Turkey is a country that borders two cultural spheres, the Islamic and the European. As a consequence of this, Anatolia became the home for many different ethnic groups. Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Arameans, Assyrians and Kurds all inhabited parts of Anatolia. However, after the 1915 genocide and the burning of Smyrna (the city now called Izmir) in 1922 little of the…
On the night of February 6th, an earthquake shook the lives of the Turkey. The death toll has since reached over 50 000 in Turkey and over 8000 in neighboring Syri This is the story of how the Turkish government caused thousands of lives to be lost.…
Read MoreBy Leonard Bektas Today is a sad day for Turkey’s Armenian community and the Turkish-Armenian diaspora. The 19th of January marks 15 years since the death of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Dink was born in Malatya, central Turkey, to Armenian parents. He knew well the reality of being an Armenian…
Read MoreTurkey is a country that borders two cultural spheres, the Islamic and the European. As a consequence of this, Anatolia became the home for many different ethnic groups. Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Arameans, Assyrians and Kurds all inhabited parts of Anatolia. However, after the 1915 genocide and the burning of Smyrna…
Read MoreAv Leonard Bektas Vad innebär det att vara svensk? Det är en fråga jag ställer mig själv ibland, speciellt med tanke på min bakgrund. Min far är född i sydöstra Turkiet till en syriansk mor och en armenisk far. De tvingades fly Turkiet på grund av etnoreligiöst förtryck och kom…
Read MoreBy Leonard Bektas, Melwin Martinsson & Emil Lewenhaupt Monday the 15th of March marks ten years since the Syrian revolution began, when the Syrian people took to the streets to demand freedom and democracy. The slogan that echoed through the streets was “ash-shaʻb yurīd isqāṭ an-niẓām!”, which roughly translates to…
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