Turkish-Armenian Intermarriages in Bulgaria Svetlina Denova, Ph.D ...
Turkish-Armenian Intermarriages in Bulgaria Svetlina Denova, Ph.D ... Turkish-Armenian Intermarriages in Bulgaria Svetlina Denova, Ph.D ...
Armenian continues in other story the same problem: “We differ in our normative values. It issomething that comes from our different civilizations – the Christian and the Muslim one –but at the same time there are common virtues, I can call them common Asian virtues. One ofthem is the virtue of family”. The same Armenian told me a funny story. “I’m working in amarket with Turks and Gypsies and because I know Turkish well some of them often come tospeak with me. On educational level we differ but on the level of human relations we do nothave any problems. At one of their Bayrams some of the little boys came to me and wanted tokiss my hand. I didn’t know at that time that it is usual for the Muslims to kiss the hand of anelder man during the Bayram. I asked them: ‘What are you doing?’ and they answered me –‘You’re our millet, aren’t you?’ They decided that I was Turkish just because I was speakingTurkish”.But not all informers’ stories are so optimistic. I’ve heard many stories about themassacres of Armenians in the end of XIX and the beginning of XX century. Some of themsound really ominous. “My grandfather in Turkey... they slaughtered his mother and hisfather before him, because he didn’t want to go soldier and fight against his brothers andsisters. Having seen all this my grandfather became a member of a revolutionary detachmentand afterwards chief of one of them. The deaths of 72 Turks and 1 Armenian, who could notbe an Armenian any more, are weighing on his conscience”. Another statement puts theArmenians and Bulgarians side by side against Turkey: “Armenian people has always beengrateful to the Bulgarians, because we never differ in our faiths. What united us in the pastwas our common enemy – Turkey”.I heard also stories of good friendships between Turks and Armenians in the past andalso in the years of the massacres. A Turkish friend of an Armenian understood that his fatheris defined to kill the Armenians in their neighbourhood. He told his friend the news inadvance and thus saved the life of his friend and his family. Another story is about an
adoption of an Armenian boy by a rich childless governor of a village. This happened duringthe hard time for the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. There are also stories of neighboursTurks who saved Armenian lives.The study of two casesThe first case is a marriage between an Armenian man and a Turkish woman. Theman was born in the city of Plovdiv, while the woman’s birthplace is a village in the districtof Kircali (a Bulgarian region with great number of Turkish population). They married in1981. The family lives in their own flat only with their daughter. The husband’s relatives livealso in the city and the relative links between them and the family has never been stopped.But now they are not so intensive as they were in the first years of the marriage when thefamily lived together with the parents of the husband and the daughter was little. The wife’srelatives live in their native village.The second case is a marriage between a Turkish, born in a village in the region ofPlovdiv, and an Armenian woman, born in Plovdiv. The couple married in 1996. The familylives in Plovdiv in their own flat together with their little daughter and two of wife’s relatives– her mother and her sister. Husband’s relatives live in their native village.I shall start with the similarities between the two cases. But because it is not alwayspossible to stick to them, I shall show the differences as well.How did the parents of both sides accept the decision of their children to marry? Inthe first case against the marriage were just the wife’s parents. The wedding was in Plovdivand no one of wife’s parents or relatives came for the celebration. The wife’s brother andsister were more opposed to it than their parents. The wife usually goes to visit her parents,while the relations with her brother and sister were re-established three or four years after thewedding. The warming of the relative links happened with the birth of the child. In the
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<strong>Armenian</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>ues <strong>in</strong> other story the same problem: “We differ <strong>in</strong> our normative values. It issometh<strong>in</strong>g that comes from our different civilizations – the Christian and the Muslim one –but at the same time there are common virtues, I can call them common Asian virtues. One ofthem is the virtue of family”. The same <strong>Armenian</strong> told me a funny story. “I’m work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> amarket with Turks and Gypsies and because I know <strong>Turkish</strong> well some of them often come tospeak with me. On educational level we differ but on the level of human relations we do nothave any problems. At one of their Bayrams some of the little boys came to me and wanted tokiss my hand. I didn’t know at that time that it is usual for the Muslims to kiss the hand of anelder man dur<strong>in</strong>g the Bayram. I asked them: ‘What are you do<strong>in</strong>g?’ and they answered me –‘You’re our millet, aren’t you?’ They decided that I was <strong>Turkish</strong> just because I was speak<strong>in</strong>g<strong>Turkish</strong>”.But not all <strong>in</strong>formers’ stories are so optimistic. I’ve heard many stories about themassacres of <strong>Armenian</strong>s <strong>in</strong> the end of XIX and the beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g of XX century. Some of themsound really om<strong>in</strong>ous. “My grandfather <strong>in</strong> Turkey... they slaughtered his mother and hisfather before him, because he didn’t want to go soldier and fight aga<strong>in</strong>st his brothers andsisters. Hav<strong>in</strong>g seen all this my grandfather became a member of a revolutionary detachmentand afterwards chief of one of them. The deaths of 72 Turks and 1 <strong>Armenian</strong>, who could notbe an <strong>Armenian</strong> any more, are weigh<strong>in</strong>g on his conscience”. Another statement puts the<strong>Armenian</strong>s and <strong>Bulgaria</strong>ns side by side aga<strong>in</strong>st Turkey: “<strong>Armenian</strong> people has always beengrateful to the <strong>Bulgaria</strong>ns, because we never differ <strong>in</strong> our faiths. What united us <strong>in</strong> the pastwas our common enemy – Turkey”.I heard also stories of good friendships between Turks and <strong>Armenian</strong>s <strong>in</strong> the past andalso <strong>in</strong> the years of the massacres. A <strong>Turkish</strong> friend of an <strong>Armenian</strong> understood that his fatheris def<strong>in</strong>ed to kill the <strong>Armenian</strong>s <strong>in</strong> their neighbourhood. He told his friend the news <strong>in</strong>advance and thus saved the life of his friend and his family. Another story is about an
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