BROTHERHOOD & SISTERHOOD IN MARDIN : Turkish Mardin Conference Draws International Scholars
Hetq.am – 11-12-2012 – MESOP – On November 2-3, the Hrant Dink Foundation organized an international conference in Mardin, Turkey to discuss economical changes and social dynamism experienced in the city and its surroundings between 1838 and 1938. Entitled “Social and Economic History of Mardin and Region”, the meeting was organized with the support of Medical Association of Mardin, Mardin Bar Association, KAMER Mardin, Mardin Cinema Society and Turabdin Assyrian Culture and Solidarity Association. The goal of the organizers was to fill a gap in the field of social history of the area.
Rakel Dink, President of the Hrant Dink Foundation, and Evgin Türker Makdesi-Eliyas, President of the Federation of Assyrian (Süryani) Associations, offered opening speeches.
Cengiz Aktar, who spoke on behalf of the organizational committee, put an emphasis on democracy and confronting history. Those presenting papers included Osman Köker (“Population, Economy and Cultural Diversity in the Sandjak of Mardin at the Beginning of the 20th Century”), Ara Sarafian (“Mapping Communities: Arisdages Devgants and his Report on Siirt, 1878”), Elçin Macar (“The American Protestant Missionaries and their Institutions in Mardin”) and Martin Tamcke (“On the Way to the Bagdad Railway: Germans in and on Mardin”). French-Armenian historian Raymond Kevorkian spoke about the common fate of Assyrians, Armenians, Jews and Gypsies in the session entitled “Violence, Pogrom and Genocide in Mardin.”
On November 2-3, Hrant Dink Foundation, with the support of Medical Association of Mardin, Mardin Bar Association, KAMER Mardin, Mardin Cinema Society and Turabdin Assyrian Culture and Solidarity Association, organized an international scientific meeting in Mardin, called “Social and Economic History of Mardin and Region”. The meeting which is expected to fill a gap in the field of social history, was held in five sessions, which lasted two days.
Rakel Dink, President of the Hrant Dink Foundation, and Evgil Türker, President of the Federation of Syriac Associations gave the opening speech of the meeting organized to discuss economical changes and social dynamism experienced in Mardin and its surroundings between 1838 and 1938. Cengiz Aktar, who spoke on behalf of the organizational committee, put emphasis on democracy and confronting history. Then David Gaunt presented the keynote speech, “The View from the Roofs- What everyone in Mardin could see- 1915.
In first session entitled, “General Panaroma of Mardin and its Surroundings”, which was held on Friday, November 2nd and moderated by Suavi Aydin; Cafer Sarikaya presented “Looking at the Social and Economic History of Mardin and its Periphery from 1873 Vienna Universal Exposition” Füsun Alioglu presented “Traditional Houses of Mardin”; and Osman Köker presented “Population, Economy and Cultural Diversity in the Sandjak of Mardin at the Beginning of the 20th Century”.
Second session, “Ethnical Varietyof the Region”, was moderated by Rober Koptas and several papers were presented. Ramazan Turgut presented , “Dom-the Lost Tribe”; Mehmet Ali Aslan presented “The Mihallemies: Mystery of Turabdin History”, Ara Sarafian presented “Mapping Communities: Arisdages Devgants and his Report on Siirt, 1878”; and Abdürrahim Özmen presented “Memory and Life: Cases from Oral History of Turabdin Syriac”.
In the second and last day of the conference presentations especially focusing on interventions towards region, nationalism, and massacres drew attention. The title of the first two panels on Saturday were, “Interferences and Emerging Nationalisms”. In the first session moderated by Ayşe Gül Altınay; Eden Naby presented “Women Missionaries in Mardin: Assyrians (Suryaniler), and Armenians in Mardin”, Michael Abdalla presented “Mardin and its People between mid-19th Century and end of WWI: Relations of Missionaries and Inhabitants”; and Elçin Macar presented “The American Protestant Missionaries and their Institutions in Mardin”.
In the second session, which was moderated by Elçin Macar; Andrew Palmer who studies on assimilation of Syriac Village, Maare, took the floor. Also, Suavi Aydin talked about conflicts between tribes and communities in Turabdin region during the period of Abdulhamid II; Nineb Lamassu pointed at his studies on identity of Assyrian; and Martin Tamcke discussed his research, “On the Way to the Bagdad Railway: Germans in and on Mardin”.
In the session, “Violence, Pogrom and Genocide in Mardin”, Suphi Aksoy and Tuma Çelik mentioned the case of relocation experienced in Hakkari region. At the same session Hilmar Kaiser presented rape and abasement cases that women experienced in Mardin during the Committee of Union and Progress period. Furthermore, Naures Atto addressed to the reasons of the leave of Assyrian Orthodox Church from Turkey; and finally Raymond Kévorkian mentioned the common fate of Assyrians, Armenians, Jews, and Gypsies. In the last panel entitled “Post-Traumatic Survival” and moderated by Ayhan Aktar; Ishkhan Chiftjian referred to the testimonials of survivors of the genocide. In addition, Ayse Gül Altinay and Ramazan Aras presented a study on Islamized Armenian identity; Aryo Makko presented a research on exiling cases in overseas countries, and Lokman Sazan presented a review on oral history in Mardin-Derik.
The meeting, in which Turkish and English simultaneous translation was provided, was broadcast live on www.hrantdink.org. The conclusion of the meeting included the general reviews of Cengiz Aktar and David Gaunt. The presentations will be published into book during this year. The videos of the conference will be available the in coming days.