1,600-year-old Armenian cemetery ruined in Mush

By Asbarez | Monday, 29 June 2015

Ruins of a 1,600 year old Armenian cemetery in Mush, Turkey (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

Ruins of a 1,600 year old Armenian cemetery in Mush, Turkey (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

YEREVAN (Akunq.net)–A 1,600-year-old Armenian cemetery in Mush has been ruined by treasure hunters and deliberate negligence by the state, Akunq.net reports, quoting Dicle News Agency.

Hayrettin Aslan, head of an Armenian union in Mush, points out that Turkish state policies deliberately aim to erase Armenian historical traces from the region, and in doing so erase the collective memory of the city as well.

Historically there were 299 Armenian churches, 94 monasteries, 53 pilgrimage sites and 135 schools with 5,669 students in Mush before 1915, according to Akunq. Aslan said that treasure hunters also caused great damage to the site.

“Armenians and Kurds peacefully lived in the city before the Armenian massacres,” he said, and that the history of a whole nation faces obliteration.

“If we want to live in an atmosphere of peace, love and respect, we have to take care of the Armenian history,” he added.

He noted that there are other Armenian monuments in the region that also face the threat of demolition, stating: “Armenians had even built infrastructures in the mountainous regions of Mush before 1915. Now the Armenian churches, monasteries and schools are on the verge of disappearance, and the government and the political-social organizations should be sensitive towards the issue. A history of millennia is in jeopardy.”


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