Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
Tel. +90 (212) 517-0970
Fax +90 (212) 516-4833
E-mail: patriarchate@post.com
Contact: Dikran M. Zenginyan
Khatchatourian’s Centenary on Musa Dagh Is a Most Unusual Event
His Beatitude Patriarch Mesrob II of Istanbul and all Turkey, attended two concerts on Sunday September 28th. The first took place after the Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Very Revd. Fr. Sahag Masaliyan in the presence of His Beatitude at the Holy Mother-of-God Church reconstructed in 1997, in the only Armenian village in Turkey, Vakýflýköy, Samandagh. The concert, held in the countryard of the church, consisted of works by Turkish and Armenian composers, in particular the music of Aram Khatchatourian, the centenary of whose birth occurs at this time. This centenary presented a timely opportunity for both Turks and Armenians to celebrate their common humanity through music, despite the often difficult relations between the two nations. Members of the Cukurova State Symphony Orchestra, under their conductor Emin Guven Yaslicam, accompanied by the Turkish violinist Hakan Sensoy, and by guest violonist from Armenia, nineteen-year-old Hasmik Avdalyan, were warmly received by both notable figures of the region, as well as by the presence of local Armenian villagers. Though neither Armenian nor Turkish, of particular poignance was the first movement of Bach’s double violin played in unison by the virtuosi.
In the evening, the second concert took place in the Amphitheatre in Antioch itself. With the Patriarch were the Governor of Hatay, Mr Abdulkadir Sari, and other notables. On this occasion, the full orchestra was present, with Hakan Sensoy now playing Khatchatourian’s Violin Concerto, and Hasmik Avdalyan, the Violin Concerto of Ulvi Cemal Erkin. It was the most memorable occasion, concluding with the rousing Radetsky march in which the audience – Armenians and Turks – joined enthusiastically with hand clapping accompaniment.
Many thanks must go to the local Rotary Clubs of Adana, Seyhan, Cukurova, Guney, Tepebag and Antakya whose idea of celebrating Khatchatourian’s anniversary in this manner bore so much fruit. To organise such an event must have taken both courage and tenacity and the Rotary members responsible must be congratulated.
Previous to this most unusual day, Patriarch Mesrob on leaving Ankara after a meeting with Prime Minister Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (September 25), stopped in Konya (ancient Iconium) and paid a visit to the Latin Catholic Church of St Paul where an Italian fraternity, that of the ‘Resurrected Jesus’ has been in place for the last eight years. The Patriarch led prayers in Turkish for both members of the community and for the Christian workers who are occupied with renovating the church (built in 1910) and the adjacent community house.
The Patriarch then paid a visit to one of the few Armenians left in the city, Krikor Ozararat, aged eighty-four, and his wife Aznif. Though ailing in body, Krikor was very much alert, with comic remarks that caused much laughter. Later on the Patriarch visited what has remained of the Armenian cemetery in Konya and said a prayer for the repose of the souls of the Konya Armenian community who have fallen asleep in Christ.
The following day, The Patriarch visited the site near Silifke (ancient Seleucia) where it is understood that St Thecla, one of the helpers of St Paul in these regions, had to hide from persecution. After her martyrdom, during the time of Nero, her burial eventually took place here. A few remains of a once-great basilica over the original catacombs are all that may be seen today, though it is still a place of pilgrimage, with a shrine under the apse of the basilica itself.
Later, the Patriarch on reaching Mersin, called on the Latin Catholic Church of St Anthony. The Patriarch arrived towards the end of the Saturday Vigil Mass being celebrated by the Revd Fr Gregorio Simonelli, who then invited His Beatitude to address the congregation, many of whom were Armenians and who had been alerted to the visit. After bestowing his blessing, the Patriarch conversed with a number of his people in the courtyard of the church before leaving for Antioch.
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