperresisted being turned from its path and continued publishing withoutfail.During the 1970s, it should be noted that Jamanak published a veryimportant novel by writer Zaven Biberyan called "Babam AÅ~_kale'yegitmedi" (My father did not go to AÅ~_kale") in segments. It is alsointeresting to note that Jamanak was the first newspaper in Turkeyto organize a beauty contest and to distribute prizes throughThe Kocuynan familyThe Jamanak newspaper has always been run and overseen by the Kocunyanfamily. Ara Kocunyan has been a head writer for Jamanak since theage of 23 and he is the fourth generation of the family to work atJamanak. The newspaper has always received considerable assistance fromthe women of this notable family, as well. Ara's mother and ManagingEditor Nadya Kocuyan is doubtless one of the family members to havecontributed the most. So fervent were her efforts and contributionsover the years that doubtless many have assumed that she is a memberof the founding family by birth rather than coming to the familythrough marriage.Ara Kocunyan, in addition to interpreting and reflecting so many of thepolitical, social, and cultural facets within the Armenian community,has also played a great role in bridge-building between Armeniaand the Armenians in diaspora. In fact, there are many Armenian anddiaspora publications which have been able to report their own newson developments within Turkey thanks to the role played by Jamanak,published, of course, in the Armenian alphabet.Recognition for JamanakThe celebrations for Jamanak's hundredth year actually went on foraround five years. They concluded with an awards ceremony held lastmonth in Ä°stanbul that was partially organized by the AnatolianCulture Foundation and attended by various representatives ofminority, Turkish and foreign press outlets. Some of the events heldin combination with these celebrations included conferences dealingwith Armenian identity and press history in places such as Los Angeles,New York, Montreal, Paris, Marseilles, Yerevan, Ä°stanbul and severalcities in Germany.The Turkish Association of Journalists (TGC) awarded Jamanak with theNezih Demirkent Special Award and the Catholicos of All Armenians --the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church,the Armenian Apostolic Church and the worldwide Armenian diaspora --sent a special celebratory edict to Jamanak. There were also specialexhibitions in both Ä°stanbul and Yerevan of the first photos takenby famous photographer Ara Guler as they had been published in Jamanak.Both President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganalso gave extensive interviews to Jamanak to mark the newspaper's100th anniversary.When speaking with Ara Kocunyan, I asked him how he felt Jamanakhas withstood the various minority policies and the passage of timein Turkey. He replied: "This newspaper is one which manages tobalance the various problems and sensitivities our community hasbeing citizens of the Turkish Republic. It is a publication whichdoes not force these issues into conflict with one another." Withall due congratulations being extended to the Jamanak newspaper onthe occasion of its 100th year, there are extra congratulations dueto Ara Kocunyan, whose work has become all the more difficult overthe years with dwindling numbers in the Armenian community and fewerand fewer who maintain ties with the Armenian language.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Alin Ozinian is an independent analyst. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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