Sevgul Uludag
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We gather at the Home for Cooperation in Nicosia, on the Green Line, across the Ledra Palace Hotel to commemorate for the first time the famous music master of Cyprus, Vahan Bedelian as Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots… The conference room is fully packed and we use the cafeteria section as well to seat people… The people who come are Armenian Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots among them former students… It is the first commemoration together that comes half a century after Bedelian left his home in the Turkish Cypriot section of Nicosia back in 1963… It is half a century later that his `Magical Violin` that saved his life crosses back the checkpoint at Ledra Palace to the `Buffer Zone` to be exhibited during the night of 3rd April 2014 Thursday… After the welcoming speech of Alev Tughberk from the Association of Historical Dialogue and Research, I try to tell the reason why we are commemorating Bedelian:
`As a child, I grew up always hearing the name `Bedelian`… My mother was always mentioning his name, saying from a very early age my brother Alper was taking violin lessons from him. My brother had begun taking violin lessons from Vahan Bedelian long before I was born and there is even a photograph of him taken at the end of the 50s together with his violin... In those times taking lessons from a music master like Bedelian was a big issue and a trend in our community. My sister was playing the accordion and my brother the violin… Many children of his generation were taking either piano or violin lessons…
It was years later when I started asking questions about Bedelian that I found out the details of his life and the striking story of the Magical Violin… The Magical Violin, now 100 years old, had saved his life as well as the lives of his family… The Magical Violin would provide his livelihood and he would work until the age of 93, giving lessons, teaching music, composing music and persisting since music was a key to life…
Great tragedies produce great people and Bedelian was one of them… I cannot even imagine what sort of traumas he had gone through when he was forced to flee Adana, his hometown, not only once but twice, I cannot imagine what sort of fears went through his heart – I cannot even conceptualize what he saw that he decided not to waste even a single second of his life… He believed that music brought people closer, music made people more humane, that even if people did not speak each other's language, they would understand each other through music… So all his life he tried to `turn` people to music, as many as possible and he proved to us not with words but with his deeds what a music master he was and how humane he had been… If he saw talent and the youngster was poor, he would never take any money from that youngster for private lessons… He carried the tragedy of his own people in his heart but was not bitter, he simply devoted his whole life
to music… Some of his students, among them his son Haroutune became world famous violinists and I can see that most of his students from the days of his teachings embraced music even if they stopped playing themselves… I know how connected to music my brother has been throughout his life and I have observed this in some of his other students…
When Bedelian was forced to leave his home in 1963 as well as all the other Armenian Cypriots from the Turkish Cypriot section of Nicosia, this became a blow not only to the relations of the Turkish Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots who lived together peacefully until then but it was also a blow to music… There was no more Bedelian to give violin lessons… Sure there were others but the trend he began for learning music would get a heavy blow…
The Cyprus conflict of the past 50 years have not only damaged the peaceful relations among ordinary Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots but it affected all citizens of this land. It affected the relations between Turkish Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots, it affected the relations among Maronite Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots… Our communities paid a heavy price due to this long expired conflict.
What was dramatic was that all memory about Armenian Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living together particularly in Victoria or Tanzimat Street or in Koskluciftlik was wiped out… Such memories had been turned into a `taboo` and no one even mentioned the good neighbourly relations they had had with each other. The good memories of living together were stolen from us and I tried as an investigative journalist to retrieve at least part of those memories, speaking to Cypriots from different ethnicities, different backgrounds and learning and sharing these with my readers on both sides of our island. I did series of interviews not only with Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots but also with Maronite Cypriots, Latin Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots… When I began writing about Armenian Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots began remembering things that had been long forgotten and sharing their own memories… Recently I tried to trace the Turkish Cypriot students of
Bedelian, publishing what they remembered of him because we owe him at least this remembrance and acknowledgement of his contribution as a music master to all our communities of the island, particularly the Turkish Cypriot community.
Greek Cypriots commemorated Bedelian, Armenian Cypriots commemorated Bedelian but not the Turkish Cypriots. Tonight for the first time this great master of music is commemorated together with Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots… What we are doing is something he would have liked: Bringing our communities together, remembering how he wanted people to be together and how he thought music was the key to make them feel closer and more humane…
Bedelian wanted a world with peace, harmony and friendship rather than conflict. Bedelian worked with all the communities of the island and gave his whole life as an example of humanity despite his own and his people's great tragedy… We commemorate him with all our respect and gratitude for what he has achieved throughout his life…`
Vahan Aynedjian then tells the story of the `Magical Violin` and speaks about the life of his grandfather Bedelian… After that we hear a video message from Haroutune Bedelian, his son who is a famous musician living in the USA and listen to his performance of the first movement (Adagio) of the Bach Sonata No. 1 in G minor… Then we move on to memories of his students: Dr. Bekir Azgin, Nouritsa Nadjarian and Andreas Iacovides talk of their memories of Bedelian… We give the microphone to other former students of Bedelian – among his students is one `missing` Greek Cypriot and his brother and wife also came tonight to listen and to share… Through the memories of his students, we realize that he has touched the lives of many and made a great mark on them… My brother Alper still continues with his music… One of his students, Arto Tavitian says that he had been a very good child educator… And finally we give the microphone to Nilgun Guney whose
mother and uncles and cousins had been his students. Nilgun Guney has an Art Studio and there some of the painters, as well as Nilgun, taking inspiration from the `Magical Violin` of Bedelian and the story of his life have painted works of art that we exhibit at the Home for Cooperation… Finally we honour Nouritsa Nadjarian for her continuous friendship with all communities of Cyprus…
Bedelian is part of our shared history in Cyprus and the story of his life could be taught at schools so that children can learn about the `Magical Violin` and the once multiculturalism of Cyprus…
Afterwards during the reception one Greek Cypriot friend comes to talk to me:
`I never knew that Turkish Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots had anything to do with each other… I never knew that they used to live in the Turkish Cypriot part of Nicosia… I always thought that Armenian Cypriots hated Turkish Cypriots because of what had happened to them in Turkey…`
Another friend is quite impressed by the power point show that Vahan Aynedjian has prepared, particularly with a photo he showed of a concert with Bedelian at the Papadopoulos Theatre in 1927 – in the photo is the English governor Sir Ronald Storrs, next to him a Jordanian exiled prince, the Turkish Cypriot Mufti (religious leader) as well as Greek Cypriot priests and Armenian priests… A multicultural crowd listening to the concert… This friend says, `You showed us what sort of life that existed in Cyprus before 50 years, such a multicultural life…`
Perhaps this is the zest of the evening: If we had it before, why not have it now? What stops us except ourselves?
Bedelian believed in peace because he had seen the horrors of war – he believed in people coming together and even if they could not speak each other's languages that music could bring them together… On that night of commemoration I think we have achieved that bringing together after so many years, Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and Armenian Cypriots…
6.4.2014
Photo: Nilgun Guney with her paintings of Bedelian at the mini-exhibition commemorating Vahan Bedelian and his `Magical Violin`.
(*) Article published in the POLITIS newspaper on the 27th of April 2014, Sunday.
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