VERC\u0130HAN Z\u0130FL\u0130O\u011eLU<\/p>\n
ISTANBUL – Hurriyet Daily News<\/p>\n
The deputy mayor of Istanbul\u2019s Princes’ Islands, Armenian-origin Raffi Hermon\u2019s job regularly brings him into contact with Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Hermon says the islands could ultimately be a key to restoring Istanbul\u2019s cosmopolitanism. \u2018To return Istanbul to its original cultural identity, we need to start on the Princes\u2019 Islands,\u2019 he says<\/p>\n
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 G\u00dcREL<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Princes\u2019 Islands, one of the most religiously diverse municipalities in Turkey.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019 Party, or CHP.<\/p>\n
The deputy mayor told the H\u00fcrriyet Daily News & Economic Review that he has been criticized for following Muslim rites as part of his official duties, but he rebuked such views.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because I do this, it does not mean I have given up on my own religion,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I can plant a positive understanding in the people watching me, I would be the happiest man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hermon said he attended the Kurban Bayram holiday prayers at the mosque during last month\u2019s Muslim holiday and added that he also performed the ritual animal slaughter. \u201cI distributed the meat together with rice and ayran to all people living on the Islands.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Full circle to Istanbul<\/p>\n
Hermon said he had Princes\u2019 Islands origins and that he was Italian on his mother\u2019s side and Armenian on his father\u2019s side. \u201cJust like my whole family, I was born on B\u00fcy\u00fckada [the largest of the Princes\u2019 Islands], and spent my childhood here.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 Kebap\u00e7iyan in 1994 in France. Hermon also worked hard to promote tentative diplomatic contacts between Turkey and Armenia during the 1990s.<\/p>\n
After returning to Turkey and becoming involved in the CHP, however, Hermon said he experienced a lot of opposition, especially from Armenians.<\/p>\n
According to him, the reactions actually stemmed from CHP deputy Canan Ar\u0131tman\u2019s fierce opposition to the \u201cWe Apologize\u201d campaign, which was launched in 2008 by Turkish intellectuals to apologize to Armenians for the events of 1915.<\/p>\n
Turkish President Abdullah G\u00fcl later announced that he also supported the campaign, after which Ar\u0131tman declared him to be an Armenian on his mother\u2019s side and that this supposedly secret family background was the reason he lent his weight to the campaign.<\/p>\n
Her remarks met with harsh criticism from both Armenian and Turkish circles.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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,\u201d Hermon said.<\/p>\n
Princes\u2019 Islands the key<\/p>\n
For Hermon, the Princes\u2019 Islands are a crucial place that could be a prototype for a new Istanbul.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen 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\u2019 Islands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hermon also said the local municipality would soon embark upon a sister-city project with a town in Armenia.<\/p>\n
“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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
VERC\u0130HAN Z\u0130FL\u0130O\u011eLU ISTANBUL – Hurriyet Daily News The deputy mayor of Istanbul\u2019s Princes’ Islands, Armenian-origin Raffi Hermon\u2019s job regularly brings him into contact with Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Hermon says the islands could ultimately be a key to restoring Istanbul\u2019s cosmopolitanism. \u2018To return Istanbul to its original cultural identity, we need to start on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":66991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89],"tags":[314,102],"class_list":["post-28846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-turkey","tag-christianity","tag-istanbul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28846\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}