Gunay Bey delivered us the feelings of the mother of a student who studied in a Turkish college in Abkhazia. I will try to share these feelings with you.
“Since i was born, i heard “Turks slaughtered us! Turks hanged us!.” We, willy nilly became anti-Turks. How did they set Turks and Armenians against each other that lived together for years? Turks opened a college in the country we were in. But we were hating them. We were abstaining and asking “What is this all about?.” A few years passed. People were pleased about the school, therefore about Turkish teachers. That was suprising for us, but we were not able to win against the hatred within us. The school was holding an exam for accepting students. School garden was turning into a doomsday during the times ofexamination. We were curious about the look of Turks, “What do they look like? Do they look horrible?.” Armenian salesmen in bazaar were telling that Turks are not seperating people and they are trading with theirselves. “Those people are very polite,” they were telling us.
My son was the best student in his class and second in whole school. One day his teacher said to him, “Son, let’s send you to Turkish college, you will easily pass the examination.” But we did not find the idea favourable. When my son said that he does not want to go to that school, his teacher visited Turkish college and told Turkish teachers that he should go to Turkish school. Turkish teachers asked for rendezvous to visit us at our home. We were concerned about the reaction of our neighbours. We told the situation to a leading Armenian and he adviced us to see them.
We accepted their demand for rendezvous. They came to our house with flowers in their hands. I worried about what to offer to them, i did not know if they would eat our meals. We served them our food, and they ate without hesitating. They were very warm-blooded. My son attended to the examination and he won. We sent him to Turkish college abstentiously. Our son was coming home at the weekends. When we were asking, “how are your teachers?,” he was telling us, “Such thing is not possible.”
They were visiting us, we liked Turks. My son graduated. During the graduation ceremony my husband was sitting with a sponsor from Turkey and he stated his content. My son qualified to study in a university in Turkey. We were in touch with him when he was in Turkey and he always told good news. He always mentioned a Turkish family that invited him for dinner. Afterall, i learned that the Turk who was calling him for dinner was the same person who was sitting near my husband during graduation ceremony. My son studied in Turkey for four years. He showed us the pictures he had in Turkey and the picture himself with that Turk who entertained him.
After four years, my son graduated and invited me to the graduation ceremony. I needed to go to Turkey. I was imagining how Turks would torture and kill me if they knew i am Armenian. I came to Istanbul by plane. A Turk that i met in plane helped me to make my way through bus terminal. I had painted my hair into blonde for not letting Turks to know that i am an Armenian. I did not eat or drink anything that they offered in bus. I never got out of the bus for 16 hours. When i finally met my son, all the worries were over. He told me that he wants to bring me to the Turkish family that he has good relation. They all warmly welcomed us. How cordially people they were… We were so suprised. We took several photos. Following the dinner,householder woman presented me a golden ring and an earring telling me, “You came to our house, from now on we are friends. They had set us against each other.”
I started to cry. I understood that i lived with a hostility against Turks till the June of 2008. We were all crying. I was suprised about where i am. Other day i told my son that i want to go there again. We went there again and the love was doubled. We again presented gifts to each other and i was again so suprised about the happening. And we again cried.
One month ago, i was at the airport waiting to go another city. Somebody closed my eyes and asked me “Who i am,” in Russian language. I immediately answered, “Turkish brothers and sisters.” When i opened my eyes i saw that Turkish family again. I showed her that i never took of the ring that she gave me. I said, “What a cabal that was, had set us against each other…” We cried as we departed from those Turks with silky hearts…
ABDULLAH AYMAZ / ZAMAN
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
