Dear Helen Sheehan,
We are now visiting your art gallery, Families and Lost Scenes. A lace curtain which had seen better days is touching the heart of a woman… Black and white blurry visions of families from the past… We wonder where they are now… We truly hope they safely arrived at their destination… And that standalone backyard tree! The tree that you love most and you wish that it could utter words, is also beautiful. We also loved that tree standing out as the witness of the past.
We were also living there, slightly further down in eastern provinces when these pictures were taken. We are not sure if the tree could utter words, but today we are going to recall past events with our lost names and stories from Ottoman and Russian archives:
“I am the Turkish mother acknowledged in the document number 15; dated 17th June 1917 who helplessly screamed and got raped ruthlessly after her 16 year-old son was strangled to death.”
“I am the pregnant Turkish mother whose torso was ripped open by a dagger and whose unborn baby was taken out without compassion by her torso being cut with a dagger and whose baby`s head was cut off and was carried on a dagger after being told, “Aram Pasha wants kebab”…”
“I am the 16 year-old Turkish boy whose boyhood was chopped into pieces.”
I am the Turkish mother whose son mercilessly got strangled and who desperately screamed and got raped ruthlessly…
“We are hundreds of Turkish girls who were mercilessly raped!”
“I am 18 year-old Mehmet! Armenians chopped me into pieces as butchers do! They said; “We are going to make kebab for Cevdet Pasha!”
“We are the people who got murdered, buried and then taken out of their graves and whose coffins were filled with faeces.”
“We are deceased Turks who were acknowledged in the official Russian document number 31, dated 3rd March 1918 to be sent to London Times and other British newspapers via Muslim Outlook. Below are our stories…”
“We are innocent and oppressed Turks whom were shot in their heads, necks, hearts with the orders of General Antranik.”
“We are Turkish people who were put all together in wooden houses and burnt furiously.”
“We are male Turks from age 11 up to the very aged, who were lined up and were led with blows of whips, rifles outside the town and were massacred savagely. And we are the children and women of those men who were helplessly running about in town with our spirits in desolation. That night, blood congealed at the thought of horror of this night!”
“I am the baby in a wooden house whose head Armenians blew with a rifle to make me quiet! I fell on the floor. When my mother saw me in this condition, she began to sob. The Armenian guy slaughtered me with his bayonet and landed a blow on the head of my mummy and bayoneted her. Everywhere, even the walls were covered in blood.”
“I am the old Turkish grandma who got killed along with everyone and whose hand was cut off as they could not open my bracelet. They even cut my lifeless fingers to get my wedding ring. That was all I had in this world and was my wedding vow.”
“And we are the victims of all this terror, waiting for their turn in horror! Children, young girls, men, the aged and all. Can you hear our screams that echo through the seven skies?
“We are the witnesses of all these happenings! The Armenians set the town on fire; they also burned the houses of non-military character; they also burnt the house of American Consul, M. Stempleten. Now and then we heard gun shots; they completely massacred the remaining Turks before the arrival of the Turkish Army.”
“All roads leading from the gate of Kars to Hasan-Kale were covered with massacred Turkish bodies, torn dresses and the noses and the ears of a great part of bodies had been cut off!”
“I am the blind old man accompanied by a small boy. A soldier on horseback began to beat us; we wiped the blood off our faces without uttering a word!”
“We are Turks who were ordered to follow soldiers on horseback who seemed to be officers. The horseman in front of us made horses alternate between trotting and galloping; we had to imitate them. Those who were unable to do so were beaten; the horseman landed blows of rifle on our heads, made us pass through a group of carts. A Turk fell down. This did not please the horseman who went up to him, drew his sword and delivered a blow cutting his (Turkish) forehead and lips. The horseman shot him dead! Within five minutes there lay 40 warm dead bodies of the Turks on the side of our wagon. We are Turks who received shots by Armenians who were not content with their work.”
“We are Turkish girls and women who were drowned in the dirty water of a toilet’s pit. All our golden hair is laying on the surface. Our screams and cries have echoed through the seven skies. Can you hear us?
We have visited your gallery today. We, too, had our lace curtains which had seen better days… yet, we were not able to take their pictures…
We, Turks and Armenians, lived peacefully together with our nested cultures once upon a time. Those were the days when -Devlet-i Âliye- the Ottomans were powerful and in control. Long before the stirrings of the great states of the time. There were Hamparsum, Limoncuyan, tamburi Alexan Ağa, Nikoğos Ağa, Violonist Tatyos Efendi and many other musicians and artists, Armenian citizen of the empire were like our own people, grown under our roof, cultivated under our wings. Such as, Nikoğos Ağa, as a Christian was attending Mevlevi households and reciting rituals. You have mentioned establishing bridges, right! As you can see, we have established our bridges long time ago. They still exist! Yet, one needs to cross over these bridges with manners of sincerity!
That tree was there at that time. It will remember as the witness of past, for sure! We were also in that region, and we do remember as well; hundred thousands of Turks; babies, children, young and the aged! We are calling you among the old pages of the archives! Our cries and screams have echoed through the seven skies!
Can you hear us?
…
..
.
Documents:
Muslim outlook; the official Russian document number 31, dated 3rd March 1918 sent to London Times and other British newspapers via Muslim Outlook, showing how Armenians tortured and massacred Turkish people after Russians invaded Erzurum.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/1591965907701225/
2- Ottoman archive document showing how Russians and Armenians tortured and massacred Turkish people around Van, an eastern province.
Ayşe Samiha
About the Author
Sayın Ayşe Sâmiha Hanımefendi!Size âcizâne teşekkürlerimi arzetmek isterim;şahsınıza sağlıklar diliyorum.Zîra sıhhat ve âfiyette olduğunuz takdirde bu millî dâvâ sâhipsiz kalmayacaktır.Allah,sizden râzı olsun ve sizin gibi kahramanların sayısını artırsın.Hürmetlerimle.
Eyvallah Rıza Bey. Bu güzel mesajınız için asıl ben teşekkür ederim. Helen Hanım’ın yakında ikinci fotoğraf sergisi olacak. Belki farklı bir bakış açısı yakalama şansı olur diye düşündüm. Ayrıca, incanım doğrultusunda, bir Türk olarak bugün toprağın altında toplu mezarlarda hâlâ açılmayı bekleyen, nice hikâyeleri olan insanlarımız için konuştum. Bizim de hikâyelerimiz var ve onlar tarihin sessiz kahramanları. Onların hakları çoktan unutulmuş yazık ki! Mekânları her daim cennet olsun… Bizler de dâvâmıza sahip çıkmalıyız. Nacizane bir ucundan tutuş diyelim. Dilerim mesaj yerine ulaşır… Selam ve hürmetler asıl bizden sizlere efendim… Selam olsun memleketime ve siz güzel dostalara…
I said on the first day of the year. 2015 will not be an easy year for us! That was my boat company for first day of the year 2015. I am new grieg how our ausenministerium worked!
It is becoming interesting to watch the hatred that the Armenian diaspora has been spreading around by using `art`, `music` and such stuff to collect audience to support for their atrocities based on their own lies… and this issue has now become a political issue around the world! I wish politicians had enough education to see facts and truths! Yet, most of them are blinded by the question `what really interests them?` Thank you for your support Mehmet Bey.
Finally somebody start telling what exactly also happened Turks too.No one mention more than 480 thousand Turks slaughtered by Armenian bandits in Anatolia. The ridiculous part of this argument is Armenian author never talk before 1915, they keep telling the events in their articles between 1915 and 1922.How about Armenian terrors in late 1800’s, how about Armenian riots in all over the country, how about Van occupied where thousands of civilians were massacred by Armenian bandits…….this Armenian terror is like never end story….thanks for well done job, Ayse.
Thank you for your comment Fatih Bey. Isn`t it ridiculous to neglect the fact that it was time of war, WW1, and Ottoman Turks were under the occupation of many countries; the British, French, Russians, following this Italians, Bulgarians, even ANZACS! came a few years after 1915.
Within all these chaos Armenians provoked by Russians, revolted against Turks as it was just the right time to attack and kill civilian Turks in a most inappropriate way as husbands were away in other fronts such as Gelibolu to protect the country against Anzacs, Gaziantep against the French, Aegean part against the Greeks, Trakia against the Bulgarians, and 1920 the British invading Istanbul. The irony is that those were the days when all the mentioned bunch came together to get one piece of our land! Now the picture is not very different. The very same nations who fought against Turks are now the supporters of this so called genocide! What were you doing in my country? Were you expecting flowers in return to your guns?
TURKISH NATION DEFENDED THEIR COUNTY IN A MOST NOTABLE WAY! THEY LOST THEIR LIVES! THIS LETTER IS A VOICE, FROM OUR PEOPLE WHO WERE CRUELLY SLAUGHTERED! TO THE REST OF THE WORLD WHO ARE SUPPORTING THE SO CALLED GENOCIDE STORIES! AND WHO ARE BUSY MAKING UP STORIES AND CREATING ATROCITIES MORE AND MORE EVERY DAY!
As for this photo exhibition, it has been written in the catalogue that it has been organised by Armenian Diaspora. When I saw the lines about Turks having lots of hatred and jealousy towards Armenians, I said, `Hang on a minute! The Turks were under invasions by many other counties, plus civilians got killed by revolting Armenians which has been proven by Ottoman, Russian, British, and American archives. How could a nation under so many attacks and occupations have time for jealousy? Come oonn man! Come to your senses!` blah blah blah, a long story cannot be cut short…
Listen to Professeur Mc Carhy:
`There was no genocide! Turks were under attack and they were defending their lands.`
He`s a well known historian who intensively and comprehensively worked on achieves, the eastern provinces and documents from different sources:
what else can we say?!
The west, we knew of the cause though, has been exhibiting an attitude not fair to us in any way at all times. Is this a part of their culture, paradigm or do they want everyone to live in a world which they created through changing realities? That Helen Sheehan is one of them is obvious. We’ve received her as a guest, and she has come to our house. But, as we realize what she has been doing, we get surprised. Who knows what a person who commits such things in our house could do anything when returns to her own home. In her article, Ms. Ayşe Samiha takes us through a timeline where quite often the truths are beyond endurance. And there she hits the libel and slander like a ton of bricks. Such that “our cries and screams echo through the seven skies!” We are very proud that we have such well informed and patriotic writers.