Colombia's Armenia and its Turkey Dilemma

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 12 July 2019)


                          An Ottoman Turk in Armenia.

The Colombian press is writing that a painting by Ottoman painter
and cultural notable Osman Hamdi Bey put on the wall of the
municipal council in the city of Armenia (!), in Quindio state, has
split the city in two.

In the past, council members of Armenia accepted the characterization
of the 1915 incidents that resulted in the deaths of many Armenians
in Anatolia as a "genocide", simply because their city's name is the
same.  Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Council (DEİK)
responded to this by inviting a delegation of the Armenia city council
to Ankara to hear Turkey's side of the story.

After the visit, the Armenia city council decided to build cultural ties
with Turkey and one manifestation of this was the painting by artist
Hollman Henao Diaz of Osman Hamdi Bey's "Kaplumbağa Terbiyecisi"
(Turtle Trainer) done on the council's wall.  Additionally, the council
is reviewing whether or not to void its "genocide" decision.  One
member from the delegation that visited Turkey said in some amazement
that "we were quite surprised that they (their Turkish hosts) knew so
much about us."



But Council President Diego Torres Vizcaino told the El Tiempo
newspaper that the painting on the wall is merely an example of the
cultural ties with Turkey.  He added that many people in the city are
wary of closer links with the Turks.  For example, Maricela Montes
said to La Cronica de Quindio newspaper that "I don't know what the
city of Armenia is doing dealing with Turkey.  My opinion is that
whatever benefits they got from this little visit (to Turkey), they should
give them back. It doesn't make any sense to paint such a thing on the
wall of the beautiful council building."

City council member Luis Guillermo Agudelo voiced his opposition
to the visit to Turkey, asserting that it had resulted in no benefit for the
city.  He characterized the painting on the wall as "absurd" and added
that "whether or not there was an Armenian genocide or it was all the
result of the war in 1915 shouldn't concern us."   The press in Colombia
has pointed out that Turkey has extended its cultural relations in South
America from Venezueala toward Colombia.


     The original "Kaplumbağa Terbiyecisi" and its artist.

There seems to be no connection between the country of Armenia
and the city of the same name in Colombia.  The city council's
adoption of the "genocide" characterization in 2014 was evidently
based only on this spelling coincidence.  Armenia is a city of 305,000
people, with no residents of Armenian descent. The city has grown fast
in recent years, earning the name 'Ciudad Milagro' (Miracle City), and
is famous for its coffee.

Information note: Osman Hamdi Bey's painting "Kaplumbağa
Terbiyecisi" began to be exhibited in 1906.  He had been appointed
by Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1881 to the Müze-i Hümayun (Sultan's
Museum) and from 1882 he served in the Sanayi-i Nefise Mektebi
(Fine Arts School) until his death on 24 February 1910.  The
painting is set in the top floor of the Yeşil Cami (mosque) in Bursa,
where the turtle trainer, wearing a 'yemeni' (headkerchief) and
holding a 'ney' (reed flute), is seen with his turtles on the floor
eating  leaves.


    Reciprocity: Opening soon in Ankara.