When the Armenians fled from Marash to Uruguay (Translation of Ferda Cetin's publication “Maraş'tan Uruguay'a Kaçabilen Ermeniler ")

The text below is a translation.
The article was originally written and published by Ferda Çetin in Turkish language and can be read under the following link:
"Maraş'tan Uruguay'a Kaçabilen Ermeniler" by Ferda Çetin

Uruguay is located at the other end of the world. The current state of technology allows it to get to the country within just one single day by plane. A hundred years ago there was no alternative to overcome the unbridgeable distance, but to go on a long voyage by ship that took five to six months. A few years ago the journalist Ali M. Doğan visited Uruguay while reporting from Latin America. When he heard about a large number of Armenians living there, he explored their background, found the history of a hundred- year-long exile and decided to make a documentary about it.

The majority of today's 70 to 80 year olds generation of Armenians from Marash knows each detail in the lives of their fathers and mothers. Each of them tells about genocide, the start of their youth in a refugee family and personal tragedies.
The emigrants succeeded in rebuilding a new life in Uruguay. Nevertheless, they did not forget anything. No matter what has been necessary to keep their memories alive, they did it. There is a very active club. On certain days three generations meet there.
The club bears the name "Maraşlılar Derneği " ("Club of those who are from Marash"). When an old Armenian asked M.Ali Doğan, where he comes from, he answered "I am from Marash" and cheers broke out. "Maraşlı olsun çamırdan olsun" ("Those who come from Marash must be made of clay").
Once the people were forced to escape from their homes and it would have been logical to seek sanctuary in a neighboring country. But the massacres and the violence the Armenians had to face were so cruel, that they fled as far away as they could to the most inaccessible places on earth that could be imagined in the historical context. Therefore, they preferred to emigrate to Uruguay, Argentina or the United States. They did everything they could in order to move away from oppression, barbarism and ruthless cruelty.
Despite dozens of government changes after the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish state, including the AKP, does not recognize it. Quite the contrary, they try to tell a story about accidental victims of necessary resettlement marches and Armenians who murdered Turks. Furthermore, they intend to make the world believe, the number of massacred Armenians would not amount to 1.5 million, but it is plausible to quantify the number of victims to 350.000, as if that was an excusable number of taken lives. Official Turkish State Historians wrote hundreds of books to make the people believe these lies. However, more and more Armenian authors published their memories in the last years in rapid succession. What they tell emphasizes the absurdity of this discussion about the number of victims and shows us the truth plainly.

Vahan Totovents, born in 1889 in Mezre (province of Elazig) describes his tragic story in "Yitik Evin Varisleri " ("The heirs of the lost house ") as it follows:
"When we were kids waiting for Santa to bring us our gifts on a New Year's Eve, the death knocked on our door and I held my father's hand .
They shook our hands politely. Arm in arm we walked out of the house. During the march through the crisp white snow, we lost sight of each other. Those who were gone now, never returned...
The loss of Rebeka, one of his cousins Vahan Totovents loved the most, he describes as follows:
Rebeka , the daughter of my aunt was a strong, healthy and hard-working girl with the spirit of a poet. Her large, pure blue eyes seemed to be able even to stop the sky from falling down. But, this sky collapsed right over the previously sprouting and growing white lilies Rebeka had planted. Rebeka was deported to the Arabian deserts. The sun had burned birthmarks in her forehead and cheeks. Knowing that you had to suffer all this breaks my heart. Rebeka, I wish I could take the abominations which you have experienced from you and bear them myself. I salute you and beg you to see the tears of your brother…"

Hagop Mintzuri from the village of Armi in the province of Erzincan, describes the events from 1897 to 1940 in "İstanbul Anıları" (Memories from Istanbul) as follows:
“In April 1915, the deportation and expulsion of the Armenians in Istanbul began, when I was there as a soldier. In May, no more letters arrived from my ancestral village. I sent a reply telegram twice, but did not receive any answer. To the third one I got the following answer: "They are not here but elsewhere on an unknown route". My grandfather Melkon was 88 years old. My mother Nanik was 55 years old , my children Nurhan, Maranik, Arahit and Haco were 6, 4, 2 years and 9 months old. My wife Voğıda was 29 years old. How should they survive a march? My grandfather would not have even made it to the fountain of Suazeg. One day Temer, a Kurd from Gamıh had come to visit me. He was a farmer at Lusnik's land, the aunt of my cousin. As far as I can remember, he has tilled the fields around her house. He spoke Armenian as well as we did. He brought me the news that all Armenians were deported from the village on 4 June. He told me that they kissed the doors of their houses and the door of the church, before they had to leave the village. If a beloved one died in your house, wouldn’t you wish to die together? Could you still work, doing your business as usual? Could you continue day in and day out and go to work, as if nothing had happened? I was a soldier and I had to obey military orders. How would I have to resign myself and let them go?"

With the memoirs of Hagop Mintzuri, we want to tell, how he survived as the only member of his family.
The Armenians in Uruguay whose ancestors once fled from Marash miss the earth and the people in their native country. With words like "Maraşlı olsun çamırdan olsun" they express, how they yearn for it. Vahan Totovents from Harput summarizes the love and longing for his birthplace in the following words: "In this ancient land the sun summons the fruits to grow, it breathes breath into an inexhaustible vegetation covering the soil; rivers are lapping gently, it dawns evenly until the sun sets in the arms of the evening lights, a silver bowl full to the brim with fresh milk swims on blue water, the nights are animated by spirits with the voice of the stars, the trees float towards the horizon and all the flowers vibrate whispering" (Vahan Totoventes studied in the U.S. before he moved to the Soviet Republic of Armenia. He was imprisoned by Stalin's regime from 1936 to 1937. Afterwards none ever heard from him again).

All we did to the Armenians was cruelty and genocide. This has caused incredibly deep wounds to the survivors. The people here in this country (Uruguay), we have punished with never ending loneliness. That's what we did to those who were our good neighbors, and they have left us neighborless. Our distrust and their inner turmoil avoid us from being redeemed out of our loneliness.