Фото детей современной З. Армении

[kaivaz]

На сайте www.trekearth.com наткнулся на серию уникальных фоток самой обычной бельгийской женщины-путешественницы, посетившей Западную Армению и выложившей интересные фотографии в сеть.

Но еще более интересны ее комментарии к ним - кто изображен, о чем была беседа, какие-то семейные подробности... В целом, погружаешься в быт современного курдского населения региона...

Я, к сожалению, не могу вам точно сказать, зачем - но мне хотелось выставить здесь несколько ее фотографий и ее же комментариев к ним. В некоторых комментариях идет упоминание местных жителей об армянах.

Итак, перый снимок - высоко в горах над Алашкертом (для тех, кто знаком с географией Западной Армении лучше - место называется Хорасан).

Another photo from the high altitude Kurdish village near Eleskirt, during last summer : this family is particularly poor, the mother a widower with 4 children, and I paid her a visit because the 2 boys on this photo had accompanied me during the whole morning walk ; I was offered by her a delicious glass of fresh « ayran ». They had also 2 big and 1 small shepherd dogs, but the house looked pretty miserable.

The eldest daughter seemed to have deep psychological problems : they told me that she refused to speak since many years and she did not communicate much, - I guess that she had been severely traumatised by the death of her father. Still, we exchanged good eye contacts and I think that she was happy with my visit, but her mother was terribly dismissive about her (her nice smile on the photo still gives me warm and sad feelings).

The mother was complaining a lot about her hard life, that she could not raise her children properly and did not get much help from the other villagers. The eldest boy had asked repeatedly during the walk for money to pay the "hoca", or master in the Coranic school, where children go during summer holidays all over Turkey. He told me that he had to pay 20 TL (about 10 euros) per month, and that his mother could not pay the fee.

I gave some money to both boys, although they were not my appointed guides, but I did not feel very eager to fund that kind of education, when I heard the same boy telling : "our hoca tells us that g?furs lived here before the war, but that we succeeded in kicking them all out", as if it was a great achievement to have chased away the Armenians from their areas…

G?fur - or Kafir is a sort of common insult in Turkey : it means "infidel", but also, I understand, un-civilised, un-polite, immoral, miscreant, people misbehaving, drinking too much etc. I asked him if in his view, I was also a "g?fur", as I am not a Muslim : he could not answer and I told him that the Armenians were, like all the Christians, as "dinli" (= with religion) as the Muslims, only their culture was a little different, allowing light consumption of alcohol.

[kaivaz]

В продолжении своих комментариев про отношение местных курдов и турок к армянам, бельгийка упомянает про теплые чувства курдов к армянским старикам за 90 лет, приехавшим навестить родные пенаты на берегу оз. Ван.

По рассказам курдов, когда старая армянка прикоснулась к стенам родного дома, ныне занятого курдским семейством, из ее глаз полились слезы. Местные курды, сопереживая ей, тоже не удержались - и через мгновения уже вся курдская деревня плакала навзрыд.

NB : Personally, I would not blame the « hoca » or anyone else for this state of mind, rather the system of education in general. Talking of the Armenian question is difficult in Turkey, but things seem moving. In east Turkey, I heard many moving stories about this, for instance in another beautiful Kurdish village along Van lake (copying something that I wrote last summer) :

« There, I sensed like a lingering sense of guilt from those poor people about these past events, - as if they felt sorry for the Armenians who had to leave forever their ancestral homeland - or was it an impression ? Anyway, an Armenian American woman "in her 90s", they told me (... note that they were not very accurate in guessing my age, evaluating me as a 60-something year-old - but also, sometimes in my 30s ! – NB : I am in the middle) had come there in pilgrimage some years ago, and this had been a very tearful visit : when she saw the house where she was born, still remembering it vividly even if she had left as a child, she wept abundantly, together with the whole village (I had no problems believing that the villagers were crying too, one of them had still tears in his eyes) ».

[kaivaz]

Еще из той же деревни.

[kaivaz]

Вот еще фотка, которая тронула меня.

Тут изображен курд из бедной деревни в районе озера Арчек (Эрчек - по турецки). Это озеро расположено - если ехать от города (и озера) Ван на восток - в сторону границы с Ираном.

Комментарий к фотке трогает за душу. Эта бельгийка сумела таки разобраться, что те, кто живут на Армянском Нагорье, обладают совершенно уникальной любовью к детям. Она говорит: "да, во всей Турции любят детей, но нет в Турции такого другого места, где бы так сильно любили детей, как восток Анатолии."

They say that people in Turkey are warmer than in west Europe, but certainly in east Turkey they are the warmest of all, specially in small villages like Gulizar, not far from Caldiran and very close to the border with Iran.

I met Yusuf at the end of a long day in the mountains, there was a storm approaching and I was worried that I would not find a vehicle to go back to my base near Dogubeyazit some 25km to the north, ... but there was no way to escape, I had to accept at least a glass of tea from him, although I felt totally full with the dozens of teas offered to me that day in the 2 villages that I visited...

The problem was, Yusuf is the father of a large family, he does not work and is very poor, his wife is very much down to earth and refused to prepare the tea for him while she was busy with a huge laundry. Yusuf did not tell that, on the contrary he kept repeating that the tea would be ready within minutes, and after that I would be free to go.

We waited for a long time in front of this immense scenery, with a huge field of lava that can be seen over tens of km along the road (another view from the same hill here).

He was regularly shouting his orders to his wife from the top of that hill; finally when the first drops of rain started to fall, we came to his house and I realised than that there was really no tea on the way, saw also how tired and busy his wife looked like, and met some others of his 8 children (another photo of Yusuf kissing his last born, here, with great tenderness...

Yusuf was one of the most photogenic persons that I met during my recent travel to east Turkey, with such a warm expression on his face, - a Kurdish man, feeling forced to offer his glass of tea despite all his troubles and his difficult way to communicate with his wife...

(NB : not only the people, but also the weather was warm in east Turkey, hence some hail storms at the end of the days in the mountains...)

[Ундина]

мой дед и его семья из одной такой деревни вблизи Вана.

дядя деда и вся его семья голубоглазые и светловолосые, дед тоже был светлый, но кареглазый.

кстати....когда прабабка с детьми сбегала старших детей отдала вроде америкосам. старший сын сбежал, а девочка осталась... кто знает, что с ней стало....

[kaivaz]

Где недалеко от Ардагана - чувствуется месхетская суб-культура.

[kaivaz]

Там же. Чувствуются грузинские черты.

[Javakhk]

Кaivaz джан, спасибо за трогающие фото!

[kaivaz]

Курды недалеко от Карса. Бабушка убаюкивает девочку. У бабушки армянские натруженные руки и армянская согнутая спина

[kaivaz]

Читал в книге "Армянская Кулинария" от 1977 года, что "в некоторых горных деревнях Армянской ССР сохраняется традиция выпечения лаваша прозапас. Хозяйка в середине осени выпекает большое количество хлеба, а затем хранит его в прохладном месте - и вся семья ест хлеб в течение зимы."

На фотографии изображен тот же самый ритуал - на сейр раз в горах армянской Каппадокии. Комментарий автора фотки аналогичен тому, что был в книге об армянской кулинарии.

(Photo taken in Bal?i ?akiri village, in the mountains about one hour drive from Yahyali, Kayseri province).

This is a sort of "ritual", of course not religious : regularly, women are gathering together, to prepare the flat bread for future days - and sometimes, it can be for many days, as the bread remains edible for a long time if stored in good conditions.

This is a scene that one can witness in many Anatolian villages ; it is normally a joyful occasion, time for the last gossips, some gentle jokes between women and to reconnect, between neighbours or parents or just friends. Fatma's sisters are seen on the left side, her "abla" (eldest sister) is the second on the left. Small children are free to run (almost) everywhere.

[Ундина]

лаваш пекут прозапас почти во всех армянских деревнях.

высушивают его хорошо и накрывают чем-нить в закрытом месте.

просто зимой неудобно печь хлеб, холодно...

[kaivaz]

Эта девочка из курдского племени, обитающего между Араратской равниной и Баязетом, что с другой стороны Арарата. Их кочевья находятся на вершинах Haykakan Par-а - хребта, уходящего направо от Арарата, если смотреть из Еревана.

Я называю ее - незаконная дочь Филипа Киркорова.

[Понч]

Я называю ее - незаконная дочь Филипа Киркорова.

[kaivaz]

Ну и напоследок:

Розовый фламинго на летовьях озера Ван.

Не хотел чтобы у кого-то открывались старые раны. :shljapa:

[kaivaz]

??????... ????? ???????, ????? ??????? ????: :unsure: