The sound of silence II-Diyarbakır's Armenians speak

Abstract

Within the scope of this study that traced the tracks of Armenians from Diyarbakır in Turkey, Armenia and the Diaspora, a total of 81 people were interviewed: 22 in Istanbul, 17 in Diyarbakır, 9 in Lebanon, 9 in New York, 4 in Los Angeles, 3 in New Jersey, 7 in Montreal, 6 in Toronto and 4 in Yerevan. 41 of them were female and 40 were male. Among them, there are those who live with their Armenian identity, those who have reclaimed or are trying to reclaim their Armenian identity since being Islamicized, and also who define themselves as both Muslim and Armenian...Beyond these findings, this study is also an attempt to reimagine, or reconstruct the cultural presence of Armenians in Diyarbakır. For instance, the Surp Giragos Armenian Church in the city had been in use until the 1980s, but later rapidly went to ruin due to the lack of a congregation. Through the collaboration of the Diyarbakır Municipality and Armenian institutions, its recent renovation and reopening for worship bears huge significance in terms of such attempts at reimagination and reconstruction. It is in this sense that this book constitutes another drop in that sea of lost memory.