The Background of "My Grandmother" book by Fethiye Cetin
B�A, Turkey > Nov 18 2005 > > My Grandmother Heranus > > During the 1915 Armenian deportation, Mrs. Heranus was forcibly taken > away from her mother by soldiers. Her name was changed to "Seher," > she was brought up as a Muslim girl, married, had children. Her > grandchild Cetin wrote a book ttled "My grandmother". > > BIA News Center > Yahya KOCOGLU > > B�A (Istanbul) - Fethiye Cetin, who was the former spokeswoman of the > Minorities Commission of the Istanbul Bar Association, tells of being > the granddaughter of an Armenian grandmother who was converted to > Islam, in her book called "My Grandmother." > > She tells of her grandmother, who was the Armenian Mrs. Heranus from > the Habab village of the Palu district (then called Maden) of the > eastern province of Elazig... > > Heranus was forcibly taken away from her mother during the 1915 > Armenian deportation. Her name was changed to "Seher," she was > brought up as a Muslim girl, got married, had children and > grandchildren. > > She lived for 95 years without seeing her family, brothers and > cousins, who lived in the United States, but never lost hope. She was > born an Armenian and was buried after a Muslim ceremony. > > Fethiye Cetin did not know for years that her grandmother was born an > Armenian. It was after many years that she found out the meaning of > the "you've taken after us" phrase. > > It was after many years that Cetin understood the meaning of the tea > breads offered during visits to friends' houses, and the advice that > she should not be scared of cemeteries but of the living instead. And > the fact that it is a family characteristic that the back of her head > sweats... > > Lawyer Fethiye Cetin tells of her grandmother in her book. But this > life is the story of one of those "sword leftover" children. Tens of > whom I know I, and thousands of whom I know exist. > > Cetin explains the expression "sword leftover" on page 79 of her > book." During another of our meetings, Hasan told me that people like > me and my grandmother were called 'sword leftovers.' That people > said, 'He's a sword leftover too,' when speaking of someone like us." > > "I felt like my blood was freezing up. I had heard of this expression > before. But it hurt so much to find out that this expression was > being used so cool-bloodedly for people like my grandmother. My > optimism, which was formed with memories of tea breads, turned into a > pessimism." > > "Seyfo" is the word Assyrians use to define the emigration which led > to the death of hundreds of thousands of people. The meaning of > "seyfo" is a "sword." It cannot be a coincidence that the same word > "sword" has been chosen. > > There could not be a distinction between Armenians and Assyrians at > the time, while even today, the sectarian or even religious > differences of non-Muslims cannot be known. For that reason, the > emigration had included the Assyrian "giaours" as well as the > Armenians. > > Cetin also wrote in her book about how she found her relatives after > her grandmother died. In the Armenian Agos newspaper published on > February 11, 2000, she wrote her grandmother's real name in her > obituary, her birthplace, the names of her parents and what she lived > through. She wrote that she was looking for her relatives with the > last name of "Gadaryan." > > "We are hoping to find our relatives through this announcement. Those > relatives that we could not find during her lifetime. We are hoping > to share our pain and want those days to go away and never come > back." > > The announcement was taken up in a critical way by the "Harac" > newspaper in France. Archbishop Mesrob Asciyan, who himself happened > to be from the village of Habab and a relative of the Gadaryans, > notified the family members. > > That's how the two grandchildren began writing to each other. Cetin > went to the United States and met her grandmother's sister and her > own cousins. She visited the tombs of her great-grandparents. On the > cover of her book is the photograph of the tombs of the parents of > her grandmother. > > One of the reasons this book is important is that it is one of the > very few books told by someone that lived through the emigration. > > Besides the fact that very few of those people who lived through the > emigration are alive, the fact that they avoid talking about it > leaves the issue in the dark. Also, the stories of those who talk > about what they lived through was never published in Turkish until > recently. > > Others should also tell of and write about what they've been > through... So that the wound is scratched open and the puss within is > dripped out.... (YK/NM/EA/YE) > > * My Grandmother, Fethiye Cetin. Metis Edebiyat Publishing House, 116 > pages, 6 million 500 thousand Turkish liras (USD 4.5). > > http://www.bianet.org/2005/02/01_eng/news50915.htm
