Assyrian Democratic Organization ADO
A seminar on the World War One Turkish genocide of Assyrians, Armenians and Greeks will be held in Stockholm on September 24. The following is a press release of the Assyrian Youth Federation of Sweden, which is sponsoring the seminar.
The Armenian researcher Ara Sarafian is invited to give a lecture during the Seyfo Seminar taking place at the University of Stockholm on September, 24th. For the majority of us he might be yet an unknown character who will be visiting us. However, Mr. Sarafian has an impressive academic past with many years of studies behind him. He is also a frequently hired lecturer on issues concerning Armenian history. What sets him definitely apart from the rest of the Armenian researchers is his knowledge of the Assyrian Genocide. In purpose of presenting him and his ideas in advance to the seminar, he has answered five questions for us.
Q: Mr. Sarafian, what view do you have on the Assyrians and their history?
A: My knowledge about Assyrians is bad. I know about the ancient Assyrians, but not about Assyrians of the current times. Their name is mentioned in Armenian books, often rapidly, but Assyrians as a nation remain invisible. Even today, where there is an Assyrian minority in Armenia, there is no information on their language, culture or history in the general Armenian society. One exception of which I remember is William Saroyan, who wrote about Assyrians in one of his short stories. And that was the first time I thought of Assyrians as a modern people. I was touched already as early as then, because they were like us Armenians, however living under worse conditions.
Q: Why are you one of very few, or maybe the only Armenian genocide researcher, who mentions that a genocide was committed even against the Assyrians?
A: I mention the genocide on the Assyrians, because I know that even they were murdered in large numbers during 1915. But I am ashamed about not knowing more. I am also ashamed that our elders did not tell us more about the Assyrians. I believe that it has to do with that a lot of Armenians still hold on to the assumption that the attention given to the Assyrian and Greek genocide in the Ottoman Turkey minimizes the Armenian aspect. It is a little like “the holocaust’s uniqueness theoreticians” that minimizes the aspect of Roma and other groups in the Nazi occupied Europe.
Q: Do you think that Armenians and Assyrians should cooperate on the recognition of the genocide or continue to work separately?
A: I think that there is a big space for cooperation, but for many Armenians the genocide is nothing they work with. It is more a confession, and that confession seems to include the conviction that the destruction of the year 1915 was only pointed against the Armenians. Assyrians, Armenians, Turks and Kurds can all cooperate, or work parallel with each other in purpose of lifting up history. I would like to see that the Assyrians, for example, translate a few main writings concerning the Assyrian genocide into English – today’s most dominant academic and political language – in purpose of breaking the ice. By confronting others with such important writings, they will receive much more support for their cause. And I know there are such important writings. I would also like to recommend that the Assyrians build their own libraries, research centres and academics so that their voice will be well articulated and heard within the academic world. I know that such steps are already taken and I hope that I will be able to take part of the knowledge that will be gathered.
Q: When did your interest in the Armenian genocide start and why?
A: I became an historian during the 1980’s, because I wanted to find out the truth about the Armenians. I was privileged enough to make that decisions. At that time I lived in Turkey, where I found some good friends, and came to realize how close Armenians and Turks stood to each other. After that I went to the USA and the University of Michigan where I started to study Ottoman-Turkish and Armenian history, and that led me unavoidably to the question of the genocide. My real area of interest was about the internal organisation of the Armenian people in the late Ottoman empire. I am seldom asked to lecture about that area even though it interests me a lot. Five years ago I stepped out of the formal Armenian academic establishment in the USA, because I found that many of the establishment’s characters were chauvinists. Just because the Armenians had been victims, it does not mean they can not be chauvinists. Even today many Armenian historians have the opinion that “history” is not about seeking the truth, it is a practise that compromises a necessary element of “adjusting” the truth for ideological and personal purposes. Maybe the excluding of the Assyrian question has been a part of this adjustment.
Q: Do you think that Turkey will recognize the genocide against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks?
A: I think that Turkey will recognize the genocide and other injustices that Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds and others have suffered from, mainly because more and more Turks are becoming interested in those questions and they do not want to carry the burden from that time on their shoulders, as little as they want to lie about such questions. I hope that even we act in a way that invites them to go through this phase. Establishing individual contacts with the Modern Turkey and working for a democratisation of that country, will help this development.
Translated from Swedish by Nahrin Akguc
