I really enjoyed reading The Bastard of Istanbul. While this novel frequently refers back to the Armenian/Turkey massarces of 1915, it also places a great focus on the deep connection that Armanoush and Asya form throughout the novel. While they are both of different ethnic backgrounds, Armenian and Turkish, they both seem to look past their cultural differences and focus on being friends over enemies.
While Armanoush introduces Asya to a bit of her world, Cafe Constantinopolis, Armanoush's fellow cyber friends quickly place Asya into the "enemy" category as soon as they find out that she is Turkish. In this online world, they seem to hold nothing back to Asya and ultimately feel that she is responsible for her people's actions, which is definately unfair. I am glad that Armanoush can look past their cultural differences and just focus on their friendship and overall peace together.
It is apparent that the girls have a sense of dependancy and reliance upon one another because at one point, Asya questions herself if Armanoush really found out her real thoughts on suicide, and her instability of relationships and sex, if Armanoush could accept Asya still as a friend. "Would Armanoush understand without being judgmental; could she erally, truly see into Asya's soul fromthe echelons of that sterile tower of hers?" (199), Asya wonders.
Overall, the obvious controversy this novel produced is apparent as Shafak references to the "massacres" of 1915, but if you look at the novel in a deeper, different aspect you can see the other angels and aspects the author tries to reveal.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Armenia and Turkey sign a historic agreement
As of October 10, 2009 Armenia and Turkey signed a historic accord, which will establish diplomatic relations between the two countries after almost a century of hostility. Armenia is looking to boost their economy and Turkey wants to prove they are ready to join the European Union.
Below is a link with the full article and a 11 minute news video discussing the treaty.
http://www.france24.com/en/20091012-armenia-turkey-sign-treaty-normalise-ties-week-europe
Below is a link with the full article and a 11 minute news video discussing the treaty.
http://www.france24.com/en/20091012-armenia-turkey-sign-treaty-normalise-ties-week-europe
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Facts of the "Armenian Massacres"
"The Armenian Genocide" (also known as the "The Great Calamity by Armenians) occured on April 24, 1915 by the Ottoman Empire of Turkey was the systematic destruction of the Armenian population, killing over 1.5 million Armenians.
Interesting enough, the Armenians and Turks were at peace in the Ottoman Empire for centuries prior. This began to change when the inequalities between the Armenians and Turks were made more public and began to cause an uproar.
Armenians were not viewed as equals to the Turks. They were viewed as second-class citizens and had to deal with limited freedoms because they were Christian Armenians.
This massacre is the 2nd most studied case of genocide after the Holocost.
Recently, 20 countries have officially recognized the events of this time as a genocide, while 42 of the 50 states of the U.S. recognize these events as a genocide as well (Michigan is one of the states that does recognize this event as a genocide). The states that do not recognize this event are: Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The Republic of Turkey (the OTtoman Empire) deny the word "genocide" as an accurate description of the events that occured during this period.
An Interview with Sylvia Axt
My grandmother and great-grandmother were both born in Constantinople, Armenia. While they had both moved to the United States before the Armenian Genocide, my grandmother remembers parts of her childhood relating to this time period and how it had an affect on her family overall.
While my grandmothers family did not speak of the Armenian Genocide within their household and tried to act like it did not happen because it was too sore and deep of a subject to understand at such a young age, there are facts and events that occured that were inevitable.
For example, since most Armenian last names end in "-ian," my great-grandmothers brother's last name was Karmanian. While he was living in Turkey as a business man during the time of the genocide, he ended up changing the spelling of his last name so the Republic of Turkey would not know he was of Armenian descent in order to protect himself. At this time, most Armenians who were working in Turkey also changed the spelling of their last name so it no longer ended in "-ian," and were not treated poorly by the Republic of Turkey.
Another interesting fact my grandmother remembers was that since Armenians are Christian, and the people of Turkey are Muslim, during the time of the genocide, the Armenians had to have tattoos of a cross on their face, hands, and arms so everyone knew they were Christians, leaving them at a greater risk. My grandmother also mentioned that during this time, the Armenians who had the tattoos on their inner forearms would keep their arm bent and close to their body, only bending it to show other Armenians.
Also, a few years ago my grandmother and great-aunt went on an Armenian cruise to simply socialize and meet other Armenians. During this cruise, they actually met some affiliates of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who was fired in 2006 by President Bush when he publicly referred to the 1915 tragedy of about 1.5 Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as a "Genocide," which signaled a change of stance in the U.S. government's position on the sensitive issue of the time period and could have been a prompt used to further antagonize Turkey on this issue.
In stance of the U.S., there are several official documents describing this event as a "genocide," and President Reagan also described this tragedy as a "genocide" in his speech on April 22,1981. Moreover, 42 of the 50 U.S. states recognize the events of 1915-1923 as a genocide, but since not all of the states publicy regnoize this event as a "genocide," President Bush did not feel it was appropriate to have a U.S. ambassador representing our country when not all of the states recogniz this event since the statements by John Evans were biased when he referred to it was a "genocide."
While my grandmothers family did not speak of the Armenian Genocide within their household and tried to act like it did not happen because it was too sore and deep of a subject to understand at such a young age, there are facts and events that occured that were inevitable.
For example, since most Armenian last names end in "-ian," my great-grandmothers brother's last name was Karmanian. While he was living in Turkey as a business man during the time of the genocide, he ended up changing the spelling of his last name so the Republic of Turkey would not know he was of Armenian descent in order to protect himself. At this time, most Armenians who were working in Turkey also changed the spelling of their last name so it no longer ended in "-ian," and were not treated poorly by the Republic of Turkey.
Another interesting fact my grandmother remembers was that since Armenians are Christian, and the people of Turkey are Muslim, during the time of the genocide, the Armenians had to have tattoos of a cross on their face, hands, and arms so everyone knew they were Christians, leaving them at a greater risk. My grandmother also mentioned that during this time, the Armenians who had the tattoos on their inner forearms would keep their arm bent and close to their body, only bending it to show other Armenians.
Also, a few years ago my grandmother and great-aunt went on an Armenian cruise to simply socialize and meet other Armenians. During this cruise, they actually met some affiliates of the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, who was fired in 2006 by President Bush when he publicly referred to the 1915 tragedy of about 1.5 Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as a "Genocide," which signaled a change of stance in the U.S. government's position on the sensitive issue of the time period and could have been a prompt used to further antagonize Turkey on this issue.
In stance of the U.S., there are several official documents describing this event as a "genocide," and President Reagan also described this tragedy as a "genocide" in his speech on April 22,1981. Moreover, 42 of the 50 U.S. states recognize the events of 1915-1923 as a genocide, but since not all of the states publicy regnoize this event as a "genocide," President Bush did not feel it was appropriate to have a U.S. ambassador representing our country when not all of the states recogniz this event since the statements by John Evans were biased when he referred to it was a "genocide."
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Paradise Now
The film "Paradise Now" gives you the insight of a daily lifestyle in Nablus. The two friends in this movie set out on a suicide bombing mission in the Middle East. This movie gives you a twist of what you are most likely expecting because it is from the views of the actual suicide bombers, when in most movies I have seen it is from the view of the victims.
One of the more shocking aspects of this film was my reaction and realization of what I would do if I were a Palestinian. This movie gave me the feeling that with everything going on the Middle East, we are mostly under the assumption that the Palestinians are after one thing. In reality, this film made me realize that the Palestinians do not know which side or what to do just as much as we don't as well. They are also put in the middle of the situation on what to do and what is best for their safety and lives overall.
With religion being a large part of the Middle Eastern culture, this leaves them with the questions of the acceptance of God and their other beliefs in higher meaning and beyond. I feel that they are now just taking each action and thought with the question and prose to please their beliefs in a higher power (God). They are doing what they think is right, yet are not completely and fully sure if it is the right thing and are still asking themselves about acceptance and pleasing God.
One of the more shocking aspects of this film was my reaction and realization of what I would do if I were a Palestinian. This movie gave me the feeling that with everything going on the Middle East, we are mostly under the assumption that the Palestinians are after one thing. In reality, this film made me realize that the Palestinians do not know which side or what to do just as much as we don't as well. They are also put in the middle of the situation on what to do and what is best for their safety and lives overall.
With religion being a large part of the Middle Eastern culture, this leaves them with the questions of the acceptance of God and their other beliefs in higher meaning and beyond. I feel that they are now just taking each action and thought with the question and prose to please their beliefs in a higher power (God). They are doing what they think is right, yet are not completely and fully sure if it is the right thing and are still asking themselves about acceptance and pleasing God.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
More Afghanistan commotion puts Obama on the spot
One of the news articles that I read online today was found on the Yahoo homepage and happened to catch my attention since it had to deal with the current events happening in the Middle East. The link to this news article can be viewed by clicking here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091004/pl_afp/usafghanistanmilitarypolitics_20091004030445
The article goes over if Obama should send more troops into Afghanistan...McChrystal, a military officer, believes that if the U.S. does not send more troops into Afghanistan, then the U.S. will lose the war. This situation provides complications not just for the U.S. and Afghanistan, but also for all of the Middle East as well.
Personally, I do not feel that sending more troops over to the Middle East will get us in any better of a position to end this war. I believe that sending more troops over will just complicate the issue even more and will get us farther away from peace between the two countries. Both the U.S. and the Middle East have faced many innocent casualites and more would come if we send even more troops over to Afghanistan. I do believe that Obama is faced with a difficult decision because he is searching for the best possible source of security for America, but it does not come at such an easy cost unfortunately.
The article goes over if Obama should send more troops into Afghanistan...McChrystal, a military officer, believes that if the U.S. does not send more troops into Afghanistan, then the U.S. will lose the war. This situation provides complications not just for the U.S. and Afghanistan, but also for all of the Middle East as well.
Personally, I do not feel that sending more troops over to the Middle East will get us in any better of a position to end this war. I believe that sending more troops over will just complicate the issue even more and will get us farther away from peace between the two countries. Both the U.S. and the Middle East have faced many innocent casualites and more would come if we send even more troops over to Afghanistan. I do believe that Obama is faced with a difficult decision because he is searching for the best possible source of security for America, but it does not come at such an easy cost unfortunately.
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