Dear Gibrahayer readers,
I am writing this letter regarding Simon Bahceli’s article on the renovation of the old Sourp Asdvadzadzin church in Turkish-occupied Nicosia, in the interest of revealing a number of truths the Turkish-origin journalist failed to write.
To begin with, Bahceli contacted me on 5 May, informing me on his intend to write the article in question. We met on 8 May and I personally took him to Dr. Antranik Ashdjian’s office, the Armenian Prelature of Cyprus and Nareg Elementary School, devoting a whole morning for him; it was also I who provided him with the B/W photographs he used in his article, as well as a large amount of historical information. Sadly, he neglected to include my name, or the names of Dr. Ashdjian - with whom he spoke for about an hour -and Mr John Guevherian, with whom he also spoke at the Arachnortaran. Also, I stressed to him, in person, on the phone and over e-mail that it is very important that also he speaks with the Representative, Mr Vartkes Mahdessian, which I very much doubt he did.
Not only that, Bahceli failed to mention that we attempted to visit the church on 14 May, after claiming he was told by the UN we could. Upon arriving at the gate, the guard (an illegal Turkish settler) told us we needed a permit to enter. Bahceli phoned the UN and the UN told him to phone EVKAF, but unfortunately it was not made possible to enter the church site. He did, however, wanted to take pictures of the church, so we went behind the Melikian mansion, where we saw two Turkish-speaking persons inside the compound, claiming to be bidders for the restoration. Asking them how they got inside, they told him they had entered through a passage. We went back to the guard to ask him if he could let us in too, since they were obviously in, and to my utter surprise and fury the guard, together with two trespassers, told us that they entered the site by themselves, he couldn’t kick them out, but he couldn’t let us in either…
Now, with regard to the article itself, an unsuspected reader will get the idea that there was never a problem with the Turkish Cypriots, and that Armenian Cypriots left only because they felt safely in the Greek Cypriot side of Nicosia… However, there is more to that story (simply ask Manoug Mangaldjian, he will tell it to you as he remembers it). Moreover, I was there when the people were speaking to Bahceli, and I know that much more was said. Not to mention the complete absence of any reference to the Armenian Genocide monument, for which everyone he spoke with made mention, including myself. Another thing: southern Nicosia for the government-controlled parts but simply Nicosia for the Turkish-occupied parts of Nicosia? The use of this makes not only the journalist but also the newspaper, Cyprus Mail, responsible for this illegality.
Historical inaccuracies are also observed: the Armenian presence in the area is about 500-600 years old, NOT 1000 years, and the church was re-built in 1308, not the 13th century. Geographical inaccuracies also exist: the church compound is NOT located in the Arabahmet, but in the Karaman Zade quarter; this is not a simple mistake, as the Turkish pseudo-state calls the whole area Arabahmet, in the same way it designates 3 of the 4 Turkish-occupied Larnaca district villages as belonging to the so-called “Lefkoşa kaza” district and 1 to the so-called “Gazimağusa kaza”. Upon our conversations, I stressed to Bahceli this fact, which he blatantly ignored. And one more thing: why would the church not hold that much importance for the Greek Orthodox? A church is always a church. Finally, again stressing his T/C outlook, it is Ottoman Armenians NOT Anatolian Armenians he should refer to.
I am very upset for this whole thing, and I hope the newspaper never allows such mistreatment of the truth again.
Alexander-Michael Hadjilyra,
Nicosia 27-05-2009
