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I'm a bolsahay. I have hunderds of solid discrimination experiences. We all have been growing in trauma. But one of them made me understand what means being Armenian in Turkey, even in so called cosmopolit İstanbul. Even in very common neighborhood for Armenians. https://twitter.com/Sheeerak/status/1334908990782750720
It was just days after the assassination of Hrant Dink. I was 14. Our neighbor suddenly start to attack us. Threaten us to kill. Every Armenian must be died in his world. Unless we move to Yerevan in few days, he said, gonna kill us. He was member of Gray Wolves(GW).
He was shouting, hitting our door with knife after midnight nights, weeks long. He many time played loudly songs of ultranationalist singer İsmail Türüt to wake us up around 04 a.m., who later made a song praising Ogün Samast, murderer of Dink.
In mornings, when I left my door to go school, he was running and shouting after me. I was child. Many times, when I'm returning from school, unknown, GW bearded man was waiting in front of apartment. I was hiding until my parents came or the man left.
Sure we called police many times. Everytime they arrive, he claimed we were hitting floor with brick to cause noise to disturb him. I glued cotton to my slippers not to cause noise. I was child.
One day, we were called the police again. I was coming from school and saw him arrested by police. When he recognized me, he fled and ran after me. Police just watched until I got home. Nothing happened. We finally moved somewhere else to close our home. He fallowed us to find.
I'm still living at the same neighborhood where he lives. I heard last year he stabbed a Greek family who moved to the same house years after us.
Finally I met with @NorZartonk. The Armenian leftist organisation who fights for justice and equality. My best life changing experience. I organized with them more than ten years now. We not only fight for Armenians but also stood shoulder to shoulder with other oppressed groups
I want to share a couple of photos about the days which I count them much. This is from May Day, 2013. Just before the police attack. We were singing Ciao Bella with hunderds of people.
These are from Gezi Resistance, June 2013. To commemorate inspiring Misak and Meline Manouchian, whose fought against Nazism in France, we sprayed the wall.
Once upon a time, a part of Gezi Park was an Armenian graveyard. During resistance, we said "you captured our graveyard but you can not capture our park".
We were participated Pride March as usual, June, 2014.
"We don't want one more hate crime anymore"
"We don't want one more hate crime anymore"
At the 100th anniversary of Armenian Genocide, we marched with thousands of people and shouted genocide continues but we are here at Taksim square.
We occupied Armenian orphanage called Kamp Armen which seizured by state and wanted to demolish with the demand returning it back to Armenian community. The resistance concluded successfully after 175 days.
Nor Zartonk made many other things that I can't count them here. However the most important one is to make us have hope again after 100 years. Now Nor Zartonk fights in different countries starting with Turkey, Germany, Netherland. Long live Nor Zartonk! :)
