The silence of Armenian cultural heritage in Van

Mr. Mehmet Fatih GÜDEN, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University

Van once was the unofficial capital of the Armenians living in Turkey. However, contrary to its long and embodied history and legacy, there is no systematic research and information that reflects the ancient existence of Armenians and their cultural heritage in the region.

However, the material culture rooted in the Lake Van Basin was left to die and silenced. Although the Turkish state has attempted to rebuild and revitalise the Church and Monastery of the Holy Cross on Akdamar Island as a step towards peaceful dialogue, such initiatives have been interpreted cosmetically, helping to legitimately render a large number of unseen cultural artifacts legitimately invisible. This interpretation is justified, given that there were a significant number of churches and monasteries in the province of Van that were silenced and doomed to disappear. There has been no significant effort since 1915 to identify, protect and publicise the existence of Armenian material culture from a holistic perspective.

If we refer to the current state of the cultural heritage in the region, there are many artifacts that were used as stables or destroyed due to treasure hunting activities. In addition, it is known that there are many unexplored artifacts in areas under the control of the security forces. Continuous military intervention irreversibly destroys the common cultural heritage and common land, and within this context the common future.

Although the problem of Armenian-Turkish relations is known on a global scale, this issues’ social framework has been handled on the axis of genocide, and no significant attempt has been made to focus on the material culture and the sociality of the people living around it. In this context, carrying out memory studies that consider cultural heritage as a memory space, including the protection and restoration of historical and cultural sites, should be among the issues of priority.

It is clear that a policy of holistic conservation implemented in the region to protect the material culture depends on political will at a macro level. However, instead of waiting for such a will from above, there are many steps that can be taken from below. From this point of view, under current conditions, it is very important to raise awareness about the value these works express and the risks they face.