ZAZA ARTIST ADDRESSES HIS PEOPLE RE THE GENOCIDE

[Yervant1]

ZAZA ARTIST ADDRESSES HIS PEOPLE RE THE GENOCIDE

Mikail Aslan, Wiesbaden, 2014

Legendary Zaza artist Mikail Aslan of Dersim is a political exile
living in Germany. He has performed in Yerevan and has close
ties to Armenians in Germany. He wrote the article expressly for
Keghart.com--Editor.

For the Turkish version of the article pleaseclick here

When I was a child, I could never forget my Aunt Ese's painful stories
about the Armenian Genocide and the Dersim Genocide. We were torn
apart from our village in Khozat when I was 10 years old. I told my
mother, while going to high school in Kayseri, that 'I will go back
to Khozat one day and write about the stories that Ese told us'.

Unfortunately, we couldn't return to Khozat, nor see Ese ever again.

Wherever I went, the deep pain of these stories followed me. When I
came to Germany as a political refugee, I met a dear man named Ali
Ertem, who was the chairman of an organization called 'Anti-Genocide
Society'. I joined political movements but couldn't find a cure for
my grief. The superficial treatment of the genocide by these political
movements upset me and I felt I needed a personal awakening.

In the search for this awakening, I became a member of this society. I
participated in many activities organized by the society, and various
Armenian organizations. The more I participated, the more I learnt
about the truth and felt ashamed of myself and my ignorance about
being a member of a nation that was subjected to genocides. I decided
to go to Yerevan with other society members for the 2001 Genocide
Commemoration. I was sitting on a park bench in Yerevan a few days
before April 24. The sad duduk music broadcast by the municipal
government in advance of the commemoration day surrounded me. I had
become frozen with pain, along with others sitting in the park. It was
as if I was witnessing an unfinished funeral procession. The time had
come for me to mourn about what was done to me and my neighbours. I
saw Mount Ararat's two faces, then it disappeared for a while. It was
like a child who leaves his mother's hand for a moment and gets lost.

I now felt the pain of not being able to touch Ararat, so close,
yet so far. On the other hand, I also felt sorry that we don't even
have a commemoration day or a monument for the Dersim Genocide.

Then on April 24, a sea of people, with sad faces and flowers in
their hands, started flowing toward the Genocide monument. I joined
the delegation of the Anti Genocide Society in placing a wreath at
the monument. Then we toured the Genocide museum with our guide and
translator. I wrote in the museum visitors' book: 'I feel ashamed
that knowingly or unknowingly, my people participated in the Armenian
Genocide. I apologize to the Armenian people and to our history,
so that these painful events will never be repeated - Mikail Aslan
(Dersim)'. While I was writing these lines, the museum director came
by and asked me where I was from. I told him through our translator
that I am a refugee in Germany. He shook my hand and said that
'Yilmaz Guney also wrote in that book before you'. I was shocked.

The humane behavior of Dersim people during the Armenian Genocide is
well known, as there are many sources corroborating this fact. But
there are also several villages where there have been exactly the
opposite behavior, as described by some of our elderly people. When
I hear these stories, combined with our frequent use of swear words
against Armenians, it leads me to believe that we are not entirely
innocent.

It is a good thing that on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the
Armenian Genocide, this subject has been in the limelight. But I know
this subject is quite deep and sensitive in charting a path for our
people toward the light, and we have to show utmost care not to allow
this subject to be exploited and manipulated by any political group.

Considering that we didn't face our history until recently, never
acknowledge the truth, we have to think seven times before we say a
word on this subject.

Every individual needs to face history on its own. Can we honestly
say that the masses who didn't participate in the killings are more
innocent than willingly participating ones? Whoever took part in the
Genocide for the sake of plunder is also a victim of his own ignorance
and must be twice ashamed of his conduct. Recently we witnessed the
massacre at Sivas Madimak. While we question the perpetrators and
organizers of this massacre, shouldn't we also judge the masses who
participated in the massacre readily because of their bias and hatred
against the Alevis, and allowed themselves to be used as tools by
the perpetrators?

Let us suppose that the state show Amed Diyarbakir as a target of
attack to the people of Kayseri. And then, if the Kayseri people
collectively go and attack Diyarbakir without using any conscientious
judgment, how are we going to deal with the Kayseri people? In this
scenario, the perpetrator can be defined as murderer, the manipulated
masses can be defined as ignorant, and the combination of the two can
result in a disaster, a genocide. There is this combination behind
every genocide.

In conclusion, we can say that this genocide is our common pain,
whether participated knowingly or unknowingly, and the time has come to
face and acknowledge it. It is important to realize a mentality that
has formed over several centuries. With this mentality, everyone has
a stone in his hand, ready to throw it. When someone shows a target,
nobody questions why, and starts throwing the stones. We see on
Iranian TV a woman condemned to die with stones thrown at her. The
crowd doesn't even know why she is condemned to death, but they all
pick up a stone and throw it at her.

All ignorant masses, drop the stone from your hands and think for a
moment. Don't just assume that the stone you throw at the Armenian is
a deadweight. Start seeing that with each stone thrown, our own body
buckles some more, our geography gets covered with more blood. Time
to see this reality now. See that the painful events all started
with the first murder of our lifelong neighbour, and tell this to
your children, so that future generations will no longer be guilty,
facing their conscience and history. The conscience will eventually
triumph in the great court of the nations.

http://www.keghart.com/Aslan-Genocide