VERCİHAN ZİFLİOĞLU
ISTANBUL – Hurriyet Daily News
The deputy mayor of Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands, Armenian-origin Raffi Hermon’s job regularly brings him into contact with Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Hermon says the islands could ultimately be a key to restoring Istanbul’s cosmopolitanism. ‘To return Istanbul to its original cultural identity, we need to start on the Princes’ Islands,’ he says
Hermon, who worked to promote tentative diplomatic contacts between Turkey and Armenia during the 1990s, says the Princes’ Islands are crucial place that could be a prototype for a new Istanbul. DAILY NEWS photo, Emrah GÜREL
Raffi Hermon attends prayers at the mosque, wears a kippah when entering the synagogue and takes the holy Eucharist at church. Going to services of the three major monotheistic faiths is part of the job description for Hermon, deputy mayor for Istanbul’s Princes’ Islands, one of the most religiously diverse municipalities in Turkey.
An Istanbul Armenian originally from the islands, Hermon also has the added distinction of being among the first members of the Armenian community to hold public office in Turkey.
Hermon lived his adult life in France for 25 years before returning to Istanbul a few years ago. He became deputy mayor after winning a municipal seat with the Republican Peoples’ Party, or CHP.
The deputy mayor told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that he has been criticized for following Muslim rites as part of his official duties, but he rebuked such views.
“Just because I do this, it does not mean I have given up on my own religion,” he said. “If I can plant a positive understanding in the people watching me, I would be the happiest man.”
Hermon said he attended the Kurban Bayram holiday prayers at the mosque during last month’s Muslim holiday and added that he also performed the ritual animal slaughter. “I distributed the meat together with rice and ayran to all people living on the Islands.”
As well there is no problem listening to a chazzan, which is a Jewish cantor, a musician, trained in the vocal arts who helps lead a congregation in melodious prayer.
Full circle to Istanbul
Hermon said he had Princes’ Islands origins and that he was Italian on his mother’s side and Armenian on his father’s side. “Just like my whole family, I was born on Büyükada [the largest of the Princes’ Islands], and spent my childhood here.”
Later, he moved to France, eventually gaining dual French-Turkish citizenship. Supported by the then-President Jacques Chirac, he established an Armenian diaspora studies center together with Jean Claude Kebapçiyan in 1994 in France. Hermon also worked hard to promote tentative diplomatic contacts between Turkey and Armenia during the 1990s.
After returning to Turkey and becoming involved in the CHP, however, Hermon said he experienced a lot of opposition, especially from Armenians.
According to him, the reactions actually stemmed from CHP deputy Canan Arıtman’s fierce opposition to the “We Apologize” campaign, which was launched in 2008 by Turkish intellectuals to apologize to Armenians for the events of 1915.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül later announced that he also supported the campaign, after which Arıtman declared him to be an Armenian on his mother’s side and that this supposedly secret family background was the reason he lent his weight to the campaign.
Her remarks met with harsh criticism from both Armenian and Turkish circles.
Addressing the concerns that many still had with his participation in the CHP, Hermon said involvement with the party on a local level was much different than involvement on a countrywide level.
“I am capable of acknowledging the difference between national and local elections. In local elections, there is not as much room for ideology, as is the case at the national level,” Hermon said.
Princes’ Islands the key
For Hermon, the Princes’ Islands are a crucial place that could be a prototype for a new Istanbul.
“When I returned after 25 years, I noticed that the islands had lost all their cosmopolitan texture, which broke my heart. To return Istanbul to its original cultural identity, we need to start on the Princes’ Islands,” he said.
Hermon also said the local municipality would soon embark upon a sister-city project with a town in Armenia.
“We are going to announce Sevan Lake Municipality in Armenia and Adalar Municipality as sister cities. Out talks concerning the project are ongoing at the moment. We aim to support the establishment of close relations between Turks and Armenians in our own way,” he said.
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