Chidem Inch: Ağrı Dağı Bizim Dir

 

I saw this graphic on Facebook.  It was posted by one Rosdom Hagopian though I am not certain if Mr. Hagopian created the graphic or if it just imressed him, as it did with me, when he first saw it.

It is a simple photo of a man holding the hand of a girl pointing at Ararat, Massis big and small, the mountain of the Armenians.  Are they father and daughter?  Grandfather and granddaughter?  Either works.  Both resonated with me.

Before I even noticed the barbed wire marking the border that separates Armenia and Armenians from our mountain, I felt the dull pain and unfairness that our national mountain, a symbol of our people and nation, not being in our country.  Rather it lies in a country that hates us, committed genocide against us, and exiled those who survived.  We can visit Armenia and on clear days we can see Ararat.  This graphic, this painting, has the bittersweet impact on all Armenians.

In his post, Rosdom Hagopian added these words:

Հոն պետք է երթանք......ոչ Ռուսաստան, ոչ Եւրոպա ,ոչ Ամերիկա, ոչ Գանատա ,ոչ Աւստրալիա

Բոլորս խօսքի վարպետ ենք եւ մեր անձնական հանգիստը կը փնտրենք.......

 

We have to go there ...... not Russia, not Europe, not America, not Canada, not Australia

 

We are all masters of speech and we are looking for our personal rest ...

I think it is a sentiment many of us can relate to.  We have to go there indeed.  Actually, we should have never had to leave.  We should have been able to stay there instead of Russia, America, Europe, Canada, or Australia.  We could go back there now if it were ours once more or if we were minimally welcomed and allowed to thrive and be ourselves.  But for many of us in the diaspora we were born in America, Europe, Canada, or Australia perhaps even the 2^nd or 3^rd generation not born in our homeland.  Our hearts are rooted in Armenia, our Armenian Heritage, but our lives, families, and careers are in the countries we now call home.

Could I repatriate to Armenia?  A few families I know have.  I admire them for that.  The rest of us?  I am not sure how often or how seriously we think of doing such.  The majority of the diasporans that have repatriated to Armenia are Syrian Armenians and Armenians from Ukraine.  They moved back due to war.  Armenia, for its current instability and ever present threat from Azerbaijan and Turkey and whatever Russia’s intentions are, is a the easiest option for a more stable place to live.  Dire circumstances forces immigration.  Therefore many Armenians ended up in Russia, Europe, America, Canada, and Australia. 

I had a friend, Roger Derderian, whose mother and my maternal grandmother were from Yeghiki a village of Kharpert.  He would only return there, if he could.  He never even wanted to even visit the current Republic of Armenia.  I understood his sentiment and yearning for what his mother and my grandmother called the yergir or old country.  No one I know is actually bold and brave enough to do this, assuming Turkey, would allow such immigration. 

It would be wonderful if Ararat was part of Armenia.  It would lift our collective spirits for sure, but it unlikely to happen anytime soon.  I could see it being a part of a free and independent Kurdistan before any of Western Armenia being part of the Republic of Armenia.  Would the Kurds welcome Armenians and others back to their ancestral lands?  Perhaps.

Is Ararat ours?  Yes, it certainly is in our minds, hearts, and souls.  To the rest of the world?  Not really.  Hence the plight of the Armenians.  We do not have the military might do change our borders to what they should be.  We are currently “negotiating” the borders with Azerbaijan.  Some negotiation.  Inept leadership, lack of military planning, and the collusion of Putin and Erdogan put us in a position with practically no leverage.

A Turkish colleague once sent me a photo of Ararat in an e-mail and said:
“See, the mountain doesn’t care where it is.”   

The mountain, of course, cannot care.  It is where it is.   

But, to Armenians like Rosdom Hagopian and myself… 
Ararat is ours, Արարատը մերն է, Ağrı Dağı bizim dir.