Armenian Heritage and Memory Beyond the Borders Armenian Heritage and Memory Beyond the Borders | Page 13

dreams. Here was a nation, subjected to persecution and massacre and
sentenced to live with its head bowed for eternity, that had risen from
the valley of tears to the summit of its undeniable potential. The adults,
content in their noble work, guided the children as they grew. The
Armenian children had schools, theaters, special places to play, and all
the opportunities to become someone. On their own soil. In their own
culture. In great anticipation of better days still to come.” The Child of a
Refugee by Siran Seza translated by Jennifer Manoukian
The Voices of Armenia in Turkey
Although the platform for the remembrance of 24th of April annually
makes the demonstration in order to demand the confrontation with the
past from government and Hrant’s Friends annually calls for people on
the 19th of January to gather in front of older building of Agos where
Hrant Dink was murdered, Armenian voices aren’t just raised in these
events.
Bir Adalet Feryadı: Osmanlı'dan
Türkiye'ye Beş Ermeni Feminist Yazar
(A Cry For Justice: 5 Armenian Feminist
Writers from Ottoman Period to the
Republic of Turkey) In August, 2006, Aras
Publishing released the book in which Lerna
Ekmekçioğlu and Melissa Bilal compiled
and edited the works of 5 Western Armenian
feminists who lived in the Ottoman Period
and early Republic of Turkey as well as
highlighted their lives as a result of over
10 years of their labour and collaboration.
It’s a unique piece in terms of introducing
Armenian feminists to us since the feminist movement that began in
the ‘80s after the military coup in Turkey wasn’t aware of the feminist
movement during the Ottoman Period. It took some times for the
feminists to encounter and recognize the feminists and women’s
rights movement during the Ottoman Period. However, this encounter
wasn’t enough to uncover the struggle of Armenian feminists. Firstly,
in 2015 some people heard the name of Zabel Yesayan that was said
to resemble Halide Edip Adıvar, Turkish nationalist feminist in the late