Armenia and the diaspora expect that a new generation of writers in Armenian will come to the fore in Turkey.

They think about this. They talk about it very little, and when they clash with reality, suddenly they remain silent and lose all interest.

After the literary successes of the glorious Zahrad era (I say Zahrad because he was the last of the Mohicans of the progressive literature starting from the 1950s and an entire generation was to be baptized with his name), for us to state that today that Armenian literature is being written with a new sense of vitality in Bolis is a difficult proposition.

In opposition to this nearly greying impression, a new phenomenon is apparent. A group of Armenians writing in Turkish is already visible in Bolis. Let me say that I have no pretensions of providing a full list of their names. Given this, it is sad that there is no direct link with these writers. Furthermore, specific information or translations of their books and other works is lacking. Tragically, this is the case.

“I wanted to be an actress, but it didn’t work out.” This is how my conversation began with Jaklin Çelik; an Armenian writing in Turkish, for whom falling into literature has become something akin to preparing and presenting a theatrical work.

“When becoming an actress became impossible, years later, writing turned into something like presenting a theatrical work. This was the main reason, but there was something else. I felt I had things on my mind to say to others. Through writing, I was able to listen to my inner voice and express it. This was something very important to me.”

Jaklin concludes by telling me that she visited Armenia last June to participate in the ninth conference of foreign language writers. Few knew of her, and it’s unfortunate that her works haven’t been translated into Armenian.

When asked if she considered herself an Armenian or Turkish writer, Jaklin Çelik responded: “None of this is important, because there are always cases when you think about your identity.”

To explain this reality, Jaklin tells me that when she travelled to Germany a few years ago to take part in a writers’ meeting (and to represent Turkey), some Turkish newspapers covering the event asked if it was correct for an Armenian woman writer and a Jewish one (Roni Margules) to represent all of Turkey in Europe.

Jaklin also told me that they present her as an Armenian woman writer (her words). She starts to laugh loudly when she says this.

Born in Istanbul, Celik has authored four books, the last of which is a novel called “Festival of Wrath” published in 2011.

The novel is about the “tragic events” of 1915. She says the idea of writing a novel sprung to life when she watched a documentary film prepared by American health agencies. The film was about a scientific experiment in which special conditions were created for mice and they were given poison to gauge the effects.

The experiment revealed that the mice would start to scream whenever they encountered the poison placed in their cages.

“I used this image in my novel,” says Jaklin, adding that there is a character in the novel of a mouse and that mouse lives for three generations and that throughout the entire length of the novel there is a certain flash-back. She also says that what she wanted to convey through the novel is that knowing the pain of one individual it is possible to also open all the cracks and crevices of all the survivors’ psychological state of mind.

Jaklin Çelik doesn’t conceal the fact that as a citizen of Turkey she sometimes feels that there is a heavy burden on her shoulders. Regarding this she says, “There are walls between us.”

She tells me that she is often invited by news outlets to speak about Armenian issues and that she always rejects such proposals. In an angry tine she says, “Why should I speak about these things. Let them talk about them.”

Naturally, I was going to broach the issue of Armenia with Jaklin. This is her third visit here and speaking about the future of Armenia, she expresses the hope that one day Armenia will be the “final home” for all Armenians. For the writer, the ultimate issue is that Armenia becomes so strong that “it becomes the final home for all of us. Armenia must become just as strong as Israel.”

Responding to my question as to whether certain changes are visible in Turkey today, Jaklin says “The murder of Hrant Dink, which was a heavy blow for Turkey, opened the eyes of many and they (Turks) started to ask each other why Hrant was killed.” She adds, “Today, we are living between two extremes.”

When I ask her how Turkey will be able to extricate itself from this crisis, she says that it’s a very big problem.

The writer also points out that in Turkey today such issues are freely discussed, angrily noting that, “Everyone wrote about it and talked about it, but it was an Armenian who died, Hrant died,”

“There’s a sort of unease,” she says. “The ghosts of the past have become visible. The ghosts of the past are in the back of the heads of the Turks and won’t let them rest easy. Today, they are not at peace.”

When I ask her if this unease will lead to some changes, Jaklin answers that “it is sad that the Turks quickly forget. The Turkish intelligentsia is faced with serious problems today. What is more disconcerting is that the Turks often use the Armenians and the Kurds to resolve their problems.”

She concludes by saying that today the Turks have wound up facing one another. “Today, they are in confrontation with their government.”

Continuing, Jaklin tells me that she has a strong circle of Turkish friends and acquaintances and that she couldn’t imagine her life without it.

“My milieu and my Turkish friends are irreplaceable. I have always taken part in Kurdish and Turkish civic movements and gatherings and I aim to continue doing so.”

Concluding, Jaklin notes, “We are not the same but we have lived together and for me this is of great value.”

(Translated by Hrant Gadarigian)