Saturday Mothers Commemorate Armenian Intellectuals of 1915

Saturday Mothers of Turkey, on their 422th gathering, commemorated 220 Armenian intellectuals detained and vanished by the order of Ottoman officials in 1915.

On Saturday and at 12pm - a day and hour that never altered ever since peaceful protests were first launched almost three decades ago - the Saturday People gathered in their usual spot located in the heart of Galatasaray Square, Istanbul, holding pictures of their lost sons/beloved ones as well as faded black and white photographs of 1915 Armenian intellectuals.

"Detention order was given by Ottoman government"

"On the night of April 24, 1915, on the order of the Ottoman government (Union and Progress Party) 220 Armenian intellectuals were arrested in their homes in Istanbul. They were taken to Merkez Prison in Sultanahmet, Istabul and were sent by special train in the direction of Ankara. Some were then transferred to Cankiri, some to Ayas," Human Rights Association of Turkey said in a statement.

"Many of them were killed without leaving behind a gravestone. Officials registered them either as fugitives or released."

"They were Armenian community leaders and notables"

The association statement was read by Serpil Taşkaya, the daughter of Hüseyin Taşkaya who disappeared under police detention in 1993.

"They were Armenian community leaders and notables including writers, parliamentary deputies, musicologists, scientists and journalists," she read.

"Their arrest was to launch the state policy to annihilate the Armenian entity. Therefore, they first eliminated those who could raise their voices."

The statement also demanded the Turkish government to unfold the reality behind what happened in 1915

The group pledged to keep the truth alive [behind the Armenian Genocide] in spite of the denial policies that are based on forgetting. “We will, we did not forget you, we will not forget you," they said.

"Union and Progress" mentality

Hanife Yıldız, a Saturday mother, said his son's disappearance is due to the lack of facing the truth behind the "Union and Progress" mentality that led to the disappearance of Armenians in 1915. 

"This is a mentality that awards the killing of Armenians and Alevites with heaven. It honors the killing of Kurds with bravery," she added.

Towards the end of the gathering, loud speakers amplified "Hov Arek Sarer" by Gomidas Vardapet, an Ottoman Armenian musicologist and orchestra chef.

"Gomidas was also arrested on 24 April 1915. He was saved after a campaign launched by major intellectuals including novelist Halide Edip Adivar," a Saturday People member said. "Following his release, Gomidas ceased talking. He also ceased composing music and died in a mental institution." (BM/EKN)