My Heart is in Tsitsernakabed Every April 24th: Leman Stehn

YEREVAN (Armradio.am) — Every year on April 24 Turkish singer Leman Stehn apologizes to the Armenian nation for the crime committed by her ancestors. Familiar with the true story, she never avoids the word ‘genocide.’ She first visited Armenia a few years ago and visited the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial. The singer is again in Armenia for a Komitas festival.

Every year Leman Stehn participates in commemoration events held in different countries of the world.

“Things should be called by their names,” she told a press conference in Yerevam. “I’m aware of what befell the Armenian nation and cannot understand how one can avoid the word ‘genocide.’ Of course, there was an Armenian Genocide. I consider it a duty to participate in events targeted at preventing genocide,” she said.

The Armenian national has been in her heart since youth. Born in Turkey, she moved to Germany at an early age and returned to Turkey only as a student. She learnt about the Armenian nation and culture thanks to her Armenian friends.

“I was young, when we returned to Turkey. Only then I came to know that Armenians previously lived on the territory of Turkey, that it was their homeland. I opened a new world for me,” the singer said.

Leman Stehn confessed she had been persecuted in Turkey for her pro-Armenian views, but this made her continue the struggle for justice with a greater vigor. After graduating from the Conservatory, the singer returned to Germany.

She had long abandoned the Armenian music until she heard the news of Hrant Dink’s assassination.

“I was shocked to hear we lost my lovely brother Hrant Dink. “Sari Gyalin” was one of his most favorite songs,” Stehn said.

This was the song she performed at the festival dedicated to Komitas. The Turkish singer once again apologized to the heirs of victims of the Armenian Genocide for the crime committed by the Turkish nation and promised to visit Armenia again on April 24.