MINORITIES

For 4 years, clergymen from eastern churches have been helping to Christian refugees, especially to the ones outside of Istanbul. We talked to Father Orhan Çanlı from Syriac Catholic Church about problems of the Christian refugees in Turkey.

The discrimination that Stephan Yepremyan has been subjected for trying to maintain his culture and the torments that Hangül Özbey went through because of her Kurdish and Armenian identity reveal the suffering caused by being an Armenian of Diyarbakir.

In the last 2 years, 15 families from Thessaloniki, Athens and Crete settled in their ancestral land Imroz. We met these “new locals” of Imroz, who are trying to build a new life and sending their children to the newly-established Greek schools on the island.

In an excavation work in Harput province of Elazığ, a 165-years-old Armenian inscription is found. It is thought to be a tombstone and deciphering works continue.

HDP Istanbul MP Garo Paylan brought the impunity of the hate crimes against the minority groups to the parliamentary agenda.

“The Social, Cultural and Economic History of Van and the Region” conference organized by Hrant Dink Foundation was held in Anarad Hığutyun building on November 11 and 12. We talked to Dr. Yektan Türkyılmaz, who was the keynote speaker of the conference, about Van's importance in Armenian and Ottoman history.

Ali Yamaş and Bülent Erdem are engaged in caving. They have a cave research group called “Obruk” (sink-hole). We wanted to talk to two experienced cavers about the works in this field. However, we found ourselves talking about the underground cities in Turkey. They say that there are many underground cities that were built by Christian peoples especially between 6th and 11th centuries.

In the case of the threat against Agos, Nationalist Turkish Party Istanbul Chair Bilal Gökçeyurt and the chair of so-called Turan Organization Ercan Uçar have been acquitted. Agos' lawyer Hakan Bakırcıoğlu objected to the ruling.

Raymond Kévorkian attended “The Social, Cultural and Economic History of Van and the Region” conference organized by Hrant Dink Foundation. We talked to him about the course of genocide studies and his recent works.

It is revealed that 250 Jews in Turkey have moved to other countries recently. Though the number of migrated Armenians hasn't risen that much, they also think about migration.