Turkish Intellectuals Who Have Recognized The Armenian Genocide: Bejan Matur

By Hambersom Aghbashian

Bejan Matur (born 14 September 1968 in Marash-Turkey) is a Kurdish author, poet and columnist. She studied Law at Ankara University, but has never practiced. In her university years, she was published in several literary periodicals and her poetry “dark and mystic” attracted much attention. Since 2005, she writes regular articles for the Op-Ed of Daily Zaman as a columnist. Sometimes she also writes for Today’s Zaman. Mainly, she writes about Kurdish politics, Armenian issues, daily politics, minority problems, prison literature, and women issues. Bejan Matur also runs a cultural foundation called DKSV (Diyarbakır Cultural Art Foundation) which is located in Diyarbakır, also, she is conducting social projects with children, women and the younger population who were removed from their villages. Bejan Matur is making a TV program which called ATLAS and it is about culture, art and politics. Her first book, Rüzgar Dolu Konaklar (Winds Howl Through the Mansions-1996), won several literary prizes, and it was followed by Tanrı Görmesin Harflerimi (God Must Not See The Letter of My Script-1999) and two other books in 2002. In May 2009, she published an album-book titled as Doğunun Kapısı: Diyarbakır (The Gate of East: Diyarbakir). She also went to the steeps of Kandil (Qandil) Mountain, where the PKK is based, and made interviews with the guerillas, then published her book Dağın Ardına Bakmak (Looking Behind the Mountain) in February 2011. She has many other published books including İbrahim’in Beni Terketmesi  (How Abraham Abandoned Me- March 2008), which was considered by the critics to be her best book ever. Her poems have been translated up to 24 languages including Chinese and her books were translated into many languages. She created a personal ontology and a personal mythology inspired by the thousands of years of Sufi Tradition.

In December 2008, 200 prominent Turkish intellectuals released an apology for the “great catastrophe of 1915”. This was a clear reference to the Armenian Genocide. The text of the apology was “My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Catastrophe that the Ottoman Armenians were subjected to in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers and sisters. I apologize to them.” Bejan Matur was one of the signees.(1)

On April 29, 2015 “P24: PLATFORM FOR INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM” published a Letter To The Armenians on the centenary of the Armenian genocide, where eight writers from Turkey posted this letter to their fellow Armenians. “It has been a hundred years since hundreds of thousands of Armenians of this land have fallen under the systematic massacre of the Ottoman State. In 1915, women and men, young and old, they lost their lives, their families and their homes. We at P24 (Independent Journalism Platform) humbly pay our respect to the fallen and present this letter from eight writers. This short film* produced by P24 and directed by Enis Rıza carries the messages of Adalet Ağaoğlu, Ahmet Altan, Oya Baydar, Murat Belge, Hasan Cemal, Cengiz Çandar, Perihan Mağden and Bejan Matur.” (2)

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Thanks to Ms. Bejan Matur for reviewing and enhancing this article.
* A short film (6.17 minute) was lunched with the letter. see source (2) bellow.
1 – http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=200_prominent_Turks_apologize_for_great_
2 – http://www.platform24.org/en/articles/270/a-letter-to-the-armenians