Turkish speaking Armenian in Beirut
Güncelleme Tarihi:
BEIRUT- One of his grandfathers is from Turkey's southeastern province of Kahramanmaraş, while the other is from the eastern city of Harput. His mother and father were born in Lebanon, as too, was he.
He learned Turkish from his grandfather and then years later, when he met and fell in love with a Turkish girl in Beirut, his desire to speak Turkish reappeared in earnest.
Varto is a 22-year-old Lebanese police officer with Armenian ancestors. I met him in Hamra, in western Beirut, where mostly Sunnis live. While I was taking photos in a street, a police officer suddenly came up to me. "You cannot take photos here," he said in English.
I said: "I am a journalist. I come from Turkey, that is why I am taking pictures," he then started speaking in Turkish. With great astonishment I asked him how he knew Turkish. "I am Armenian," he answered, his tone highlighting that for him, speaking Turkish was extremely natural. With that answer, our conversation proceeded and he started to tell me about his family, his grandfather and his Turkish love.
’I loved a Turk’
"I loved a Turkish girl," he said, before looking away, "But her family would not allow us to marry." They fell in love after meeting last year and Varto made his mother accept he was going to marry a Turkish girl, but the girl’s family would not allow them to do so.
"Let me introduce you to my family," he said after we had talked. We went on his motorbike to Bourj Hammoud, the Armenian neighborhood in Beirut. As we entered the house, he told his family that I was Turkish. "Hoşgeldin," (Welcome) his mother Zovik said, as she hugged and kissed me. I suddenly realized that everyone in the family spoke Turkish.
"I made rice with chicken, you should eat," she said insistently, before we started talking. As I said thank you, she said, "We should offer you something," and brought us some berry-wine.
Her dream is to visit Turkey
Varto, his mother, father, sisters, grandfather and grandmother all lived in the same house. The greatest fun the family have is watching Turkish soap operas via satellite in their modest home. They talk about the famous Turkish TV series "Yaprak Dökümü," "Binbir Gece" and many others I did not know.
"My greatest dream is going to Turkey one day," Zovik said. She wanted to see Harput, Kahramanmaraş and Istanbul. Other members of the family showed me their Christmas tree. We took pictures near it.
"Let me show you Beirut, I will take you anywhere you want," Varto said and took me for a ride around the city. We saw the Armenian neighborhood, the marina and the market and then turned back to Hamra where I had met him. Before I left, Varto, who did not allow me take photos at first, whispered to me, "If you want to take pictures again, just tell me. You are Turkish, I will allow you to take pictures."