Kurdish writer Diken received award for his work for ethnic and religious tolerance
Sofia, 16 May 2012 / Ararat News-Publishing (ANP) - Kurdish writer Seyhmus Diken received an award from Ararat News - Publishing (ANP) for his work for tolerance and understanding between ethnical and religious groups. The award was given to Diken during his three days visit in Bulgaria for the presentation of the Bulgarian translation of his book “Gittiler Iste”, (in English “Here they are gone”, Bulgarian title “Eto che gi niama veche”...).
The book written by Diken is collection of essays telling the story of the city Diyarbakir (Dikranakert) in the time of peaceful coexistence between Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Kurdish Yezidis, Greeks, Jews and other ethnical and religious groups more than a century ago. When the Christians were killed or forced by the Turkish governors to leave the city, they took with them the cultural richness, the colourfulness and the spirit of Dikranakert.
The award to Diken, given by Ararat News - Publishing (ANP) as a sign of gratitude and recognition, was a lithography painting of the famous Armenian painter from Bulgaria Onnik Karanfilian. The painting is based on fragment of ancient Armenian Bible text symbolizing the power of the words, the freedom and the art of writing.
In Bulgaria, the Kurdish writer Seyhmus Diken presented his book to the Armenian communities in the two biggest Bulgarian cities – Sofia and Plovdiv.
Many Armenians attended the event in both cities to express their gratitude that Kurdish writer works to preserve the memory for the Armenians living in Diyarbakir in the past. Armenians were also interested to learn more about the actual situation of the Kurds in the Kurdish region in Anatolia and the initiatives of the local authorities on behalf of the Kurdish municipality of Diyarbakir to restore Christian monuments, churches and the richness of the city when Armenians, Kurds, Assyrians, Yezidis, Jews and Greeks lived together in peace.
Armenians shared with a lot of emotion the memories of their grand-parents for Kurds who saved their life during the Armenian genocide. Members of the Armenian community in Bulgaria also appreciated the actual engagement of Kurds to fight not only for their rights, but for the rights of all the people in Anatolia and Mesopotamia.
Diken invited all Armenians to visit their ancestors’ lands and to become part of the changes in the Kurdish region in Turkey.
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