Alevis, Others in Germany Decry Turk Ploy in Canada

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Meetings with Alevi, Zaza, Kirmanch, Kizilbash, Assyrian leaders
and Convert Armenian Brothers

Hamo Moskofian, Germany, 9 September 2013

Countless ethnic and religious"minorities" were, for centuries, massacred by the Ottoman sultans. History records are clear about it. Meanwhile, "modern" Turkish authorities employ various tactics to undermine the remembrance and recognition of genocides, massacres, deportations, political and police terror against the "minorities" of their Empire of Evil. Millions perished and many more continue to perish because of Turkish policy.

While in two years the world will commemorate the 1915 Genocide of the Armenians by Turkey, new facts are coming to light about Turkish massacres of 800,000 Assyrians, 400,000 Alevis, 200,000 Dersim Zazas, Kizilbash, Alevi Kirmanch and a million Pontic Greeks.

Meetings with Alevi, Zaza, Kirmanch, Kizilbash, Assyrian leaders
and Convert Armenian Brothers

Hamo Moskofian, Germany, 9 September 2013

With this historical background in mind, and reading of the recent scandal of the Turkish consul general of Toronto to erect a Turkish commemorative monument in a Brantford (Canada) cemetery where Alevis were buried a century ago, in August I traveled from Beirut to Germany to gauge Alevi reaction there. The largest Alevi community outside Turkey is in Germany.

The outrageous act of the Turkish consul was first reported by "Keghart.com" and then by the "Brantford Expositor". Brantford is a city 100 kilometers west of Toronto.

My journalistic mission began in Berlin, capital of Germany. It was here that, in 1878, at the infamous international conference, Germany's Otto Von Bismarck and Britain's Benjamin Disraeli protected the Ottoman Empire–"the Sick Man of Europe" and guaranteed its security. That decision resulted in further massacres (1895-96) by "Red Sultan" Hamid against the Armenians. Some 300,000 Armenians perished. Later, through the unlimited support of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the "Young Turk" coup ushered in an even more violent era of butchers such as Tala'at "pasha", Jemal Azmi, Behaeddin Shakir and others, who found refuge in Germany and in other countries at the end of WWI. These killers were assassinated by Soghomon Tehlirian, Aram Yerganyan, and Arshavir Shirakian in 1921-1922.

Our first meeting was with Dr. Gerayer (Jirayr) Koutcharian, historian, writer and genocide expert at the prestigious "Frei University" of Berlin. For more than 25 years, Dr. Koutcharian has given interviews, lectured, written articles and books about various human rights issues and genocides. His books have been published in Germany, Armenia and elsewhere.

Dr. Koutcharian said: "Although I don’t know all the details about the scandalous turkification attempt of the long-dead Alevis in Canada, it's clear that the Turks and the Azeris are using every pretext to their advantage. As the 100th anniversary commemoration of the Armenian Genocide nears, our Genocide Recognition Working Group, headed by Dr. Tessa Hoffman, on the eve of the elections in Germany, sent letters to the four principal parties, reminding them that in 2005 the Bundestag had mentioned the Armenian Genocide, but had not recognized it. So far we have had no further answer."

The genocide scholar added: "The Turkish-Armenian protocols and the so-called 'dialogue' gave permission to the European countries and to Germany [to say] that since the Turks and Armenians are negotiating, we cannot reach to any decision. In this manner, the Turks accomplished their goals and tried to politically divide Armenia and the Diaspora around the protocols. If there are people who think they are more intelligent than their predecessors, while dealing with the Turks, they are committing a big mistake, as we see with the manipulation of the Alevi dead in Canada."

Next day we traveled to Frankfurt-Wiesbaden where many convert Armenians, Assyrians, Alevis, Kurds and Kizilbash live. That afternoon legendary Zaza musician-composer and the "new Komidas" Mikail Aslan, joined us. He is a Dersim Alevi by birth. Accompanying him was Cemil Qocgiri, Aslan's "right hand", also a musician and composer. Qocgiri is the son of a famous Dersim Alevi Kirmanch family. Very bright, he is a member of the enlightened and humanist young generation in Turkey. Because of known political reasons, Aslan and Qocgiri live in Germany, but always bound with firm bridges to our common Motherland.

Dikran Chatinkaya (left) & Mikail Aslan

During our meeting, Mikail Aslan said: "Through the direct help and planning of imperialist powers, genocides, massacres, oppression are still going on against different religions, ethnic communities, nations and minorities in Turkey, Syria and Mesopotamia. In this context, Alevis are an open society. In a sense, this is good… the acceptance of different dialogues and integration with many societies. The downside is that the Turkish state has infiltrated our societies and through terror and systematic turkification, since 1938, succeeded in controlling various sectors of Alevi society.

"But today the old state propaganda that 'we are all Turks' is coming to an end. Many people, who found themselves in a different cultural environment, are returning to their roots, after decades of turkification."

Qocgiri joined in said: "We are musicians and music is our sacred text. We are trying to present and revive the old traditions of Dersimi and Armenian music in a new form for our upcoming generations. The turkification of the Alevis, Zazas, Kirmanch, other peoples and nations was a state policy in the Ottoman Empire and the Ataturk dictatorship. Today, thanks to the internet, taboos are being dismantled and members of the young generation want to know the truth and return to their real identity".

Dikran Chatinkaya, formerly called Menderes and Shahin, he succeeded in regaining his Armenian name and Christian identity through the courts. His "kurdified" family from Erzurum, (the birthplace of heroic Soghomon Tehlirian), had relatives in the Alevi and Sunni communities. They were subjected to killings, frequent arrests and persecution. As a result, Dikran was forced to leave and settle in Germany.

He said: "I was shocked to read that the Alevis, who died long ago in Canada, are being subject to chauvinist turkification even after their death. We all live the Genocide Trauma and suffer paranoia, also our Alevi brothers and sisters. We were all victims of the organized massacres of the Turkish sultans and of forced turkification. It is still going on. We, the sons of lost and found Armenians of Turkey, will raise our voice high in this democratic country and all over the world through electronic mail and websites."

Simon Goenden-Taronyan is an icon in Wiesbaden, Germany. He is an Alevi on his mother's side and convert Alevi-Armenian on his father's side. His ancestors survived Mush, Goendemira, Kizilaghach (Garmir Khach) massacres and genocides by the Ottoman and Ataturk criminals.

Simon Goenden (4th from R) and family
Born as Alevi Nureddin, Baptized as Darontsi Simon

He said: "I read, through the internet, Keghart.com and on Facebook about the shameless scenario that the Turkish diplomatic circles have devised in Canada. My mother is Alevi. She has endless information about the decades of persecution, assassination, deportation, police terror that were organized by the Turkish state against the Alevis who had saved thousands of Armenians. The family of my father survived and lives today in the very hospitable and humanistic Alevi community of Varto. We also have excellent relations with the Alevis of Germany. There's always mutual solidarity between us on important issues that concern our nations."

Wiesbaden-based Shabo Akgul is a famous Assyrian leader from Turkey. He is a founding member of the Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO) and participates in organizing conferences, demonstrations, forums in defense of every oppressed nation or community in Turkey or the Middle East. Shabo, a true brother of Armenians, is well informed about Alevi affairs. He also commented on the Alevi scandal in Canada.

Shabo Akgul kneeling at the Assyrian Genocide Monument – Brussels

"Many Christians, through the genocides organized against them during the First World War, became Alevi. Alevis believe in religious freedom, respect, in a peaceful way of life. It is very close to the Christian ideals. Many Alevis, especially in Dersim, in 1938, were massacred, because they were suspected to be Christian Armenians and Assyrians, or had protected them.

"The turkification bluff of the Turkish state is continuing, as we see today, even after death. Until now the Western Christian powers have not punished Turkey for being the bloody master of genocides, and have permitted this criminal state to continue falsifying history far behind its borders."

Our next stop was Koeln (Cologne), one of the oldest cities in Western Europe. In Koeln we contacted His Eminence Archbishop Karekin Bekjian, the religious leader of Armenians in Germany. The archbishop is the son of an Alevi convert Armenian family. He was delighted to see his Dersim Alevi compatriots, "Petag" heroes Mikail Aslan and Cemil Qocgiri who kissed his eminence's right hand and received Christian blessings.

At this momentous meeting, Archbishop Bekjian said: "During the Genocide, to save their souls and survive, many Armenians changed their religion. Many returned to the bosom of their nation afterwards. In Germany, too, there are such people, who although have lost their language, remained Armenian in soul. They always come to us, to the Church and seek their identity.

"Our family, specially my uncles, were taken away during the Genocide and were massacred. These people courageously kept their identity and souls in the most difficult circumstances. Today, parents must continue to educate their children in the traditions that were passed to us through many generations…generations who were proud members of the Great Armenian Nation. We are respected in many countries, even in Turkey, as a proud nation, with rich history, culture and the extraordinary power to survive, despite being victims of genocide and conversion to other religions."

Hamo Moskofian
Berlin-Frankfurt-Wiesbaden-Russelheim-Hanau-Koeln

Visit PETITION – Stop the Fake Monument

Mikail Aslan, Petag Album: Dersimi Armenian Songs